Coach Rick Comley, it is time to put on another pot of coffee, crack that playbook and review more game tape. Tomorrow you have your biggest test since you came to Michigan State.

Should you lose in the opening round of the NCAA tournament to Minnesota-Duluth, the dean of college hockey, MSU athletics director Ron Mason, should remove you from the program.

Since Comley replaced Mason before the 2002-03 season, MSU has failed to approach the standards set in the two previous decades.

Sure, simply making the NCAA tournament, getting to the CCHA's Super Six in Detroit and hovering around No. 15 in the nation might be a good season for Comley's former team, Northern Michigan, but it doesn't meet Spartans standards.

For you non-hockey fans, let me give you a football comparison. During Mason's tenure, MSU hockey in the CCHA was analogous to Ohio State football in the Big Ten.

Every season, the team was a national title threat and our only consistent conference competition was Michigan.

This season, the Spartans lost at home to the likes of Wayne State, UMass Lowell and, you guessed it, Northern Michigan.

If fact, those Wildcats knocked the Spartans out of the CCHA Tournament the past two seasons - in the quarterfinals.

Now, I know hockey flies a bit under the radar here on campus compared to football and hoops, but imagine if Tom Izzo were replaced by Northwestern's head basketball coach and then the purple-clad warriors knocked the favored Spartans out of the Big Ten Tournament in each of the next two years.

You know that coach would be fired, and Comley should be no different.

Under Comley, the prestige of the program has degraded like a hockey sock at the end of a long season.

Mason's teams used to be loaded with star power. In his final season, not only was reigning Hobey Baker winner Ryan Miller between the pipes, but current NHL players John-Michael Liles, Adam Hall and Andrew Hutchinson wore the Green and White.

Beyond Jim Slater, this year's team has fans searching for a familiar face. The next most recognizable name might be that of sophomore defenseman Corey "Don't call me Harry" Potter.

The concerns are growing:

• This season, Spartans who are either too young or not talented enough have played major minutes.

• Once-prized Mason recruits Justin Tobe and Duncan Keith have left the team during Comley's reign.

• There is no clear choice worthy of replacing Slater as captain and joining NHLers Anson Carter, Mike York and Shawn Horcoff in the elite group of MSU captains.

Comley's MSU résumé boasts only tomorrow's NCAA appearance. Meaning, he hasn't won anything in two years.

Here in East Lansing, we demand championship hockey every year. No excuses.

This weekend, Comley has a prime chance to establish his own winning tradition by earning a trip to the Frozen Four.

MSU received one of the most favorable draws in the NCAA pool. The Spartans' first-round matchup pits them against a team they already defeated this season.

No. 1 seed mighty Minnesota is the likely second-round opponent. An upset here moves the Spartans onto the national semifinals. The Spartans' chances might be slim, but the game to be played in Grand Rapids, only an hour's drive west of Munn Ice Arena, could put luck on the Spartans' side.

So, sharpen your pencil and pour another cup, Coach Comley, because your legacy could be on the line.