From 1,500 Fans to Full: The senior class that helped rebuild Michigan State Hockey

Two regular-season home games remain at Munn Ice Arena, and for this senior class, that fact carries special weight.

When Adam Nightingale took over the program, the transfer portal had already closed. The roster was set. The staff had to be assembled quickly. Evaluation time was short.

Munn Ice Arena was not full.

“This is the last group of guys that remember about 1,500 people being at our game,” Nightingale said this week. “You’re not entitled to having a crowd. You have to earn it.”

Now Munn is packed again, and Michigan State hockey is in a very different position than it was three years ago. The final senior class Nightingale inherited is preparing to skate its last regular-season games at home after helping reshape the program they joined.

Nightingale remembers the early days clearly.