It would have taken a small miracle for the Spartans to make the 16-team tournament field. And that miracle didn’t happen.

With such a strong start to the season, it seemed MSU would be a lock for a tournament appearance.

But the team struggled down the stretch and couldn’t match its output from the start of the year.

However, the CCHA will be well-represented in this year’s tournament, with a quarter of the teams in the conference making it in. Miami (Ohio), Northern Michigan, Alaska and Michigan all received invites.

The CCHA and WCHA tied by each having four teams selected. Combined, the two conferences comprise half of the tournament field.

Although the Spartans didn’t receive a bid into the tournament, this season was an impressive turnaround for the team.

Things couldn’t have been much worse than last season. And although the way the team fell apart late in the year was painful to watch, it still was leaps and bounds ahead of the team’s performance from last season.

No one expected MSU to even be in the NCAA Tournament talks, let alone being one of the first teams out of the Big Dance. So in that regard, the Spartans’ season was quite impressive.

Next season has the potential to be even better than this one.

This year’s team was extremely young, and with an offseason to improve size and strength, the Spartans should be poised for a great season.

Now that it’s official the Spartans’ season won’t be extended, expect to hear decisions about the futures of junior defenseman Jeff Petry and junior forward Corey Tropp soon.

It seems Petry likely will opt out of his senior season at MSU to join the Edmonton Oilers, who drafted him in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The Oilers are the worst team in the NHL, with only 22 wins in 71 games, and they likely will want to bring Petry into the organization and start his development as soon as possible.

Tropp also could be departing the team early. The Buffalo Sabres drafted Tropp in the third round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and also might want to bring him in sooner than later.

But if both players were to return, although unlikely, the team would be in great shape. Petry is a phenomenal offensive defenseman, and Tropp led the nation in goals for the majority of the season. If they were to return, it would be a huge boost for the team.

Although it is disappointing the team wasn’t able to make the tournament, it should be a long time before the Spartans have another catastrophe like last season.

We saw the talented youth on this year’s team, and the Spartans should be in tournament talks in the upcoming seasons.

That has to make MSU hockey fans happy and hopeful for the future.

Alex DiFilippo is the State News hockey reporter. He can be reached at difilip3@msu.edu