November 15, 2022
by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@CHN_AdamWodon)
For a team that hasn’t had a winning record in seven years, an 8-3-1 start is cause for attention. But it’s only a start, and first-year Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale knows that.
“We really try to focus on today. The guys have done a really good job of buying in to just worrying about today,” Nightingale said.
“It’s a group of guys that want to be coached and a group of guys that want to be a time and not about any one person. That is why I really enjoy coaching, to get a group of people to become a team. Our practices have been really good, we practice hard, and we’re in the weight room and we’re working hard throughout the week.”
Still, it’s a great start. And at this point, it’s more than a start, it’s more than one-third of the schedule.
The program made 24 of 28 NCAA Tournaments at one point. But since winning the national championship in 2007 with Rick Comley, the Spartans have missed 13 of the last 14 NCAAs, and are on their fourth head coach. Some had asked, how would an alum like Adam Nightingale have any better success than the last two alums — Danton Cole and Tom Anastos.
So far, the progress is palpable.
Michigan State is coming off a home sweep of Ohio State, a team that came in playing very strong in its own right.
Already having swept Wisconsin the week before, the Spartans withstood a strong first period by OSU in the first game, coming out of it 1-1. The Spartans found their legs in the second period, but still it was 2-2 after two. In the third, freshman Daniel Russell, who is leading the team in scoring, scored the game winner with 3:36 remaining.
“It’s not by chance,” Nightingale said of Russell’s strong start to his NCAA career. “Sometimes it’s a small sample size, and all of sudden a guy has a few points and maybe he’s cheating for offense. (But) Russ plays both sides of the puck. … When he plays, you can tell, he’s not entitled to think he should be on this line, or on the power play. He just goes out and earns it.”
The second night, you expect a good team like Ohio State to come out angry in search of that split. But it’s a great sign for MSU’s progress that it answered the challenge, outshooting the Buckeyes, 18-7, and taking a 3-1 lead.
“It’s human nature, you win the first, you say OK and feel your way through it,” Nightingale said. “But I think our…
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