With fireworks lighting up the evening sky and the reminder of a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of a bitter rival in large font on giant scoreboards, one has to believe that Michigan State defenseman Torey Krug walked out of the Big Chill at the Big House on Dec. 11, 2010 champing at the bit for his next shot at his team’s arch-nemesis.

Torey Krug

Any elite player like Krug loves the big stage, and the then-sophomore seemed to take it upon himself to seize the next opportunity to exact healthy revenge – a Jan. 7 home game against the Wolverines. The blue-liner made the most of it, notching a hat trick and finding himself on the ice for an eventual overtime game-winner from Daultan Leveille in a 4-3 victory, marking one of the most memorable single-player performances against a Michigan team that ended up in the national championship game last spring.

Just over 13 months to the day, Krug again will take the big stage in two big games against the Wolverines this weekend – Friday at home and Saturday at Joe Louis Arena – this time with even more on the line. Perhaps more motivational than hurt pride for last year’s sub-.500 Spartan team that Krug wanted to avenge, the captain now has a chance to lead his team to a victory that could bring it one step closer to reaching heights few imagined for this year’s Michigan State squad at the beginning of this year – a high seed for the CCHA playoffs and an NCAA Tournament bid.

This time around, Krug’s focus will be less on doing it all himself – not that he wouldn’t love another shower of green hats from the stands either night – and more on playing a well-rounded game and taking advantage of his teammates’ strengths. A year older and a year wiser, Krug realizes that the key to being consistently competitive with NCAA Tournament-caliber teams is making sure to take care of all the tiny details that can change a game between contending teams in an instant.

“When you play in games with higher implications or against really highly skilled teams, sometimes you try to do too much and take too many chances,” Krug listed as the most important lesson he’s learned with experience. “That is probably my biggest downfall. I need to play within myself, and by that I mean not try to do everything myself.”

Krug’s realization is a microcosm of the entire team’s progress this year, as his fellow skaters have learned to play to their own strengths without being complacent.

“There has been a change in attitude and a change in accountability,” Krug said. “Guys understand their roles on the team and they come to the rink every day working hard. When you’re satisfied with your game, you don’t work as hard to become satisfied and you don’t start playing better or making the players around you better.”

That growth has been fostered by first-year head coach Tom Anastos and his attention to detail in practice, but also from a team that’s transitioning from being one of the youngest in the league to a veteran-laden team that’s more ready to compete in the fast, physical college game.

“I think it’s a little of both,” Krug said. “The coaches brought a lot of change, but at the same time, the team has matured a lot. If you look at our lineup, we are only playing three or four freshman a night, and if you look around the country there aren’t too many teams like that.”

While the improved culture and on-ice success – the Spartans have already matched their 2010-11 win total with six regular season games to go – has been rewarding thus far, Krug is far from satisfied with the improvement. The captain knows he has another year of eligibility, but he wants to take care of business now for this year’s senior class.

“My main goal as a leader of this team is to make sure that the seniors win some playoff games,” Krug said. “Our goal as a team is to get to Tampa and we have 10 seniors who haven’t won a playoff game at Michigan State yet. It’s my goal to change that.”

Locking down home-ice in the conference playoffs, and perhaps a first-round bye would be the optimal path to earning some playoff victories for the departing seniors, and that road will begin with a Michigan team that’s trying to do precisely the same thing this weekend.