Feel that trembling?
It's emanating from fans in places such as Big Rapids, Marquette and Columbus, Ohio. The rumor is that there are even some frightened folks from the school down the road in Ann Arbor.
All these hockey-minded fans across the Midwest are petrified by the same thing - the mean, green streak (aka the MSU hockey team) shooting up the CCHA standings.
Two weeks. Two sweeps. A jump from 10th to tied for fourth in the standings. What could be scarier for the three teams that have the Spartans in their rearview mirrors?
The answer is, not much.
The Spartans, winners of five straight, are smokin' right now, and their surge has the rest of the league rightfully gnawing on its fingernails.
"We needed something," MSU head coach Rick Comley said Saturday. "We needed a streak to get back in the hunt, and we're back in it now. I think everybody out there kind of knows that we've come together a little bit. Instead of being very confident against us, I think they're going to have questions."
MSU's hockey program is like Florida State football or Duke basketball. Down years are unacceptable. The Spartans are supposed to be in the title hunt every single season.
Of course, that's not possible. Every program, even elite an one, has a bleak year or two once in a while. Nebraska football went 7-7 this year. Not good.
North Carolina's men's hoops team went 8-20 last season. That's just damn ugly.
All indications were that MSU was headed for a similar valley this season until this most recent streak started. Suddenly, five wins have vaulted the Spartans back into the conference title race and onto a few voters' ballots in the national polls.
Who knows how long this winning streak will last? I mean, if Tommy Amaker's Wolverine basketball team can win 11 straight, the Spartan hockey team might not lose until 2005.
(A quick prediction for Sunday's hoops matchup at Crisler Arena: MSU 59, U-M 31. LaVell Blanchard will get disqualified for looking like an alien).
But the Spartans have to make sure to sidestep some big landmines in the coming weeks. Their No. 1 downfall could be overconfidence.
"I think everyone has to start giving us some credit, especially the media," sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio said after Saturday's 7-0 win over Nebraska-Omaha.
It's always nice to be respected, but if the Spartans start believing this modest winning streak gives them the badge to just show up and win games, they're going to be sorely mistaken. This is not a dominant team. The coaches will tell you that. Pretty much anyone who has seen a period of MSU hockey this year will tell you that. The Spartans will have to fight, claw and scratch their way through almost every shift this year.
They're not much different than the team that lost 7-1 to lowly Lake Superior State less than three weeks ago. They're better than that, for sure. Seemingly, they're more focused now as well, but they're still going to have to fight, claw and scratch the rest of the way. Especially when you look at the rest of their schedule.
I'm not trying to be the rain cloud shadowing the team as it ascends the standings, but wins over Lake Superior (4-16-4), Alaska-Fairbanks (9-9-4) and Omaha (8-13-3) aren't going to get them into the NCAA Tournament.
Granted, the Spartans desperately needed wins, over lesser teams or not. But now that they have reasserted themselves as a dominant over the lower division teams, they must beat the big boys.
Four games against U-M are on the horizon, starting on Valentine's Day and ending March 1. The Spartans also have two games apiece against each of the three teams with whom they are tied for fourth place in the league - Northern Michigan, Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan.
If they win those marquee matchups, then the Spartans will get the credit Migliaccio thinks they deserve. Respect is never guaranteed based on the past. It has to be earned in the present.
James Jahnke is the State News hockey reporter. He can be reached at jahnkeja@msu.edu.
