After a week of intense practices, the MSU hockey team will finally hit the ice to open the 2004-05 season with a pair of exhibition games this weekend at Munn Ice Arena.
"We want to get the team going," junior forward David Booth said. "We want everyone to get in sync with each other and get some flow going."
The team will open the preseason campaign with the annual Green and White game tonight at 7:05 p.m. The game, which will feature two 25-minute periods, will place half of the team against the other half.
"Until you get in shape, talent doesn't matter," MSU head coach Rick Comley said of the exhibition season. "There's a game shape, then there's a practice shape."
The Green team will feature senior forwards Jim Slater and Mike Lalonde, junior defenseman Corey Potter and sophomore goaltender Dominic Vicari.
The White team will include senior forward Adam Nightingale, junior defenseman Jared Nightingale, sophomore defenseman A.J. Thelen and sophomore forward Drew Miller. Senior Matt Migliaccio and junior Rod Tocco will be in goal.
On Sunday, the team will play Toronto at 2:05 p.m.
"We have to come out and play and show that we can play," Vicari said. "We're going to come out and play our best."
Comley said his two main goaltenders, Vicari and Migliaccio, will each play about 20 minutes per period in the intrasquad game, while they will each play about half of the Toronto game. Vicari knows that Migliaccio is nipping at his heels.
"There's always going to be pressure," Vicari said. "We push each other in practice, we're real good friends and I think that's the best competition - when you're real good buddies with someone and they push you and you push them."
Comley does not have his power play or penalty kill units set yet. The exhibition games will go a long way to deciding who will play on those units, which he says are one of the toughest things to get going.
"In the intrasquad game, especially, a lot of people get the chance to play (special teams)," Comley said. "I'll try to put together two groups for the Toronto game and then we'll see how close we are after that."
