It was evident in the smiles, jokes and comments as players left the Spartan locker room on the lowest level of Comerica Park on Dec. 28 that MSU hockey was pleased with its performance that evening.
It wasn’t that MSU was thrilled about avoiding a second-straight last place finish in the Great Lakes Invitational, but more importantly who the Spartans beat: Michigan.
“Anytime you get to play the school from Ann Arbor down there, it always makes it a little more exciting,” sophomore forward Michael Ferrantino said. “You see everyone kind of taking things a little more seriously. Everyone is pretty fired up, practices are usually a little more spirited and intense, so it makes it a lot more fun.”
The Spartans won, 3-0, in the first meeting between the two rivals in the GLI consolation game.
For a second and third time this season, unranked MSU (8-10-3 overall, 2-2-2-2 Big Ten) and No. 14 U-M (10-6-2, 2-2-0) will renew the annual rivalry in a two-game series this week. Thursday night’s matchup will be held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit at 7 p.m., and Friday’s back home starting at 6:30 p.m. at Munn Ice Arena.
The rivalry between the two teams dates back to 1925, with the Wolverines holding a 149-127-19 advantage against MSU. No two college hockey programs have battled more times than MSU and U-M.
The two teams enter the series coming from different directions, MSU on the rise and U-M on the decline. The Spartans have used their dominating win over then-No. 3 U-M as a spring board, with a 3-1-1 record in the last five games. The Wolverines, on the other hand, haven’t won a game since Dec. 2.
U-M is 0-4-1 in its last five games, also losing an exhibition game to the U.S. National Under-18 Team.
Despite the recent struggles, head coach Tom Anastos praised the maize and blue for its overall depth and multifaceted ability to win games.
“They can win with offense, they can win with good defense with the team that they have now,” said Anastos, who holds a 3-7-1 coaching record against U-M. “One of the most challenging things to do against them is they have depth on their team, and so it’s hard to key on any one or two guys, or one or two lines.”
U-M is led in scoring by sophomore forward Andrew Copp’s 16 points and in the net with freshman goaltender Zach Nagelvoort, who ranks seventh in save percentage in the nation.
Neither played in the last meeting against MSU earlier this season.
Despite U-M missing some of its key players when the two teams last met, it was evident the win has been a huge confidence boost. Senior forward Lee Reimer said the win was big in keeping the team’s spirits high after playing close games against highly ranked national opponents.
“I think it was huge for us, it showed our team that we can compete with some of the better teams in the country,” Reimer said.
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