The 2024–25 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey season was the 83rd season of play for the program and 34th in the Big Ten. The Spartans represented Michigan State University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at the Munn Ice Arena and were coached by Adam Nightingale in his third season. The Spartans finished the season 25–10–3 and 16–6–2 in Big Ten play to earn a share of the regular season conference championship for the second year in a row. They defeated Notre Dame and Ohio State to win the Big Ten tournament championship for the second consecutive season. They received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament where they were upset in the regional semifinal by Cornell.
Offseason Departures Owen Baker Forward Transferred to Michigan Tech Gavin Best Forward Transferred to Ferris State James Crossman Defenseman Graduation (signed with Vail Yeti) Jeremy Davidson Forward Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Viktor Hurtig Defenseman Transferred to Michigan Tech Reed Lebster Forward Graduation (signed with Florida Everblades) Artyom Levshunov Defenseman Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks) Jon Mor Goaltender Graduation (retired) Nicolas Müller Forward Graduation (signed with EHC Biel) Nash Nienhuis Defenseman Graduation (signed with EC Red Bull Salzburg)
Recruiting and incoming transfers Nicklas Andrews Defenseman 23 Canton, MI; graduate transfer from Colorado College Mikey DeAngelo Forward 19 Itasca, IL Dolan Gilbert Goaltender 23 South Bend, IN; transfer from Concordia Vladislav Lukashevich Defenseman 21 Magadan, RUS; selected 120th overall in 2021 Nathan Mackie Forward 20 Prince George, BC Kaden Nelson Forward 19 Duluth, MN Charlie Stramel Forward 19 Rosemount, MN; transfer from Wisconsin; selected 21st overall in 2023 Shane Vansaghi Forward 17 St. Louis, MO Owen West Defenseman 20 Pittsboro, IN
Season summary Regular season
Fresh off of their first NCAA tournament appearance in over a decade, Michigan State sought to prove that the program was back among the national elites and not just a one-hit-wonder. While the Spartans were sad to see Artyom Levshunov depart after just one season, the team did retain two of their other major pieces; Trey Augustine was already well established as the Spartan's starting goaltender in just his sophomore season. Additionally, Isaac Howard had led the club in scoring in his first season in East Lansing and appeared primed for a breakout year. MSU also was able to add a top prospect in Charlie Stramel, who arrived after two rather pedestrian seasons in Wisconsin.
From the start of the season, Michigan State believed it had something special brewing. Augustine was nigh unbeatable on most nights with the team allowing less than 2 goals per game through the first 12 games of the season. Howard, meanwhile, led the offense as it tortured opposing netminders and rolled to victory after victory. Though the first 12 games, the team's only blemish was a split with Boston College, however, as both were consistently ranked as either #1 or #2 throughout the season, the Spartans had nothing to be ashamed of for that defeat. The first bad loss the team suffered came in early December when the entire roster had an off-night against Wisconsin. They swiftly regained their composure and finished off the first half of their schedule by downing Minnesota, who had briefly snuck up to #1 in the polls, and reclaimed their crown as the top team in the nation.
Augustine left the team during the winter break to take part in the World Junior Championships. While he would backstop Team USA to a gold medal, his participation kept him away from Michigan State for several weeks. Fortunately for the Spartans, they had a capable backup in Luca Di Pasquo, who won every game he started that season. Michigan State was able to make an even greater case for their #1 position by defeating Western Michigan at the Great Lakes Invitational, giving them victories over the best teams in both Hockey East and the NCHC that season.
Upon Augustine's return to the lineup, Michigan State began heading though a murderer's row of opponents. The Spartans would play 10 consecutive games against ranked teams and, predictably, they were not able to replicate their early-season winning streak. The team was not helped by losing team captain Red Savage to a season-sending dislocated shoulder on January 17, which put even more emphasis on Howard. MSU battled through the difficult stretch, taking everything their conference foes could bring to bear. While Michigan State did not get through unscathed, finishing with an acceptable .500 mark, they were not punished for their lack of dominance. In fact, by the end of the regular season, Michigan State was the #2 team in both the national polls as well as the PairWise rankings and was guaranteed a place in the NCAA tournament.
Season standings
Big Ten tournament MSU had ended the year in a tie for the Big Ten Championship. Fortunately for the Spartans, they had won their season series against Minnesota, which enabled them to receive a bye into the conference semifinals. The week off gave Michigan Stat time to rest and recuperate from their arduous schedule and kick off their postseason run against Notre Dame. While the Spartans were the heavy favorites in the match, the season had revealed a potential flaw in MSU title hopes. Howard was the driving force behind Michigan State's offense and led the conference in scoring. There was, however, a sizable gulf between him and the next best Spartan; Karsen Dorwart ended the year more than 20 points back of Howard and had half the number of goals. While MSU did not have a bad offense, it had become a bit top-heavy and could suffer if Howard was not on his game.
