In 2004, Michael Farber wrote about the intensity of the Michigan-Michigan State hockey rivalry for Sports Illustrated when the magazine was celebrating its 50th anniversary by highlighting the fiercest sports rivalries state by state.
That piece ended with a quote by NHL veteran and Michigan State alum John-Michael Liles, who said, “This rivalry demanded the utmost of us: talent, smarts, physical play. Long after we’re gone, Michigan-Michigan State will carry on, and all of us can say, ‘That was one of the greatest things I’ve ever been a part of.’”
Twenty years ago, the feeling of “one of the greatest things” in college hockey was immediate, not ancient history. The Cold War game, played just three years earlier in Spartan Stadium Oct. 6, 2001, set a record hockey attendance of 74,544. That record stood for nearly nine years.
In the decade previous to Farber’s article, the Wolverines and Spartans had won a combined nine CCHA playoff championships. They were simply that dominant in the conference. Michigan and Michigan State met for the title game three of those nine times, including each team winning once in back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002.
Michigan made an appearance in the NCAA tournament every single year in that decade previous to Farber’s article. What people forget now, though, is that Michigan State was also very much on the national scene, with six NCAA tournament appearances from 1997-2002.
This weekend, the Wolverines and Spartans will meet in their fourth-ever conference championship game and what a delicious thing this is – a great big savory surprise gift to all of college hockey.
A rivalry with renewed relevance. Two name brands with a B1G television platform. All the intensity of a playoff championship plus the fire of teams separated by more than just the 65 miles of road between them, each representing the same state.
As Spartans coach Adam Nightingale said in his weekly press conference, “Everything will be amped up.”
Nightingale, this year’s Big Ten coach of the year, played two seasons for Michigan State (2003-05) after beginning his collegiate career with another Michigan team that was once a national powerhouse, Lake Superior State. He faces off this weekend against Michigan alum and current coch Brandon Naurato (2005-09), who understands exactly what a strong Michigan State program can mean for college hockey in Michigan and beyond.
“It’s good for us,” said Naurato. “I’d rather have Michigan State be good than losing Michigan kids to BC or BU. I think it’s great.”
After Michigan’s team practice Tuesday, Naurato was asked about the recruiting implications of the title game. “I don’t think if we win or lose that game we get a recruit or don’t get a recruit,” said Naurato. “I think it’s your culture, your identity as a program, and they’ve done a great job in the two years Nighty’s been there. They should be proud of that.”
Nighty is Nightingale. Of course. It’s hockey. There are always nicknames.
These two second-year head coaches whose collegiate paths never crossed are plenty familiar with each other as professionals, each having worked extensively with the Detroit Red Wings in player development. There’s a very different vibe from the Red Berenson-Ron Mason rivalry of the late 20th century. There’s less vitriol. The intensity, though, is real and here and now.
And it’s playoff hockey.
“You’re playing good teams, no matter what,” said Nightingale. “They want to win – not that they don’t during the regular season, but everything’s cranked up.”
Opposing teams are at their best, said Naurato, “when they’ve got something to prove, and they’ve got something to prove this weekend.”
Prior to Nightingale’s tenure, the Spartans were 0-12 in Big Ten postseason play. Last year, Michigan State lost the first game of a best-of-three road quarterfinal series against Notre Dame before taking the next two games. The Spartans ended their playoff run last season with a 5-1 road loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten semifinals.
With the win against Ohio State last weekend, Michigan State is 3-2 in the B1G playoffs under Nightingale. The game against the Buckeyes was also the first time that the Spartans had hosted a playoff game since 2010. Back in that series, they were swept by the Wolverines in CCHA quarterfinal action.
“We earned the opportunity to play another home game,” said Nightingale, who has been especially conscious of his obligation to the Spartan faithful in his first two seasons, eager to reward a fanbase and to make Munn Arena an especially difficult place to play.
“Looking forward to having Michigan here Saturday,” said Nightingale. “It’ll be a great environment. It’s a special rivalry and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
Michigan enters the weekend on a four-game win streak, having beaten Minnesota on the final night of the regular season before sweeping Notre Dame in the Big Ten quarterfinals, and then beating Minnesota again in a semifinal game on the road last weekend. The Wolverines are 7-4-0 in their last 11 games, a stretch that began with a sweep at the hands of the Spartans Feb. 9-10.
Michigan State is also 7-4-0 in its last 11 games, but to count back those contests we have to go all the way to late January because of two bye weeks – one scheduled, and one earned as the regular season champs. In that time, the Spartans’ longest win streak was three games (Feb. 3-Feb. 10), which included a win over Notre Dame and that series against Michigan.
Nightingale and his staff are conscious that this is new territory for the Spartans, but they’re confident as well.
“It’s not like we’re just trying to turn on a switch here and all of a sudden we’re going to try to play playoff hockey,” said Nightingale. “I like to think we’ve tried to help our guys do that from Day 1.
“I think in college hockey, actually, when you look at the schedule [of] 34 games, almost every game is like a playoff game.”
The Wolverines are used to playing in someone else’s barn in the Big Ten postseason. In 2022 and 2023, Michigan won the conference championship in Mariucci Arena, and last week the Wolverines had to go through Minnesota again to reach this title game.
It took Michigan until the last weekend of February to climb into fourth place in conference standings, and that’s where the Wolverines finished. A lot of that had to do with shoring up team defense and goaltending. Last weekend’s 2-1 win over Minnesota was uncharacteristic for Michigan – not just because of the two goals the Wolverines scored, but because winning close games has not exactly been Michigan’s style this season.
That hasn’t been design, said Naurato.
“It’s not like we’re just snapping our fingers and everything is great defensively now,” he said.
Naurato credits the team with Michigan’s recent back-end improvements.
“It’s not like they were not trying earlier on, but they’re growing and they’re continuing to take steps. Not that they weren’t buying in before, but just overall buy-in that it’s all about the team this year and that shows that guys care and want to win,” said Naurato.
Some numbers before the game. All stats are overall.
Scoring offense: Michigan, 4.22 goals per game (4th); Michigan State, 3.86 (7th)
Scoring defense: Michigan, 3.00 goals allowed per game (34th); Michigan State, 2.97 (32nd)
Power play: Michigan, 35.3% (1st); Michigan State, 26.7% (5th)
Penalty kill: Michigan, 78.1% (43rd); Michigan State, 80.9% (28th)
Top scorer: Michigan, Gavin Brindley (24-27—51); Michigan State, Karsen Dorwart (14-18—32), Artyom Levshunov (9-23—32), Isaac Howard (8-24—32)
Top goal scorer: Michigan, Brindley (24); Michigan State, Joey Larson (15)
Goaltender: Michigan, Jacob Barczewski (2.78 GAA, .909 SV%); Michigan State, Trey Augustine (2.86 GAA, .919 SV%)
On paper, these teams are very evenly matched. The one notable difference in stats is that Michigan State’s penalty kill is significantly better than Michigan’s. Both teams can score. Each team has six players with 10 or more goals this season.
The Spartans were 3-1-0 against the Wolverines during the regular season. Playoff hockey, though, is a brand-new season.
“You have to play this game and it’s one game,” said Naurato. “We feel really good about our team.”
Nightingale said that he hopes that the Spartans can savor this moment – playing their biggest rival, at home, for a conference championship.
“Our guys should be proud of earning people’s respect, because that definitely wasn’t a given and we had to do a better job,” said Nightingale. Give the guys credit. They’re the ones doing the work.
“It is important to step back and really appreciate this opportunity that they’ve earned.”
