EAST LANSING - Danton Cole doesn’t want his Michigan State hockey Spartans looking at standings and thinking too far ahead about big-picture things.
That’s for schlepps like me to think about, and for hungry fans to savor.
In the meantime, focusing on the short term, from game-to-game, and shift-to-shift, is agreeing with his team, and his program, as the Spartans gain traction. Friday night’s sound 4-1 beating of Wisconsin at Munn Ice Arena is the latest example.
The Spartans are one of six teams battling for second place in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is another. Michigan State looked much better than the Badgers on Friday night and I wouldn’t be surprised if they win again on Saturday and get a second straight home sweep.
In this conference, you can go from seventh place to second in a weekend. It’s basically Ohio State in first place, and then six teams scrambling for home playoff ice.
Michigan State (10-13-4 overall and 6-8-3 in the Big Ten) is still lugging the baggage of a few regrettable losses in November. But the Spartans have been explosive and dangerous since the New Year.
Wisconsin swept Michigan State in early December. But Friday night’s Spartan team was far different than the one that lost twice in Madison.
Minnesota felt a similar difference two weeks ago. Michigan State split with the Gophers in November, but the Spartans swept Minnesota at Munn in the return series.
Michigan State has won or tied six of its last nine games (not counting tiebreaker shootouts). When facing Big Ten competition every week, a conference full of talented parity, any winning trend is a big deal. Michigan State might be onto one.
THE TOP LINE IN COLLEGE HOCKEY
Michigan State has been better than the Badgers since Big Ten action resumed on Jan. 4, but we needed to see face-to-face evidence for further proof. We saw it on Friday with MSU’s top line, the KHL line - Khodorenko, Hirose and Lewandowski - accounting for all four goals, some of which came in spectacular fashion.
That’s Patrick Khodorenko, Taro Hirose and Mitchell Lewandowski. They’re the top line in college hockey, and a big part of what makes Michigan State dangerous and entertaining.
Michigan State needs another win against Wisconsin on Saturday (face off at 5:30 p.m. at Munn, BTN) in order for this to be a separation weekend for the Spartans, prior to next weekend’s two-game set with Michigan.
“Our top line played well,” Cole said. “(Goalie) Drew (DeRidder) played well. Our defense played well. Forwards. Penalty kill. Power play. I don’t have a lot of complaints. Now we have to get ready for (Saturday) night and go do it again.”
Another win, and Michigan State could jump into second place in the Big Ten, depending on what Notre Dame, Michigan and Minnesota do. But Cole doesn’t want his players thinking about that stuff. He wants them in blinders, focusing on the first five minutes of Saturday’s game, getting off to a good start, and then flowing from there.
We’ve seen Michigan State teams over the past decade show signs of life at mid-winter but fail to sustain. This team might be be different.
Cole has yet to infuse all of his players into the program, but in his second year as Michigan State’s head coach, he is having a big impact on the players he inherited from a terrible 7-24-4 team in 2017, combined with an influx of young talent he has acquired. A transformation is underway. In the meantime, Michigan State is becoming a team that can beat pretty much anyone on a given night. That’s an exciting formula in the one-and-done, puck-luck nature of the March tournaments.
Did I say tournament(s)? As in more than one tournament? Is it possible for this team to play beyond the Big Ten playoffs and into the NCAA Tournament?
Well, that’s the type of thing Cole doesn’t want his players thinking about right now. But we can.
The answer is: possibly.
Michigan State isn’t likely to get hot enough to creep into the top 14 or 15 in the pairwise rankings and earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State is ranked No. 26 in the pairwise rankings, the fifth-highest Big Ten team. Mathematically, it’s possible. But it’s so hard to put together a win streak in the Big Ten.
Cole says each weekend in the Big Ten is like a playoff series. I hear the same thing from SEC baseball coaches who say every weekend down there is like a regional final. Those SEC teams are great in the postseason. I think Big Ten hockey teams will prove to be similarly tournament tough, beyond their rankings and records.
