The remaining 10 games of the MSU hockey team's CCHA season don't exactly start off easy.
The Spartans (13-11-2, 8-9-1 CCHA) will face off against No. 5, CCHA leading, Michigan today at Yost Ice Arena and Saturday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in a series that is crucial to conference standings.
"It's (the series) more important I think for us right now than it is for them," sophomore forward Tommy Goebel said.
"Everybody is ready to go against Michigan; it's our big rival. I think we do a good job of pumping ourselves up."
U-M (20-7-1, 17-3-0) is dangerous in all aspects of the game. They have high offensive skill from forwards Jeff Tambellini, Milan Gajic and T.J. Hensick, and a goaltender in Al Montoya that can steal a game.
"Hensick and Tambellini are two of the elite players in the country, Gajic is just a natural goal-scorer," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "They probably have more weapons than anybody in the league."
In addition, U-M will have back the five players that were absent from the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament Dec. 30, where the Spartans were able to beat the Wolverines for the tournament championship. Five of the Wolverines missed the tournament to represent Team USA in the World Junior Championship.
Though the Spartans were able to knock off U-M in the GLI, the Wolverines still hold an edge in the season series, as they were able to sweep MSU in a home-and-home series in November.
"That was the first time we've been swept by them in a long time," Goebel said. "I think the GLI was a big win for us, but they were missing a lot of guys, key players, so we've got to be ready to go."
As if the skill of the Wolverines isn't enough, the Spartans will also have to deal with a hostile crowd of nearly 7,000 Friday night, in what is planned to be a "maize out". Junior defenseman Jared Nightingale said that striking early is essential to minimizing crowd involvement.
"If we get on them early, I think that's a key to the game," Nightingale said.
"They're kind of a run and gun team, just take that away from them, then the crowd will get out of it quickly."
Faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m. both nights, and both games are being televised on Fox Sports Net.
