The Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team represents Michigan State University (MSU). The team plays at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan, on the MSU campus.
The Spartans have a storied history, marked by numerous achievements and memorable moments. Here’s a look at the program's history, with a special focus on its goaltending legacy.
Early Years and Coaching Foundations
Michigan State finished 0-3 in the 1922 season and picked up its first win during the second season on February 11, 1923, 6-1 over the Lansing Independents. The team did not play the 1923-24 season but returned for the 1924-25 season.
The 1924-25 season marked the first time the program had a head coach, John Kobs, who also coached the Michigan State Spartans baseball team. Kobs' tenure at Michigan State lasted six seasons before the team was suspended for 19 seasons.
Harold Paulsen was hired as the varsity ice hockey coach at Michigan State on August 1, 1948 following the suspension of the hockey programs during the years of the Great Depression and World War II. Before recruiting or coaching, Paulsen oversaw the renovation of Demonstration Hall into an indoor rink with artificial ice-making capabilities.
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On January 12, 1950, MSU played its first game since 1930, losing to Michigan Tech 6-2. Paulsen struggled through his first two years at Michigan State with a 6-25 record. MSU athletic director Ralph Young felt the hockey program's progress was inadequate and Paulsen resigned.
The Amo Bessone Era: Building a Championship Program
Following the 1951 season, Amo Bessone accepted the head coaching position at Michigan State University. When Bessone arrived at Michigan State, the ice hockey program was beginning its third full season after being reinstated.
Amo Bessone won his first collegiate hockey game as head coach on November 29, 1951, when the Spartans defeated Ontario Agricultural College 8-2. The Spartans struggled with six losing seasons before Bessone turned things around in his seventh season as coach.
In 1957-58, Michigan State enjoyed its first winning season. The following season, Bessone guided MSU to a Big Ten championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The tournament was MSU's first NCAA tournament appearance.
The Spartans defeated Boston College 4-3 in the semifinals and advanced to the schools's first championship appearance. The Spartans lost the 1959 national championship game in overtime 3-4 to North Dakota. MSU finishes the season 17-6-1.
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Michigan State became a charter member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) in 1959. The WCHA was a reincarnation of the loosely affiliated Midwest Collegiate Hockey League and Western Intercollegiate Hockey League that disbanded following the 1957-58 season.
Bessone and MSU struggled during the first five seasons of the WCHA. Again, Bessone turned things around with a winning season in 1964-65.
1966 National Championship
MSU began the 1965-66 season 4-10, but rebounded winning 12 of their last 15 games including defeating the defending national champion, Michigan Tech, to win the WCHA playoffs after finishing sixth in the regular season. The win earned MSU a spot in the 1966 NCAA tournament.
In the national semifinals, Bessone upset highly favored Boston University 2-1 with a goal by Spartan forward, Doug Volmar. In the national championship game, Bessone and the Spartans faced Len Ceglarski's Clarkson team that owned the national-best record of 24-2.
On March 19, 1966, Michigan State beat top-ranked Clarkson 6-1 victory to give Michigan State is first national championship. Len Ceglarski and Amo Bessone shared the Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year in 1966.
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The national title and coaching award cemented Bessone's legacy as a coach. To this day, Bessone's 1966 Michigan State team remains one of the biggest underdog stories in NCAA ice hockey history. The total number of team victories (16) and team winning percentage (.551) is the lowest of any NCAA ice hockey champion.
Bessone began the 1970s with six straight winning seasons. As MSU hockey was building momentum, Munn Ice Arena opened October 25, 1974, when Michigan State hosted Laurentian. That same season saw the first sellout crowd in Munn's history when the Spartans defeated North Dakota 6-2.
A season later, in 1975-76, Bessone guided MSU to its best WCHA conference record of 20-12-0 before Minnesota knocked MSU out of the WCHA playoffs in 6-7 triple overtime loss. Minnesota, who had finished below Michigan State in the conference, received an NCAA tournament bid instead.
After Amo Bessone retired from Michigan State University, the MSU Athletic Director, Joseph Kearney, hired Ron Mason as the Spartans new head coach.
Michigan State celebrates the life of longtime hockey coach Ron Mason
The Ron Mason Era: Dominance in the CCHA
Mason was named Spartan head coach on April 1, 1979, and spend the next 23 seasons at Michigan State. It was a rough start in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for Mason as he compiled a record of 26-46-2 over two seasons.
Michigan State joined the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in 1981 and over the next few seasons Mason turned the hockey program around. In 2000 CCHA coaches and athletic directors unanimous voted to renamed the CCHA championship trophy to the Mason Cup in honor of Ron Mason, who was a key figure in establishing the conference in the early 1970s prior to his tenure at Michigan State.
During the 2000-01 season Michigan State finished first in the regular season and advanced through the CCHA Tournament winning the first ever Mason Cup. That same season the Spartans made a Frozen Four appearance by beating Wisconsin 5-1 before losing to North Dakota in the Semifinal game.
