But staying friends off the ice is more of a challenge. Players spend countless hours together, have different personalities and battle for ice time in practice.

Yet, this year’s No. 6 MSU hockey team is extremely tight both on and off the ice, which players cited as the reason the Spartans are off to such an impressive start this season.

“This team likes each other and gets along so well,” senior co-captain and forward Nick Sucharskisaid. “All the guys on the team look out for each other, and it’s fun to be a part of. It’s the same thing we had when we won the national championship (in 2007). It’s something you need in a team if you want to win and be successful.”

Whether it’s nonmandatory weekly team dinners or activities on “Sunday Funday,” the mood in the locker room is much different from the cliquey feeling present last season.

“They are a team that likes each other,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “Sometimes, as coaches, you want to stop that. But at the same time, you have to let them enjoy what they are doing as long as they come to play.”

And there’s no doubt the Spartans (9-2-1 overall, 6-1-1-0 CCHA) have come to play this season, in first place in the CCHA and one win shy of the win total from all of last year.

Comley made it a point to bring in bigger, stronger and older freshman this season, and their maturity has eliminated lines drawn between classes.

“From day one, when the freshmen came in, it seemed like everybody got along and everybody was clicking,” junior co-captain and defenseman Jeff Petry said. “Looking back to my freshman year, I thought that was a great group of guys and that team came together real quick. But this year is just something else.”

Although this year’s freshman class wasn’t around for the struggles of last season, they walked in the door the first day and brought “the past is the past” mentality.

“The freshmen coming in when I talked to them, they were saying, ‘What happened last year is over,’” Petry said. “They came in with the right attitude. Their goal, without being here through it, was not to let that happen again.”

And with all nine freshmen in the starting lineup, it’s been important for the rookies to feel at home.

“We are a really close group of friends off the ice,” said freshman forward Kevin Walrod, who plays on the all-freshman fourth line. “We got to know each other really well quickly at the dorms and having to walk together to class everyday. When we go together on the line, we know where we are out there.”

With a hard-working attitude on the ice and a friendly mood in the locker room, Sucharski expects the team to sit near the top of the table in the CCHA this season.

“The chemistry of this team has come together so quickly,” Sucharski said. “Everyone wants to play for each other.”