Don’t let Jim Slater’s smallish stature and youthful appearance fool you.
The 6-foot, 186-pound freshman center from Lapeer may be built like a kicker, but he hits like a linebacker.
His father, a former NFL defensive end, said Slater quit youth soccer because there wasn’t enough body-on-body contact for his taste.
And Bill Slater also remembers young Jim returning from hard-fought street hockey games, covered in blood and loving every minute of it.
“I’ve heard I’m real tough out there, just like throwing my body around and everything,” Jim Slater said. “Just growing up with my dad being real rough with me, I think that helped.”
Spartan fans will recognize Slater, 18, as the guy who forced a 3-3 draw in “The Cold War” with a last-minute, game-tying goal.
But he didn’t stop there.
Heading into No. 3 MSU’s series with Bowling Green, Slater was tied for the team lead with eight points (two goals and six assists) and seems entrenched on head coach Ron Mason’s top line.
His roommate, freshman defenseman Duncan Keith, said Slater’s competitiveness sets him apart.
“We have a lot of little competitions like how many push-ups we can do, and training stuff like that back in the dorms,” Keith said. “He’s a strong two-way player, really good offensively and on face-offs and just physically strong for a young guy.”
Young indeed.
Slater won’t turn 19 until Dec. 9, but most players that have skated with him agree he’s deceptively powerful.
“He’s really strong out there,” junior left wing Brian Maloney said. “He skates well, sees the ice well.
“It’s a pleasure playing with him.”
Some of Slater’s strength and toughness is probably genetic. Bill Slater played defensive end, defensive tackle and offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots in the early 1970s.
“He’s real tough on me and he expects a lot, but he knows what it takes to get to the next level,” Slater said. “We don’t really talk about (his NFL career) a lot, mostly he just passes on key tips to me like to maintain focus and know what your goal is at the end.”
Slater’s ultimate goal is to make it to the NHL and win a Stanley Cup, but he said he would have turned in his skates for football pads if that gave him a better chance get to the pros.
Jim Slater said choosing between the sports wasn’t very hard, but Bill Slater believes Jim could have become a gridiron hero at Spartan Stadium if hockey didn’t work out.
“He would have made a heck of a safety,” said Bill Slater, who works as the principal of an elementary school in Lapeer. “As a kid, he reminded me a lot of (former Oakland Raider) Jack Tatum- he just loved hitting people. He loves the contact. When he had the ball, instead of running around them, he’d run through them.
“You can’t teach a kid to be aggressive - they either have it or they don’t.”
Although Slater’s primary task is to be aggressive in the offensive zone and put the puck in the net for MSU, he also relishes being a physical force in the neutral zone.
Slater crushed an unsuspecting Lake Superior State player dancing through center ice last month - a hit that easily qualifies as one of the Spartans’ biggest of the season so far.
“He looked like a linebacker on that hit,” Mason said. “He’s certainly got a good physical presence about him and he likes that style of game.”
Mason prevailed in a massive recruiting war to sign Slater out of the North American Hockey League, where he played for the Cleveland Barons since he was 15. Slater’s decision ultimately came down to MSU or Michigan.
“He could have had a full ride at any college in the country,” Bill Slater said. “Basically all he had to say was he was interested in a school and they would offer a scholarship. But he wanted to play in front of his family and friends and Michigan State was the best fit.”
