The Spartans are favorites in their 50th appearance in the tourney
Michigan State hockey is on the road this weekend in Grand Rapids for the 58th annual Great Lakes Invitational. This marks the 50th year the Spartans will take the ice as a participant.
A little GLI History
The GLI was born out of the minds of Lincoln Cavalieri, the general manager of Olympia Stadium, John MacInnes, Michigan Tech’s long time coach and Jack Paterson, Red Wings scout. It was a conversation that stemmed from the lack of American born players in the NHL. They believed that a prestigious college tournament would promote interest in hockey among young athletes and the general public. Soon they were backed by American Airlines VP and former goalie Jack Tompkins and in 1965 the tournament was born.
Michigan Tech has always hosted the tournament even though it has been played in a few different spots. The aa weasels joined as co-hosts in 1976. MSU has typically been the third team invited and the fourth has always rotated around. The 2024 teams will have Western Michigan facing off against Michigan Teach and MSU starting off against Northern Michigan. Both games are on Sunday the 29th with MSU facing off at a 7pm puck drop. the championship game is slated for 7pm Monday the 30th. The weasels have not participated since Covid and with that this year will allow MSU to tie them for second most appearances in the tournament at 50.
MSU has a legitimate shot to take home the tournament crown for the first time since 2009. All the analytics point to an MSU vs Western final but we all know that can be thrown out the window when the players hit the ice. Here are three keys to victory for MSU hockey this weekend.
1. Don’t play rusty or elitist.
MSU has the easiest first round draw facing off against Northern. Northern has just one win on the season and the Spartan offense is far more prolific and should have many opportunities to score. MSU’s offense almost doubles Northern’s goal output per game. If MSU competes in attack mode and isn’t playing with a holiday and Minnesota series hangover they should be in great position to make it to the title game.
2. Overcome Augustine and Strbak participating on Team USA World Junior Championships and Team Slovakia.
This is a heavy hit to not have these two playing in the tournament for the Spartans but luckily there is a lot of quality depth on this roster. Luca Di Pasquo will be in the net and previously started in the GLI last year. He’s a talented net minder with experience so the Spartans should be alright but if the game is close he could definitely feel the pressure of the number one ranking on his shoulders.
3. Playing clean hockey.
The Spartans will likely face-off against number 6 WMU in the title game. These two teams match up quite nicely against each other and could make for a very exciting game. Especially with any revenge mentality the Broncos may enter into after having lost to the Spartans in the NCAA Tournament in overtime. One area of weakness for the Spartans has been penalties and they have almost 5 minutes more per game than the Broncos. MSU does play aggressive hockey and it typically serves them well but down your starting goaltender and key defensemen it may serve them better to play a bit cleaner and not allow the broncos any extra chances if they do face each other in the title.
This will be a tough tournament to watch unless you are in the Lansing area on WILX or a BTN+ subscriber. Let’s hope the green and white close out 2024 with two more victories and GLI champion trophy.