Not much was expected of the MSU hockey team entering the 1991-92 season. Preseason predictions had the Spartans penciled in for a fifth-place finish in the CCHA.

The Spartans made those predictions look like a joke in the postseason.

MSU was a five seed in the West Regional and proceeded to defeat Boston, 4-2, on the strength of three unanswered third-period goals. The win was the 650th of then-head coach Ron Mason's career.

The Spartans advanced to face top-ranked Maine, and goaltender Mike Gilmore notched 20 third-period saves to preserve a 3-2 upset victory.

MSU's run finally ended in the Frozen Four, where the Spartans fell to Lake Superior, 4-2 — a team that was then coached by Jeff Jackson, who is presently behind the bench at Notre Dame.

"That was kind of a funny Frozen Four opponent because we'd already played them like four or five times," MSU assistant coach Tom Newton, who also was an assistant at the time, recalled Monday.

The score was deadlocked at the end of the second period, 2-2, but the Lakers scored two unanswered goals in third period.

"That was a rough game because it was an opponent we knew, and Lake State, in those days — once you got behind them, it was tough to get ahead of them," Newton said.

"They grounded out, they protected the puck very well and played a very defensive situation. They didn't take many penalties. We were a team that kind of depended on a power play."

The wear and tear of Lake Superior's game plan seemingly wore down MSU.

"I remember (All-American defenseman) Joby Messier in that game having to play 35, 40 minutes, and he didn't feel well that day," Newton said. "He was a little sick, so that didn't help us."

The Lakers eventually defeated Wisconsin to win the NCAA crown.

"It was a tough opponent, and obviously, they proved that they were a darn good team when they won it the next night," Newton said.