The Michigan State Spartans men’s hockey team is back in action on Munn Ice Arena’s rink starting tomorrow night to cap off a four-game homestand to open the season. This second two-game series will begin Friday night, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. and be followed by a Saturday night puck drop at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16.

This game marks the first meeting between the two old Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) rivals since 2013. That marked the final season of the old CCHA before MSU departed for the newly formed Big Ten league for men’s ice hockey. The Spartans are 69-34-6 against the RedHawks all-time. Michigan State is also 36-18-3 against Miami in East Lansing.

The RedHawks are coming off a 5-18-2 finish last season, good for last place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Miami is coming off an opening series at Ferris State University last weekend. The RedHawks had a high scoring opener, winning 7-4 before falling 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. The team had a balanced offensive attack with nine different players accounting for the team’s 10 goals.

Miami is coached by Chris Bergeron. He enters his third season with the RedHawks and boasts a 14-40-7 record in his first two seasons, while holding a 185-194-51 record overall including his nine seasons at the helm of Bowling Green. Bergeron is also home with the RedHawks, having been an assistant coach for 10 seasons prior to Bowling Green and having played in Oxford during his college career. That included a CCHA regular season title in 1993, boasting a 22-3-5 record while the Spartans finished in fourth place at 18-10-2.

Michigan State, meanwhile, is coming off of a split series of its own against Air Force. MSU lost a tough opener in overtime to Air Force, falling 3-2, before rebounding big time for a 5-1 victory on Saturday. The five goals Saturday was something the team managed just once in the 2020-2021 season, coming in a 5-1 home win over Penn State.

Michigan State won 72 of 118 draws in the two games against Air Force (.612), good for third in the Big Ten and third nationally. The team also scored three goals on power plays (.429), good for third in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in conversion percentage.

Both games this weekend will be available to watch via streaming only on the B1G+ streaming channel. The Spartan Media Network will also air the game with Scott Moore and Rob Woodward calling it in the booth. The game will air live on both WJIM 1240 AM serving the Lansing area as well as MSUSpartans.com on the web.

Coach Danton Cole’s Weekly Press Conference Remarks:

Go Green!