Five Things To Know: No. 4 Michigan State vs No. 2 Boston College

EAST LANSING, Mich. – College hockey fans will be in for a treat this weekend when No. 4 Michigan State (2-0) plays host to No. 2 Boston College (0-0) for a pair of games at Mason Rink at Munn Ice Arena.

Both games are set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be televised on the Big Ten Network on Friday and on Big Ten Plus on Saturday.

It will be the 29^th and 30^th all-time meeting between the two schools.

While it’s early in the season, many are looking at this matchup as a precursor between two programs that could easily be in the Frozen Four. It’s an intersectional matchup of two of the most storied programs in college hockey, offering a tasty Happy New Hockey Year offering for local hockey fans as well as national observers.

What makes this matchup even more enticing is the fact that this will be the hottest ticket in town in what is expected to be a standing room only crowd at Munn. 

With Michigan State football being off on a bye week and with men’s basketball headed up to the Upper Peninsula for an exhibition game against Tom Izzo’s alma mater, Northern Michigan, all eyes will be on the ice this weekend. And they will have plenty to see.

The Spartans are coming off a season-opening sweep of Lake Superior State to open 2024-25 last weekend, winning 2-1 (OT) and 5-1.

With the stakes obviously rising to another level this weekend, here are five things you need to know going into the Spartans-Eagles’ weekend series.

1. THE MICHIGAN STATE WAY

Michigan State junior left wing Isaac Howard. (Photo courtesy @MSU_Hockey)

Yes, meeting Boston College, a program that ended up as the national runner-up last season, losing to Denver in the National Championship Game, is a big deal.

But it’s not the end all, be all.

It’s way too early in the season for Michigan State to be tinkering with approaches and philosophies.

So, in that respect, don’t expect Michigan State to make any major tweaks or changes in how the Spartans play against a highly-regarded team.

“I think it’s one of the things we’ve tried to do as a coaching staff, is focus on us,” said Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale. “We’re trying to take a long term approach to our guys’ development, and they’ve got areas to keep growing in their game, regardless of who we’re playing. So our approach – we definitely, studied Boston College and (we have) ton of respect for how they play – but we also got a lot to work (to do) on our game. I think you can sometimes go down a rabbit hole of focusing so much on the opponent, that you forget to focus on the most important things, that’s your own team.’’

2. SOMEONE OLD, SOMEONE NEW

Although it’s early, getting your defensive pairings right can be pivotal to the long term success of a season.

In its opening series against Lake Superior State, one of Michigan State’s interesting pairings on defense featured graduate transfer Nick Andrews, who played four seasons at Colorado College before coming to East Lansing, and true freshman Vladislav Lukashevich, who played just one season in the USHL with Tri-City after playing three seasons with his Russian junior team.

Andrews had a goal and an assist in the series at LSSU and finished at plus-2 on the weekend, while Lukashevich had three shots on goal and finished with a plus-1 in the series.

Pay close attention to the development, progression and chemistry of this duo going forward because if Andrews and Lukashevich can click, Michigan State could have a noticeable advantage on the blue line in most games with two defenders who are in their first seasons at Michigan State.

“I thought they did a good job (against Lake Superior State),” Nightingale said. “I mean, Nick’s played a lot of college hockey (129 games at Colorado College). He’s got a ton of experience. And Vlad is a freshman coming in, so that’s the whole thing with that pairing. 

“(Nick) got some experience with a young player. And I think, for Vlad it’s just getting used to the speed of the game. It’s a big jump from the USHL and he was a really good player in that league, but now, guys (from the opposing team) are on top of you, you have less time and space and Nick’s got a calming presence on (Lukashevich). So I think that combination, we hope, it’s going to be a good one for us.’’ 

The Spartans’ other defensive pairings for Weekend One were sophomores Patrick Geary and Maxin Strbak, and senior David Gucciardi and junior Matt Basgall.

3. THE X-FACTOR

Wisconsin transfer Charlie Stramel (6-3, 210, Jr., Rosemount, Minn.) could figure as a huge addition to the Spartans’ offensive success.

Stramel –  a 2023 Minnesota Wild first-round draft pick, No. 21 overall – departed Wisconsin after a disappointing sophomore campaign in Madison (three goals, five assists in 35 games). He’s looking for a fresh start with a coach he’s very familiar with in Nightingale, who coached Stramel (from 2020-22) while both were at the U.S. National Team Development Program.

