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Munn Ice Arena celebrates 50 years: a look at the Michigan State rink’s storied history

Allie Cohen

A lot of people, wins, losses, joy and pain have happened at Munn since it opened its doors in 1974.

On Oct. 12, 2024, Michigan State’s hockey program experienced two milestones in one day: The victory over No. 2-ranked Boston College at home for MSU’s 600th win at Munn, and completing Munn’s 50th opening weekend.

Munn was dedicated on Nov. 1, 1974, and has hosted 5.6 million fans to watch different eras of Spartan hockey. In 2022, the building took on its largest expansion, a $26.2 million project which included new player facilities, a new entrance, and the Ron Mason Hall of Hockey exhibit. Munn’s current capacity is 6,555, and has sold out 31 games since the expansion.

Since Munn is celebrating its golden anniversary, WKAR Sports wanted to take a look at the storied building through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.

Munn Memory: the media perspective

Neil Koepke has devoted over half a century of his life to covering college hockey. He came to East Lansing to cover MSU hockey for the Lansing State Journal in 1986, when the program was fresh off its second NCAA title.

Koepke’s relationship with MSU hockey dates back to 1972, when the team was still playing at Demonstration Hall. He remembers how ecstatic he was when Munn was being constructed, despite working at the Ann Arbor News at the time.

“When the arena was opened for the 1974-1975 season, it was considered the Taj Mahal of hockey rinks. It was so new, clean, modern, and had great sightlines from every seat. All it needed was a good team to play there which it received just a year or two later,” said Koepke. “Coming from Ann Arbor at this time, I’m seeing all of this and thinking about how much of an amazing place this is, both arena and atmosphere wise. I remember thinking to myself ‘I wish Yost [Ice Arena] could be like this’. MSU just did a great job of pushing fans in there and did an even better job of keeping them there when Ron Mason took over and the team was even better.”

One of Koepke’s favorite moments comes from the 1989 season, when Munn hosted NCAA regionals. MSU played Boston College in a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.

Allie Cohen

“On top of it being Easter Sunday, the game went into overtime and Mark Hirth scored the game winner for MSU, sending them to the Frozen Four. The crowd was going crazy and I was jumping up and down saying, ‘Oh my God,’ something that is normally frowned upon in the pressbox but I couldn’t help it. That was one of the best games I’ve seen at Munn because of the significance and the atmosphere that year was so special.”

Koepke compared that game to a recent fan favorite, the 2023 Big Ten title game which guaranteed MSU’s spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in over a decade. He was at that game.

While the Spartans have had their ups and downs when it comes to the hockey team and their facilities, the current state of Munn is trending upwards after its renovations.

“The building is conducive, when you walk in there's the Hall of History, where you have all the players names who have played there and videos going which make Munn have a different feeling then in the past,” said Koepke. “The benches are on opposite sides, there are new dressing rooms and overall that's a big part of the program's turnaround that fans can’t see. Players haven’t seen anything like our facilities before and it's very classy. The building sells itself with the facilities, and it's just a louder and better home ice advantage then its been in East Lansing since the late 1980s - early 1990s.

Koepke feels that Munn has the best atmosphere it has been in a while.

“In the past 15 years, when the student section is rousing and going crazy it helps the rest of the fans get into it,” shared Koepke. “When you have a good team scoring goals and good players it makes for a very fun time walking into that building and I think it's only gonna get better with Nightingale and his staff. Suddenly MSU is back as a place to be.”

Munn Memory: The Munnsters

MSU junior Matt Peterson has spent his last three years being involved in campus’s student sections. His favorite experience: being a Munnster, the official Munn student section. His favorite part about Munn is how unique its student section is compared to some of the others on campus.

Allie Cohen

“It's a very loud, tight knit group. In terms of like quantity, if all the student sections were the same size I feel like this would be the loudest for sure,” said Peterson. “Hockey isn't as popular as some of the main sports on campus like football or basketball, so the people who are in the student section for hockey are a lot more passionate about the sport. They're more organized, they get into the game more, and it's just a lot more entertaining and interactive.”

An important part of being a Munnster is the sense of interactiveness. Students are responsible for getting everyone else going, taking their role very seriously.

“The energy from the Munnsters carries into the rest of the crowd. At the start of every game, someone in the student section starts the ‘Go Green!’ chant for the whole arena and will get a ‘Go White!’ back from a regular fan and then the whole Munnster section continues it in response to that fan,” said Peterson. “In the games versus Notre Dame, I witnessed both an elderly man and a nine year old child interacting with the student section and they got to start some chants for us. It's really cool how we as students encourage everyone to get involved.”

Peterson has seen his fair share of different hockey facilities, growing up playing hockey in Michigan. He thinks that the unique layout of Munn contributes to the special atmosphere that unfolds during games.

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“Munn, at least on the inside, is one of my favorite venues I’ve been to. It's definitely better than Yost at Michigan, and I’ve even had the opportunity to play at both,” said Peterson. “It’s without a question my favorite building on campus. There's just something about it that makes it more appealing to me. Part of that is I really enjoy how close we get to be to the ice and once again it helps build the close knit atmosphere we all feel. Being able to get right down to the boards and having players able to read the signs we make adds to our student experience a lot.”

Munn Memory: The player point of view

Kip Miller grew up in Lansing and spent his childhood going to Spartan hockey games and playing youth hockey on Munn’s ice. Now when he returns, he has his picture hanging in the Hall of History as MSU’s first Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner.

“Munn was built when I was a young man and it’s always been a great experience for my family and I with all of us playing there. It’s always been my favorite rink and it has a different look than any other rink I’ve ever seen. You’re able to walk around the top and watch the game from anywhere, there are no bad seats. Playing there was so intimate and just awesome,” said Miller.

Miller played at center for Michigan State from 1986-90, and now frequently comes back as a season ticket holder for the past six years. He believes the crowd acts similar to how they did when he was on the ice, just as engaged and knowledgeable.

The most unique thing about Munn’s crowd is the usage of the band.

“They’re the thing you miss the most when you move on. Other rinks have the organ computer music but at MSU it's just the band and that's sweet,” said Miller. “The crowd got themselves into the game and a large part of that is due to the band. The band was near the student section getting them going, but they were always involved and that helped push us on the ice.”

From a players perspective, Miller credits a large part of the hockey programs' rise back to the top to the building upgrades. He said the staff knew the upgrades that had to be done and did a great job executing them.

“Danton [Cole] was a big part of getting it done. Everyone owes him some claps because the locker room has helped recruiting in unimaginable ways and kids see it and beg to come here because of that room,” said Miller. “That really helped change the atmosphere since it was tough recruiting for a few years especially with other teams in Michigan getting all these great players and now it feels like we’re stealing some which wasn’t happening before. That’s the biggest change.”

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