Brad Fast was groomed to become a captain of the MSU hockey team since the first day he stepped on campus.
A quiet guy hailing from eight hours north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Fast had all the makings of a leader. He was eloquent, focused, tough, intelligent and determined.
As a junior last year, he was the only underclassman to be an assistant captain. That paved the way for him to take over the team's captaincy this season.
But even with all the preparatory steps and planning, Fast still wasn't quite ready to be the leader of the team this fall.
In the first few months with the "C" stitched on his jersey, he was constantly questioning himself. Which circumstances warranted silent leadership? When is an in-your-face screaming session necessary? When do you step in and when do you back off?
"I was just learning," Fast, 23, said. "I was trying everything possible, but being a captain isn't something you can just be all of a sudden. It's something you have to grow into."
Compounding Fast's early season learning curve was the Spartans' subpar 8-9-1 start. While the team was suffering, Fast often doubted his credibility to tell teammates what they were doing wrong.
"Captains are always worried about 'I have to be the best player before I can be the best leader,'" MSU head coach Rick Comley. "That's not always true.
"Everybody knew Brad should be the captain this year, but what everyone was concerned about was whether it would hurt him as a player."
Although he was still feeling things out, his role didn't seem to hinder his productivity at first. Fast scored six goals in his first six games and led the team in goal-scoring for a few months.
But he has had a tendency to harp on his mistakes - whether great or small - throughout his career. And he admitted his ultra-intensity hurt his performance as captain prior to MSU's holiday break.
"As a captain, you have to be on top of your game all the time," Fast said. "You have to change a lot of the things you do because your accountability level is much greater."
Fast's roommates, senior left wing Brian Maloney and senior defenseman Steve Clark, know first-hand how much Fast can beat himself up after a poor game.
So, in the interest of his sanity, Clark and Maloney took it upon themselves to lighten the mood around the apartment when necessary.
"We'll crack a joke, and it puts a smile on his face," Clark said. "It lets him know that it's not the end of the world.
"Any time you're the captain of a program like Michigan State, there's a lot of extra pressure on you. He's such a motivated guy that he's real hard on himself, but that's what makes him the player he is. I wouldn't want to change that at all - but I like him to have some fun, too."
Since Christmas, there have been no complaints about Fast's performance on the ice or off. He was on a 12-game point streak before he was held scoreless against Alaska-Fairbanks on Saturday. Overall, he has 11 goals and 32 assists in 38 games this season.
His 43 points are tied for second most on the team, although his goal-scoring output has slowed considerably since the first six games.
He was named to the All-CCHA First Team last week and will likely earn All-American honors later this season. The general management senior has also drawn CCHA All-Academic accolades three straight years.
And now Fast has his team making a run at the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans play in the CCHA Super Six finals starting Thursday in Detroit. With a couple of wins, MSU would have a good chance to get an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
If the Spartans manage to sneak into the tourney after such a horrendous start, Comley will point to Fast's maturation as a major reason why.
"Not everyone can lead and play," Comley said. "But since Christmas, Brad Fast has been outstanding."
