Final exams are officially over! That means summer has begun in earnest and the offseason is well underway.
But that doesn’t mean that we’re just lounging around, (ok maybe a little bit). All summer long we’ll be keeping an eye on the happenings in the college hockey world, as they pertain to your Spartans. So while you’re patiently waiting for the beginning of hockey season, catch up on all the Spartan hockey news over this summer.
These are your Spartan Hockey Summer Headlines!
Taro Hirose Commits to Michigan State
In early April, the Spartans received a verbal commitment from Taro Hirose, an 18 year-old from Calgary, Alberta. Hirose finished his rookie year in the British Columbia Hockey League with 50 points (18 goals 32 assists). To learn more about Hirose’s commitment take a look at our in depth story here. Hirose will likely suit up for the green and white for the 2016-17 season.
Thomas Miller Commits to MSU, is Drafted 4th Overall in USHL Draft
Apparently when it rains it pours when it comes to recruits at Michigan State. While Spartan Nation was pre-occupied with football’s recruiting blitzkrieg, defenseman Thomas Miller (West Bloomfield) committed to play for the Spartans in 2017-18.
While Thomas isn’t part of the ‘Miller Dynasty’ he certainly plays like it. The 6’1 165 lb defenseman had a solid season playing for Victory Honda at the Midget Major level (17-18 year olds) as a 15 year-old!
Regarded as one of the top defenseman prospects in the Midwest, Miller was taken in the first round of the USHL draft by the Fargo Force. Miller is the third Anastos recruit to be taken in the first round of the USHL Phase 1 draft (Zach Osburn, 2013 and Mitch Lewandowski, 2014).
Bye-Bye Bleachers
Munn Ice Arena will continue to undergo renovations during the summer. As part of the planned overhaul of the historic arena, its trademark green bleachers have been removed completely from the seating area.
The Munn Ice Arena seat replacement project is underway as nearly all bleachers have been removed. pic.twitter.com/2dsR6rpNIo
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) April 24, 2015
Replacing the bleachers will be full sections of green chairback seats on both sidelines running from faceoff circle to faceoff circle. New bleachers will be installed on both end zones to provide more flexible seating in those areas.
The old green bleachers will be available for sale at the MSU Surplus Store.
Future Spartans in the USHL Playoffs
The USHL playoffs are nearing their conclusion with the Muskegon Lumberjacks and the Sioux Falls Stampede set to play of the 2015 Clark Cup championship. MSU commit Mitch Eliot (2016) has one assist in 8 playoff games for Muskegon and David Keefer (2017) has zero points with only 5 playoff games for the Lumberjacks. These numbers are not too surprising seeing as Eliot is a defenseman and Keefer hit a wall midway through the season. Both are in their first year in the USHL.
The Tri-City Storm fought valiantly but could not get past the Stampede in the 2nd round. Mason Appleton (2015) continued his strong USHL debut with 4 goals and 4 assists in only 7 games played. Appleton finished the season with 16 goals and 32 assists (48 pts) overall. A majority of Appleton’s points came on the powerplay, welcome news to any Spartan fan. Cody Milan (2015) struggled a bit in the playoffs registering no points in 6 games played. Milan finishes his third USHL season with 11 goals and 13 assists (24 pts). His best season yet.
Jerad Rosburg (2015) saw no action with the Sioux City Musketeers. Rosberg has been plagued by injuries that have kept him out of the lineup since November. However, he should be ready to suit up for the Spartans next October.
Ty Farmer (2016) also saw limited action on a stacked Youngstown squad that was upset in the second round by Muskegon. Farmer, a rookie defenseman, garnered 5 assists in 39 regular season games for the Phantoms.
