Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Continue Prep For Season With Media Day, Green-White Scrimmage
10/2/2019 6:38:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
EAST LANSING – The Michigan State hockey program hosted its annual media day and Green-White scrimmage on Wednesday afternoon at Munn Ice Arena. Head coach Danton Cole met with the media prior to the 2019-20 Spartans taking the ice for a two-period, modified format scrimmage. Due to the ongoing Munn Ice Arena expansion construction, the crowd for Wednesday's scrimmage was limited to MSU student section members. Following the scrimmage, the Spartans held a meet and greet with the student section members and met with the media.
>> WATCH DANTON COLE'S PRESS CONFERENCE
Senior captain Sam Saliba
On what he's looking forward to this year…
I think we're just excited to play against a different team. All September we've been practicing against each other; we've been looking really good out here in practice. We're excited to play a different opponent and get this thing rolling.
On the improving in Big Ten play…
I thought on certain Friday nights, first game of the series, we started off a little slow. At times, we got ourselves behind the 8-ball. I think it's important for us to focus on putting two good games together every weekend of the Big Ten because every point matters during the season.
On replacing a player like Taro Hirsose…
Obviously, Taro's a tough player to replace. He's a special player; very dynamic. I'm not sure if you can replace the leading scorer in the country but guys up and down our lineup are going to have to step up. We feel we have enough in that room to do so.
On his personal goals for the season…
I want to be a good leader. Throughout the course of the season there's a lot of ups and downs and I want to lead the right way – making sure our team sticks together.
On the renovations at Munn Ice Arena…
We're really excited. I think it's huge for Spartan hockey, for this program. We've taken some steps here in the last couple years getting this program back where it needs to be and that renovation is essential in that process. All the guys that will be here, guys even that are leaving like myself, we're very excited to see that.
Junior captain Tommy Apap
On being named a captain as a junior…
It's definitely an honor. It helps when Sam Saliba is the captain; he's been a captain so I'm a learning a lot under him. We have a great group of guys so it's pretty easy being one of the leaders.
On what he's seeing from the team early on…
We're playing with a lot of energy and a lot of passion. We're excited to play – to play guys in other jerseys. We're ready for the games to start.
On what the team needs to improve on, especially in Big Ten play…
I think we need to be a little better defensively; forwards all the way through because we lost Taro obviously so we might be losing a little bit of scoring, which means we have to get better defensively. It means forwards have to back-check better, other guys have to shut down more. If overall our defensive game is better, we'll be better offensively, too.
Senior defenseman Jerad Rosburg
On defensive line this season…
I'm excited for this year. I except a lot from his team you know guys have been working hard all summer to the start of the year. We have a high energy team and we're a pretty tight-knit group so I'm excited to get the season going.
On the experience level of this team…
We definitely have a good veteran presence on this team. I think guys have been around the block, guys know what to expect you know there's no surprises anymore for the majority of our team. I think with a lot of veteran leadership it's easy to help out the few young guys there are, and I think that's a good chemistry for winning.
On the outlook for this season…
Our goal is to win and win often. We did pretty well last year during the middle of the season then we kind of faded towards the end so we're looking to be towards the top of the Big Ten for sure and I think we have the team to do it.
On what he expects from himself…
I'm just trying to improve on last year. I think I'm just stacking days you just starting in the Spring and Summer to now. I'm obviously trying to be better than I was last year and do anything I can to help this team win is what I'm trying to do. Bring here for a while and being a part of the process, I'm looking for results and at the end of the day we just need to win and that's what I'm just trying to do.
Senior forward Patrick Khodorenko
On the difference maker between last season and now…
Well obviously, without Taro, me and Lewy are probably going to have to pick it up a little bit offensively, but just as much I think this year it's more important that we play more defense. I think we've got a little bit of an older team and I think we've got to be a little more consistent defensively.
On finally getting back on the ice…
I've been waiting for this moment all year. It's still not really official, but it's definitely nice to be a week away and start to put on the game jerseys and everything. It's definitely more intense now, but I think it's a good feeling.
On Nicolas's performance so far …
I think it's been good. He's a great passer, he's got good offensive instinct and I think he'll fit in perfectly with us. I think he's just needs to gain a little bit more confidence. He's been used to playing Olympic size ice all his life and when he gets little more used to it and plays a couple games he'll fit in well.
