What a Turnaround

Resiliency and courage are words used to describe Spartans dating back to ancient Greece, and Michigan State’s 2006-07 edition is no different. From an early-season ranking in the top five of the country to a dismal finish that saw the Spartans collapse at the end of the regular season, MSU has repeatedly pulled itself off of the mat and found a way to win.

On November 13, 2006, MSU was rated fourth in the USCHO.com/CSTV poll. Less than a month later, the Spartans were swept by Minnesota and Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase. With a 7-7-1 record, things looked bleak for one of the preseason favorites to make the Frozen Four.

The Spartans rebounded for an 11-1-2 streak dating from early December through the first week of February. But that stretch came to a crashing halt during a February 10 matchup with Michigan in which the Spartans dominated early, earned a 3-0 lead, and collapsed late to barely salvage a 3-3 tie.

A fragile team robbed of its confidence by its bitter rival emerged from Joe Louis Arena, starting a season-ending swoon in which the Spartans could only muster one win in their last six contests. Goals of winning the CCHA title and advancing to the Frozen Four were replaced with a desperate effort to finish in the top four of the CCHA, and simply to earn a week off to regroup.

They had more than lost their confidence; they had been beaten badly by Western Michigan, Ferris State, and Bowling Green.

And now, just three weeks later, the Spartans somehow found a way to beat Boston University and Notre Dame — two teams who were better almost all season long at playing nearly the same style of game MSU played — to advance to the Frozen Four.

L’il Lergie

Jeff Lerg might not have won a slew of awards this season, but Comley and the Spartans would not prefer anyone else in net in a one-and-done situation. In four NCAA tournament games, Lerg boasts a microscopic 1.50 goals against average and stellar .947 save percentage. And considering that Lerg took MVP honors in a region with a pair of Hobey Baker finalist goaltenders, David Brown and John Curry, he’s proven that he can outduel the best netminders in the country.

Revenge Factor

With Maine and MSU winning their respective regions, the Spartans will have an opportunity to extract revenge from the Black Bears for a crushing defeat in last season’s NCAA tournament. After a sluggish start in which MSU spotted Maine an early 3-0 lead, the Spartans battled back to 5-4, but a Colton Fretter crossbar in the waning seconds was as close as they could get.

“All summer long, and even during the season, those 10 minutes and losing that game to Maine to miss out on the Frozen Four was all I could think of,” said netminder Jeff Lerg. “Even before the game tonight, I thought of that Maine game last year.”

CCHA Battle

Michigan State might not have won a regular-season or postseason championship, but being paired with the league’s champion, Notre Dame, was a great opportunity for the Spartans to prove that they could battle with the best in the country. Interestingly enough, the Spartans may be the only team that can legitimately argue that it was better than Notre Dame. After a 4-1 loss to the Irish in November, the Spartans rebounded to take the next two games, a 2-0 shutout win and tonight’s 2-1 victory.

Upon Further Review

MSU had a second-period goal reviewed and ultimately overturned by referee Peter Feolay. On first blush it seemed as if the Spartans were robbed of a huge momentum marker, but they responded for a goal almost instantly.

Still, the reach of video review has been plainly evident in this year’s tournament play. Unfortunately for MSU, Saturday’s disallowed goal marked the fourth goal in the last four games that the Spartans have had taken away as a result of video replay.

Make The Most Of It

The RedHawks made sure to take advantage of the shots they had: they scored on their first shot on goal in the first period, and again on their first shot in the third period.

Contrast that to New Hampshire, which couldn’t covert until its 38th shot, with just five minutes remaining in the contest. The Wildcats outshot the RedHawks 44-25 in a losing effort.

“We were opportunistic when we got our chances, no doubt about it,” said Miami coach Enrico Blasi.

Getting The First

The win Saturday was the first NCAA tournament victory for Miami, and came in its fifth try. Miami was 0-4 in previous attempts, three of which were upsets. In 1993, No. 3 seed Miami lost to No. 6 seed Wisconsin 3-1. In 1998, No. 6 seed Cornell won a 4-2 decision over No. 3 seed Miami, and last year, No. 3 Boston College dumped No. 2 Miami 5-0.

Oddly enough, the closest the RedHawks came to winning was in 2004, when, like this year, Miami was the underdog. No. 3 MU lost a 3-2 nailbiter against No. 2 seed Denver. Denver went on to win the national championship. That experience, said Blasi, helped shape this team.

“As freshmen, they went into Colorado College and played against Denver,” he said. “It seems like the teams that have success in this tournament are the teams that make it every year, and I hope we’re becoming one of them.”

Miami joins Massachusetts and fellow CCHA team Notre Dame in getting its first NCAA tournament win.

