It's strange how similar Michigan State hockey's Frozen 4 performance is to Michigan State football's recent College Football Playoff performance.
In 2021, Michigan State football competed in the College Football Playoff for the first time since the CFP was launched in 2014. Later that school year, Michigan State Hockey earned a spot in Frozen 4 for the first time since 2018.
Both teams lost to the eventual national champions in the semifinals.
In 2022, the football team competed in the CFP again, this time with an unblemished record of 13-0, but was eliminated in the first round by TCU. Again, at the end of that school year, the hockey team made his second consecutive appearance at the Frozen Four, but lost to Quinnipiac in the national semifinals.
It's 2023, and as every Michigan State fan knows, Jim Harbaugh, Sherone Moore, and the football team have a perfect 15-0 record and won the 2023 National Championship.
But the hockey team's story is still being written. And it starts Thursday night against the No. 1 overall seed, the Boston College Eagles.
No, Michigan State hockey isn't undefeated like the football team, but Brandon Nowrat and the Wolverines find themselves in the same position as Harbaugh, Moore, and the football team.
The million dollar question is, can the hockey team close out a three-year trilogy with a national championship like the football team did in January?
Naurat said during Wednesday's pregame media availability that the hockey team watched Michigan's 27-20 overtime victory over Alabama at the Rose Bowl to help prepare.
“We're looking at the football team in the Alabama game, with all the momentum swings,” Naurat said. “We're just making big plays at the right times, but you never know when those moments will come.” he said. “I don't know if it's a big play or a small play, but it's just all of those things adding up and making sure we're on the right track.”
Naurat said he even had Moore speak to the team before the flight to Minnesota for Thursday's semifinal game.
“Yeah, we spent time with him as a staff and we had a really good talk, and he asked if he could talk to the players as well. It was something easy and simple, but it was important. That was it.”
“People who haven't been here before won't appreciate his message, but it was really good. This is just a business approach. We do it all year round, just like any other road trip. We're here. We're not walking down the street, saying, “We're happy to be here. We have a job to do, and we're ready to do it.''
Boston College has four first-round picks on its roster in Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault, and Smith, Leonard, and Perreault are arguably the best in college hockey. It makes up the line.
It won't be easy for the University of Michigan to break past the No. 1 overall seed, but if the Wolverines pull off the upset, they will advance to the national championship game for the first time since 2011.
The first puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
