{"id":130844,"date":"2021-12-08T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=130844"},"modified":"2021-12-07T21:43:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T03:43:21","slug":"this-week-in-big-ten-hockey-michigan-state-racking-up-wins-as-spartans-have-done-some-good-work-this-first-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2021\/12\/08\/this-week-in-big-ten-hockey-michigan-state-racking-up-wins-as-spartans-have-done-some-good-work-this-first-half\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan State racking up wins as Spartans have ‘done some good work this first half’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Drew DeRidder has posted six wins in his 11 starts this season for Michigan State (photo: Rich Gagnon).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michigan State had improved slightly each season since Danton Cole was hired as head coach in 2017.<\/p>\n

Until last year, that is.<\/p>\n

Like many other teams, the 2020-21 season was not kind to the Spartans. There just aren\u2019t many ways to polish a 7-18-2 overall record into anything positive, but with one series remaining in the first half this year the Spartans have an opportunity to carry a winning conference record into 2022 when they travel to Notre Dame this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was an incredibly weird year for a lot of reasons,\u201d Cole said on Monday. \u201cCOVID, it certainly affected us when our team got it. It all sounds like excuses, but when you step back, I think if we hadn\u2019t had all that hit us early in the year that we might have a little better season last year. We\u2019ve kind of built through in my first three seasons here and got a little better every year and that blip can motivate the players and can motivate the coaches, and I think it certainly did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole has referenced the 2019-20 season, where MSU finished sixth in the standings but was only six points behind the champion, before and he brought up that group again in comparison to this year\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing into this (year) we thought our depth of talent was better and we thought the guys that were coming would be able to contribute right away, and they have,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re better than we were last year, I don\u2019t know considerably, but probably the better comparison is two years ago where we were darn close to winning the Big Ten and I think we\u2019re better this year than we were with that team.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, Michigan State has made last year look like it was just a blip.<\/p>\n

The Spartans are coming off a split at Penn State last weekend, one where Cole felt each team lost the game it played better in, and before that they had won four games in a row against Ferris State and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found a way to get through a game where maybe we weren\u2019t at our best or our smartest and found a way to win a hockey game,\u201d Cole said of the victory over Penn State on Saturday. \u201cIn the past, maybe we haven\u2019t been able to do that, so that was a good sign. A split on the road, hey, we were looking for a sweep, but a split\u2019s pretty good in the Big Ten.\u201d<\/p>\n

A positive series at Notre Dame would make for an extra-special holiday break.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done some good work this first half,\u201d Cole said. \u201cThe guys, they have an understanding of how we want to play and how we have success. If you\u2019ve got a couple weeks to sit around and think about the results, you want to have something good coming out of it. I\u2019m sure Notre Dame feels the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin looks for another opportunity to get on track<\/h4>\n

The Badgers had the weekend off from Division I competition last weekend but dropped an exhibition game to the U.S. National Under-18 Team.<\/p>\n

The loss itself wasn\u2019t that horrible, the Under-18 Team is 4-3 against Division I teams this season and Wisconsin gave sophomore Ben Garrity his first start in net but getting shutout 4-0 was the continuation of a troublesome trend this season for the Badgers.<\/p>\n

Simply put, they\u2019re having a tough time scoring goals.<\/p>\n

In the two main offensive categories, team offense and power play, Wisconsin is ranked No. 55 and No. 54 in the nation, respectively.<\/p>\n

Back-to-back wins over Michigan and Minnesota when the calendar flipped from October to November have been the bright spot in the first half for Wisconsin, but the Badgers are 0-7-1 since.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been well-documented who was on last year\u2019s team and isn\u2019t present this year, so a balanced and deep scoring attack was going to be the Badgers\u2019 path to success this year. So far, that has yet to happen.<\/p>\n

Brock Caufield leads the team with seven points and Tarek Baker leads with four goals. Five players on the team have five or more points. A group of four players, including junior Owen Lindmark who had 17 points both his freshman and sophomore seasons, have played 15 or more games and registered just one point.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin hosts Penn State to close out the first half of the season this weekend. After Christmas, they will host the Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, facing Yale in the first game and either Bowling Green or Providence in the second.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michigan State had improved slightly each season since Danton Cole was hired as head coach in 2017. Until last year, that is. Like many other teams, the 2020-21 season was not kind to the Spartans. There just aren\u2019t many ways to polish a 7-18-2 overall record into anything positive, but with one series remaining in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":129805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,4,1,7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[855],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan State racking up wins as Spartans have 'done some good work this first half' - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan State had improved slightly each season since Danton Cole was hired as head coach in 2017. Until last year, that is. 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