Neil's Notebook: Spartans Start 2021-22 With U-18 Exhibition

Saturday, October 2

Plymouth, Mich.

7 pm

Michigan State University

U.S. National Team Development Program U-18

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Neil's Notebook: Spartans Start 2021-22 With U-18 Exhibition

10/1/2021 11:48:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

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By Neil Koepke, MSUSpartans.com staff writer

EAST LANSING – After four weeks of limited practices, Michigan State players and coaches are eager to play a game, even if it's an exhibition contest.

On Saturday, the Spartans, with 16 first- or second-year players on the roster, make their 2021-22 debut with a preseason game against the U.S. National Team Development Program's U-18 team at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.

"We've been going at it for four weeks now and the guys are starting to get tired of hitting each other. We need to bang into someone with a different color jersey,'' MSU fifth-year coach Danton Cole said.

Michigan State faces off against the U-18 team (3-1 overall) at 7 p.m. The Spartans open the regular season with three straight non-conference series. They're home against Air Force on Oct. 8-9, home vs. Miami on Oct. 15-16 and then MSU plays at UMass-Lowell, Oct. 22-23.

Last season, the Spartans played only four non-league games, both at home – two to start the season against Arizona State and two more vs. ASU in February. MSU went 2-1-1 against the Sun Devils.

"I missed that last year, the non-conference games, and we didn't get to play the U.S. program,'' MSU senior goaltender Drew DeRidder said. "I have a lot of friends on a lot of different teams and it'll be cool to play a couple of them this year, and we get to go to Mass-Lowell and that'll be awesome.''

But before MSU can focus on those non-conference matchups, there are things to be sorted out Saturday against the U.S. Under-18 team, made up many of the best 17-year-olds in the nation.

"It's a good brand of hockey. They skate, they make plays and they've been playing for a while. They're game-ready,'' said Cole, who spent seven seasons coaching the U-17 and U-18 teams, from 2010-2017. "It's good a good, high-tempo, good-skill game and we'll find out some things about ourselves and get some good tape for teaching.

"In a normal game, you're trying to figure out how to win the game and get good lessons out of it. In this game, we want to get everybody in a lot of different situations. Normally, we'd run with four penalty killers but we'll probably go with eight. Normally, you go with two power plays, but this week we'll probably run a third group out there.''

Cole said the Spartans will dress most of the players on the roster and try a few of the forward line combinations they've using in practice and experiment with some other lines.

He said the goalies – DeRidder and sophomore Pierce Charleson – would likely split, each playing about 30 minutes.

Cole and his staff are eager to get a look at seven newcomers – four transfers and three freshmen. The transfers include forwards Erik Middendorf, Jeremy Davidson, Griffin Loughran and Chris Berger while the true freshmen include forwards Jesse Tucker and Tanner Kelly and defenseman David Gucciardi.

Last season, Michigan State struggled to a score goals, averaging just 1.48 goals per game, and it led to a disappointing 7-18-2 overall record and 5-16-1 in the Big Ten with a seventh-place finish.

This season, offense should be vastly improved, according to Cole and his players.

They believe the combination of returning forwards Mitchell Lewandowski, Josh Nodler, Nico Muller and Jagger Joshua and newcomers Middendorf, Davidson, Loughran, Tucker and Kelly will lead to more red lights blinking behind opposing goalies.

In addition, the defense looks to be better in setting up the forwards with senior Dennis Cesana, sophomore Nash Nienhuis and freshman Gucciardi bringing some offensive flair.

"With some of the new guys coming in, you look at Erik Middendorf and he has a year-and-a-half of college (at Colorado College) under his belt and he's had two years at the U.S. NTDP,'' Cole said. "He's scored at the collegiate level.

"Jeremy Davidson has been outstanding and he's a guy who played a year in college (at Massachusetts) and went back to juniors last season.

"If you look at Middendorf, Davidson, Tucker and Kelly, those guys were high in scoring in the U.S. Hockey League (last season). In terms of hockey IQ and compete level, that's what I like about that group. It's a smarter lineup and they do some things well instinctively on offense.''

Meanwhile, Loughran scored 23 goals and had 39 points two years ago as a sophomore at Northern Michigan. Last season, he had injury issues and played in only 16 games and had five goals and 15 points.

Loughran, who's 5-foot-6 and 145 pounds, is offensively skilled and feisty. Two years ago, he had 93 penalty minutes in 37 games.

Senior defenseman Christian Krygier has led the Spartans in penalty minutes the last two seasons – 48 in 35 games in 2019-20 and 54 in 26 games last year.

Sophomore forwards eager to earn a spot in the lineup and make an impact include Kristof Papp, A.J. Hodgins and Kyle Haskins.

On defense, MSU lost only Tommy Miller and return seven players – Cesana, seniors Cole Krygier and Christian Krygier and sophomores Nienhaus, Aiden Gallacher, Powell Connor and Cal Dybicz. Gucciardi is the lone freshman on the blue line.

"We think we have a solid group on defense. Dennis Cesana had a great summer with time in the weight room and he's done a great job leading for us,'' Cole said. "The Krygiers have had the best off-ice segment they've ever had. They've done some good things and have gotten better every year.

"Some of their leadership things they've done are outstanding, and their time in the weight room has been good. They've invested in themselves and that's translated on the ice.

"I think Aiden Gallacher and Nash Nienhaus will log a lot of ice time. They made some good steps last year. David Gucciardi is a good player and has a chance to play pro hockey. He's a very noticeable player. He skates with the puck very well; his breakouts are outstanding and he's outstanding on the offensive blue line.

"But he's a freshman defenseman in the Big Ten so it'll take some times to work out the kinks.''

