MSU head coach Rick Comley discusses both the immediate and distant future of the MSU hockey team.
Comley also touches on the Lake Superior weekend where the Spartans were swept by the Lakers.
Senior goaltender Jeff Lerg talks about the current state of the locker room in the wake of the suspensions of freshman forward Andrew Conboy and sophomore forward Corey Tropp and the team’s current five game losing streak.
All signs are pointing to the return of Corey Tropp to the MSU hockey team next season.
Tropp is coming back to school to take classes and stay eligible for a possible reinstatement to the team at the conclusion of this season. If reinstated, he will be a junior.
“If he does what he is supposed to do and handles things properly, there probably would be no reason not to reinstate him,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said.
After being suspended for the rest of the year for slashing Michigan’s Steve Kampfer in the neck on Jan. 24, Tropp joined the Sioux City Stampede of the United States Hockey League.
Although Comley hinted at a possible return, he said Tropp’s status “has not changed with the team” and “his situation will not be reevaluated until this season is over.”
“I don’t think his life should be ruined,” Comley said. “I don’t think he should be banned forever. But I want to make sure he understands the severity of the incident and I want to be confident that if I were to reinstate him, that something like that would never happen again.”
After making the trip out to South Dakota, Tropp didn’t suit up for the Stampede, as he
was suspended by the USHL pending its own review of the incident.
The suspension actually worked in Tropp’s favor. If he would have played, he would’ve been ruled ineligible by the NCAA for playing for another team after enrolling for spring semester classes.
“There are so many rules with NCAA you never know what’s good and what’s not,” MSU senior goaltender Jeff Lerg said.
“Obviously he wasn’t going out there to try and break any rules. He just wanted to stay in shape to come back next year and not lose three months of the year.”
With the disappointing way this season is going for the Spartans, Lerg said he has been in frequent contact with Tropp, telling him not to give up on the prospect of returning to the team.
“Obviously no one is having much fun this year,” Lerg said. “He’s not having fun. It’s a tough time for everyone, not just him. It’s not like it’s a joy every day to say we are in last place. But you just have to work through it.
“He wants to come and play here, he came here for a reason — because he’s always dreamt of playing here. That dream obviously isn’t over yet.”
Staying back
At the start of this season, Comley was unsure of how much ice time senior Kurt Kivisto
would log.
At that time, the main thing Comley liked about Kivisto was his skills in the shoot-out, even going as far to say he would dress Kivisto for the sole purpose of using him in the CCHA’s new scheme to eliminate ties.
Kivisto was often a healthy scratch throughout his tenure as a Spartan and had just two points in 43 career games entering this season.
But with the injuries and suspensions that have plagued the Spartans this year, Comley gave Kivisto an opportunity to earn more ice time than ever before — but in a different way.
Comley has transformed Kivisto into one of the team’s “best defensemen.”
“He’s such a smart player and is a great skater,” Comley said. “He understands the game and thinks the game and talks. Many players are good players and don’t score. Kurt is one of those guys.”
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In Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Lake Superior, Kivisto had a shorthanded goal and an assist — his first career multiple-point game.
“Having a forward back there who can be more offensive with the puck helps,” freshman defenseman Tim Buttery said. “We’ve been lacking goals this season, so that can help the defense to have more offensive opportunities.”
