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Michigan State hockey reportedly playing outdoor game in 2024-25

The Spartans are heading back outside.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 13, 2024

Matthew Eichstaedt

Michigan State hockey coach Adam Nightingale hoists the Big Ten Tournament championship trophy with his team.

Michigan State hockey is reportedly heading back outside this January at historic Wrigley Field in Chicago for Big Ten showcase.

Per reports from Badger Extra, Michigan State hockey could be playing its first outdoor game in nearly a decade next season. The report discusses how all Big Ten men’s hockey schools, except Minnesota, are slated to play in three games at historic Wrigley Field. The games will reportedly take place around New Year’s to coincide with the NHL Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues.

With the Spartans coming off of their best season in years, this would be a fantastic way of keeping that momentum going and help grow Big Ten hockey. The game would be the sixth outdoor game in program history. The last time that the Spartans played in an outdoor game was also in Chicago at Soldier Field in 2015 against Michigan in a 4-1 win for the Wolverines.

Out of those six outdoor games, five of them have been against the Wolverines, and the other was against the Michigan Tech Huskies at the Great Lakes Invitational held at Comerica Park in 2013.

It’s safe to predict that the team the Spartans will be playing at Wrigley Field will be the Michigan Wolverines. As one of the biggest rivalries in college hockey, it seems like a lock. Not only that, but after the rivalry had been very one sided for a number of years, it looks to be heating up again. All of this will be judged by if the Spartans can keep growing from last season. It might also help if the team can hold on to some key players from last season like Artyom Levshunov and Trey Augustine. The latter seems to be safe for now, but Levshunov, who is predicted in many mock drafts to be heading to the Chicago Blackhawks at No. 2 overall, is still up in the air.

Either way, this is great for the program and will be an exciting way to better showcase Big Ten hockey.

More information about these games will be posted here when they are made available, so stay up to date.