Sports: Red Wings Open Season Tonight

The NHL season opens tonight on the road for the Detroit Red Wings as they take on Tampa Bay in Florida. The Lightning are the team that eliminated the Red Wings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season.   Oddsmakers have the Wings at 25:1 to win the Stanley Cup, which is about in the middle of the 30 team NHL.  The Wings will try to make the playoffs for a 26^th straight season, but they’ll have to do it without forward  Pavel Datsyuk, who quit the team to return home to Russia.

MLB

The Washington Nationals host the LA Dodgers in a fifth and deciding game tonight in Washington.  Former Tiger Max Scherzer will start for Washington.  The winner takes on the Cubs Saturday in Chicago.

Cleveland will face Toronto in the next round Friday night at 8pm in Cleveland.

Pistons                                  

The Pistons are in Atlanta tonight to play the Hawks in a pre-season game.   Detroit travels to Philadelphia on Saturday.  The regular season starts October 27^th as the Pistons go to Toronto.

Volleyball

KCC lost to Grace Bible College, 3-1.   KCC is home today to play Kalamazoo Valley.

Lakeview 3, Loy Norrix 0.  Sidney Schiller had 13 kills.

Pennfield 3, Jackson Northwest 0.  Jaylyn Shepard and Melanie McIntyre each had 13 kills.

Marshall 3, Hastings 0. Chloe Webber led the Redhawks with 9 kills.

Bronson beat Parchment and Buchanan in a quad match.

Boys’ Soccer

Battle Creek Central hosts Sturgis in a district opener next Tuesday.

10th-ranked Marshall plays 8^th ranked Coldwater today the Interstate Eight final.

College Football

The WMU Broncos take their perfect 6-0 record to Akron this Saturday.  So far, the Broncos have not turned the ball over once this season, one reason for the team’s best start since 1941.  #24 ranked WMU entered the Top 25 for the first time in school history and they’re the first team in at least 20 years to commit no turnovers through its first six games. The record for fewest turnovers in a season is eight, shared by four teams.

Michigan

Michigan has a bye this week before playing at home against Illinois on Oct. 22.

MSU

Michigan State is 2-3 and hosts Northwestern this Saturday.   The Spartans are have lost three in a row for the first time since 2009, a jarring stretch for a program that's won two of the last three Big Ten titles.

New Sparty Statue

Michigan State University is getting a new bronze monument to the school's Sparty mascot.  The statue at the MSU Union on campus is perched on a bench with his muscular arms extended out. People will be able to sit next to Sparty and pose for photos.  The $150,000 project was unveiled Wednesday ahead of weekend homecoming events.   Oregon-based sculptor Alison Brown created a clay rendering used to cast the statue, which weighs about 1,500 pounds.

The MSU Senior Class Council for 2016 picked the Bronze Sparty Statue Fund as its senior class gift, an annual fundraiser for special campus projects.

Another statue known as "Sparty" is a popular campus photo spot. That statue is located outdoors, within view of Spartan Stadium.

Lions Football

The Lions host the L-A Rams on Sunday.

Girls’ Golf

Marshall plays Friday and Saturday in the Division 3 State Finals at Bedford Valley Golf Club.  Harper Creek’s Sydney Leatherman and Lakeview's Haley Lesiow will compete individually at the upcoming State Finals in golf.

Boys’ Tennis

Marshall and Harper Creek will advance to team State finals in boy’s tennis.

Coldwater plays in the Boys Tennis State Finals this week in Kalamazoo.