After six seasons at the Spartan helm, Tom Anastos resigned from his position as head coach at Michigan State University on Tuesday.
Anastos was hired at his alma mater in 2011 after Rick Comley retired. The commissioner of the now-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association for 13 years, Anastos was also the former head coach at Michigan-Dearborn.
A Dearborn native, Anastos played four seasons as a forward at MSU for the late Ron Mason. He tallied 70 goals and 151 points in 153 career games in Green and White, and helped the Spartans to four NCAA Tournament appearances, four CCHA Tournament crowns, and three Great Lakes Invitational titles from 1982 to 1985.
After a brief professional career with Sherbrooke (AHL) in Montreal's organization, Anastos entered the coaching ranks and went 68-37-7 in three seasons with UM-Dearborn. He then returned to MSU as an assistant coach under Mason for two years, helping the Spartans to the 1992 NCAA Frozen Four, before later helming first the North American Hockey League and later the CCHA.
MSU went 78-122-24 in all with Anastos as head coach, including the final two years of the CCHA and the first four seasons of the Big Ten Hockey Conference. The Spartans went 19-16-4 overall in his first campaign, and finished 7-24-4 in 2016-17. During his tenure, MSU also made the 2012 NCAA Tournament, but fell to Union in the opening round.
Anastos' youngest daughter, Andie, just completed her own four-year hockey career at Boston College. She tallied 144 points in 156 games, and helped the Eagles to three consecutive Frozen Fours.
MSU is expected to conduct a national search for Anastos' successor. Long-time assistant coach Tom Newton will serve as the Spartans' head coach in the interim.
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