“After the season is over, I’ll probably think about it some more,” Blasi said, after the game. “But I think about the first class I recruited, Greg Hogeboom, Mike Kompon, Nick Petraglia. And Andy Greene really paved the way for this. And Steve Cady’s been with us for 31 years; I hope he’s enjoying this.”

Cady currently serves as the Senior Associate Athletics Director, and was responsible for bringing varsity ice sports to Miami. He was the head hockey coach for the team’s first seven seasons, and he now shares his name with Miami’s new $34 million hockey facility.

Penalty Kill Wins Championships

Miami’s penalty killing unit ranked second in the nation in efficiency, stopping 214 of 240 chances coming into this game. The RedHawks managed to hold the potent UNH offense, first in Hockey East, 0-for-7 on the power play, and that contributed directly to the one-goal win.

“Blocking shots is just what we do as a team,” said Miami team captain Ryan Jones, who had a goal and an assist. “It’s just an example of us giving it all for the team. I think one guy took one off the head.”

“They did a good job,” said Umile about Miami’s PK unit. “We tried to change it up, it was like we were five-on-five. You have to give credit to their goaltender, who made the saves when he had to.”

“That’s what we do every game,” said Blasi. “The assistant coaches in charge of the penalty kill, Jeff Blashill and Chris Bergeron watch a lot of video and are teaching our guys every day. We try to put pressure on the other team, try to force them into making a mistake.”

Its Not Good To Be The Top

Since the NCAA went to the four-regional format for the postseason tournament in 2003, only one No. 1 seed had lost in the first round: last year, No. 1 seed Minnesota lost to No. 4 seed Holy Cross.

This year, however, No. 1 seed Clarkson and No. 1 seed New Hampshire lost to No. 4 seeds Massachusetts and Miami, respectively. While No. 1 seed Notre Dame managed to get past underdog Alabama-Huntsville, it required double overtime to make it. No. 1 seed Minnesota trailed Air Force in the third period.

This parity is just an example of a topsy-turvy year though the college hockey postseason as a whole. In the women’s tournament, of the top four seeds, three lost in the first round, while the fourth needed four overtimes to advance.

In Division III men’s hockey, national champion Oswego is the first team from the “Pool C” group — non-conference winners that were selected with at-large berths — to take home the title.

No Place Like Home?

New Hampshire was the host of this year’s Northeast Regional, and the makeup of the crowd reflected that. It was largely pro-UNH, and there was only a scattering of Miami fans.

“From our point of view, everyone was talking about a UNH-BC rematch,” said Miami head coach Enrico Blasi. “We had nothing to lose. We knew that if we just came out and played our game, we could win.”

The video scoreboard operator didn’t help excite the crowd. During TV timeouts throughout the game, clips were shown of previous NCAA tournament games decided in overtime. During the second period, the final minutes of the 1999 national championship game were shown, as Maine defeated the Wildcats 3-2. The crowd was understandably silent throughout.

Better Luck Next Year

The seniors on this New Hampshire team have appeared in the NCAA tournament all four of their years. Those games, however, have resulted in a less than stellar 1-4 record, with just seven goals scored in the five games, including this year’s Mike Radja’s shorthanded tally. Coming in, only two players, Jacob Micflikier (two) and Brad Flaishans (one), had points in NCAA tournament play. This year marked the second straight first-round exit for the Wildcats.

“It’s always disappointing,” said Dick Umile, UNH head coach. “It was disappointing last year, and it’s disappointing this year. It’s disappointing that we’re not playing tomorrow [in the regional final].”

The one bright spot in New Hampshire’s game, the shorthanded goal by Radja, was electrifying. Radja knocked a puck loose from a defenseman, then went in on a shorthanded break, being shadowed by a Miami defender. As he fell to the ice, he slapped at the puck, which went up over the far shoulder of Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff and into the net.

“The puck was just laying there, and I tried to swipe at it and got a stick on it,” said Radja.

The goal was similar to one in last week’s WCHA championship game, won in overtime on a falling chip-shot goal by Minnesota’s Blake Wheeler.

Big Guns, Lots Of Goals

The West Regional featured the top four scorers in the nation coming into the weekend in T.J. Hensick (Michigan), Eric Ehn (Air Force), Kevin Porter (Michigan) and Ryan Duncan (North Dakota).

Every team in the regional had solid offenses, meaning that no lead was sacred, and when Michigan went up two goals in the first minute of the game, the pace was set for a barnburner.

They say defense wins championships, but it certainly did not win this one.

“It was a wild and crazy game,” said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol.

