The National Hockey League season may be delayed, but other leagues around the world are back to playing games. One of those leagues is the NCAA, and one conference, in particular, the Big Ten, opened their season on Saturday with a Michigan Wolverines defeat of the Arizona State Sun Devils. One of the other teams in the Big Ten that’s season begins on Thursday is the Michigan State University Spartans, who play the Sun Devils. Defenseman Christian Krygier, a Junior from Novi, Michigan, and the New York Islanders’ 2018 seventh-round pick is planning on taking the next step as one of the upperclassmen on the blueline.

Growing up in a Sports Family

Growing up, the Krygiers were always playing sports. His father, Todd, played over 500 games in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and the Washington Capitals, and had an impact on them getting involved in sports.

“With him coming from an athletic background, it’s definitely a big passion of his, so he definitely stemmed it on us, but it was a decision we all made at a certain age to do what we wanted to do. He never really forced us or made us play a sport.”

The sports that he and his siblings became passionate about differ. “My sisters played soccer just because they found that entertaining… my dad playing hockey all the boys in our family decided to play hockey, and also with your dad playing in the NHL, I think it was just a huge thing to look up to and want to be when you’re older.

Todd retired the year that Christian and Cole were born, so they have spent their lives watching him coach at a multitude of levels, spanning from being the head coach at the high school (Novi High (Mi.)), and USHL (Muskegon Lumberjacks) levels, followed by three years as an assistant coach at Western Michigan University, and then, prior to the 2019-20 season, being hired by the Red Wings organization as an assistant coach of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

For Christian, he has always been on the blueline, but Cole transitioned back there. “I’ve always been defense since I’ve been really young, while Cole was a forward, and then when we jumped to U-16 on Little Caesars (16-U AAA) about halfway through the year he transitioned to defense, and then from there we played in Lincoln (USHL) together.”

Committing to Michigan State University

Despite landing at Michigan State University, that was never the plan for Christian and Cole Krygier. At the age of 15, they made a verbal commitment to the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“When I was 15, it was pretty cool to be recruited by Division I colleges and it was a dream come true, but at that point in my life, I thought that Wisconsin was the place for me. I created a great bond with (Head Coach) Tony Granato and their coaching staff, and I thought that was the place I wanted to be. The facilities are probably the best in the country, and it’s a really good academic school, but as it got closer, they recruited a lot of players, and, when it came down to it, they told me and my brother that we can come in 2018, but we’d be battling for a spot with each other. We didn’t think that would be healthy between each other, (Coach) Granato and their whole staff had been nothing but great the whole time. Right from the start they were honest with us and told us that that was the situation, so it was more our decision that we wanted to play together and wanted to thrive together and have a really successful college career, and we just didn’t see that that was the outcome that was going to be there, so we decided to look further…”

When Michigan State called, it was a no-brainer. “When Michigan State came right after we de-committed, we didn’t think anywhere else with being so close to home and my older brother playing here, it was pretty special. Just coming to all the games when I was a kid for years with my grandpa, and now my grandpa is coming to all my games, it’s a cool turn of events.”

Krygier was familiar with some of the coaching staff that recruited them prior to committing to MSU. “Before I even was thinking about Michigan State, I played in a few tournaments at the USNTDP with the U-17, and Head Coach (Danton) Cole and Coach (Chris) Luongo were on staff there, so I got some insight to them there. I thought they were really honest guys, I liked their style of play, and I thought it fit my game well. They hold people accountable, and they’re great guys off the ice, which I like the most, I think that’s more important than anything, and, from an on-ice perspective, it’s all business, coming to the rink every day there’s a pro mentality, and we show up and we work, it’s always well put together and they run a good program.”

Being a Michigan State Hockey Player

Christian Krygier’s time at Michigan State has run parallel to the evolution of Head Coach Danton Cole’s program.

“Coming in, Coach had big plans and still does, and I think that takes time and it’s been what we are working towards. Every year when you bring in a new class, that shows your results and how, as a team, you’re going to be, and for the last two years, and into my third year being here, our (recruiting) classes have gotten better and better, and deeper with players that fit the mold that we want of good character guys and people who work hard on and off the ice, and are good people in the community so that we as a team can be successful and don’t have to worry about those things, and I think that is the biggest part of our recruiting class, it is the culture that we are bringing in. The type of players that the coaching staff is bringing in are top-of-the-line guys and I think we will have a successful program here, it will just take time, and this year will be a great vision for Michigan State hockey.”

During their sophomore season last year, Head Coach Danton Cole decided to pair Christian and Cole together. “It was a really good experience. Not playing together our first year of Juniors and then playing together the second year was really cool because that was the first time we’ve ever played together, and we really grew from that. Coming in here and not playing together freshman year was really good too, playing with an older guy and being able to grow, and then last year was a really cool experience, being able to play with your brother. I thank the coaches for the opportunity they gave us there and the trust they gave us to go out there together, but overall, it was really fun going out there every day at practice and playing games with him.”

