Looking ahead to Nebraska-Omaha

Here are some extra notes on this “weekend’s” home series against No. 10 Nebraska-Omaha, which starts tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Munn Ice Arena.

Respect, please

After the struggles of last year, Comley said the MSU hockey team isn’t receiving the respect it deserves.

“We talk about it all the time, regaining pride and respect,” Comley said. “There’s still very little respect. But that’s OK, you have to earn that.”

Comley called MSU’s program a “program people like not to like.”

“Our team knows there is a price to pay to have respect, and you have to pay that price first,” Comley said. “I think we are just going to keep going in the right way. The reward will come if you do well enough.”

With being picked to finish in ninth place in the CCHA preseason coaches poll, sophomore defenseman Matt Crandell said the Spartans have used the lack of respect as motivation so far this season.

“We were aware of the low picking,” Crandell said. “But we knew we could come in and come out strong. If we could get a couple early wins, we could turn some heads and show people we are a team to reckon with in the CCHA.”

We’ll play all night …

It’s no hiding that Comley isn’t a big fan of the shootouts. But he said shootouts were a necessary evil to eliminate ties, an aspect most coaches agree on.

Comley said he would prefer to play sudden death overtime until there was a winner. He even suggested starting overtime 5-on-5, then going to 4-on-4, and even dropping as low as 3-on-3 to help decide the winner.

Just anything but shootouts.

“A shootout was a good thing to try,” Comley said. “But in the end, I think there’s other ways to do it. I think all the coaches would rather have it decided on the ice, if possible.”

Lots of hype

Anytime you bring up the MSU defenseman to Comley, he’s quick to mention freshman Matt Grassi.

Comley is really high on Grassi, and called him a “top-four defenseman” for the team.

Grassi played a period and a half last Friday before being sent off for a five minute misconduct and game suspension for checking from behind. On Saturday, we saw more of Grassi, but he looked nervous and was caught out of position several times.

Keep in mind, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Burnaby, British Columbia, native, still has a cast on his thumb, which he broke his first day on campus after falling out of his loft.

“He’s a monster,” Comley said. “He adds size to us, which we need.”

Less practice, happy players

This “weekend” series against Nebraska-Omaha kicks off on an unorthodox Thursday, resulting in a day less of practice to prepare for the Mavericks.

But Comley said he likes mixing up the schedule and is a fan of playing midweek games.

“I think one of the harder things for college athletes is practice,” Comley said. “They have to practice so many times. It’s more difficult to get kids up everyday, as opposed to playing a game. I think a variety in scheduling is healthy. It makes a short week, but that’s OK.”

Familiar face

Nebraska-Omaha associate coach Mike Hastings coached sophomore netminder Drew Palmisano, and former netminder Jeff Lerg, when both goalies played for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League.

Hastings only had good things to say about Lerg and Palmisano when I talked to him last year while I was putting together my big Lerg story.

Last season, Hastings was an assistant coach at Minnesota when the Spartans came to town in the College Hockey Showcase.

“It’s going to be weird to see him behind the other bench,” Palmisano said. “But we want to prove we have the better gig over there than he does.”

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