The competition that the MSU hockey team has faced in the remaining games of the season hasn't been the only force the team has had to combat.

Starting with junior forward David Booth, the Spartans have been hampered by the flu. Booth sat out the Jan. 14 series against Western Michigan before returning to the lineup the following weekend. Sophomore goaltender Dominic Vicari and sophomore forward Drew Miller were hampered by the illness last weekend.

Miller and Vicari played despite their illness, having an impact in each game. Miller scored two goals in less than four minutes on Friday to force overtime, and Vicari stopped 82 out of 85 shots on the weekend, earning CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

MSU head coach Rick Comley said the latest victim of the flu is junior forward Colton Fretter, who paces the Spartans in scoring.

Fretter is among many of the Spartans who have caught the bug, and it's certainly not what MSU needs heading into a tough weekend of play in Alaska.

"It just seems there's a ton of us that have (the flu) to some degree," Comley said. "The worst part probably about the trip is a packed airplane ... you're just surrounded by germs."

Way up north

The Spartans were to fly out this morning for Alaska, where they will visit Alaska-Fairbanks for a two-game series this weekend, a place Comley said is not easy to play.

"There's no way to make it easy; there's nothing you can do - it's long, it's tiresome," he said.

"It takes you about three times on the ice before you start to feel that you're OK. We'll be on the ice Wednesday, Thursday, a pregame skate Friday. We'll be on the ice enough."

The Spartans will have to adjust to a four-hour time difference, in addition to making the long haul.

"The adjustment is tough, but you've got to get it done," Miller said. "That's the good thing about going up there a couple days early. It's tough to go through the adjustments, but it's definitely a fun place to play."

Injury update

Senior goaltender Matt Migliaccio began taking shots in practice again Monday after having the cast on his left arm removed late last week.

Migliaccio has not taken any shots since injuring his hand in an off-ice incident over winter break.