Spartans take positives from playoff run, know they have to get better for start of B1G Hockey

By Stefan Kubus –

EAST LANSING – For an extremely young Michigan State Spartans squad, it was hard to use inexperience as an excuse for disappointing results throughout the season, but looking at the returning crop, it doesn’t seem too unreasonable.

But that’s not to say it was an acceptable finish for head coach Tom Anastos and the players, with plenty to work on in the off-season.

“I told the team at the end of the season that we’re not good enough and we have to get better,” Anastos said Tuesday. “What does that mean? Well, we have to get stronger, we’ve got to get tougher to play against, we’ve got to become better defensively, we have to create more offensive productivity, and it’s going to take a huge commitment to do so.”

Junior captain Greg Wolfe (Canton) echoed his coach’s message, citing the season-long frustration, but also the glimpse of hope late in the season.

“The biggest thing for me, with all the ups and downs, was just to stay consistent,” Wolfe said. “It’s really easy to try and point the finger and whatever, but for me, I try to just maybe took a little too much on myself at times. I just felt like, with the group we had, there were so many times where we weren’t having success and it was really tough. The bottom line was just staying positive and knowing once we figured it out, things would start looking up. It took us until the end of the year, but it was worth it.”

Yet when you consider the fact that 22 Spartans are returning, the experience gained is crucial to progressing toward being a “nationally elite” hockey program, as stated by Anastos to be his goal.

“I place so much value on experience and I think that was really important,” Anastos said. “I think our team became mentally tougher. That was a pretty tough stretch down the end of the season, making those two trips to Alaska.”

But to be among the best in the nation, Anastos said that he and the team has to find ways to be just a little bit better each and every day.

“It starts with recruiting, it starts with our relevance on campus and in the community, the growth of our attendance, creation of more energy in our building, the performance of our player development, both on and off the ice,” Anastos said.

Up front, the Spartans return their top six leading scorers, four of which are either freshmen or sophomores. Although he cooled off later in the year, freshman Matt DeBlouw (Chesterfield) – one of four NHL draft picks on MSU – came out of the gate hot and finished with a modest 10 goals and 21 points in his first 42 collegiate games. Anastos said he’d like to see the Calgary Flames draft pick take an even bigger step next season.

“Matt DeBlouw I thought struggled with consistency all year in his play,” Anastos said. “We had addressed it, talked about it, he was conscious of it, he worked at it, and I really thought from the Western Michigan series through all of the playoffs, he was one of our more consistent performers and I thought he was very effective. So I thought that was a real positive thing.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise this season was the emergence of a Butler, Pa. freshman netminder Jake Hildebrand. Hildebrand finished with a 9-17-2 record, but that’s largely due to a lack of goal support. His .928 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against average – numbers good for 26th in the entire nation – paint a more vivid picture of just what Spartan faithful can expect for three more years between the pipes.

“Jake Hildebrand certainly, when provided the opportunity, rose to the occasion in net and made it very difficult to get him out of the net,” Anastos said. “So his future looks really bright in goal and next season. That was certainly a positive.”

Hildebrand said the first season was a learning process, adding that watching junior Will Yanakeff (Jerome) play early in the season really helped him along in that process.

“Our record doesn’t show it, but I feel like we gained a lot of experience and momentum heading into next season,” Hildebrand said.

Seniors getting opportunities

The only four senior players that are leaving MSU are getting chances at the next level as of this past week, with Chris Forfar, Anthony Hayes and Kevin Walrod headed to the ECHL, while Matt Grassi is off to the AHL.

Forfar signed with the ECHL’s Evansville Icemen, Walrod with the Bakersfield Condors and Hayes with the Florida Everblades. Grassi, meanwhile, signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Hamilton Bulldogs, AHL affiliate to the Montreal Canadiens.

Anastos said this is terrific timing for these guys to get the experience at the next level.

“It’s kind of nice, at this time of year, to get the opportunity, because then they can go get their feet wet, see what it takes so that when they go to camps next year, they know what they’re getting into, they’ve already maybe created an impression or relationships,” Anastos said. “Also, for those of them who might be deciding whether or not they’re going to pursue a career in playing, that’s a tough decision and this will at least give them a little taste.”