“They’re record is misleading, and they’ll be a very difficult team to play against,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “Every one of the opponents that they’ve played against have been very difficult, and most of them have been on the road. The one home game that they had was against their biggest rival in Northern Michigan.”

Michigan Tech leads the all-time series 78-75-2, but the Spartans have won 14 of the last 15 meetings since 1992.

The schedule for the Huskies hasn’t been a cakewalk, as six of their eight games have been on the road against ranked teams, including weekend series at No. 4 Notre Dame and at No. 2 Michigan.

Senior forward Greg Wolfe has never been to Michigan Tech, but knows it can get hostile. He said MSU is taking it one day at a time preparing for the trek.

“We’re expecting to play a pretty good team in front of a rowdy group of fans,” Wolfe said. “We’re going to have to match that intensity. We play them every year in the GLI pretty much, so we know what to expect. They’re excited for it, (and) we’re excited to go up there and have a new experience.”

MSU is ranked No. 2 in the country in faceoff percentage, winning 57 percent of the draws led by sophomore Mike Ferrantino with a 60 percent win percentage and senior forward Lee Reimer with 49 wins on the year.

The last time MSU went to the Upper Peninsula to take on the Huskies was more than 10 years before freshman forward Mackenzie MacEachern was born, and he said he doesn’t know much about the rivalry, but he’s looking forward to facing off against an old teammate.

“I just know that whenever we go there, it’s big game and it’s always heated,” MacEachern said. “My old teammate Tyler Heinonen plays there. He’s a tough player and a good player.”

Anastos also has a connection with Michigan Tech.

He was recruited to go there and visited the school before ultimately deciding to put on the Green and White. Anastos was on the last team to travel to Houghton, Mich., and he finished his career 1-3 against the Huskies.

“My memories were good ones because it’s a fun hockey culture to be a part of,” Anastos said. “Back when I came here, Michigan Tech was a national hockey power. It’s a tough place to play and it’s a terrific hockey hockey environment nestled up where hockey is a big deal. I always found it a fun place to go.”

Anastos said the trip came about after connecting with former Michigan assistant coach and current Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson, and taking a page out MSU athletic director Mark Hollis’ book of trying to keep games within the state.

He said this will be a good learning experience for a young Spartan team.

“I thought it’d be a good environment, when I say good, a difficult environment for our team to go into and try to grow as a team and as a program,” Anastos said. “That will be a good growing process for our team.”