New hockey head coach Rick Comley was understandably anxious to get training camp under way Tuesday after six months of studying the MSU roster on paper. But now that practice has started, Comley doesn’t want it to stop.
This year’s Spartan training camp will be much longer than the camps run by longtime head coach Ron Mason, who retired after last season to become athletics director. Mason was so familiar with his players that he didn’t need a long grace period before the first game. Last season, MSU had less than a week of practice before playing an exhibition game against Queen’s University (Ontario).
But Comley juggled this year’s schedule to allow for almost two full weeks of practice before MSU’s first exhibition on Oct. 5. Comley said he needs the extra time to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each player.
“They’ve gotta hear me, they’ve gotta be out there with me,” Comley said. “I’ve gotta see them scrimmage so I can talk to them as they’re coming off the ice about how I think they’re picking up what we’re going to do.”
While Comley learns the players, senior forward Troy Ferguson said the longer training camp is perfect for players trying to figure out their new coach.
“Especially this year, it’s going to be awesome,” Ferguson said. “With Coach Mason, we knew the systems, knew what to expect, so if we only had three or four practices before the Green and White (game), it was no big deal.
“If we only had that much time this year, I think we’d be feeling a lot of pressure to learn things too quickly from the new coach. But now we have two weeks here to get things going with Coach Comley, and I think that will be plenty of time.”
Lacrossed up
Not only did freshman forward Nenad Gajic celebrate his 19th birthday Aug. 30, he was actually part of a full-fledged celebration on his big day.
That’s because his Burnaby Lakers lacrosse team won the Canadian national junior championship Aug. 30 with a 7-3 victory over St. Catharines in Game 6 of the Minto Cup finals. Gajic said the championship run taught him some valuable lessons.
“Just going through the playoffs, getting that deep into the season with any team in any sport, you pick up positive attributes in yourself,” said Gajic, a native of Burnaby, British Columbia, who scored three goals and six assists in the lacrosse finals. “Hopefully, I can just bring some of that winning experience to this team.”
Juiced up
Freshman goaltender Justin Tobe debuted his new Spartan goalie equipment, including his custom-made mask, at practice Tuesday. The mask features an angry rendition of Sparty on the front and a block “S” on the back.
Then, in orange letters below the “S” is Tobe’s nickname - “Juice.”
“There was some guy on the Red Wings with the last name of Juice, some French guy that had about a two-week stint with the Red Wings, and I got one of his hockey cards,” Tobe said of the moniker’s origin. “When I was a little kid, I said he was my favorite player, so my coach just called me ‘Juice’ the rest of the year.
“It just carried on, year to year to year. I always had one guy on my team from the previous year, so it just stuck.”
Upscale
Goaltender Ryan Miller, who forfeited his senior season at MSU to turn pro this year, got his first game action with the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Miller played the last 27 minutes, 48 seconds against Ottawa and made 12 saves on 14 shots. One of the goals he surrendered was a short-handed tally by Senators forward Chris Kelly.
Meanwhile, former forward Adam Hall and former defenseman Andrew Hutchinson are in camp with the Nashville Predators. Hall has scored one goal this preseason, while Hutchinson has been whistled for one penalty.
Miller’s Sabres will be in Detroit for a preseason game against the Red Wings on Oct. 3.
