“We talked as a group, right? One thing Dan for sure would want us to do is practice. And want us to play.” Nightingale said. “Knees-bent hockey. That's what he loved, team play and hard work. I told our guys that maybe we're gonna win some, we're gonna lose some, but for sure, we are gonna honor him and play how he dreamed of us playing.”

Sturges was the glue of the team, Nightingale said. His character embodied what the Spartans strive to be: team players, competitors and students of the game. 

Sturges was a forward on the MSU hockey team from 2005-09, spending half of a season with then-senior Nightingale. He was a great teammate with a great attitude, Nightingale said.

Sturges went on to win a national championship with the Spartans in 2007. He kept in contact with Nightingale and returned to MSU hockey in August of 2019, becoming director of hockey operations, under former head coach Danton Cole. 

Sturges wasn’t trying to become a head coach or to move to the NHL, but to be the best at his job, right where he was. 

He had an ability to connect with players who weren’t consistently in the lineup, and to lift up guys who were struggling, Nightingale said.

Sturges would do extra work with the players after practice, not because he was asked to, but because he was passionate about it. He often did puck protection drills with junior forward Griffin Jurecki following practice. 

Sturges’ goal was to be the best video coach in the country, Nightingale said. The team noticed Sturges wasn’t looking for the next opportunity, he was trying to be better for them. His legacy illustrates what the Spartans try to do each time they hit the ice: focus on the team rather than themselves. 

“Super simple concepts, but I think it's the hardest thing to do in sports,” Nightingale said. “Play for the team. It's not about you. And make sure when that end of the game comes, you got nothing left in the tank.”

Sturges loved to compete, Nightingale said. Whether it was tossing paper clips at a coffee cup and seeing who landed the closest, playing football with the other coaches or trying to win a chess match in his office.

He was also inquisitive. In 2023, Sturges said “every day is a learning experience” adding that he learned a lot from Brad Fast, director of player development. When Sturges was just starting out as a coach, he sought insight from Nightingale, who then served as video coach for the Detroit Red Wings.

Sturges went on to coach ACHA hockey at the University of Colorado from 2016-19, working simultaneously as an assistant coach at Valor Christian High School. Even then, he was keeping up with MSU hockey scores. 

He loved being part of the MSU community — he was a fifth-generation Spartan. While he grew up in Wisconsin, it was his childhood dream to attend MSU and play hockey, as his father had before him. His younger brother, A.J. Sturges, followed in his footsteps.

During his time as a student-athlete, Sturges became involved in the MSU community, co-founding the hockey team’s “Shoot for a Cure” campaign. 

“He is what Michigan State's all about, a team guy,” Nightingale said.  “We would always tease him when the Powerball was up, ‘If you won the Powerball, what are you gonna do?’ And he said he was just gonna keep his job here and donate it all back to the program, and we would laugh, but that's, that's the truth.” 

Sturges met his wife, Becky, at MSU; she was a member of the field hockey team. They had two sons, Kellan and Cooper. While raising them, Sturges coached youth hockey and baseball in Lansing.

While the hockey season will continue, Nightingale said there is no playbook for how the team handles grief, and that everyone will process it in their own way. He added that he is confident the team has the support services it needs and that the players will take it one day at a time.

“We got to do what he would want us to do and that's going to help us all heal. I think that it takes time.” Nightingale said. “Our guys 100% knew how he wanted us to play, 100% respected how he wanted us to play, and we're going to play that way.”

Sturges valued knees-bent hockey, an emphasis on effort and integrity over the final score. By showing up to practice and playing hockey with that mindset, the Spartans are seeking to honor Sturges’ legacy. 

“Remember who he was,” Nightingale said. “Remember what he stood for. We got to make sure we do that every day. And if we do that every day, we'll feel really good about being at the rink.”