But even with all of his accolades and success, the junior defenseman Krug is about to embark on something that neither he nor any of his teammates have experienced in their time at MSU: a berth to the NCAA Tournament.

With the announcement of their tournament appearance on Sunday, Krug and the Spartans (19-15-4) return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008 and travel to Bridgeport, Conn., with a spot in the East Regional, Friday (3 p.m., ESPNU) to play ECAC champion Union (24-7-7).

Earning a spot to the NCAA Tournament satisfied many fans and alumni of the program, but Krug said the team isn’t in the position to be satisfied yet. If the program wants to make a trip to the Big Dance an annual occurrence, it begins with an aggressive mindset and a victory against Union, Krug said.

“We’ve been receiving a lot of congratulations and things like that, but at the same time, the reality is, this is where the Spartan hockey program should be annually,” Krug said. “We should be fighting for national championships on a year-to-year basis. It’s huge for us to get back in the tournament, and obviously we’re not satisfied with just getting there, so we’re going in with this weekend to win a couple games and get to Tampa (for the Frozen Four).”

The Spartans last were in the NCAA Tournament in 2008, where they traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo., and were bounced by Notre Dame, 3-1, after beating Colorado College in the opening game. The previous year, then-forward Justin Abdelkader scored the game-winning goal to send MSU over Boston College in the 2007 NCAA Tournament Championship game.

MSU saw its NCAA Tournament bid come down to chance after being swept in Oxford, Ohio, by Miami (Ohio) in a best-of-three series two weeks ago in the CCHA Tournament. With wins by Western Michigan and Union, among others, the Spartans earned a No. 4 seed and now find themselves with a chance for playoff redemption.

This time around, first-year head coach Tom Anastos said if MSU raises its competition level from the drop of the puck to the final whistle against the Dutchmen, it will see favorable results this weekend and give the team a chance to advance to the Frozen Four.

“You take from the experience, whether it’s that series or any other series, and you try to take some lessons learned from it, and at the same time, forget about it and move ahead,” Anastos said.

“In any series that we’ve had success or a lack of success, I think our team, from our coaches right down to all of our players, have been able to identify why we had a lack of success. That in itself should be a good experience to reiterate what we have to do to give ourselves a chance to have success.”

Redemption also is on the minds of the seniors, who have labored for four seasons with no berth to the NCAA Tournament. Senior forward Brett Perlini said beyond giving his class a chance to go out on a high note, this is an opportunity to build up the program with the benefit of postseason success.

“Our goal from the start of the year has been to win a playoff game, and we didn’t get a chance to do that obviously in the CCHA Tournament,” Perlini said. “With this NCAA Tournament, it’s going to be huge, especially for our senior class. Haven’t been there yet, so it’s very important for us.”

The winner of MSU and Union moves on to play the winner of Massachusetts-Lowell and Miami, who are set to square off following the conclusion of the Spartans’ 3 p.m. matchup. The team that gets out of the East Regional advances to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., and will play the winner of one of the three other regionals.