Nightingale knows Stramel’s potential and sees a bright future in a Spartan uniform for the 6-foot-3, 210-pound forward.

Stramel (pronounced STRAY-mul) picked up an assist in his first weekend as a Spartan. He centered the first line, next to former USNTD teammate Isaac Howard on his left and Daniel Russel on his right.

“I thought he did a great job,” Nightingale said of Stramel. “I thought he played really hard. He’s a young player but he’s got to play like a power forward, and I thought we saw that this weekend. He’s physical with the puck, physical without the puck. He did a really good job on the penalty kill, and one of the things I think Charlie’s really good at is he’s got a knack in front of the net and being a really good net front guy. It didn’t show up on the scoresheet but the amount of times he was in the goalie’s face, made it hard on the goalie, and that makes for a long night. So I thought it was a really good weekend for him.’’

4. NO WORRIES

Michigan State’s power play finished the first weekend 0-for-6 but the penalty kill was just as strong the other way, allowing the Lakers no goals on eight extra-man chances.

Just like a defense’s development in football always seems to be ahead of the offense’s development and success, things were similar for Michigan State’s hockey team after week one.

Despite no special teams goals, Nightingale didn’t seem to be worried, especially when you consider the fact that the Spartans scored seven goals on the weekend, while surrendering just two even-strength tallies to LSSU.

“Yeah, the penalty kill, that’s pretty common early, is the penalty kill usually starts out ahead of the power play, with the power play still sorting things out,’’ Nightingale said. “I thought, (associate head coach) Jared DeMichiel, who runs our penalty kill, did a great job. I thought they had a great plan and went out and executed, especially with the five minute major (penalty) that we had to kill for a while there. With the power play, it’s less . . . obviously, you want to score but what you’re looking at, if you don’t score, (is to) create momentum for your team. And I thought both units did that for us.’’

5. BOSTON COLLEGE RELOADING?

After losing their top two scorers to the NHL – Cutter Gauthier (38-27-65) signed with the Anaheim Ducks after just two seasons at BC, while Will Smith (25-46-71) jumped to the next level with the San Jose Sharks after just one season in Chestnut Hill, Mass. – the Eagles will rely on a pair of second-year players.

That means the Eagles top two scorers entering the 2024-25 season will be sophomore wingers Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard.

Both finished last season with 60 points. Leonard was second on the team in goals last season with 31, while adding 29 assists. Perreault scored 19 goals and added 41 assists.

Sophomore goaltender Jacob Fowler returns in the nets after winning 32 games as a freshman for the Eagles last season. His 32 wins broke the NCAA record for most wins by a freshman in a season.

BC’s top defenseman will be graduate student and captain Eamon Powell, who returns for a fifth season after leading the Eagles’ defense with five goals and 33 assists.

Perreault, Leonard, Fowler and Powell were all named to the preseason All-Hockey East team.

Keep an eye on No. 10, James Hagens, a 5-11 freshman from Hauppauge, N.Y. He is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in next summer’s NHL Draft. 

Also, watch for No. 20, 6-foot-7 freshman forward Dean Letourneau of Arnprior, Ont. He was selected in the first round last summer, No. 25 overall, by the Boston Bruins.

QUICK HITS:

* Last season, Michigan State traveled to Boston College for a two-game set in October, losing 6-4 and 5-1. Michigan State didn’t lose again in regulation until Jan. 19.

* In a series that began during the 1958-59 season, the Spartans boast a 16-11-1 all-time advantage – with a 7-4-0 mark in East Lansing. Michigan State defeated Boston College in the 2007 National Championship Game. Lately though, the Eagles have held the advantage, winning the teams’ last five meetings against Michigan State.

* Michigan State is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans own a 599-281-73 all-time in their home rink and could pick up the facilities’ 600^th victory if they can capture one of the two games this weekend  . . . Eagles’ assistant coach Brent Darnell is a former Spartan who played in 137 games for Michigan State from 2011-15 . . . Both Michigan State (Big Ten) and Boston College (Hockey East) were selected as preseason favorites to win their conference titles . . .  Michigan State’s roster features eight NHL-drafted players, while Boston College boasts 12.