Before he was a 20-goal scorer for his homestate Detroit Red Wings and before he earned a seven-year, $30 million contract extension, Justin Abdelkader was a Spartan.

To hear him tell it, actually, he was essentially a Spartan from birth. And he tells the story of his time at Michigan State in a beautifully written story published Tuesday by The Players' Tribune:

"[W]hen you skate out onto the ice for the first time on a Friday night in front of a packed house, and you hear the band playing the fight song, it’s the best feeling in the world.

"Just the rush of that first game, and your first realization that you’re playing for your fellow students — the same people you’re in class with the next day — is worth all the homework and the late-night Study Table sessions and the Computer Programming class that gives you nightmares.

"The memories of my time at Michigan State are something that I’ll carry with me the rest of my life."

Abdelkader tells his story beginning with the 2007 national championship game, which he won with a last-minute goal for the Spartans.

He takes readers through his time in East Lansing, including his surprisingly difficult decision to sign with the Red Wings after his junior season. Last fall Abdelkader completed his Michigan State degree, and he completes his story expressing pride in that achievement:

"It was a grind. But whenever I wanted to give up, I kept thinking about all the hours I spent doing Excel spreadsheets after hockey practice at Michigan State. There was no way I was throwing away three years of hard work for nothing. As a pro, you see the reality all the time. Guys come and go. Hockey doesn’t last forever.

"It’s a great feeling knowing that I didn’t just go to college — I graduated."

The Players' Tribune, which was founded by Derek Jeter, publishes first-person accounts from athletes and has featured stories from other former NCAA stars like Ryan Whitney and Brad Mills.