Michigan State Club men’s ice hockey has scheduled trips to North Carolina, Illinois, and Colorado this year to continue its annual tradition of traveling the country to take on some of the best competition in the nation.
Head Coach Jim Martin, now in his 24th season with the club, has taken the Spartans on extended trips every season within the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).
MSU’s club team is one of over 200 in the second tier of the ACHA this season. There are over 500 teams this season across the three levels of the ACHA. MSU’s team consists of 27 students, who played travel or high school hockey before coming to college, and try out for the team each year. It costs a player $3,000 a season to play on the team and the fee covers all expenses including travel.
“There's a lot more opportunities now for trips, just because the ACHA has grown so much,” said Martin. “There are schools everywhere you go that have an ACHA team, so it's nice to be able to go to places that I think when I'm making the schedule can be kind of a fun trip in some way, so a different part of the country.”
Martin organizes many of these trips, reaching out to teams and gauging interest. This year, he coordinated the trips to North Carolina and Chicago. Michigan State's brand name goes a long way when setting up these games. MSU will play North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State in Raleigh while in the state.
“The teams, when I write them, are very receptive, too, because we're a name. Their gate generally is better. It's a good matchup,” said Martin. “I was thinking North Carolina, Michigan State, you know, it's sort of a natural rivalry through basketball and all the history there and they've got a very good hockey team and very strong fan base. It's nice to bring a Michigan State game to those markets.
“One of the things I look for when I do the schedule is to get a school that would be a quality team and it has to be something that won't interfere with school too much because I know everyone here is an outstanding student,” said Martin. “We're successful on the ice, but I think last year our team's overall GPA was 3.60.”
The Spartans have already made one trek to Illinois this season, playing the University of Illinois in Champaign. MSU will return to Illinois in November for a showcase in Chicago.
The team’s trip to Chicago is a part of a showcase featuring 12 ACHA teams from Big Ten schools, including some from the newly added West Coast. This includes Michigan State, UCLA, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Washington, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, Nebraska, and Notre Dame who competes in the Big Ten for NCAA ice hockey.
The longest trip this season is a showcase in Denver, over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend in January. The team historically takes advantage of this holiday weekend to go on extended trips like Denver or Tampa.
“A lot of trips are really good. The Colorado one is really good. Florida Gulf Coast was always a good trip because we'd go in January, and everybody gets to get in the sun for a while,” said Martin.
The trips to the South are unique, because MSU is often playing the college’s top hockey team. UNC, NC State, Florida Gulf Coast and others don’t have varsity teams. This results in packed crowds and unique atmospheres for MSU.
Senior defenseman Liam Cooney loves the opportunities to play in these environments.
“It's exciting to walk into a barn and just have the crowd rooting for you, but also rooting against you,” said Cooney. “So having UNC and NC State pack their place will be really cool.”
Fellow senior Josh Melachrinakis likes the opportunity to play at non-traditional hockey schools.
“It'll be fun playing those teams that we wouldn't usually play,” said senior Josh Melachrinakis. “It's a little bit different down south too, the hockey's more fun. There’s more fans and it's a little different energy.”
These trips also provide a great opportunity for the players to visit new places and bond as a group. Senior captain Nich Borchardt has had the chance to travel every season and has loved his experience.
“We're very fortunate. We've gone to Utah, Denver and Florida,” said Borchardt. “It's really fun to go somewhere new you've never been, but also play some really good hockey and have a great time with your friends.
“It makes our team like a brotherhood. In my first couple of years here, I was shocked to see how close the team bonds to each other, and this is like our own fraternity of brothers here.”