There will be little time to rest for the MSU hockey team (8-5-1 overall, 6-3-1 CCHA) after eating turkey and stuffing on Thursday.
Friday marks the start of the 11th Annual College Hockey Showcase at Munn Ice Arena, with the Spartans playing host to defending national champion Minnesota (4-7-1, 3-6-1 WCHA) in game one of the showcase. Saturday, the Spartans play Wisconsin (6-3-3, 3-2-3 WCHA) in the second game. Both contests are slated for a 7:05 p.m. start on their respective days.
"It's very important for national status," MSU junior center and captain Jim Slater said of the weekend.
After falling to Wayne State last Thursday in overtime, 3-2, and eventually splitting the series last Friday with a 7-2 defeat of the Warriors, the Spartans have been dropped from the national rankings. This weekend's games mark the last two out-of-conference games before the Spartans return to CCHA play in a home-and-home series with No. 5 Michigan beginning Dec. 5.
"It affects us with inconsistencies," MSU head coach Rick Comley said of stepping in and out of the national polls. "We lose Thursday to a team we shouldn't lose to and come back Friday, so I'm concerned about the mental development maybe as much as the physical development."
Friday's game holds special meaning for one Spartan in particular. Freshman defenseman A.J. Thelen, a native of Savage, Minn., likely will garner special recognition from the Minnesota TV media, as the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net North. The Gophers recruited Thelen, and they were expecting him to skate with them next season, Thelen said.
"It's going to be a challenge and probably a pure adrenaline rush for me to know I'm playing against my hometown," Thelen said.
Although the records of Minnesota and Wisconsin aren't top-notch, their levels of play are. Comley said this is a perfect set of games to judge the character of the Spartans as they head back into conference play and an intrastate showdown with the Wolverines.
