MSU begins a four-game odyssey with No. 14 Ohio State - its first four-game stand in 31 years - with two contests at Munn Ice Arena today and Saturday.
The teams also play Feb. 1-2 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
“It’s kinda cool,” junior defenseman Brad Fast said. “We don’t get to do that very often. I can imagine the rivalry by the end of this thing here. I mean, it’s a good rivalry already - Big Ten schools - but by the end of this, we’re going to be hating each other for sure.
“It’s going to be like a playoff series.”
Freshman center Jim Slater agreed that tensions could flare as the series winds down.
“In juniors, we played Saint Louis four times straight and it got kind of out of hand with all the little rivalries in between one another,” Slater said. “It’s going to be a real coaches’ game to get us prepared for all four games because we’re going to know what to expect from one another.”
The two series could end up being key swing points for the CCHA title race, considering MSU (17-5-3 overall, 12-4-2 CCHA) leads the league by two points over Michigan, four over Alaska-Fairbanks and six over Ohio State.
However, the Buckeyes have played two fewer league games than MSU and U-M and four fewer than the Nanooks, so an upset or two could have big implications.
And if history is any indication, OSU (14-8-2, 9-5-2) is in big trouble this weekend.
The Buckeyes are an abysmal 2-33-2 all-time at Munn and the Spartans carry a school-record 30-game home unbeaten streak into tonight’s game.
“It’s amazing how the odds always seem to go to the other team,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
“Hey, we take advantage of Munn Arena, so let’s hope we can continue it. Home ice should mean something in hockey.”
But MSU has to put its home streak on the line while still nursing injuries to some key contributors.
In addition to the known walking wounded - junior right wing Steve Jackson (thumb), freshman center Lee Falardeau (knee) and senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson (neck) - junior left wing Brian Maloney and freshman left wing Kevin Estrada had the flu this week.
With the midweek line-up so severely depleted, Mason cut practices down to about an hour.
“It makes it very difficult for preparation purposes,” Mason said. “Sometimes you might have to put a line together on the day of the game that’s never practiced together.
“Having a little less workout, hopefully the guys can remain as physically strong as they can. I’m not ready to beat ’em all up, and you can get beat up pretty quick if there are six guys not practicing because the reps are a lot more.”
Maloney and Estrada should recover well enough to play, but Jackson and Falardeau are definitely out this weekend.
Hutchinson is the wild card, listed as day-to-day with a neck strain. But he didn’t practice Thursday and is definitely out for today’s game, with an outside chance of playing Saturday.
Whoever suits up for the Spartans will face a Buckeye team that relies on a strange mixture of youth and experience.
Ohio State’s top four scorers and their starting goaltender are all sophomores.
Leading the second-year crew is center R.J. Umberger, one of the most talented players in the CCHA, and OSU’s leading scorer with 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists).
Ohio State also gets offensive support from center Scott May (9, 11), wing Paul Caponigri (7, 10) and highly regarded center Dave Steckel, who has only notched two goals and 10 assists this year after scoring 17 goals last year.
Two-year starting goaltender Mike Betz also is one of the league’s best, with a 2.17 goals against average and a .918 saves percentage.
“They have some very talented players and the supporting cast is also very good,” Fast said. “I know they’re having a good year so far, and we’re just going to look for some solid play here starting on Friday.
“We want to set the tone right away, so I think the start of the very first game is going to be very important.”
