Hockey season is upon us, and coach Tom Anastos and his crew have some work to do prior to their first regular season game against Massachusetts on Oct. 17. In his press conference at media day last Wednesday, Anastos talked about several areas in which his team needs to improve.
The most glaring issue facing the Spartans is finding a way to put the puck in the net. Read More…
For four freshmen, this past week was the first time they put on the Spartan uniform.
“It was exciting to put on the Spartan sweater for the first time and get used to the feeling of representing Spartan hockey,” freshman Dylan Pavelek said.
It has been a rocky road for Michigan State men’s ice hockey since making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2012. Two subpar seasons have put Michigan State in a re-tooling phase, but coming into this season, coach Tom Anastos was feeling very optimistic about the capabilities of his team when he spoke at Media Day last Wednesday.
“I thought it was our best offseason,” Anastos said. “We challenged the guys when our season was over to go home. We didn’t have guys come back early given the renovations at Munn. We also wanted to get a nice fresh mindset before the season started. Based on our physical testing, it’s been the best in three years.” Read More…
In Michigan State’s opening exhibition match against the Windsor Lancers, Matt Beaudoin tied the game at two for Windsor with a power-play goal midway through the third period, which eventually forced overtime Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 3,683 at Munn Ice Arena. Nobody scored in the five-minute extra session and Windsor would win the shootout 1-0 on a goal by Spencer Pommells. The game goes in the books as a 2-2 tie.
“That was an ideal exhibition game for us,” said fourth-year head coach Tom Anastos. “It’s an experienced team. It’s an older group. A lot of those players have a lot of high-level hockey experience. As a step to get ready for our first game, I wish we could play one more like that.”
Not long after the Spartans’ season ended in an overtime defeat in the Big Ten playoffs to Ohio State, men’s hockey coach Tom Anastos announced that forward Michael Ferrantino would be the Spartans’ 70th captain in program history.
“It means a lot. Growing up around this program and seeing the guys that have been captain before me, it’s hard for me to put it into words,” Ferrantino said. “Just to be trusted with that honor and that responsibility by your teammates and your coaches means a lot to me.”
Even though this year’s men’s hockey freshmen class is small with four players, they still have the potential to have a large impact on the ice for the Spartans this season.
“I think it’s a real good freshman class and that’s coming off a real good freshman class from last year,” fourth-year coach Tom Anastos said. “I think that’s what is important, to put some consecutive groups together to build our talent level and the depth on our team. Read More…
As the Spartans prepare for their 40th season under the roof of Munn Ice Arena, the Michigan State Athletic Department announced further renovations to Munn that will take place over the next 12 months and will be the prelude to a total building renovation.
“Our goal is for Munn Ice Arena to represent a tribute to Michigan State’s rich hockey past and commitment to its future,” athletic director Mark Hollis said in an early morning press release. Read More…
Can’t wait for hockey season?
Until the Spartans play their Green and White game to kick off the preseason, here are some MSU related bits from Big Ten Hockey Media Day at Joe Louis Arena.
At last year’s postseason press conference, Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos said that he would include a wide variety of non-conference teams for the Spartans to play in the upcoming seasons. Now with the official 2014-15 hockey schedule released, the Spartans boast a strong but flexible schedule that even Tom Izzo would be proud of. Read More…
The 2014-2015 Big Ten hockey schedule has been released, as Tom Anastos and the Spartans will look to improve last season’s conference record of 5-9-6-4. And despite finishing second to last, Michigan State lost four regulation games by one goal and had wins over some of the best teams in the country.
For Anastos, there is a lot of motivation for this team to improve starting with their first conference match-up in Columbus, Ohio with Ohio State. Read More…
Change is in the air this summer as the NCAA Hockey Rules Committee (headed by Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos) recently proposed several rule changes to the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel last Friday.
There were a total of nine rule changes approved by the committee. The changes that could have the most significant impact on the game include new rules for faceoff procedure, (who puts their stick down first, faceoff location in the offensive zone, etc.) expanding the use of video replay, and new shootout regulations.
Several members of college hockey’s royalty appear to be disenchanted with the rest of the league.
After a vote by the American Hockey Coaches Association Convention moved to keep the “Gentleman’s Agreement,” several hockey programs, including Minnesota and Boston College, announced they would no longer adhere to the agreement and not recognize the verbal commitment as binding.
Instead, they would only recognize the NCAA National Letter of Intent. Soon after, Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves announced his program would follow suit.
While the Michigan State men’s hockey team grows “organically” in order to improve for what will likely be a defining year, they will not have to do it alone. In addition to their two previous National Letter of Intent signees (defenseman Josh Jacobs and goaltender Edwin Minny) MSU head coach Tom Anastos recently announced the official addition of defenseman Carson Gatt (brother of current Spartan senior Nickolas Gatt) and forward Dylan Pavelek.
After the recent departure due to the graduation of captain Greg Wolfe, Michigan State hockey was looking to fill the leadership role for 2014-2015 season.
The season is over and we all have questions. Is Tom Anastos under the gun next year? Will developing “organically” help or hurt the team? How will MSU be able to replace Wolfe, Riemer and the Chelios brothers?
First off, I do not think anyone will deny that this season was much better than last season. Winning percentage was higher, defense was better, and overall, it just seemed that MSU was in almost every game they played in.
Tom Anastos, head coach of the Michigan State men’s hockey team, addressed the media for one last time Tuesday. In his third season behind the bench, Anastos and his Spartans recorded an 11-18-7 overall record and went 5-9-6-4 in conference play.
Anastos’ opening statement recapped his team’s play in the Big Ten Tournament, and said that, “from a performance standpoint, we were obviously disappointed.”
The regular season is in the books. It’s history. Forget about it!
The postseason has arrived and it is a whole new ballgame…or puck-game…whatever. The inaugural Big Ten hockey tournament is here, and the Spartans will have to win-out in order to continue their season.
This season has not been too kind to the Spartans. They have struggled to find the back of the net (which they seem to be fixing as of late), their quality of play has been inconsistent, and games have slipped away by the narrowest of margins.
With only a three-member panel of Fino, Faith and Lou, MSU men’s hockey, the Detroit Red Wings and the Pistons are the three topics on The Pact’s table this week.
With the Spartans’ regular season coming to an end this past Saturday, The Pact discusses the hockey team’s disappointing season, what the future of Anastos should be, how this team will perform in the Big Ten tournament and who should start in goal in game one on Thursday against Ohio State.
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After shocking No. 5 Wisconsin in overtime Friday night, the Spartans were looking to end Big Ten and regular season play on a high note.
Unfortunately, the Badgers had other plans.
For the last weekend of the regular season, the Michigan State Spartans (10-16-7) welcome the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (21-9-2) to East Lansing this Friday and Saturday. With senior night fast approaching, it will be an emotional weekend for the Spartans who look to build up their confidence and rhythm going into the Big Ten Tournament.
The Wisconsin Badgers are coming off an exceptional weekend, grabbing five out of six points against the Penn State Nittany Lions. They are still chasing No. 1 Minnesota for the Big Ten regular season championship. However, the Badgers are five points behind the Gophers and will need to have a perfect weekend (and a Michigan sweep of Minnesota) in order to jump to No. 1.
