The team plays out of Ann Arbor, Mich., and recruits the best pre-college hockey talent in the country.
Last season, MSU was shutout by the team, 3-0. MSU trails the all-time series with a 3-5 record.
A couple of future Spartans play for the national team. Goaltender Edwin Minney already has signed a letter of intent to play for MSU next season, and forward Dylan Pavelek recently verbally committed to MSU. He is expected to join the Spartans next season.
Head coach Tom Anastos respects the program and doesn’t expect the game to be an easy win by any means.
“They’re very skilled and they have some of the best kids in the country playing,” Anastos said of the group, who is coached by former Spartan Danton Cole. “They will be all geared up to play a college team I’m sure, but they skate well, have good skills (and) have depth on their team. They’ll be hard to play against.”
The national program is 7-8 in games against college teams this season, including a win against No. 13 Michigan in December.
However, winning the game won’t be the biggest concern for MSU on Saturday. Anastos plans to use the game as an opportunity to fiddle with lineups and special team units.
“We will also use the opportunity to play an exhibition game to give some guys who haven’t had much opportunity to play a little more opportunity,” Anastos said. “Then the other is to maybe experiment with some things that we might look at as we move forward in our last two regular season series and getting ready for the Big Ten Tournament.”
Anastos added that the team will be looking to make it out of the game without any injuries after losing junior defenseman RJ Boyd last week to a sprained ankle.
Sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand will have the night off, with Anastos going with senior goaltender Will Yanakeff in the exhibition game.
The former national team goaltender hasn’t been in the net for MSU since Nov. 9 at Michigan Tech, as Hildebrand has carried goaltending responsibilities across the season.
Despite the game not counting in the standings, sophomore forward Michael Ferrantino isn’t worried about the team not being pumped up for the game.
He said the team is always excited anytime MSU gets the chance to play in front of a home crowd.
“Anytime you can play out here at Munn it’s a lot of fun,” Ferrantino said “There’s going to be great support from everyone here, so I don’t think it’s too much more difficult.”
The game begins at 7 p.m. at Munn.
Tickets are free for students with an MSU ID.
