The spectacle surrounding “The Cold War” worries MSU head coach Ron Mason more than anything the Michigan Wolverines are going to throw at his team Saturday.
Mason has to make his players look past the daylong tailgate that could take over campus, ignore the scheduled laser light shows and mini-country concerts accompanying the game and somehow forget about the world-record crowd of more than 72,000 expected to jam Spartan Stadium for the 7:05 p.m. face-off.
You can see why he’s a little nervous.
“We can’t let the excitement of this game take over from our preparation,” Mason said. “We’re going to prepare like we normally would. I’m a coach, and what I can control is what goes on on the 200-by-85 (foot ice rink). I can’t control anything else. We’re going to work on what we can do and let the extraneous things take care of themselves.”
But the extraneous things keep growing.
Most of the build-up for “The Cold War” is centered around the pomp and pageantry of the event and not on the game itself - which is quite important for both teams.
The contest is one of only two league games between the arch-rivals this season, and considering the teams were picked No. 1 (MSU) and No. 2 (U-M) in the CCHA preseason media poll, Saturday’s game could have a major impact on the title chase.
A USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll, released Monday ranked MSU as No. 1 and U-M as No. 4 nationally.
The schools also play each other Jan. 19 at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor in league competition and Feb. 16 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in a nonconference battle.
So it’s not very hard for the players to get down to business in practice, junior center Troy Ferguson said.
“We have to worry about the hockey game because Michigan’s always a good team,” Ferguson said. “We’re trying to put the event in the back of our minds. We have to let the fans take care of the event.
“I’m not really nervous as much as excited. We have to remember it’s just a hockey game. It’s going to be so great for college hockey and everyone involved.”
Adding to the distractions, most players have family and friends attending the game from all around the United States and Canada.
Freshman forward Ash Goldie said his parents, grandmother and close friends are making the trip from London, Ontario.
“Obviously, you gotta be nervous,” he said. “You’re just trying to get as much sleep as you can to prepare for Saturday, but you also just want to go out there and practice your everyday systems and hopefully everything will fall into place.”
And if Goldie or any other players need a little dose of confidence heading into the unknown on Saturday, they can probably find it in their coach.
“I’ve been around too long to let nervousness get involved with what I’m doing,” Mason said. “I have concerns about what we can control and what we have to react to. Obviously we can control our team but we can’t control the environment that we’re going to be involved with.
“And if that has an effect on the game, we’ll have to make some choices.”
