Spartans first to take the ice for Great Lakes Invitational practices

By Nick Barnowski – 

DETROIT – As the Michigan State hockey team looked up from the ice at Comerica Park, green seats mixed with white snow created for the perfect backdrop during their first Great Lakes Invitational practice.

The Spartans (5-9-1) will don the green and white tomorrow afternoon against Michigan Tech in the first game of the GLI, but Thursday they hit the ice for their first skate at the ballpark.

“It’s almost like skating in pond hockey, it’s a great feeling to be here,” freshman forward Villiam Haag said. “The team is real excited for this, it just felt good to be here and play in the GLI.”

Tomorrow’s game will be their first since Dec. 14, but the Spartans held a practice on Christmas night and skated for an hour or so outside during a large snowfall.

“The ice was a little rough,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. “Given the weather conditions, it’s hard to maintain the ice with much smoothness when you’ve got snow constantly coming down and freezing, so that’s what we had to deal with.

“We tried to practice to the extent we could. We went with our plan for practice, although the snow that accumulated on the ice was a factor, but we did the best we could and that may happen when we play.”

The ice surface – which has already been used by numerous men’s league, high school, and youth teams – wasn’t what the players were used to but they said that keeping the game simple will be a large part of their game plan.

“It’s hard but at the same time we have to keep it simple and that’s always something good to do in the game,” Haag said

During the practice, Anastos further drove home that concept.

“Watching practice today, [giveaways and takeaways] will be a huge factor probably because just the conditions are going to create some of that on its own,” Anastos said. “We talked about just how important it was to have an incredibly simplified game, which we play that way anyway but now it’s going to be all that much more important.”

Team captain Greg Wolfe, who leads MSU in points with 12, said that simplifying the game will help slow it down, and that the conditions will be the biggest thing the team will have to adjust to.

“It’s going to be hard to play with speed because the puck’s not going to do normal things, it’s going to be bouncing around,” Wolfe said. “The longer the pass, the more chance you have of it hitting something, fluttering, or bouncing off the stick. Pucks were just blowing up off guys’ sticks all day but we’re working with it.”

Haag, Wolfe, and Anastos all reminisced on their days playing hockey outside growing up. Haag, who is from Gothenburg, Sweden, said that he lived close to a lake but noted that many winters in his home country weren’t good for hockey outdoors so this was new to him. Wolfe, who grew up in Canton, said that he played pond hockey quite a bit and was on the MSU team that played in the Big Chill at the Big House in 2010 but wasn’t able to participate due to a shoulder injury.

Anastos said that he played competitive games outdoors growing up in Dearborn, and didn’t play much inside until the Adray Arena (now the Dearborn Ice Skating Center) was built.

“I grew up playing at Ford Woods Park and Hemlock Park in Dearborn,” he said. “This is lots of fun, brings back lots of childhood memories.”

Along with the opportunity to play outdoors, Anastos is also looking forward to his lineup returning closer to full health. Forward Matt Berry and defenseman John Draeger are in, though Anastos said both are “fighting the conditioning of being off all summer and the early part of the season.” Forward Lee Reimer will be in the lineup. Defenseman Travis Walsh is questionable.

After having some time off and the opportunity to get healthy and play outdoors looming, Wolfe told his team that they just need to enjoy what the next couple of days will bring.

“Just have fun with it right now,” the senior forward said. “It’s a fun experience you don’t get to have very often so take it in and have fun. We’ll be all right, we’re going to work hard, play with a lot of energy and that energy will carry over and it should be a good time for us.”