2020–21 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey season

2020–21 Michigan State Spartans
men's ice hockey season
2020–21 Michigan State Spartans; men's ice hockey season
Conference	7th Big Ten
Home ice	Munn Ice Arena
Rankings
USCHO	NR
USA Today	NR
Record
Overall	7–18–2
Conference	5–16–1–2–0–0
Home	5–9–1
Road	2–8–1
Neutral	0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Danton Cole
Assistant coaches	Chris Luongo; Joe Exter; Jim Slater
Captain(s)	Tommy Apap; Tommy Miller
Alternate captain(s)	Dennis Cesana; Mitch Lewandowski
	Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey seasons; « 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey season was the 79th season of play for the program and the 31st season in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans represented Michigan State University and were coached by Danton Cole, in his 4th season.

Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Michigan State's players would lose a season of play.^[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.^[2]

In the first half of their season, Michigan State could find very little consistency but were able to hold their own in the Big Ten. Up until mid-January the team had a .500 record and had a chance to make something of their abbreviated season. Unfortunately, from the 15th onward, the team's offense collapsed MSU wasn't able to score more than two goals in a game after January 9 and went 2–13 to end their season The Spartans' defense was not a problem most games but with so few goals scored, the team sank to the bottom of the conference standings. MSU's offense was so paltry that the team averaged less than one and a half goals per game for the entire season (1.48) and were shut out in 6 of their 27 games.

Jon Mor sat out the season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Damian Chrcek	Defenseman	United States	Graduation
Butrus Ghafari	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (Signed with Toledo Walleye)
Patrick Khodorenko	Forward	United States	Graduation (Signed with New York Rangers)
Logan Lambdin	Forward	United States	Graduation (Signed with Kalamazoo Wings)
John Lethemon	Goaltender	United States	Graduation (Signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits)
Jerad Rosburg	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (Signed with Dallas Stars)
Sam Saliba	Forward	United States	Graduation
Anthony Scarsella	Defenseman	United States	Graduation
Wojciech Stachowiak	Forward	Poland	Signed professional contract (ERC Ingolstadt)
Spencer Wright	Goaltender	United States	Graduation

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Pierce Charleson	Goaltender	Canada	20	Aurora, ON
Charlie Combs	Forward	United States	24	St. Louis, MO; transfer from Bemidji State
Powell Connor	Defenseman	Canada	20	Vernon, BC
Cal Dybicz	Defenseman	United States	20	Elk Grove Village, IL
Aiden Gallacher	Defenseman	United States	20	Rochester Hills, MI
Kyle Haskins	Forward	United States	20	Huntington, VA
A. J. Hodges	Forward	United States	19	Littleton, CO
Jon Mor	Goaltender	United States	20	Highland Park, IL
Nash Nienhuis	Defenseman	Canada	20	Sarnia, ON
Kristóf Papp	Forward	Hungary	19	Budapest, HUN

Roster

As of January 3, 2021.^[3]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1	Drew DeRidder	Junior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-05-01	Fenton, Michigan	USNTDP (USHL)	—
2	Aiden Gallacher	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-03-20	Rochester Hills, Michigan	Youngstown (USHL)	—
4	Nash Nienhuis	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	1999-12-05	Sarnia, Ontario	Omaha (USHL)	—
5	Powell Connor	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-05-04	Vernon, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	—
6	Cal Dybicz	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-16	Elk Grove Village, Illinois	Tri-City (USHL)	—
7	Charlie Combs	Graduate	F	5' 6" (1.68 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1996-07-13	St. Louis, Missouri	Bemidji State (WCHA)	—
8	Cole Krygier	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	2000-05-05	Novi, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	FLA, 201st overall 2018
9	Mitchell Lewandowski (A)	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	1998-04-17	Clarkston, Michigan	Chicago (USHL)	—
10	A. J. Hodges	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	2001-08-24	Littleton, Colorado	Sioux City (USHL)	—
11	Tommy Apap (C)	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	206 lb (93 kg)	1996-02-27	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan	Youngstown (USHL)	—
12	Tommy Miller (C)	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	1999-03-06	West Bloomfield, Michigan	USNTDP (USHL)	—
13	Kristóf Papp	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-06-27	Budapest, Hungary	Des Moines (USHL)	—
14	Adam Goodsir	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	1998-09-22	Okemos, Michigan	Tri-City (USHL)	—
15	Christian Krygier	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-05-05	Novi, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	NYI, 196th overall 2018
16	Brody Stevens	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1997-04-26	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Green Bay (USHL)	—
17	Kyle Haskins	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-02-16	Huntington, Vermont	Waterloo (USHL)	—
19	Nicolas Müller	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1999-06-21	Arisdorf, Switzerland	Modo J20 (J20 SuperElit)	—
20	Josh Nodler	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2001-04-27	Oak Park, Michigan	Fargo (USHL)	CGY, 150th overall 2019
21	Jake Smith	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1996-11-28	East Amherst, New York	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
22	Dennis Cesana (A)	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1998-04-04	Providence, Rhode Island	Brooks (AJHL)	—
23	Jagger Joshua	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-03-29	Dearborn, Michigan	Muskegon (USHL)	—
24	Austin Kamer	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1996-05-23	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
27	Mitchell Mattson	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1998-01-02	Grand Rapids, Minnesota	Sioux Falls (USHL)	CGY, 126th overall 2016
28	Gianluca Esteves	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1997-01-29	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Aston (NAHL)	—
29	Pierce Charleson	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	2000-02-27	Aurora, Ontario	Brooks (AJHL)	—
30	Jon Mor	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-07-20	Highland Park, Illinois	Langley (BCHL)	—