On October 6, 2001, the Spartans hosted an outdoor game at Spartan Stadium against rival Michigan known as The Cold War. Mason led Michigan State to seven CCHA regular season titles and a conference-record 10 CCHA tournament titles.
The Rick Comley Era
Rick Comley was announced as Ron Mason's successor as head ice hockey coach at Michigan State University in March 2002. Comley led the Spartans to a tournament appearance in 2004, his second season as MSU's head coach.
After losing to Northern Michigan in the 2004 CCHA Tournament the Spartans received an at-large bid to the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Comley's Spartans returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 after missing the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
Comley guided MSU to a second-place CCHA finish in the regular season and a CCHA Mason Cup championship in 2006. Michigan State advanced into the 2006 Tournament with an automatic bid.
In the 2006-07 season, Michigan State was preseason ranked No. 5, which was MSU's highest preseason ranking since October 2001. The team earned an NCAA Tournament bid after finishing the regular season with a conference record of 15-10-3.
Comley led MSU to defeat three higher-ranked teams en route to the national championship including No. 1-ranked Notre Dame in the Midwest Regional final. On April 7, 2007, the Michigan State Spartans won their third national championship by beating Boston College 3-1.
Recent History
In December 2010 the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines played a second outdoor game at Michigan Stadium. The game, known as The Big Chill at the Big House, took place on December 11, 2010. 104,173 fans filled Michigan Stadium and watched as Michigan beat Michigan State 5-0.
In September 2010 Penn State University announced that the university was elevating its men's and women's American Collegiate Hockey Association club programs to varsity status. Then-CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos publicly stated that the CCHA would strongly consider adding Penn State as the conference's 12th member.
On March 21, 2011, the Big Ten Conference announced plans to sponsor men's ice hockey starting in 2013-14 season. Michigan State along with CCHA rivals, University of Michigan and Ohio State University will leave the CCHA to join University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin from the WCHA and Penn State to form a six-team Big Ten Hockey Conference.
Less than a week after the Big Ten's announcement Michigan State announced that former CCHA Commissioner, Tom Anastos would become the 6th head coach in the history of the program. Anastos is a former Spartan hockey player who played for MSU from 1981 to 1985. He is also the former coach at Michigan-Dearborn (NAIA) from 1987 to 1990, and compiled a 68-37-7 record.
Anastos picked up his first NCAA DI coaching victory with Michigan State in the second game of the 2012 Icebreaker tournament with a 3-2 overtime win over Air Force. The Spartans finished the 2011-12 season ranked 5th in the CCHA standings and received a first round bye in the CCHA Tournament.
The Spartans faced fourth-seeded Miami (OH) in the second round, in the best-of-three series Michigan State was swept 0-6 and 1-4 in two games. Despite being swept by Miami, the Spartans finished 15th in the Pairwise rankings and became the final at-large bid selected for the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
The bid marked the team's first appearance in the NCAA post-season since 2008, the team was placed in the East Region held at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In the game, Union College took an early lead and held the Spartans to a single goal in a 3-1 win over Michigan State in the East Regional semifinal.
At the end of the 2016-17 season, it was announced that Tom Anastos would step down as head coach of the Spartans. On April 11, 2017, Danton Cole was named head coach at Michigan State University.
In Cole first season, 2017-18, the Spartans finished last in the Big Ten and were swept in a three-game series in the conference tournament by Ohio State. The next season, MSU once again finished last in the Big Ten and were swept by Notre Dame in the conference tournament.
In 2019-20, the Spartans started the season strong and swept Michigan for the first time in Cole's tenure. On April 12, 2022, he was fired by Michigan State. On May 3, 2022, Adam Nightingale was named head coach at Michigan State University.
During the 2022-23 season, in his first season with the Spartans, he led the team to an 18-18-2 record and the semifinals of the 2023 Big Ten tournament. On March 4, 2023, in the second game of the quarterfinals, Michigan State won their first Big Ten tournament game.
Michigan State Hockey Records
The following are the Michigan State school records:
- Longest overall unbeaten streak: 22 (Dec. 29, 1984-Feb.
- Most goals in a game: 5, Mike Donnelly vs. Ohio State (Dec. 14, 1985), Tom Ross vs. Notre Dame (Nov. 10, 1973), Don Thompson vs. Michigan (Feb 21, 1970), Bob Doyle vs. Ohio (Feb.
- Most assists in a game: 6, Steve Colp vs. Michigan (Dec. 14, 1974), Daryl Rice vs. Boston College (Dec. 27, 1973), Real Turcotte vs. Ohio (Feb.
- Most points in a game: 9, Bob Doyle vs. Ohio (Feb. 17, 1961), Real Turcotte vs. Ohio (Feb.
- Most penalty minutes in a game: 21, Tony Tuzzolino vs. Western Michigan (Oct.
- Most goals in a game: 18 vs. Ohio State (Dec.
- Most goals in a period: 8 vs. Ohio State (Dec.
- Most assists in a period: 14 vs.
- Most penalty minutes in a game: 60 vs. Northeastern (Oct.
- Most penalty minutes in a period: 53 vs. Ferris State (Dec.