On Danton's goal of home ice advantage for playoffs…
Yeah, 100% we always strive to be the best team we can be and the past couple years we're inching closer and closer to that home ice advantage. I think this year we really have a good chance of making it with this older team.
>> WATCH DANTON COLE'S PRESS CONFERENCE
Senior captain Sam Saliba
On what he's looking forward to this year…
I think we're just excited to play against a different team. All September we've been practicing against each other; we've been looking really good out here in practice. We're excited to play a different opponent and get this thing rolling.
On the improving in Big Ten play…
I thought on certain Friday nights, first game of the series, we started off a little slow. At times, we got ourselves behind the 8-ball. I think it's important for us to focus on putting two good games together every weekend of the Big Ten because every point matters during the season.
On replacing a player like Taro Hirsose…
Obviously, Taro's a tough player to replace. He's a special player; very dynamic. I'm not sure if you can replace the leading scorer in the country but guys up and down our lineup are going to have to step up. We feel we have enough in that room to do so.
On his personal goals for the season…
I want to be a good leader. Throughout the course of the season there's a lot of ups and downs and I want to lead the right way – making sure our team sticks together.
On the renovations at Munn Ice Arena…
We're really excited. I think it's huge for Spartan hockey, for this program. We've taken some steps here in the last couple years getting this program back where it needs to be and that renovation is essential in that process. All the guys that will be here, guys even that are leaving like myself, we're very excited to see that.
Junior captain Tommy Apap
On being named a captain as a junior…
It's definitely an honor. It helps when Sam Saliba is the captain; he's been a captain so I'm a learning a lot under him. We have a great group of guys so it's pretty easy being one of the leaders.
On what he's seeing from the team early on…
We're playing with a lot of energy and a lot of passion. We're excited to play – to play guys in other jerseys. We're ready for the games to start.
On what the team needs to improve on, especially in Big Ten play…
I think we need to be a little better defensively; forwards all the way through because we lost Taro obviously so we might be losing a little bit of scoring, which means we have to get better defensively. It means forwards have to back-check better, other guys have to shut down more. If overall our defensive game is better, we'll be better offensively, too.
Senior defenseman Jerad Rosburg
On defensive line this season…
I'm excited for this year. I except a lot from his team you know guys have been working hard all summer to the start of the year. We have a high energy team and we're a pretty tight-knit group so I'm excited to get the season going.
On the experience level of this team…
We definitely have a good veteran presence on this team. I think guys have been around the block, guys know what to expect you know there's no surprises anymore for the majority of our team. I think with a lot of veteran leadership it's easy to help out the few young guys there are, and I think that's a good chemistry for winning.
On the outlook for this season…
Our goal is to win and win often. We did pretty well last year during the middle of the season then we kind of faded towards the end so we're looking to be towards the top of the Big Ten for sure and I think we have the team to do it.
On what he expects from himself…
I'm just trying to improve on last year. I think I'm just stacking days you just starting in the Spring and Summer to now. I'm obviously trying to be better than I was last year and do anything I can to help this team win is what I'm trying to do. Bring here for a while and being a part of the process, I'm looking for results and at the end of the day we just need to win and that's what I'm just trying to do.
Senior forward Patrick Khodorenko
On the difference maker between last season and now…
Well obviously, without Taro, me and Lewy are probably going to have to pick it up a little bit offensively, but just as much I think this year it's more important that we play more defense. I think we've got a little bit of an older team and I think we've got to be a little more consistent defensively.
On finally getting back on the ice…
I've been waiting for this moment all year. It's still not really official, but it's definitely nice to be a week away and start to put on the game jerseys and everything. It's definitely more intense now, but I think it's a good feeling.
On Nicolas's performance so far …
I think it's been good. He's a great passer, he's got good offensive instinct and I think he'll fit in perfectly with us. I think he's just needs to gain a little bit more confidence. He's been used to playing Olympic size ice all his life and when he gets little more used to it and plays a couple games he'll fit in well.
On Danton's goal of home ice advantage for playoffs…
Yeah, 100% we always strive to be the best team we can be and the past couple years we're inching closer and closer to that home ice advantage. I think this year we really have a good chance of making it with this older team.
Players Mentioned
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