In his first year leading the program, MSU hockey head coach Tom Anastos always has seen two sides to every weekend series.
Through triumphing wins and heartbreaking losses, Anastos muddles much of what he’s thinking to put on a good face and take positives and negatives from each matchup. Typical coach speak.
But after losing in overtime to No. 4 Michigan this weekend at Joe Louis Arena for the second time this season, Anastos’ sentiment of hearing a daunting “Hail to the Victors” following yet another 3-2 overtime loss to Michigan at Joe Louis Arena was similar to that of the fan.
“Losing sucks no matter how it happens,” Anastos said after the game. “On a good play, a bad play. You just never know. We had chances at the other end, and it comes down. I still haven’t seen it, so I don’t know how the puck ended up bouncing that way. It’s a game-losing goal, and so it sucks either way.”
Losing to your biggest rival in college hockey’s most played and most heated rivalry most certainly does suck. Losing to your biggest rival the same way you did more than a month ago at Joe Louis Arena almost is intolerable.
Imagine getting a root canal with a rusty nail while being lectured by Gilbert Gottfried. Losing to Michigan still is worse.
Alas, it’s not all sour grapes and long-winded lectures by the former voice of the Aflac duck for the MSU hockey team.
This weekend illuminated what might be possible for the program under Anastos.
Despite a roster that’s essentially the same as Rick Comley’s disappointing 15-19-4 team of a season ago, the Spartans have surpassed both the win total and overall expectations of a season ago. The new aggressive style of play along with the maturity of scorers, such as sophomore forwards Greg Wolfe and Lee Reimer, have pushed the Spartans into a level of consistent competitiveness not seen since the Ron Mason era.
Not only were the Spartans competitive against the nation’s fourth-best college hockey team, but they did so in front of more than 27,000 people during the course of two games.
Attention like that goes a long way toward building momentum in the quest to renovation of Munn Ice Arena or the building of a new arena altogether. Last week, Anastos said the program has plans to do one or the other, wanting to make a decision in 60 days.
As for the series with U-M, Anastos might not have gotten the results he was looking for out of Saturday’s 3-2 loss. But he’s building a program that’s appealing to both recruits and fans, which will go a long way in eschewing a heartbreaker like that in the future.
And that definitely doesn’t suck.
Dillon Davis is the hockey reporter at The State News. He can be reached at davisdi4@msu.edu.
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