Michigan State Athletics: My 3 favorite things from this past weekend

1. The men’s hockey team swept the No. 1 team in the nation

In the midst of victories by the two most popular sports teams, the men’s hockey team had the most impressive wins of the weekend.

The No. 1 ranked Wisconsin Badgers came into Munn Arena and left empty handed. The Spartans won back-to-back games winning 4-2 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. First-year head coach Adam Nightingale has this team not only on a six-game point streak, but first place in the Big Ten standings.

This team is everything we wanted the football and basketball team to be: High scoring (second in the Big Ten in goals per game) and fun to watch (first in the Big Ten in shorthanded goals, and first in shooting percentage).

I was a hockey junkie in elementary school, collecting hundreds of hockey cards and memorizing the roster and stats of the Red Wings as well as any team they faced in the playoffs. This went on for roughly the next 15 years until the Wings started to decline in performance. It turns out it is tough to watch bad hockey and that’s what the Spartans gave us for roughly the past 15 years. The national title team was awesome but since then (the 2006-07 season), they have only made the national tournament twice and have failed to even win a Big Ten tournament series since 2013 until last year, when Nightingale lead them to a quarterfinal series win over Notre Dame and just barely missed out on the national tournament.

Buy stock in this team now because Nightingale has this team rolling, starting 5-0-1 in conference play, with nine players already tallying 11 or more points this season.

Every game is a great matchup due the the Big Ten having so many great teams. Minnesota lost in overtime in last season’s national title game, Wisconsin and Notre Dame are perennial Big Ten champion threats, and Michigan has been a NHL draft machine as of late.

With tickets relatively cheap, it’s a great opportunity to support your Spartans in a sport that doesn’t get as much shine as the mainstays, but has all the credentials of a championship team.