WATCH: Michigan State F Isaac Howard Looks Ahead to No. 18 Penn State
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- It's been almost a quarter of a century since a Michigan State Spartan won the Hobey Baker Award, the top individual honor in all of college hockey.
Ryan Miller was the last Spartan to receive the award, and now, junior forward Isaac Howard is on the brink of bringing it back to East Lansing.
The veteran is second in the nation in total points (43) behind Penn State sophomore forward Aiden Fink, whom Howard is tied with for first in goals (22). Fittingly, his Spartans will be going up against Fink when Michigan State hosts the Nittany Lions this weekend.
Howard previewed the series when he addressed the media on Tuesday.
You can watch below:
Below is a partial transcript from Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale's media availability on Tuesday:
Nightingale: "Well, obviously, coming off a bye week here, so we got a couple good weeks of practice and a chance to get a little healthy and obviously, down the home stretch here. So, we're playing a really good Penn State team, you could argue is maybe the hottest in the country and fighting for their lifes to make the tournament, so it will be a heck of a weekend and looking forward to an, obviously, special weekend being Saturday, Senior Night, knowing that we got a few guys here that some of them have been here longer than others, but put a lot into this program, and I know the crowd will be great, and our guys are excited about that."
Q: Do you think the bye week came at a good spot for you? And do you adjust based on when it comes in the schedule as far as how you go about that week?
Nightingale: " ... I don't know if there's ever a perfect time; I think our guys want to keep playing, right? And so, there's probably some years where you're more banged up than others and you probably would want a bye. And I thought we were relatively healthy and -- knock on wood -- we've been pretty fortunate with that, outside of Red [Savage]. But it's that time of year where any contact sport, teams have injuries, right? So, guys are banged up and playing through some stuff, but a chance to [get] fresh but also work on some things and get ready for the home stretch."
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