Patrick Geary and Maxim Strbak grew up half a world away. Now, the two Buffalo Sabres draft picks are nearly inseparable.
The pair have lived together for three years and can be found attached at the hip, braving the Michigan winter bundled in their parkas on the way to class or Munn Ice Arena, where they’ve helped propel Michigan State back into a college hockey powerhouse.
The two defensemen have formed the top shutdown pair for the No. 1 nationally ranked Spartans, who play a key Big Ten series this weekend against No. 7 Wisconsin (whose roster also includes a pair of Sabres prospects in defenseman Luke Osburn and forward Vasily Zelenov). Both games can be seen on B1G+.
"I feel like this year we've been just so even-keel,” Geary said. “We've been so great on the back end, defending hard. I think it's just the camaraderie between us two.”
The Spartans garnered all 50 first-place votes in Monday’s USCHO poll and are off to a blazing 9-1 start with wins over then-No. 1 Boston University and then-No. 3 Penn State after dropping the opening game of the season.
Geary (6th round, 2024) and Strbak (second round, 2023) have embraced the inherited pressure that coincides with being the No. 1 team in the nation. The juniors have captured back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles, headlined by Geary’s game-winning goal in overtime of the championship game.
Now, they have their sights set on a national championship after falling short in each of the past two NCAA Tournaments. Geary was succinct and candid when he said making the Frozen Four and winning a national championship in Las Vegas is his goal.
“College hockey is hard,” Geary said. "... You got to go out there every night defending like you're playing in the national championship. It's a big game all the time.
“Our motto here is, ‘Treat every game and every day like tomorrow’s the national championship.’ ... We're just training for one goal, and we definitely have the group to do it.”
That group Geary referenced is the fourth youngest in the country with 11 freshmen. They’re headlined by first-round picks Porter Martone, Cayden Lindstrom, Charlie Stramel, Ryker Lee and two-time IIHF World Junior Championship champion goaltender Trey Augustine.
Geary is tasked with helping lead the Michigan State youth movement and was named an alternate captain this season. He said he’s focused on helping the young talent navigate the peaks and valleys of a long college season and maintaining the culture, the ingredient Geary said is the key to consistent success.
Geary and Strbak have both embraced the ‘target on the back’ mentality. Their relationship on the ice helps stabilize an otherwise young roster.
“I think it's really just focusing on us and what we can control,” Strbak said. “And our head coach likes to say that our biggest opponent is going to be ourselves. If we just play the right way, the way we usually play. We're going to dominate. I think we're a really tough team to beat. And just doing it every night, every weekend, just over and over.”
Geary and Strbak’s relationship ignited in East Lansing in the fall of 2023, shortly after the latter was taken by Buffalo with the 45th overall pick. Sabres development coach Zach Redmond’s visits to East Lansing ended up providing exposure to Geary, who jumped onto Buffalo’s radar.
Geary – a Hamburg native and childhood Sabres fan who attended games at KeyBank Center – was picked by his hometown team in the sixth round a year later.
Both players have their sights set on one day playing in Buffalo. Until then, Michigan State has proven to be an ideal place for their development.
“It'd be so cool to walk into KeyBank Center as a player for the first time,” Geary said. “It's kind of hard to think about right now because it's so far away, but it’d mean everything. Especially to me and my family, it'd be a very cool experience."
“Obviously we both want to, at some point, make it to the next step and college is a great experience on and off the ice,” Strbak added. "Being here at Michigan State, the way we run things and everything, is the best decision we both could have made.”
