MSU Hockey Perspectives: On-ice victories, off-ice loss - and playing through it
After a series sweep at Wisconsin, the Spartan hockey program was hit with tragic news Monday.
I have been putting off sitting down to write this series preview (and Wisconsin review) for about as long as I could.
Writing about hockey on the ice this week has felt incredibly insignificant ever since Monday afternoon, when it was announced that Dan Sturges - a former Michigan State hockey player and current Director of Hockey Operations - had unexpectedly passed away earlier that day.
Sturges, 40 years old, is survived by his wife Rebecca and young sons Kellan and Cooper.
Sturges, who was a member of the 2007 National Championship team in East Lansing, has been back with the Spartans program since 2019 and was also involved in youth hockey in Lansing, helping coach 8U and 10U teams.
Living locally, working in the hockey community, playing at the rink where Sturges coached, and with a son in the youth program that Sturges coached in, this week has been a fog.
The only metaphorical sunlight shining through the darkness is the list of contributors to the Sturges Squad GoFundMe serving as an online family reunion of names from local hockey, fellow coaches, MSU players past and present, and even a star MSU linebacker.
