I have spent this week absolute dreading the fact that this group of Spartan hockey players is nearing their end. At a maximum, this group has just four games left together, a thought that bums me out, even with the deserved optimism that comes with knowing this team is capable of going 4-0 in that stretch and adding another trophy to this storied season.

The end of a long hockey season always comes on so quickly.

Thursday in Toledo, Ohio, playing without a safety net begins for the Spartans against the Cornell Big Red, a team playing to extend the career of their coach who is set to retire at the end of the season (a familiar story for an MSU opponent this month).

The Spartans handled Selection Sunday different than last season. It was not a celebration of returning to the national tournament. This is a business trip and the Spartans will be hoping they ar expensing more time in Toledo.

Similar to facing Notre Dame (coached by Jeff Jackson) in the B1G semifinal game, the Spartans have the chance to end the career of a legendary coach. Mike Schafer has had a tremendous head coaching career, behind the bench of his alma mater, Cornell, for 29 seasons.

Schafer has made the NCAA tournament 15 times in his career as head coach and has won a regular season championship five times. He announced last June that he would be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 season. Cornell entered the ECAC Conference tournament outside of the NCAA Tournament picture and won 5 straight games, including beating regular season champion Quinnipiac in the ECAC semifinal on their way to the ECAC Tournament Championship and NCAA berth. In fact, the Big Red's win over Quinnipiac actually knocked the Michigan Wolverines out of the NCAA tournament.

The Big Red got Schafer one more NCAA tournament and an ECAC banner, but you can believe that is not all they are dreaming of as a going away present.

This Cornell team embodies the consistent program cornerstones under Schafer - they are big, they play a defensive and physical style, and they will look to slow the game down to their pace.

This matchup will feature polar opposites in style of play as Michigan State leads the country with 38.4 shots on goal per game, while Cornell leads the nation defensively surrendering 22.4 shots on goal per game. Cornell will look to clog the middle of the ice, slow the Michigan State transition through the neutral zone, and sit three players across the blue line. The objective will be to force the Spartans to dump and chase the puck, where the Cornell size can lean on them, win puck battles, and counter attack.

If the Big Red make a mistake, they have senior goaltender Ian Shane behind them, who has somehow had his highest goals against average of his career this season (2.16) and lowest save percentage (.902), two numbers that would be a career best for a lot of goaltenders.

Make Cornell chase the game

I have used fast start a lot this season as a key to the game and while I hate to go back to that well, it is just crucial in a matchup like this.

Cornell is not built to crawl out of a multi-goal hole; they want to get to the third period with a lead or a 0-0 game (remember that Notre Dame B1G semifinal for MSU) and strangle a game out.