Standings

2020–21 Big Ten ice hockey Standings v t e
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	PT%	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#8 Wisconsin †	24	17	6	1	1	1	0	52	.722	92	52	31	20	10	1	118	80
#7 Minnesota *	22	16	6	0	0	0	0	48	.727	69	44	31	24	7	0	117	64
#9 Michigan	20	11	9	0	1	0	0	32	.550	69	45	26	15	10	1	91	51
#17 Notre Dame	24	12	10	2	1	2	2	41	.542	65	53	29	14	13	2	84	78
Penn State	18	7	11	0	2	1	0	20	.389	48	68	22	10	12	0	65	81
Ohio State	22	6	16	0	0	2	0	20	.273	39	82	27	7	19	1	53	101
Michigan State	22	5	16	1	2	0	0	15	.250	32	70	27	7	18	2	40	77
Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
November 19	6:04 PM	vs. Arizona State*	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	BTN	DeRidder	T 1–1 ^OT	100	0–0–1
November 20	6:04 PM	vs. Arizona State*	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	W 2–0	100	1–0–1
November 28	5:30 PM	at #10 Ohio State	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		DeRidder	W 3–2 ^OT	0	2–0–1 (1–0–0)
November 29	5:30 PM	at #10 Ohio State	Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio		DeRidder	L 2–4	0	2–1–1 (1–1–0)
December 3	8:00 PM	vs. #5 Minnesota	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	FSD, FSN	DeRidder	L 1–3	100	2–2–1 (1–2–0)
December 4	8:05 PM	vs. #5 Minnesota	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	FSD, FSN	DeRidder	L 2–4	88	2–3–1 (1–3–0)
December 19	6:36 PM	at #16 Notre Dame	Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana	NBCSN	DeRidder	T 1–1 ^OT	0	2–3–2 (1–3–1)
December 20	5:06 PM	at #16 Notre Dame	Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana	NBCSChi	DeRidder	W 4–3 ^OT	0	3–3–2 (2–3–1)
January 3	3:00 PM	vs. Penn State	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	L 0–1	125	3–4–2 (2–4–1)
January 4	3:00 PM	vs. Penn State	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	L 5–1	100	4–4–2 (3–4–1)
January 8	7:04 PM	at #9 Michigan	Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan		DeRidder	L 0–9	100	4–5–2 (3–5–1)
January 9	4:30 PM	vs. #9 Michigan	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	W 3–2	100	5–5–2 (4–5–1)
January 15	6:04 PM	at Penn State	Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania		DeRidder	L 2–3 ^OT	177	5–6–2 (4–6–1)
January 16	3:04 PM	at Penn State	Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania		DeRidder	L 1–3	195	5–7–2 (4–7–1)
January 23	4:00 PM	vs. Ohio State	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	BTN	DeRidder	L 1–5	123	5–8–2 (4–8–1)
January 24	4:00 PM	vs. Ohio State	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	W 2–0	101	6–8–2 (5–8–1)
January 29	8:04 PM	vs. #13 Wisconsin	Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin		DeRidder	L 0–6	0	6–9–2 (5–9–1)
January 30	4:04 PM	vs. #13 Wisconsin	Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin		DeRidder	L 1–4	0	6–10–2 (5–10–1)
February 14	3:00 PM	vs. Wisconsin*	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	L 2–3	101	6–11–2
February 15	5:00 PM	vs. Wisconsin*	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	W 2–1	81	7–11–2
February 19	8:05 PM	at #4 Minnesota	3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota		DeRidder	L 2–4	0	7–12–2 (5–11–1)
February 20	6:05 PM	at #4 Minnesota	3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota		DeRidder	L 1–5	0	7–13–2 (5–12–1)
February 26	6:00 PM	vs. Notre Dame	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		Charleson	L 0–2	103	7–14–2 (5–13–1)
February 27	3:00 PM	vs. Notre Dame	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	L 0–2	0	7–15–2 (5–14–1)
March 5	4:00 PM	vs. #5 Wisconsin	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan		DeRidder	L 0–4	0	7–16–2 (5–15–1)
March 6	2:30 PM	vs. #5 Wisconsin	Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan	BTN	Charleson	L 1–2	0	7–17–2 (5–16–1)
Big Ten Tournament
March 14	4:05 PM	vs. #4 Minnesota*	Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Quarterfinal)	BTN	Charleson	L 1–2 ^OT	134	7–18–2
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Mitchell Lewandowski	LW	27	6	7	13	28
Dennis Cesana	D	27	2	10	12	10
Josh Nodler	C/RW	27	3	8	11	0
Charlie Combs	LW	23	6	4	10	21
Tommy Apap	F	25	5	4	9	8
Nicolas Müller	C/RW	26	2	6	8	8
Jagger Joshua	F	26	4	1	5	41
Kyle Haskins	F	27	1	4	5	10
Mitchell Mattson	C	21	2	2	4	2
Brody Stevens	C	27	2	2	4	18
Adam Goodsir	F	25	1	3	4	10
Tommy Miller	D	27	1	3	4	4
Nash Nienhuis	D	25	0	4	4	2
Kristóf Papp	C	25	0	4	4	0
Gianluca Esteves	F	23	2	1	3	4
Cole Krygier	D	25	2	1	3	25
Christian Krygier	D	26	1	2	3	54
A. J. Hodges	F	22	0	2	2	0
Aiden Gallacher	D	26	0	2	2	23
Austin Kamer	RW	7	0	1	1	0
Calvin Dybicz	D	1	0	0	0	10
Pierce Charleson	G	7	0	0	0	0
Jake Smith	F	10	0	0	0	4
Powell Connor	D	15	0	0	0	2
Drew DeRidder	G	24	0	0	0	0
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	8
Total			40	71	111	282

