Michigan State HC Adam Nightingale talks Great Lakes Invitational win

Michigan State hockey defeated Michigan Tech to win the Great Lakes Invitational on Monday night, earning their second straight invitational victory.

Despite losing several key players to the World Junior tournament, head coach Adam Nightingale maneuvered the Spartans to an invitational victory, that included four members being named to the all-tournament team. It is the first time the Spartans earned back to back invitational wins since a four year run from 1997-2000, something Nightingale didn't even do in his playing days.

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Following the win, Nightingale spoke to the media, where he shared his feelings on the outstanding effort from his team.

• "You come to a tournament like this because you want to find things out about your team. I could not be more proud of them."

• "Charlie Stramel really has taken another step. He had a great season for us last year, and he decided to not sign and come back. He's more confident with the puck this year. He's a big, strong, athletic kid. Last year, he passed up opportunities to shoot."

• "Charlie Stramel works hard at his shot, and he should be looking to shoot. He's making it matter when it counts."

• "There was no quit in Michigan Tech. This is another reason you come here. You want to expose your team to this environment, this situation."

• "Trey Augustine understands it is not a perfect position. It's all about the next save. He makes it all look easy, it calms the bench. There's no hair on fire. You see it in practice, Charlie (Stramel) has to find a way to score on Trey, on Melvin (Strahl)."

• "I think, for Trey Augustine, he's never been the 'elder goalie.' He's always been the younger guy. For him to have an impact on Melvin, it means a lot."

• "Romes (Anthony Romani) is awesome. He's super coachable. He got a 4.0 in school last semester. He's a committed player. He's got a gift of finishing plays that I could not teach him. Look at the Michigan game, he responded the second game."

• "It was a little bit different tonight. I thought the guys did a heck of a job tonight. It's a physical game. It's a gutsy effort. I learned more about the guys than I did about myself tonight."

• "I think the world of it (the GLI). Michigan Tech does an unbelievable job hosting this. Grand Rapids is an amazing city. Putting your team in this position is a good thing. We lost both games my first year, and it was a great experience. We learn."

• "If you are a team that ever does get invited, you should jump on it (the GLI)."

• "We got to play the games. We talk about our depth, and guys being ready, this is the time to go out and actually do it. Being at Michigan State, even for me, it is a privilege. Representing our university at a great town with a lot of our alums, we got to."

• "We have not had one day at the rink this year where the guys were not excited for practice."

• "Our message is 'one day at a time.' For our team, it is about maturing and playing a smart game. We have to get to the point where it doesn't matter what it looks like, if it's pretty, if it's cute, we got to execute."

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State HC Adam Nightingale talks Great Lakes Invitational win