Jared DeMichiel’s Journey to MSU Shaped by Time at RIT
By: Audrey Dayton, Michigan State Athletic Communications
10/16/2026
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- For the No. 3-ranked Michigan State hockey team, Saturday’s game against RIT marks the first road test of the season. But for Associate Head Coach Jared DeMichiel, the game is also a return to a familiar home.
DeMichiel was a goaltender for four seasons (2006-2010) at RIT, backing a winning program. The Tigers won three regular-season championships, a postseason title and are the only Atlantic Hockey Association team to have reached the Frozen Four to this day.
“We've been riding him a little bit about it,” coach Adam Nightingale said with a smile. “He's a Hall of Famer there, and we're wondering if he's going to drop the puck (said jokingly).”
DeMichiel holds the school record for saves (920) and was inducted into RIT’s Hall of Fame in 2022. But before he was the starting goaltender, he was a Hartford Whalers fan from Harwinton, Connecticut: sitting on his parents lap, before his older sister picked out seats along the glass.
His passion for hockey accelerated as he got older, starting with AAA hockey around age 13 before attending Avon Old Farms for high school, a strong hockey prep school in New England. He played junior hockey as long as he could and was recruited by RIT in his final season of juniors.
“Part of the reason I chose RIT was that the coaches were really honest with me,” DeMichiel said. “They said, ‘Hey, you're probably not going to play your freshman year and your sophomore year there's going to be a battle; there's going to be another really good goalie,’ and I respected their honesty.”
DeMichiel played just two games as a freshman and six during his sophomore season, capped by a career-best save performance to tie Niagara, a ranked participant in the NCAA Tournament.
The breakout came in his junior season, and his senior year brought RIT’s historic NCAA Tournament run. DeMichiel led all of Division I with 27 wins and was second in shutouts with six.
The season was special not just because of DeMichiel’s performance, but because of the highs, lows and camaraderie. The team started the season 1-5 before going on extended winning streaks throughout the season. Prior to its final game, the team won 12 straight.
“Everyone was so bought into playing team hockey, and nobody cared who scored the goal or made the saves,” DeMichiel said. “We were really a team. I think our team had a ton of confidence, and we had some really good players.”
The group, made up of 10 upperclassmen and a freshman Chris Tanev, stunned No. 2-ranked Denver in the first round of the Albany Regional. DeMichiel tied his career-high 39 saves in that game and was named the region’s Most Outstanding Player after RIT defeated No. 12-ranked New Hampshire to advance to the Frozen Four. The squad ultimately lost to No. 3 Wisconsin, a group that saw 10 players reach the NHL.
“We came back after Albany, and they had the Zamboni out driving around campus before we left to go to the Frozen Four,” DeMichiel recalled “We sold out the arena and had a goodbye wave off, and then even coming back, we had a great welcome, which was really cool.”
Despite its end, the season was historic for the only Division I sport on campus at the time. It was a factor in establishing the program’s current arena, the Gene Polisseni Center, where RIT plays its home games.
While the Frozen Four run is easily one of DeMichiel’s highlights from college, he was also a part of the first annual Brick City Homecoming Game at Blue Cross Arena in 2007, the game the Spartans will compete in on Saturday. He still remembers the atmosphere.
“We'd be warming up in the lobby and you could see that everybody was packed in like sardines,” DeMichiel said. “That would get you hyped up for the games, the arena will be close to full for warmups, which you usually don't get for a lot of college hockey games.”
A packed arena and a hostile crowd is ideal for MSU’s first road game, and a return to Rochester is just an added bonus.
“It's just a great opportunity to play in a hidden gem of college hockey,” DeMichiel said. “An unreal experience for them to go in, a road test, first college hockey road game and a pretty unique experience.”
Even after college, DeMichiel found himself in Rochester. He spent his summers there during his professional career and then landed his first coaching job at Nazareth University, just 15 minutes away from Blue Cross Arena.
“Part of the reason I got into coaching was my relationship with the coaches I had at RIT,” DeMichiel said. “They saw me as a person first and a hockey player second, and I enjoyed their honesty. I try to be an extension of them every day that I coach.”
As a player, he drew from their daily preparation and passion for hockey. And the longer he was at RIT, the more he appreciated their attention to his life beyond the sport.
They’d joke with his girlfriend (now wife) about how slow he was to leave the rink and knew his class schedule, actively pushing him to be better in the classroom.
“I’ve brought that to the places that I’ve worked, putting a ton of pride in our players not just being great hockey players but great people and great students,” DeMichiel said. “I’m a big believer in how you do one thing is how you do everything. I got that as a student-athlete at RIT, and I try to instill that in our players here.”
DeMichiel’s experiences at RIT, working his way through the lineup and valuing a team-first identity fit seamlessly into the current MSU culture: the one Nightingale sought to establish when he took over the program in 2022 and brought DeMichiel on staff.
“He gave me a call shortly after he got hired, and we saw eye-to-eye on building a program: daily process, philosophies, cultures, player development, and definitely blue collar, humble, down to earth (values),” DeMichiel said. “That's big for just how I was raised, and that resonated when we spoke. RIT is no different, the same mentality there.”
DeMichiel’s parents will make the trip to Rochester and the Spartans are bound to make a pit stop at some of DeMichiel’s favorite local restaurants – like Black & Blue, a place that he and his wife frequented in both Rochester and Buffalo.
While DeMichiel was last in Rochester for an annual summer golf outing with RIT hockey alumni, he’s looking forward to more reunions on Saturday – like one with his former coach Wayne Wilson, who remains a close mentor and friend.
DeMichiel’s former teammates from several seasons have stayed in touch, chiming the group chat a little extra this week before the homecoming game. Those relationships with coaches, teammates and family are what’s meant the most from his time in Rochester.
“I met my wife there; we have three kids, so it's hard not to think about RIT when I see my wife, when I see my kids, because I think they look a lot like her,” DeMichiel said. “I had a great experience, great relationships, and am very, very fortunate to have attended a place like RIT.”
