WATCH: Michigan State's Nicklas Andrews Talks Big Ten Tournament Championship
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State hockey has an opportunity to win a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament championship when it hosts Ohio State on Saturday.
A win would be another step in the impressive rise the program has been on under Coach Adam Nightingale.
Michigan State has been able to build off its success from last season with the contributions of both returners and newcomers. One of those first-year Spartans making a positive impact is graduate defenseman Nicklas Andrews, who transferred to Michigan State from Colorado College last offseason.
He chose to spend his final collegiate season as a Spartan after four years at his former school.
Andrews discussed Saturday's matchup and more when he addressed the media on Wednesday. You can watch below:
Nightingale also spoke to reporters on Wednesday. Below is a transcript from his opening statement:
Nightingale: "Well, it was a good weekend. I thought, obviously, Munn was rocking, and we were playing a team that was hot and playing some really good hockey. And I think our guys stayed with it; I think that's the message to our guys is playoff hockey's hard, and so, you know you can't expect offense to be easy. And we had to work for it to stay with it.
"I didn't think we deviated. And that's a good reminder for us down the stretch and how we need to play. And obviously, playing a really good Ohio State team coming into Munn here. Ton of respect for their team, their program. And I think they're really well-coached. They're built really similar to us [with] the depth. They have good goaltending.
"But excited about our guys getting an opportunity to play another game at Munn, right? That in order to do that, you got to win the regular season, which we did, and they got to win another game, so now, we got a chance to play another game in front of our home crowd."
Andrews has posted 17 points this season (two goals, 15 assists) and has made a team-leading 48 blocks while playing in all 35 games.
His defense has been key for a Michigan State team that is looking to take it all this year.
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