EAST LANSING, Mich. — There was some exemplary work done on the ice in November, when first-year head coach Adam Nightingale directed the Michigan State Spartans to a 7-1-0 record and vaulted them solidly into the NCAA playoff picture. At the same time, the work done by the Spartans and their fans off the ice served to remember those who have battled cancer, and are currently fighting this deadly monster.
MSU hockey implemented a campaign called “Spartan Hockey Strong” last month, designed to increase awareness of cancer and give the Spartans hockey family and community a chance to honor and remember those impacted by the disease.
In addition, $1 from each Spartan hockey ticket sold in the month was donated by the school’s athletic department to Brandon’s Defense Foundation, which is a charity that funds cancer research and provides resources to families with children battling cancer. In total, the Spartan Hockey Strong Campaign raised $21,352 which was donated to Brandon’s Defense.
The most visible element of the effort came at the Spartans’ four home games during November. Signs bearing the words “Today I Honor” were available for fans to fill out with the names of those who we have lost, those who are currently battling cancer, those who have survived cancer and the caregivers who support the fight. Spartans players, staff and coaches also participated, with the team wearing helmet stickers and the support staff donning lapel pins with the Spartan Hockey Strong logo. The hundreds of “Today I Honor” signs filled out by fans were displayed on an Honor Wall inside Munn Ice Arena. The first 500 fans attending three Spartans home games also received pucks with the words “Strength,” “Honor,” and “Courage.”
Brandon’s Defense is named in honor of Brandon Gordon , a teenage hockey player from DeWitt, Michigan, who was battling childhood cancer during the Spartans’ run to the 2007 NCAA title, and spent significant time with the team that season. Brandon’s fight ended in early 2009, and the charity was launched later that year.
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Big name calls for Michigan to add women’s hockey
Nothing “real” has happened yet, but athletic department officials at Northern Michigan University have talked most seriously about that school becoming the state’s first to offer varsity women’s hockey at the Division I level. Further downstate, the social media world has been abuzz at the University of Michigan with efforts aimed at helping the current Wolverines club team, and pushing for varsity women’s hockey in Ann Arbor down the road.
In November, the coach of the Wolverines’ ACHA Division I women’s program led a successful online effort to raise $20,000 which will fund the team’s ice time bill at Yost Ice Arena this season. And shortly thereafter, a renowned Wolverines men’s hockey alumnus called upon his alma mater to get serious about women’s hockey.
Mike Komisarek, who retired nearly a decade ago after playing close to 600 games on defense in the NHL, was a student assistant coach at Michigan for two seasons while he finished his degree, and now works in player development with the Vancouver Canucks. He went on Twitter to call out Michigan’s athletic director and school president, among others, for the fact that his old school does not offer women’s hockey as a varsity sport.
How does @UMichAthletics not have a women’s D-1 program? @UMich should be paving the way for future Olympians and help women across Michigan and the USA realize their dreams of becoming @PHF players. Warde Manuel and Co., let’s make it happen! @SantaJOno @Johnubacon #GoBlue
— Mike Komisarek (@Mike_Komisarek) December 20, 2022
In what may be a sign that he is onboard with the idea, University of Michigan President Santa Ono Tweeted out the team’s fundraising link and called for Wolverines fans to support the effort.
In the run-up to the Wolverines men going to the Frozen Four last season, Liza Cushnir of the Michigan Daily did a deep dive on the women’s team at Michigan, noting that of the $57,000 in expenses they had last season, the school covered $500, which is normal for club sports. There is a sense that in a hockey-crazy state like Michigan, and at a school like the University of Michigan, which has been a men’s hockey powerhouse since NCAA hockey became a thing shortly after World War II, there is potential to be competitive in short order.
Per Cushnir’s story, the school last seriously considered the addition of women’s hockey as a varsity sport about the time the Wolverines men were winning the 1996 NCAA title, but opted for adding women’s water polo instead.
According to Jenna Trubiano, who coaches the Wolverines, 18 of the 29 currently rostered players are from the state of Michigan. She added that it is not uncommon for players from other D-I programs to transfer and join the club, wanting to continue playing hockey while they study at Michigan, which is one of the Big Ten’s more renowned academic institutions.
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Currently, Big Ten members Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State include women’s hockey as a varsity sport.
New era begins for the GLI
None of today’s college hockey players, and several of today’s college hockey coaches, had not been born in 1973, which is the last time the Great Lakes Invitational was played without Michigan participating. A new era for college hockey’s most renowned holiday tournament will begin on Dec. 27 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Michigan Tech has hosted the four-team tournament since it began in 1965, and in most years, the games have been played in the Detroit Red Wings’ home rink in the Motor City. That includes Olympia Stadium until 1979, Joe Louis Arena until 2017 and Little Caesar’s Arena more recently. In 2014, the games were played outdoors at Comerica Park, which is the Detroit Tigers’ home ballpark.
Van Andel Arena, home of the Red Wings’ AHL team, will host the games this year, which include Michigan Tech vs. Western Michigan in the opener and Michigan State versus Ferris State in the other semifinal. The Huskies are the defending GLI champions, having won in 2019, the last time a title was awarded.
Extra pucks
Ohio State’s home-and-home sweep of in-state rival Bowling Green was the only Big Ten action the weekend of Dec. 16-17, and not surprisingly, the Buckeyes were honored accordingly. The conference’s three stars for the week were, in order, Ohio State forward Joe Dunlap, Ohio State defenseman Scooter Brickley and Ohio State forward Davis Burnside.
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The Trust Project
