Michigan State hockey vs USNTDP is more than just an exhibition

Michigan State hockey has gotten off to another scorching start this season. After last weekend’s sweep against Notre Dame, the Spartans go into this week with a break from Big Ten play. They do have an exhibition built in against the US National Team Development Program. That game is scheduled to take place on Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. ET in Plymouth.

The exhibition is something that the Spartans try to schedule each year.

Over the past few years, they have played the USNTDP each season. It serves as a decent tune-up game to get things right while playing some young talent of the future. Not only that, the USNTDP is a hot bed for talent and recruiting. A lot of future NHL’ers come through the program and it allows the coaches to expose them to the program.

This year’s game means just a little bit more, however. When I say that, I don’t mean it in a sense of anything on the ice either. The game this year comes with a chance to do some good and help another member of the hockey community.

It’s about more than hockey.

A reminder that $5 from each ticket for our game at the @usahockeyntdp on Thursday will go to the Deschamps family to help defray costs of Kelly’s cancer treatment.

Let’s support the Spartans and the USNTDP as well as the Deschamps family WITH A… pic.twitter.com/4wsTto8Gph

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 20, 2024

Michigan State Hockey (#2 in country) will take on the NTDP at USA Arena in Plymouth, Michigan tomorrow, Thursday Nov 21…$5 from every ticket will go to the Deschamps’s family, Michigan’s Assistant Coach Matt and his Wife Kelly who is fighting stage III breast cancer. They have… https://t.co/cI15vZMrK6

— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) November 20, 2024

Adam Nightingale announced recently in a press conference that he worked out something with the NTDP to support a friend of his and his wife going through hard times. Michigan hockey assistant coach Matt Deschamps is a close friend of Nightingale. They played together in the past. Their families stayed close since then and have been together through a lot. Their wives are good friends. The kids are all friends. Matt is a father of five. Unfortunately, Deschamps’ wife, Kelly, has been battling stage 3 breast cancer. When Kelly’s recent diagnosis was released, Coach Nighty knew he wanted to help.

So for Thursday’s game, $5 of every ticket sold will go directly to Matt and his family to help them fight Kelly’s cancer. This will be a big help as Kelly’s chemo is very expensive.

I, for one, absolutely love that Nightingale is setting this up to help. The hockey community has always been big in the fight against cancer. Not so coincidentally, November is Hockey Fights Cancer month. Many major hockey organizations do promotions and fundraising this month to help raise money to fight cancer. The NHL also does their Hockey Fight Cancer games at each teams arena around this time of the year as well.

Also it’s great to see Adam trying to step up for a friend in need. Putting all rivalry nonsense aside for a good cause is something that needs to be done occasionally. This is a perfect way to do that. I’m sure the vast majority of us know someone who has been affected by this awful disease. Having these fundraisers really help people relate to this cause and hopefully raise some money.

So with all this being said, if anyone is looking for something to do on Thursday night, consider going to Plymouth and supporting our Spartans. Know that, on top of that, you’re backing a good cause. This would be a really worthwhile purchase. Plymouth isn’t too far from East Lansing, either. I have included a link to buy tickets at the end of this article. Hope to see a big turnout there. The game can also be streamed on USAHockeyTV.com.

As always, go green.

TICKETS: https://www.usahockeyntdp.com/tix

Some things are bigger than sports.