Krygier couldn’t pick out one single player on the team that he has learned the most from, and he instead spoke about the seniors every year. “My first year coming in, being the youngest guy on the team, you look up to the older guys who have got everything figured out, and they have the routines down. From the older guys, you look at the guys and replicate who you want to be, and I learned a lot from that. With the senior class last year with guys like Boots (Butrus Ghafari) and Salibs (Sam Saliba), a lot of guys in that class were really influential to me as a person, being good people, doing work off the ice, and coming to the rink every day and doing your job. I would say I’ve learned more as a person here, not even hockey.”

There are a lot of benefits to being a Michigan State athlete and a Spartan in general, but Krygier mentions the atmosphere at MSU as a whole and the treatment of the athletes as the best parts about being at MSU.

“I think the best part about Spartan hockey is being a part of Michigan State. MSU is a place that you don’t understand until you come here. Everyone who comes to Michigan State loves it, and that does go for every school, but they have a huge following and with our success in sports, that is another thing, that they take a lot of pride in athletics, and there is a lot of funding into it which wouldn’t be possible without donors and the support of the fans. Michigan State as a whole is phenomenal and does it the best. From a hockey standpoint, we get treated just as well as any college team in the country.”

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there have been some changes to the Big Ten hockey schedule, including the inclusion of Arizona State University into the schedule this year, playing four games against the seven schools in the Big Ten hockey conference. As their program evolves, they will bring another level of competitiveness this year, and Krygier agreed. “I think it’s good, adding more competition with the shortened schedule with no out-of-conference play. I think it’s cool that ASU is coming in, bringing a West-coast team into the conference should bring more coverage to the league, too.

His training regimen was also adjusted due to the pandemic, and at the end of the Big Ten tournament. “It was different. For us, as a team, we were knocked out of the tournament, so we did have a sad ending to our season. I think we had closure with our season, getting an end result, which goes both ways, which sucks to find out, but it would have been worse to have the unknown. As far as COVID went, it was a really weird six months up until we got to school. I was in East Lansing the whole time in my apartment due to COVID and lockdowns, and I didn’t feel like going home and risk giving it to my parents. I took some time, and then it was pretty hard to get back into full training with no schedule, so I had to figure out runs and home workouts. It was pretty tough at the start, and as I got into it, I figured it out more and it got a little easier, but then we got back to school for training, and we’ve been doing that since.”

Being a Member of the Islanders’ Organization

Christian Krygier was drafted by the New York Islanders in 2018 in the seventh round (196th overall), and not long after, Cole was selected by the Florida Panthers (201st overall). The draft experience was exciting yet nerve-wracking in the Krygier household.

“It was a really cool experience. I would say me, going first, I was worried that Cole wasn’t going to get picked, so it wouldn’t have been as enjoyable being together with only one of us getting picked. I would say for the 10-15 minutes I was excited about getting drafted, but I was more hoping that he would get picked too so it would be more of a celebration. With him being picked five picks later, it was even better of an experience, us both getting picked. We were both sitting in our house, sitting in the basement watching the draft all day, and after we got into the sixth round, we got up and moved on for the day, and after I got the call, it was pretty cool, but especially after he got the call, it was pretty cool, getting to call our grandparents.”

A week after, Christian headed to Islanders’ development camp and had nothing but high praise for how they ran it and the team as a whole. “The Islanders organization is definitely a top-notch organization the way they run things there and everything about it. It was definitely an eye-opener to be in a system that is so incredible and renowned in the NHL, to see how everything is run, and how well they do everything, how they don’t forget anything. That’s probably the biggest part, the little things you don’t think about that are already involved there, I would say it’s top-level. The other aspect was the top-level players that were there, for the first time in my life I was around high-end people at a competition level. The one thing about development camp is it is more of a learning experience and they want you to get comfortable and familiar with the staff, and get on the ice, get tips and make you a better player. The real tryout is pro camps, but development camp is a really good experience, it helps you get acclimated with the organization and it makes you more comfortable after my first year, going back the second year was a much better experience, knowing everyone there. With there not being one this year, it was upsetting to me, not being able to go there and develop at their camp, getting reviewed and looked at by their staff. I would just say this season is going to be important. I have to play well and that’s going to be the vision they get of me from last year.”

The one main focus Krygier has this year is putting it all together. “Right now, there are little things I need to develop and work out off the ice to become better on the ice, and I think that’s preparation and developing a way to be successful for years on end. I think that it is something I have to work towards the next few years, trying to get there, and then developing ways to stay. Whether that is starting to work on off-ice things, habits, and constant things to put together to be a pro.”

As Krygier has progressed from travel hockey to the USHL, to the NCAA, and now on the cusp of a contract with the Islanders, he had some advice for people who are trying to progress through the ranks like he has. “Just work hard every day and have fun with it. The moment it becomes a chore or you are feeling that you don’t want to go to the rink, you’re not enjoying it and you’re never truly going to enjoy it if you have that mentality all the time, so have fun with it, work hard, and go to the rink and try to get better every day. Even if you don’t have a good day at practice, do something little or improve on something to get better that day.”

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