Michigan State Hockey: Takeaways Following Regional Final Loss

The Michigan State Hockey season ended in a stunning upset over the weekend. The Wisconsin Badgers staged a improbable comeback within the last five minutes of the game to get the game tied. Then only 20 seconds into overtime, they ended the Spartan season with Ben Dexheimer’s goal sending Wisconsin to the Frozen Four. It is a heartbreaking end to a great season. Let’s take a look at what happened and wrap up this final game of the 2025-26 season.

Charlie Stramel Injury Looms Large

It is never a good sign when your top center needs to leave the game. It is even worse when that center is one of the best in college hockey. Early in the first period, Charlie Stramel went down a bit awkwardly to the ice. It looked as though he had an injury to his leg off the faceoff draw. He tried to skate through it but ended up going to the locker room and didn’t return. It was early in the second period that it was confirmed that he would not return. Post-game, Adam Nightingale confirmed the senior had broken his ankle when blocking a shot.

At first, it seemed as though this galvanized the team and led them to come out very hot in the second period. The Spartans quickly took a 2-1 lead in the second off of Gavin O’Connell and Patrick Geary. That spark seemed to fade in the third and into overtime though. It was clear in the third that Stramel’s presence was sorely missed because of the loss of chemistry caused by the line shake up. Though the Spartans got on the board again in the third to extend the lead to 3-1, the offense faded quickly after that. It allowed the Badgers to take advantage of the worst lead in hockey. Within 30 seconds of game time, the Badgers tied the game and sent it to overtime.

Late Defensive System Collapse

For a system that was consistently one of the best in the country, the Spartans folded quickly once the team got rattled. Late in the third period, the team was within five minutes of going to the Frozen Four up two goals. Unfortunately, the defense seemed to let the pressure of the moment make them doubt themselves with some careless coverages and mistakes. These are what allowed the Badgers to send it to overtime. It also allowed the Badgers to end the season within 20 seconds off of a poorly managed shot by the defense that Trey Augustine got no help on. Every team has lapses in judgement, unfortunately the Spartan defense ended up lapsing in the worst moment possible. It may relate to the teams youth this season. The Spartans did have a fairly young team, and this experience will be valuable moving forward.

Is the Window Closed?

For a team that is coming off of three straight regular season championships, Michigan State Hockey still struggles in the biggest moments. The team has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons. The issue though is that none of them have resulted in a Frozen Four appearance. The Spartans will also need to fill a few big holes next season.

The biggest hole will be the one in net. It is expected that this week Trey Augustine will sign his entry level contract and join the Red Wings organization. He will likely be heading to Grand Rapids to help the Griffins in their playoff run. The Spartans do have a high level goalie recruit coming in with Joshua Ravensbergen. Ravensbergen was a first round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks. With his pedigree, Spartan fans should have high expectations for him. It will be difficult though to replace one of the best goalies to play at MSU.

Another hole that Michigan State Hockey will be looking for will be top scoring talent. It was announced recently that Porter Martone would be foregoing his eligibility to join the Philadelphia Flyers. This unfortunately is a side effect of having high level commits. Many of the CHL prospects will only playing one year which will create more openings to fill each year. The Spartans do have some commits though to help with scoring. One of the biggest names included in those talks include Nikita Klepov. The winger is currently a member of the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. He is going to be joining the Spartans next season after hearing his name called at the draft in Buffalo. There are a number of other players as well that will help keep this Spartan team competitive into next season.

A Bitter End to the Season

In the end, this is a bitter way to end the season. The Spartans seemed to have everything set up for a deep run, but it just wasn’t enough. Within the coming days the future of this team will become much clearer. There are a lot of players who have not shared what their plans are for next season. As that news develops we will make sure to keep you updated as we now enter the offseason for Spartan hockey.