MSU, Nightingale Seek to Honor Late Dan Sturges Multiple Ways
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State hockey head coach Adam Nightingale walked into the room for his press conference on Thursday morning, and then walked right back out to, very understandably, take a few extra minutes to compose himself.
It’s been an extremely difficult and emotional week for the Spartan hockey program. Players, coaches, and families are in the middle of the grieving process after MSU’s Director of Hockey Operations, Dan Sturges, passed away unexpectedly on Monday morning at 40 years old.
“Obviously, it’s a super shocking and heartbreaking week,” Nightingale said. “For [Sturges’ wife] Becky and the boys, just praying for them. Dan’s family, there’s an army of people that want to help, and I think Becky knows that. It’s been unbelievable, the support that we’ve gotten. The hockey world, the Michigan State community, it’s actually amazing.”
There is currently a GoFundMe to support the Sturges family. A link to it can be found RIGHT HERE, for those interested in donating.
As of Thursday afternoon, donations are nearly at $100,000. There have been donations labeled with the names of numerous current and former MSU hockey players.
Sturges and Nightingale were teammates at Michigan State back in the mid-2000s, with Sturges also being a member of the 2007 national championship team later in his career. He had been working back at his alma mater since 2019, pre-dating Nightingale’s own return as head coach in 2022. Nightingale said it was basically just them for the first month or so of his tenure, before he hired any other assistants.
Remembering Dan Sturges
MSU will still be playing its upcoming series this weekend against Minnesota. Games at Munn Ice Arena are set for 7 p.m. ET on Friday and 6 p.m. ET on Saturday. Nightingale says that “trucking on” is the best way to honor Sturges.
Nightingale also said that the team will wear jersey patches with “DS,” Sturges’ initials, on them for the remainder of the season. Minnesota will also have “DS” stickers on the back of its helmets for this series.
“I’ve never really thought of the, you know, ‘win for someone,’” Nightingale said. “It’s more of an honor, right? He definitely believed in — he would say it to me before every game — he’s like, 'Coach, I want to see 60 minutes of KBH, knees bent hockey.'
“That’s what he loved: team play and hard work. And I told our guys, we’re going to win some, we’re going to lose some, but for sure, we are going to honor him and play how he dreamed of us playing.”
A lot of the stories and fond memories that Nightingale shared about Sturges had nothing to do with hockey, though. The news, especially with it being so sudden, has opened up space for some introspection.
“It really puts things in perspective,” he said. “You can get frustrated if you lose a game, or if something happens in a game, and it’s… sports really aren’t that important. And I think we can all get lost in that, right? It’s a reminder that every day is a gift. Every day is, 100%. Life is precious.”
Off the ice, Nightingale remembered Sturges as somebody who loved to compete, someone who loved asking questions and learning, and someone who loved Michigan State.
“We would always tease him, when the Powerball was up, if you won the Powerball what are you going to do?” Nightingale said. “And he said he was just going to keep his job here and donate it all back to the program. We would laugh, but that was the truth. He loved everything about Michigan State.”
Nightingale also said that Sturges and the staff had a litany of other friendly competitions for when they had some additional time to fool around.
“He loved competing,” Nightingale said. “He’d make a competition out of anything, wherever. You’d set up a coffee cup and try to throw paper clips, and closest to [the cup] wins or whatever. He’d want to challenge guys in anything.
“Chess, he had a chess board up and we all played against him. We couldn’t beat him, but we would all play against him. He’d move [a piece], and then someone would sneak into his office and move a piece. He didn’t know which one of us it was, so he couldn’t say he’d beat me or [Mike Towns] or [Jared DeMichiel] or [Brad Fast].”
As Nightingale said, moments like these show that sports aren’t everything in the grand scheme of things. Still, the second-ranked Spartans will have plenty of opportunities to honor Sturges on the ice. They’re in the race for a third straight Big Ten title, and are also a contender to win the program’s first national championship since 2007, another Sturges contribution.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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