Head coach Ron Mason and his fourth-ranked Spartans rarely look too far down the road.
But for tonight’s nonconference matchup against UMass-Amherst at 7:05 at Munn Ice Arena, MSU admits it’s thinking ahead a little bit.
Don’t think the Spartans (5-2-1 overall, 5-2-1 CCHA) are taking the Minutemen of the Hockey East conference lightly.
Quite the opposite, actually.
Mason realizes nonleague games can have a significant impact on the makeup of the NCAA Tournament come March and a slip-up tonight could be very bad news.
“We know from experience that nonconference play can make a huge difference in the end - like how your league does against another league, how your team does against another team - if you’re on the bubble for the tournament,” Mason said.
“Obviously, this doesn’t show up as two points in the standings, but it can show up as two points way down the road.”
Mason was referring to the Ratings Percentage Index, which is similar to the Bowl Championship Series in college football. Among other criteria, the RPI takes strength of schedule and league strength into account when selecting and seeding teams for the national tournament.
And it gives this weekend’s one-game stand with UMass (3-3) some serious weight.
“This is a really big game and we want to come out hard and hopefully get the win,” freshman defenseman Duncan Keith said. “It’s worth even more, in a sense, than a regular season game because depending on how the (RPI) goes, it could really help us out a lot.”
The game will be MSU’s first out-of-conference contest of the regular season and its only battle against Hockey East.
The Spartans also host Wisconsin and Minnesota of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association on Thanksgiving weekend, take on Michigan Tech and maybe North Dakota of the WCHA in the Great Lakes Invitational in December and will host a two-game series against Quinnipiac of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in January.
Tonight will be the second-ever meeting between the Spartans and UMass, following MSU’s 3-1 win on Oct. 17, 1998 at Munn.
“I honestly don’t (remember that game),” said senior defenseman Jon Insana, who was a freshman the last time the Minutemen visited. “Watching the tape on them, I don’t recognize a lot of guys, and I don’t recognize too much in the way they play. I remember playing them and that’s about it.”
Mason also said he doesn’t expect the 1998 game film to be much help. UMass head coach Don Cahoon is starting just his second season in Amherst and only five players are left from the 1998-99 UMass team.
This year’s Minutemen are led by forward Tim Turner, a Saginaw native who has scored three goals and three assists this season, and goaltender Mike Johnson.
Senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson said he expects a speedy, skilled team - typical of a Hockey East squad.
“I remember they were kind of a smaller, quick, fast team and we expect sort of the same thing this time,” Hutchinson said. “I know Hockey East likes to play an offensive-style, open game. Hopefully we can make them play more of a CCHA-style game, along the boards, and come out with a win.”
Insana agrees that it’s MSU’s way or the highway tonight.
“Last year, we had pretty good success against out-of-conference teams, and we definitely didn’t do anything different last year,” Insana said. “That was our strength last year, we played the same game no matter who we were playing.
“It’s the same this year. We have to make them beat us, not react to how they’re playing.”