Starting the season, there's no No. 1 goaltender. It'll be a battle to start between DeRidder, the senior, and Charleson, the sophomore.

DeRidder played in and started 24 games last season, and had a 2.76 goals-against average and a .923 saves percentage. He was voted MSU's most valuable player. Charleson appeared in seven games, started three, and posted a 2.57 GAA and a .938 saves percentage.

"The best thing for them is the competition. Drew drives Pierce and Pierce drives Drew,'' Lewandowski said. "It's hard to tell in practice sometimes but once we get going, I think we'll see both of them play.''

Cole believes goaltending will be a strength.

"With Drew and Pierce, that's a pretty potent combo back there. They both showed themselves to be at an elite level last year,'' he said. "They'll battle it out just like everyone.''

THE MSU-U.S. U-18 RIVALRY: The Spartans have won the last six meetings and lead the series, 10-6. MSU was down in the series, 4-6, before its recent winning streak.

The last times the teams met was on Oct. 18, 2019, with the Spartans coming away with a 2-1 victory at Munn Arena. MSU has played one game at USA Arena in Plymouth – a 3-0 win on Dec. 16, 2017. In that game, MSU goalie Drew DeRidder was a senior in high school and in goal for the U-18s.

SCOUTING THE UNDER-18s: They're 3-1 thus far this season in games against three U.S. Hockey League opponents. They opened the season with a sweep of Muskegon, 5-1 and 8-5. The U-18 team defeated Tri-City, 4-2, last Saturday before losing to Fargo, 5-4, on Sunday.

The U-18 team is coached by former Spartan forward and Adam Nightingale. He's in his second season with the NTDP, having coached the Under-17s last season.

Nightingale played two seasons at MSU from 2003-05 and later served as the Spartans' director of operations for four seasons from 2010-14.

After two years as a head coach at Shattuck St. Mary's, a prep school in Faribault, Minnesota, Nightingale moved on the NHL and the Buffalo Sabres as video coach. After one year in Buffalo, he joined the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach, and spent three seasons with the Wings before joining the NTDP.

Forward Frank Nazar III leads the U-18s in scoring with five goals and eight points in four games. Forwards Isaac Howard (1-6-7) and Jimmy Snuggerud (2-5-7) are tied for second. Other top forwards include Roger McGroarty (3-2-5) and Devin Kaplan (1-4-5) and Logan Cooley (0-1-1).

The U.S. team starts this weekend with a Friday home game against the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. On Sunday, the U-18s play at Notre Dame – the second of 15 games against U.S. college teams.

The U18s play 11 Division I college teams including MSU, Notre Dame, Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, Cornell, Wisconsin, Brown, Boston University, North Dakota, Minnesota and Lake Superior State.

CAPTAINS SELECTED: Senior defenseman Dennis Cesana will serve as MSU's captain for the 2021-22 season. Fifth-year forward Mitchell Lewandowski and junior forward Josh Nodler are the assistant captains.

"Dennis' body of work has been outstanding. He's been a good player (for three years),'' Coach Danton Cole said. "We look for him to have a great season on the ice, and from a leadership standpoint, it's something we challenged him with at the end of last season going into this season.

"It was to look at everything from a leadership prism through the spring and summer and he's done a great job with that.''

Lewandowski, who has 49 goals and 52 assists for 101 points in 135 games, was an assistant captain last season

"Lewie is a pretty positive young man. He's upbeat and produces on the ice, is popular with the guys, and one area where he really elevated his game is he stayed here (after last season) and kept working out with (strength and conditioning coach) Mike Vorkapich,'' Cole said.

"Between surgery and Covid the two previous summers, it's been difficult off-seasons for Lewie and he really need this (summer). He killed it in the weight room. That showed a lot of guys his energy and the will to win. He's back for his fifth year and wants to accomplish something as a team.

"With Dennis, Lewie and Nodler, it's such a good base in terms of different personalities and leadership traits. But one thing they have in common is they work hard and care a lot about their teammates. That's where you have to start as a captain.''

As assistant captains, Nodler and Lewandowski will be joined each game by one of four seniors – Cole Krygier, Christian Krygier, Adam Goodsir and Mitchell Mattson – as a rotating assistant captain.

"We had four seniorsget an awful lot of votes for captain. They were going to be in our leadership group and we want them involved,'' Cole said. "We'll rotate one of those guys as an assistant captain. Whenever we have our group leadership meetings, they'll all be involved.''

EARLY LINES: Coach Danton Cole said he has two forward lines set for the U-18 game and he'll experiment with the others. Josh Nodler will center Erik Middendorf and Griffin Loughran and Kristof Papp is in the middle with Mitchell Lewandowski and Jeremy Davidson on the wings.

Nico Muller will center a line with A.J. Hodges on one wing and either Jagger Joshua or Adam Goodsir on the other wing.

RADIO SHOW: The first Danton Cole radio show of the season is Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. at Reno's East. It will be carried by WJIM (1240) radio. Two days later, the Spartans open the season against Miami at Munn Arena.

IN THE BIG TEN: All seven teams are in action this weekend with either exhibition or non-conference games.

Minnesota and Penn State will play non-league games which will count in their overall records. The Gophers host Alaska on Saturday and Sunday at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Nittany Lions open their season with a two-game series against Long Island University on Sunday and Monday at Pegula Arena in State College.

Meanwhile, Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame are playing exhibition games while Wisconsin is playing in a scrimmage.

The Wolverines host Bowling Green Saturday and the Buckeyes are home against Western Michigan on Saturday. Notre Dame is home against the U.S. U-18 team on Sunday. Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth are calling their meeting in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on Sunday a scrimmage.

All seven teams will play regular-season non-conference games next weekend.