The second half of the Big Ten men’s hockey is underway. With Michigan State coming off of a short week after splitting a series with Penn State, they have been preparing for a familiar opponent the next two nights in the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans and Wolverines last met in the Big Ten tournament last March, as the Wolverines swept the series, two games to zero. These will be the Wolverines’ first two games coming out of the holiday break, and they might be without significant players. Head Coach Danton Cole and defenseman Tommy Miller addressed the media on Tuesday, as the Spartans kick off the second half strong.

Cole began his press conference with his opening statement, reflecting on the series against Penn State, and looking forward to the two-game set against Michigan. “Decent weekend for us, a good regulation win last night (in the second game). Battled through it, a lot of positives in terms of how our guys worked, got some pucks in the net which was nice. Good feedback, good win, moves us into a short week. Spent today (meeting) with the guys, going over a few things, had a quick workout, and we’ll be back at it Friday night. Another weekend in the Big Ten, another tough series, and the guys are looking forward to it.”

As of Wednesday, Coach Cole did not have an update on Tommy Apap, Adam Goodsir, and A.J. Hodges, all of whom were unavailable in Monday’s matchup with Penn State.

With the loss of a usual first-line forward in Hodges and the ejection of Charlie Combs, Jake Smith, who has not played the majority of games this year, got some time on the first line with Josh Nodler and Mitchell Lewandowski, and with his play and the potential return of all three forwards, it raises more lineup questions. “He did a great job. We had the seniors together as a line to start the game and they did a nice job for us, then with Charlie going out, we spun a few guys on that line. He skated well, was physical, made plays, did things that helped us win, he was confident. The more hard decisions we have to make about lineups, the happier I am. That means that we’ve got guys that are capable of playing. I’ve said it before, players determine ice time, and their job is to make it as hard as possible for the coaching staff to decide who is going to play. Give him a lot of credit, he hasn’t been in every night, and (Austin) Kamer hasn’t been and (Gianluca) Esteves hasn’t been, but every day they practice really well, they’re a great example for guys, they do things right in practice. We use them in a lot of different roles to get us prepped, and we tell those guys to stay ready, and when their chance comes, they make sure they make the most of it. I think all three of them did that last (Monday) night.”

Michigan State, coming off of a short week, are well-prepared for their battle with Michigan. “I like it. We waited a long time to play some games, and this isn’t bad. We were done yesterday (Monday) before six, so we’re almost 24 hours post that, it’ll be 48 hours before we have a good practice. Guys will have plenty of rest, no excuses that way. Our prep time before the last series was pretty good, short this week, but the energy and emotion will help us through. I like it, the guys like it, playing games, we want to get moving.”

The University of Michigan could be without some players for tonight’s contest in 2021 World Juniors gold medalists Cam York, Matthew Beniers, and Brendan Brisson. “Obviously, those guys are good players, I always assume that everybody’s going to be playing whether it’s a World Juniors thing or an injury thing. We’ll prepare for them the way that we’ll prepare. If they play, fine, but if they don’t play, it won’t affect their play. They’ve got a lot of offensive firepower, and they’ll play the way they play. Systematically, maybe some matchups, but overall, we’ll prepare the same way, they’ll have most of their team there, we’ll have most of our team here, and it should be a great series.”

Cole said that Michigan, despite having a large influx of youth, has a lot of USNTDP guys on their team that has played together in the past, and they are a puck-moving team that has a high IQ in the offensive end and in the neutral zone. He stressed that he needed to prevent big plays from all of the playmakers that the Wolverines have.

Tommy Miller was happy with the play of the penalty kill this season, especially in the last four games, where three of them have included a Spartans’ five-minute major and a game misconduct. “Especially on the five-minute majors, it’s a lot of secondary guys who don’t get a lot of kill time. It’s stepping up when comfortable, getting them in there, it takes some of the stress off the guys (who traditionally play penalty kill). It’s just about outworking the other team, you’re down a guy, you have to make up with it somehow, and that’s just working hard and being smart, not trying to get beat, blocking shots, and making it hard on them, making it difficult. For the older guys, it’s kind of engrained in our brain over the last couple of years, and now we’re teaching the younger guys, and it’s paying off.”

Comparing the play of Penn State to the play of Michigan, Miller they are somewhat similar. “They (Michigan) are pretty offensive as well. Penn State, they’re usually put a lot of pressure, a lot of shots, dumping in, putting a lot of pressure on the forecheck. Michigan does the same thing. They put up a good amount of offensive games, and I’m pretty confident in our defense and our systems to play like we were able to with Penn State. It’s one of our identities as Michigan State, so we’re confident in our defensive zone, and we will be able to handle whatever comes at us.”

His common pairing this year has been freshman defenseman Nash Nienhuis, and he has been impressed with his growth this year, albeit less than halfway done. “He learns every game. It’s hard to jump in, I had to do the same thing. It’s a lot of communication. It’s definitely improving every game, and I expect that he’ll keep on getting better and better, and he has been. I’m excited to see what he’ll do the rest of the season.”

The Spartans and Wolverines face off tonight at 7:00 P.M. EST in Ann Arbor, and tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. in East Lansing.

SEF