^[5]

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Pierce Charleson	7	326	0	3	0	14	210	0	.938	2.57
Drew DeRidder	24	1304	7	15	2	60	723	2	.923	2.76
Empty Net	-	14	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
Total	27	1646	7	18	2	77	933	2	.924	2.81

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[6]

References

^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Michigan State Official Athletic Site. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
^ "Michigan State Spartans (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Michigan State Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

External links

[1] "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[2] "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[3] "2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Michigan State Official Athletic Site. Retrieved August 29, 2017.

[4] "Michigan State Spartans (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[5] "Michigan State Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

[6] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

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v t e Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey
Formerly the Michigan Agricultural College Aggies and Michigan State Staters
Playing venues	Demonstration Hall (1949–1974) Munn Ice Arena (1974–present)
Head coaches	John Kobs (1924–1930) Harold Paulsen (1949–1951) Amo Bessone (1951–1979) Ron Mason (1979–2002) Rick Comley (2002–2011) Tom Anastos (2011–2017) Danton Cole (2017–2022) Adam Nightingale (2022–present)
Seasons	1921–22 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	WCHA (1951–1958, 1959–1981) CCHA (1981–2013) Big Ten (1958–1981, 2013–present)
Rivalries	Michigan
Culture & lore	Great Lakes Invitational Cold War The Big Chill at the Big House
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Tom Ross (324 Points) Tom Ross (138 Goals) Chad Alban (88 Wins)
National championships	1966 1986 2007
Frozen Four appearances	1959 1966 1967 1984 1986 1987 1989 1992 1999 2001 2007
NCAA Tournament appearances	1959 1966 1967 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008 2012 2024
Conference Tournament titles	CCHA: 1982 1983 1984 1985 1987 1989 1990 1998 2000 2001 2006 Big Ten: 2024
Hobey Baker winners	Kip Miller (1990) Ryan Miller (2001)
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI