Lansing Sun

The 1971-72 Michigan State University (MSU) hockey team, led by Head Coach Amo Bessone, completed a season with an overall record of 20 wins and 16 losses. Within the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), the team achieved a conference record of 15 wins and 13 losses, securing fourth place.

The team's roster included key players such as Captain Gilles Gagnon, Dennis Hogan, Robert Campbell, Dave Roberts, Donald St. Jean, Jim Watt, Don Thompson, Larry Jakinovich, Alan Laking, Bob Michelutti, and Paul Mooney in the front row. The middle row featured Head Coach Amo Bessone himself along with Manager Tom Fales and players like John McLean and Larry Curran. The back row comprised Bill Sipola among others.

Throughout the season, MSU faced various opponents including Bowling Green on November 12th and 13th where they secured victories with scores of 5-2 and 8-3 respectively. Other notable games included a win against Minnesota on November 19th with a score of 3-2 but followed by a loss to the same team on November 20th.

Their performance in December was mixed with both wins and losses against teams like Denver and Colorado College. They participated in the Great Lakes Invitational held in Detroit where they won against Dartmouth but lost to Michigan Tech.

As the season progressed into January and February of the following year, MSU showed strong performances particularly against North Dakota on January 7th and Notre Dame on January 14th with significant winning margins.

In March during the WCHA Playoffs, MSU managed to defeat Minnesota-Duluth twice but ended their playoff run after facing defeats from Denver.

Overall, this season highlighted some competitive matchups for MSU's hockey team under Coach Bessone's leadership.