Jeff Lerg got up at 6 a.m. for a month straight after Maine eliminated MSU in last year's East Regional final. The sophomore goaltender rode a stationary bike every day for 30-45 minutes. He remembered the loss and everything about it.
"Every time my legs were kind of going out, I would think about that and how that feeling was and how I never wanted that to happen again," he said.
Lerg and the rest of the MSU hockey team have their chance at redemption when they play the Black Bears at 4 p.m. today in St. Louis in the national semifinal game. The winner will advance to face the victor of North Dakota vs. Boston College in the national championship game 7 p.m. Saturday.
In last year's game, MSU fell behind 3-0 but battled back to cut Maine's lead to one goal with a minute remaining in the second period.
But the Black Bears scored an empty-net goal late in the third, and when the Spartans added another goal with seconds left in the game, it was too late. Their season had ended.
"During summer workouts, we put on the board, 'It takes 60 minutes' and put 'Maine' next to it," junior forward Chris Mueller said. "We dominated that game for 51 minutes, and we lost.
"This is for a national championship, and it's also for revenge for last year."
Even though last year's game is emblazoned in their minds, the Spartans know they must focus on the present — and, more specifically, Maine's nation-leading power play.
The Black Bears have scored on 25.7 percent of their power plays this season. The best power-play team MSU faced this season is Minnesota, which converted 20.6 percent of its opportunities into goals.
"You have to block shots because they throw everything at the net," junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic said about Maine.
"They'll take the wrist shot on net just to get that tip. Last year, I think three or four of their goals were tip goals or rebound goals that Jeff (Lerg) couldn't see or were hard for him to handle."
But one thing the Spartans have done well lately is kill penalties. Because of shot blocking and positional play, MSU has allowed three power-play goals in its last 40 penalty kills and stopped all 11 power-play chances in regionals.
"It's a big part of defense today," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "And that's why power plays are so difficult and frustrating today because you can't get shots to the net. Teams have blocked shots well, and they play good."
If both teams limit special teams opportunities, it could be a goaltender duel. Maine's Ben Bishop, who recovered from a groin injury before the tournament began, holds a 2.08 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
But this won't be the first time MSU has faced a statistically loaded goaltender. The team's last two opposing goaltenders, Boston University goaltender John Curry and Notre Dame goaltender David Brown, boasted better numbers than Bishop.
"(Bishop) presents a whole different challenge," Comley said. "He's 6-foot-7, but he plays the game on his knees. We just have to make him move side-to-side and get enough traffic in front of him."
MSU is ready for the challenge. Of the four team, MSU is the only team that didn't make it to this point last year. Although the team has been labeled as the underdog, that's not anything the Spartans aren't used to.
"Teams that have played us have respect for us," Comley said. "Teams that haven't played us, I think, look at numbers and go, 'Holy cow. What's going on?' "I respect all the teams that are in St. Louis. But again, I think head to head, we can match up with anybody."
