Sports: Up & Down Season for MSU Icers
2004-05 saw highs and lows for the MSU icers under third-year coach Rick Comley. At 20-17-4 overall, 12-13-3 in the CCHA, MSU was shut out of the NCAAs but did win another Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) championship.
The Spartans entered the season with high expectations, with the return of two-time senior captain Jim Slater, a Hobey Baker finalist and leading CCHA scorer. But even with the emergence of key players like junior forward Colton Fretter and sophomore Drew Miller, MSU struggled with consistency and failed to win big games, ending up sixth in the league standings.
But some great triumphs and positives did emerge. The Spartans beat two nationally ranked teams, New Hampshire and archrival Michigan, to capture the 2005 GLI—the first championship for the team’s seven seniors and the team’s first since 2000. Using this momentum, the icers went 5-2-3 in the next ten games.
One major highlight took place in Ann Arbor, when MSU came back from a two-goal deficit to tie the Wolverines. Miller tallied both goals within the final two and a half minutes of the game. The next evening at Joe Louis Arena, MSU again came back from a goal down, tying Michigan 1-1.
After the weekend series against Michigan, the Spartans ended the regular season going 4-4-0 in their final eight games. Their sixth place league finish secured home-ice and put the Green and White in a first-round matchup against seventh-place Miami. MSU won two games 2-0 and advanced to the CCHA Super 6 Championships for the 14th consecutive season.
MSU defeated UNO in fashionable style, by a 5-0 final, but fell in the second-round to No. 8 Ohio State 4-1. MSU lost in the third-place title game to Alaska-Fairbanks to end a disappointing 2004-05 season.
The good news is, MSU has much to look forward to next season. Even with the loss of Slater, who led the team with 48 points, Miller and Fretter, as well as freshmen Chris Mueller and Jim McKenzie, will form a solid and positive nucleus for MSU next season.