The vulnerability of Michigan State was demonstrated against the Irish when MSU failed to take advantage of several opportunities through the first two periods. While they had vastly outshout Notre Dame (36–14) and had been given four separate power plays, the Spartans had nothing to show for their efforts. The only saving grace for the team was that Augustine was able to keep his side of the ledger spotless. The start of the third finally saw Howard convert on the man-advantage but, again, Michigan State was unable to build on that goal. The Fighting Irish's toothless attack allowed MSU to escape with a 1–0 win but the team knew it could not afford a repeat performance. The club learn well from the experience and when Ohio State took several penalties in the first, the Spartans made them pay. MSU scored twice on the man-advantage and would need every goal they could get as the Buckeyes refused to just roll over. Augustine was stellar in goal and kept Michigan State in front through the first two periods. Tanner Kelly's marker early in the third made the score 3–1 for MSU and the team tried to close ranks and whittle away the remainder of the match. Ohio State had other ideas and ramped up their offensive pressure in the third, scoring twice over the final 8 minutes to tie the game. Michigan State held on to force overtime and the two teams fought through a back-and-forth period but to no avail. In the second overtime, OSU began to weaken in the face of the Spartan attack. MSU controlled the puck for large swathes of the fifth period, but it still took over 15 minutes for the winning goal to be scored. Howard managed to find a soft spot in front of the net and fired what looked to be a rather harmless shot through a sea of legs and into the goal. It was Howard's second goal and fourth point of the game, giving him points on all of Michigan State's five postseason goals and earning him the tournament MVP.
NCAA tournament
Game summary Michigan State's second consecutive Big Ten championship earned them the #2 overall seed as well as a priority seeding for the Toledo Regional. The Spartans were set against Cornell, who had only made the tournament thanks to a conference championship, but did possess a good deal of experience with their veteran lineup. The start of the game went largely to form with MSU dominating for most of the first two periods. Michigan State had more than three times the number of shots as the Big Red, however, the Spartans were unable to put any distance between them. Cornell's outstanding defense prevented the Spartans from being able to extend their lead beyond a single goal and, even though they were quick to respond to both of Cornell's markers, the two were separated by just a one goal entering the third. The rope-a-dope style that Cornell employed appeared to pay dividends in the third as the Big Red were able to turn momentum in their favor by calling upon their reserves while the Spartans appeared fatigued. Cornell tied the game in the latter half of the period but, unlike before, MSU was unable to swiftly get back into the lead. As time ticked away, Michigan State slipped up and took their first penalty of the match with about 100 seconds left on the clock. The penalty kill did yeoman's work to try and bleed the clock and force overtime but, they were unable to stop Cornell from setting up in the zone. After a few chances were stopped by Augustine, the goaltender was beat by a brilliant one-timer with just 10 seconds left in the game. The team and the fans were both stunned at the shocking turn of events. On the ensuing faceoff, MSU knew they had little chance to survive and mere seconds later the final horn sounded an ending to the Spartan's season.
Roster As of August 20, 2024.
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
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!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
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Statistics Scoring LW 37 26 26 52 10 C/LW 35 13 18 31 12 C/RW 37 9 18 27 26 D 37 6 20 26 8 C 37 13 12 25 27 LW/RW 37 10 14 24 22 D 33 3 16 19 16 D 37 2 16 18 14 F 37 8 9 17 20 F 37 8 9 17 24 RW 37 6 10 16 30 D 37 6 10 16 42 RW 28 6 7 13 10 C 20 5 6 11 6 RW 37 3 8 11 6 C 33 3 6 9 19 D 29 1 6 7 4 D 37 1 6 7 43 D 13 0 3 3 15 D 34 0 3 3 20 LW 26 0 2 2 0 F 9 0 1 1 6 G 30 0 3 3 0 G 7 0 0 0 0 Total 129 228 357 382 Source
Goaltending 8 424:20 7 0 0 12 167 2 .933 1.70 30 1850:27 19 7 4 64 778 3 .924 2.08 Empty Net - 9:59 - - - 1 - - - - Total 37 2284:46 26 7 4 77 945 5 .924 2.02
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.com444434421 1 3 1 –1 1 1 2 2 2 21 32 2 1 1 –6 USA Hockey444433т3т21 1 2 1 –1 1 1 2 2 2 21 3221 1 6 6 Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Isaac Howard Hobey Baker Award Trey AugustineAHCA All-American West First Team Isaac Howard Matt Basgall AHCA All-American West Second Team Isaac Howard Big Ten Player of the Year Isaac Howard Big Ten Scoring Champion Trey Augustine Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Trey Augustine All-Big Ten First Team Matt Basgall Isaac Howard Trey Augustine Big Ten All-Tournament Team Matt Basgall Isaac Howard
2025 NHL entry draft
1 6 † Philadelphia Flyers 1 26 † Nashville Predators 1 29 † Chicago Blackhawks 2 45 † Anaheim Ducks 2 48 Philadelphia Flyers 3 91 † Pittsburgh Penguins 5 145 † Montreal Canadiens † incoming freshman
References
External links