I’m not sure the pairwise computers can accurately reflect or detect the rigors of the Big Ten slate, with seven teams cannibalizing themselves over the course of four game sets.
Four Big Ten teams made the NCAA Tournament last year (and three advanced to the Frozen Four). Rightly or wrongly, no more than three Big Ten teams are likely to get into the NCAA Tournament this year, unless Michigan, Minnesota or Michigan State enjoys a red hot streak and rises fast in the rankings, OR if a darkhorse wins the Big Ten Tournament. Neither route is likely for Michigan State. But the latter, winning the Big Ten Tournament, is possible.
Michigan State would love to finish second, third or fourth in the Big Ten and get home ice for a best-of-three playoff series in the Big Ten Tournament, the weekend of March 8-10.
Win that series and Michigan State could conceivably play a one-game Big Ten Tournament semifinal game at Munn Ice Arena, if the seedings shake out favorably.
Win that game, and if Michigan State finished second or third in the regular season, and if the regular season champion (likely Ohio State) gets upset in the single-game semifinals, then a high-seeded Spartans could conceivably play the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game at Munn Ice Arena on March 23.
That chain of events is not likely, but for those of you longing for the days when championships were won on Munn ice, that scenario will warm your heart. And it may help you see the future.
With the way the KHL line can score, and with the quality goaltending we’re starting to see, along with improving accountability on defense, and Friday’s solid decision-making in the neutral zone, the Spartans are becoming a good team.
Michigan State wants to chase wins for the purpose of winning, gelling and improving. If it also increasing the Spartans’ danger factor for March, and the Spartans’ playoff seed climbs in the process, so be it. You and I and Cole can ponder that stuff. But in the dressing room, Cole wants noses to the grindstone.
Friday, that’s what he got. Michigan State won enough enough battles along the boards, matched up well in transition, avoided major mistakes, and then when the KHL line had opportunities, it finished.
If you weren’t one of the 5,313 in attendance, here’s what you need to know:
* Hirose, a slightly-built junior left winger from Calgary, had a goal and two assists against the Badgers. He leads the nation in scoring.
He has quick acceleration, great hands and sixth-sense anticipation.
After studying film of MSU’s sweep of Minnesota two weeks ago, I racked my brain trying to think when I’ve seen the Spartans have such an entertaining play-maker. I couldn’t think of one.
Then I found this stat: Hirose’s career 1.12 points per game average is the highest among all Spartans who have hit the 100-point mark since 2000.
He’s different.
He’s a little guy, so I’m not sure how his game will translate to the next level. But that’s not important today. He is one hell of a fun college hockey player to watch.
* Khodorenko, a strong junior center from Walnut Creek, Calif., had two goals and an assist.
He has 16 goals on the year, which is tied for No. 3 in the nation.
“You can tell when Patrick is forechecking and banging around that he’s going to be tough to handle that night,” Cole said. “He’s a strong, thick young man that really skates and when he’s banging, you know he’s locked in. He did a great job down low.”
He was a two-way force against the Badgers.
“They (Wisconsin) put a lot of pucks into the slot and we had to handle that and he was outstanding all the way up and down the ice,” Cole said.
* The KHL line combined for a goal in the second period that the Harlem Globetrotters would have appreciated.
Buzzing over the blue line on a three-on-three rush, Hirose sent a drop pass BETWEEN HIS LEGS to Lewandowski, who fed it back to Hirose. Hirose then fed Khodorenko as the late man, who scored from the slot.
You just have to see it:
I asked Cole if he allows himself to break away from his in-game trance to appreciate how entertaining the KHL line is.
“Having played and having not made plays like that, I really appreciate it,” said Cole, who was a great college player at Michigan State and won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995. “Good hockey is fun to watch.”
So is well-coached hockey. And we’re seeing it at Munn Ice Arena on an upward slope.