There's plenty of hatred surrounding this weekend's MSU-Michigan hockey games, but it seems most of the loathing will be confined to the fans in the stands.
The teams are still archrivals - just ask any student or alumnus from the schools. But on an individual level, very few, if any, of the players and coaches involved say they "hate" the other school.
First-year MSU head coach Rick Comley said he has a "good relationship" with U-M foreman Red Berenson, and Comley holds no more misgivings about the Wolverines than he does any other CCHA squad.
Spartan freshman defenseman Jared Nightingale is from Cheboygan, but he didn't really care about the MSU-Michigan rivalry growing up.
Sophomore center Jim Slater seriously considered going to U-M before signing with the Spartans two years ago. And freshman right wing Nenad Gajic admitted to rooting for his brother's Wolverines in "The Cold War" last year.
So this week, the Spartans were civil and complimentary when talking about the Wolverines, whom they play in a crucial home-and-home series this weekend.
"I have great respect for Michigan," Slater said. "They've had great players and great teams in the past and they still do. We're both great teams and we're just going to throw it all on the ice. That's where it's supposed to be kept."
But despite the players' cliché niceties, there's sure to be plenty of emotion in this weekend's games. To the fourth-place Spartans (16-10-2 overall, 12-7-1 CCHA), this is their most important series to date. They trail the third-place Wolverines (20-7-1, 14-5-1) by four points. U-M, meanwhile, is chasing Ohio State and Ferris State for the conference title.
Plus, fans on both sides have pointed to this weekend since the schedule was released this summer. Tonight's game at Yost Ice Arena will feature a "Maize Out" promotion, and MSU counters with a "White Out" for Saturday's game at Munn Ice Arena.
Behind the benches, this weekend will be Comley's first taste of the rivalry after spending 26 years at Northern Michigan. That leaves Berenson to wonder about the possibilities.
"I really like Rick Comley as a coach," said Berenson, who missed most of U-M's practices this week while attending to his ailing father in Saskatchewan. "But I don't know what it's like to coach against Rick in a Michigan/Michigan State game. Obviously, it will be strange to not have Ron Mason there."
Comley said his feelings on the rivalry might change after the game, but right now, he wants league points more than bragging rights.
"I'm not diminishing the fact that it's Michigan - I know what it means," Comley said. "But to me, they're just the best team we'll have played. We have a chance to play a team that's highly ranked, (which) we want to use for our best purposes."
On the ice, MSU's league-leading power play (.254) will collide with a stingy Wolverine penalty-killing unit that leads the nation at 92.9 percent and hasn't allowed a man-advantage goal in seven games.
But much like the Spartans, U-M is thin defensively. Eric Werner was declared academically ineligible recently, which has forced Berenson to use a combination of unproved defensemen and converted forwards on the blue line to compensate. U-M's last line of defense is goaltender Al Montoya, who turned 18 on Thursday. He is the youngest player in Division I men's hockey. Montoya has played every game this season, recording a 2.22 goals against average and a .921 saves percentage.
Freshman Jeff Tambellini leads U-M in scoring with 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists). Strangely, the traditionally defensive-minded Spartans have four players with at least as many points as the normally high-powered Wolverines' scoring leader.
Still, Comley maintains that the keys to MSU success this weekend are not turning over the puck and winning or breaking even in the goaltending battle. MSU sophomore Matt Migliaccio has a 2.43 GAA and a .921 saves percentage this year.
"If we turn it over, then they're just going to come roaring back at us," Comley said. "They're very, very quick and their forwards are very explosive.
"I think you play well against Michigan, especially in their building, when you make them defend their own net."
U-M is 13-1-0 at home this season.
