Michigan State Hockey and Junior Gavin O’Connell Soar Against Minnesota

Michigan State hockey prevailed in their first game at Munn Ice Arena in a game that was filled with storylines. The Spartans look to continue their quest towards another Big Ten title, and Minnesota stood in the way, but that took a backseat.

Luca Di Pasquo was in the net for the Gophers, and the 2024 Great Lakes Invitational MVP played a crucial part in Michigan State hockey’s success when Trey Augustine was competing for the World Junior Cup, but Di Pasquo’s return even took a backseat.

An Emotional Night Full of Tributes

Friday was about the life and legacy of Dan Sturges. The Director of Hockey Operations passed away at the young age of 40 on Monday, and it left an emotional impact on the team. The first name to take the ice on Friday night was not the familiar nameplate of “AUGUSTINE” for goaltender Trey Augustine. Instead, it was a small patch that said “DS” on the upper left of the front on the Michigan State hockey jerseys.

Di Pasquo and Minnesota each had similar stickers with Sturges’s initials on their helmet, while other Big Ten teams like Wisconsin and Notre Dame had their own tributes to the coach.

The moment of silence was calm, and quiet, only broken by the stick taps of the Spartan hockey team, and joined in on by Minnesota, with senior captain Cal Thomas leading the Gophers in honoring Sturges.

However, a game must go on, and Spartan hockey commenced. From the beginning, Michigan State hockey opened strong. The very first official shot of the night was a spin-o-rama backhand by Ryker Lee, putting Michigan State on the board. They never looked back.

Gavin O’Connell was another lost storyline from the game, with the Minnesota native getting to face his hometown team. The third line forward was able to get his third goal of the season in the second period, doubling the Spartan lead. O’Connell caught up with the media after the game, and discussed his own upbringing, his team’s success, and much more.

No Love For The Hometown Team

Despite being from Minnesota, once O’Connell was ready to ink his name with Michigan State, there was no more love with the Gophers. O’Connell went as far as to compared them to the Spartan’s bitter rival, the Michigan Wolverines. The forward enjoys wins like tonight and the ability to give his former teammates growing up some grief.

“Before I committed here, my conversations with Nighty (Adam Nightingale) was like, ‘I care as much about that M as the other M down the road,’ so both those games are awesome for me,” O’Connell revealed. “I know a lot of those guys, so getting to beat up on them a little is pretty fun.”

Ryker Lee’s Goal Is Impressive, But Unsurprising To Those That Know Him

Lee opened the scoring on Friday, with his shot catching Luca Di Pasquo completely off guard and out of position. Most of the crowd was blown away, and the internet was full of shocked reactions to the talented freshman’s goal.

One person not surprised, however, was Gavin O’Connell. In fact with the frequency that Lee practices that shot, the junior claimed Lee was due to land that shot in a game. That said, O’Connell conceded that until he laid eyes on Lee, that was a shot he has not seen before.

“Not until I saw him,” O’Connell said of the freshman, “but he does it like 90 times in practice, he was due for one of those to go in. He’s a pretty special player, he can do pretty cool things on the ice.”

The creativity from Lee has been on display multiple times before, and Adam Nightingale quipped that the freshman will likely find himself on SportsCenter “again” for that goal. When the freshman is landing on SportsCenter multiple times per season, with even the coach noting it, he is doing something right.

Michigan State Hockey Won and Honored Dan Sturges Well

The Spartans had an emotional week, to say the least. The loss of Dan Sturges has hit the team hard. The coach leaves a lasting impact on the players, and the junior forward was quick to praise “Sturgy” for his mentorship, openness, and selfless attitude that rubbed off on the players in the room.

“It was a very emotional week for us,” O’Connell said. “Sturgy was one of the guys I looked forward to most seeing at the rink, so I know, for all of us, we wanted to go out there. Whether we won or lost, he was the most ‘team’ guy there was. First guy here, last guy here, was never shy to have a conversation with us. It was just go out there, work as hard as we can and honor him (tonight), play for the guy next to us, and we know we’d make him proud. We’re glad that we got the win.”

When asked about Sturges’s legacy, O’Connell expanded upon how he viewed the coach. Despite the coach’s imposing title, he felt like a teammate to the players. That said, his life experiences, success as a player, and love for hockey made him easy and open to talk to and mold his players for success, as O’Connell revealed.

“I think it is tough for guys to balance that player-coach, and coach-coach, and he was just one of those guys that you felt like he was almost a teammate, and he was in the locker room, he was in the lounge, willing to have any conversation, talk about any life situation that you were going through. He was such an open book,” O’Connell expanded. “For us, as players, that is super important and young men. Yeah, it’s going to be rough the rest of the way, but we are glad that we got each other to get through it. He will be very missed.”

O’Connell Called His Shot On The Score

Friday saw goaltender Luca Di Pasquo return to Munn Ice Arena for the first time since transferring to Minnesota, and after being on the team so long, he was a player that many of the Spartans knew pretty well.

As any hockey player would say, those friendships go out the window when the puck is in play. However, between plays, there is time for some friendly banter. For the junior forward, however, he took the time to call his shot against Di Pasquo, and the Spartan delivered on his promise.

“It was pretty fun,” O’Connell said about playing his former teammate. “He’s a pretty vocal goalie, during plays, he’s yelling at you, and it’s like, ‘did he just yell at me while we are skating around the ice?’ But, I told him I was going to shoot low glove, too, and luckily enough, I shot low glove and scored so I was kind of giving him crap for that. It’s really fun to play against old teammates or Minnesota, growing up with a bunch of those guys. It’s really fun, especially to score, since you can give them some little chirps and you know, having good fun with it.”

O’Connell got to get his chirps in on Friday, and will be back on Saturday at 6 p.m. EST to square off against the Gophers again.