GREEN & WHITE

Tom Anastos steps down as Michigan State hockey coach

George Sipple and Chris Solari
Detroit Free Press
Michigan State announced on Tuesday that head hockey coach Tom Anastos will step down immediately.

EAST LANSING – Tom Anastos laid out a five-year plan to turn around Michigan State hockey when he was hired on March 23, 2011.

Five days after his sixth and worst season as head coach, Anastos announced his resignation.

The Dearborn native and former MSU star player told his players during a 3 p.m. team meeting Tuesday at Munn Arena. He quietly left the arena through an alternate exit.

“It was a sad meeting. You could obviously tell he was a little shaken up about it. I mean, we were all shaken up,” departing senior captain Joe Cox told the Free Press. “It’s Spartan hockey, we’re family. … I don’t really have a lot of words for it. He’s a great guy, good coach. It just hurts to see that we just didn't have the success.”

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MSU athletic director Mark Hollis said moments after the meeting that he has no successor lined up nor a timeline for a hire. Longtime assistant coach Tom Newton, who declined comment, will serve as interim coach while a search is conducted to replace Anastos.

“I’ve thought about it,” Hollis told the Free Press, “but we don’t have anything in motion at this point. … I think the guys on this team gave everything that they could. Just a sad day.”

An outside-the-box hire as the commissioner of the now-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association, Anastos was 78-122-24 in six seasons at MSU after Rick Comley retired following the 2010-11 season. The Spartans had the fewest wins of any NCAA Division I school in the state during Anastos’ tenure.

The Spartans (7-24-4) finished last in the six-team Big Ten this season at 3-14-3-1.

“I think Tom put out a timeline that just didn’t meet expectations,” Hollis said. “We had an opportunity to talk yesterday and today about a lot of different variables. In the end, he’s a guy that’s about the program above himself in those conversations.

“Tom’s an amazing individual. The unfortunate part of it is wins and losses matter to a lot of people. And in the conversations, that kind of came down to the end.”

Anastos became the sixth coach in program history after serving 13 years as the commissioner of the CCHA. His best season was his first. The Spartans went 19-16-4 and made the 2012 NCAA tournament. He played for MSU under Ron Mason from 1981-85 and later served as an assistant coach under his mentor from 1990-92.

“When I first became head coach, I established my own timeline for the program’s development,” Anastos said in the statement. “After a review of our season, and in spite of the progress we have made in so many areas, we have not met my expectations.

“As a leader, I believe that you must always make every decision based on what’s in the overall best interests of the program, and never put personal interests first.  After lengthy conversations with Mark Hollis, I am stepping down from my role to help facilitate a change in leadership and direction for Spartan hockey.”

Anastos defended his plan in a January 2016 interview with the Free Press. “You have to peel back the onion to see some of the challenges and adversity we had to deal with as our plan has unfolded,” Anastos said then. “I think the plan was right, but during the course of time, sometimes things happen that make you reassess, recalibrate, modify.”

Asked then if he felt he was on the hot seat, Anastos said: “I may be, but that’s not for me to determine, so I don’t give that much consideration. I’m going to go do my job every day. To ask me that question is irrelevant. Maybe I am on the hot seat. But I don’t think about that. I don’t have time to think about that. One hundred percent of my energy goes into our team, preparing our team, looking ahead, working for the program.”

MSU ended Anastsos’ sixth season with a 6-3 loss to Ohio State on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament. The Spartans went 0-4 in the season-ending event during Anastos’ tenure since the conference formed in 2014.

“We've got a lot of heart in the room,” Anastos said Thursday. “We've got guys that will dig deep and work right to the end in spite of whatever challenges or disappointments there are. … I expect to win. There's a lot of dynamics that go into that, so I'm sure no one ever takes winning for granted because winning is not an easy thing to do. It's a tough thing to do. But, yeah, I'm disappointed.”

Former MSU assistant coach George Gwozdecky and former Spartans player Danton Cole, now a head coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program, likely top the list of replacements. Gwozdecky won national titles at Denver in 2004-2005 and now is coaching at a high school in Colorado.

Cole said he was on the ice when he heard Anastos was stepping down.

“I’ve always been a Spartan and have always been a Spartan fan,” Cole said. “Tom never had a bigger fan than me here in wanting to see the program do well. That’s been a big part of my life.

“I love representing my country. This is a fabulous place here. It’s an honor to do it on a daily basis. Your alma mater – that’s always been a dream job.”

Tom Anastos in his playing years at Michigan State.

Cole, 50, said he’d be willing to serve in an advisory role, if asked. He played for the Spartans from 1985-89 and spent the past four seasons with the NTDP, after serving as coach at Alabama-Huntsville for three seasons (2007-2010). He also has coached the Muskegon Fury, Grand Rapids Griffins and Motor City Mechanics.

“I’m available for them,” Cole said. “It’s a time for Spartans to pull together.”

Hollis credited Anastos for improving the team’s academic success during his tenure and that his successor must continue that progress.

“I’m indebted to Tom, I’m indebted to all the guys that are in that locker room right now,” Hollis said. “We will be stronger because of Tom Anastos and his staff.”

Michigan Tech hockey coach Mel Pearson has known Anastos a long time and said he’ll land on his feet.

“He’s a good hockey person,” Pearson said. “You know that. You can see the passion he has.

“Fabulous hockey guy, smart hockey guy. He’s got too much going for him and I wish him well.”

Pearson said it seemed like colleges were a lot more patient with coaches years ago but not anymore.

“Maybe because of the salaries,” Pearson said. “It’s becoming more like football and basketball to a certain degree. You’ve gotta win and you’ve gotta win now. Seems to be the way it is, especially at the high-profile places.”