The MSU hockey team is headed to the Great White North — and isn’t exactly sure what it’ll find there.
Of course, two hockey games will take place, as the No. 6 Spartans will battle Alaska on Friday and Saturday, but what kind of Alaska team they’ll be seeing is up in the air.
The Nanooks have a new head coach after Tavis MacMillan resigned in the offseason, who had been behind the bench since 2004, compiling a 46-54-15 record.
In his place is Doc DelCastillo, who takes over after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha.
“It sounds like, when you listen to him, that (DelCastillo) wants an upbeat game and lots of speed, lots of attack situations, which is very similar to what Tavis did before,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “Whether they’ll be as physical or out of control, who knows.”
On top of the coaching change, Alaska has only played two games, as it was swept by rival Alaska Anchorage two weekends ago, dropping 4-3 and 5-3 decisions.
The Nanooks do return two solid players in defenseman Tyler Eckford (who recorded three points in the first two games) and forward Dion Knelson, who recorded 22 points last season and a solid goaltending tandem in Wylie Rogers and Chad Johnson.
It’s arguable that the games aren’t even the hardest part of the trip, as the extensive travel required to get there is draining, not to mention dropping the clock back four hours.
“Playing up there is really tough,” Comley said. “It’s tough to go up there and win a game, let alone think about sweeping. Sometimes you expect too much going in and you can get highly frustrated with it. Handling the trip is very important. If you make too much of it, then that can really work against you.”
But if there is any good news it’s that the Spartans get this trip out of the way early in the season when their legs are still fresh and it’ll give the team a chance to bond as any trip of this distance should.
“Although we don’t get to see much up there, it’s still pretty cool,” junior forward Justin Abdelkader said. “It’s almost like a different country, it’s so far up, but it’s just a neat experience. It’s good for team building, too, with all the guys being together. We’re all together for four or five straight days.”
More importantly, picking up two more wins would keep the Spartans on track for a solid start to the season while continuing to pick up points in the CCHA.
“This weekend can really set us apart if we can win a couple games up there and go 4-0 in the league” Abdelkader said.
“This can really set us up with Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame up there. We just have to keep pace with the rest of the teams up there.”
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