For many college teams, the weekend usually brings another series, and Thanksgiving week is like any other to the players and staff. However, this past Thanksgiving was an unusual one for MSU hockey (4-6-2 overall, 3-4-1 CCHA), as the team had an idle week and players had the chance to spend the break at home.

“We were required by our schedule to be off all week, so we didn’t have any practices,” head coach Tom Anastos said at Tuesday’s press conference. “Guys, if they skated, they skated on their own. Most went home, so we came back (Monday) and we could see that they’ve been off and we will probably see that (Tuesday) as well.”

Senior forward Chris Forfar said the last time he had the opportunity to go home for Thanksgiving was five years ago and went home last week and got to spend time with his brother who was on leave from the Marines for a few days.

Similarly, freshman goaltender Jake Hildebrand hadn’t been home for Thanksgiving for three years before last week. Both he and Forfar said they took the off days to work out on their own at their own pace.

“I like to take some time off,” Hildebrand said. “I did work out a few times. It was nice to get in the weight room and not have to worry about all the hard practices, so I hit the weights pretty good but I didn’t skate.”

Anastos said Monday was a hard, short practice to get the guys moving, but Tuesday they returned to their normal routine. He said although he prefers playing that weekend, he said the time off offered time for players with nagging injuries to rest up and get healthy.

Killin’ it
While MSU has had continued success on the power play this season, its penalty kill also is worth noting.

The team’s penalty kill has not allowed a goal in 13 straight chances, including going seven-for-seven against No. 4 Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17.

“Last year when we started, I challenged the guys who we want to be the best penalty killing team in the country,” Anastos said. “Oftentimes, people look at the power play and focus so much on the power play, and it’s certainly important, but in the game today one goal makes a big difference because it’s so hard to score goals. Your penalty killing is really important and I don’t think, oftentimes, players put a lot of focus on that.”

A penalty killer himself while at MSU, Anastos said he pushes the players to take pride in being out there during one. One of those players is Forfar, who said he has had the importance of penalty killing instilled in him since he was in juniors.

“Our penalty kill is very aggressive,” Forfar said of MSU’s play. “You look at some teams, they’re more passive. They’re going to let you pass around the perimeter. Our penalty kill is more ‘pick your spot and go.’ Once somebody’s going, everybody’s going and we’re trying to get the puck out of the zone.”