Surviving a Minute

North Dakota fans cheered at the one-minute mark of the third period. They had survived the first minute of the period for the first time on the night.

Michigan had two goals in the first minute of each of the first and second periods, and four out of Michigan’s five total goals came within 60 ticks of the start of the period.

“Obviously, we did not get the start we wanted and Michigan came out hard,” said North Dakota forward Chris Porter in perhaps the understatement of the night.

Kampfer Wanted a Penalty?

During the third period, Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer took out Andrew Kozek, with the play being whistled offside.

Kampfer, apparently expecting a penalty and hearing the whistle, skated to the box. The door opened, and he sat inside for a moment.

That’s when one of the officials had to tell him there was no penalty on the play, whereupon Kampfer skated back to the Michigan bench.

UND vs. Michigan

• These two teams have played only six times against each other in the last 10 years, during which period the Sioux hold a 4-1-1 advantage. Most notably, they met last year in Grand Forks, N.D., in the West Regional, where North Dakota won 5-1 on home ice.

• That performance weighed heavy on the Wolverines’ minds, who had something to prove Saturday. Michigan leads the all-time series 45-40-4.

• The loss by Michigan made this year’s senior class the first not to make a single Frozen Four since the class of 1991. “When we were up 3-1 we should have borne down and stopped taking stupid penalties,” said Michigan senior T.J Hensick.

Battle of the T.J.’s

Two of the top players in the nation faced off Saturday, both going by the name of “T.J.”

For Michigan, Hensick scored two goals and had one assist, but also took a very unusual 10-minute misconduct with 12:26 left in the game.

“I think I may have only had one of those [previously] in my career,” said Hensick.

T.J. Oshie of the Fighting Sioux had a hat trick and an assist.

Quotables

“It was a goalie’s nightmare. … The puck went in. It’s like it had eyes.” — Michigan coach Red Berenson.

“Tonight our power play was effective by just doing the simple things.” — North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol.

“We have to keep our heads tomorrow night.” — Oshie on the rematch versus Minnesota.

New History

Maine has a storied history when it comes to hockey, undoubtedly its number-one sport. The Black Bears’ success is well-documented: two national championships (1993 and 1999), six Hockey East championships, and 17 NCAA tournament appearances.

Some of the finest players in the college game, as well as the NHL, have worn the Black Bear uniform: Paul and Steve Kariya, Jim Montgomery, Scott Pellerin, Chris Imes, Jean-Yves Roy, Garth Snow, Scott King, and Blair Allison. Paul Kariya and Pellerin won the Hobey Baker while Jim Leger won the Humanitarian Award.

However, as a program, Maine hockey is relatively new. The University first fielded a team for the 1922-23 season, which went 2-3 by splitting with Colby and Bates and losing to Bowdoin. The following season, they went 4-8. That was it as hockey did not return to the Orono campus until the 1977-78 season.

The Black Bears competed in ECAC Division II for the first two seasons (15-12 and 25-8-1) before moving into the ECAC’s Division I conference. There they stayed until moving to Hockey East for the 1984-85 season, the first coached by Shawn Walsh. They finished that season 12-29-1.

It took Walsh until his third season to produce a winning team at 24-16-2, losing in the Hockey East finals to Boston College, 4-2. Maine made its first NCAA appearance that year, losing to Michigan State (6-2 and 5-3) in the first round.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Old History

Many college hockey fans are only aware of the modern era of Massachusetts hockey. The main campus of the University of Massachusetts system started Division I hockey in 1993, joining Hockey East the following year.

However, many fans may not be aware that hockey has actually existed at UMass longer than at Maine, going back to the 1908-09 season when the team went 2-4, playing on the Campus Pond. They won their first two games against Springfield Tech, 2-0, and North. YMCA, 6-0. They then dropped their next four games to Springfield Tech, Amherst College, MIT, and Trinity. The latter three times they were shut out, making the second Springfield Tech game the only game of the season in which both teams scored.

They actually didn’t have a head coach until the 1917-18 season and that was Elton J. Mansell, the only coach in school history with a career winning record (.574).

As is typical of early college hockey programs, some of the teams they played were not colleges. They went 9-6-3 all time against non-collegiate opponents.

The school did not field a team during the latter part of the Depression and through the World War II-era years of 1939-47. They also did not play from 1951-53, during the Korean War.

When the NCAA split into divisions, UMass, like some of the other Division I schools that did not want to put an emphasis on hockey, such as Connecticut, played first in Division II and then Division III conferences. UMass won the 1971-72 ECAC Division II championship, beating St. Anselm, 5-3, Merrimack, 4-2, and the University of Buffalo, 8-1.

They competed in those playoffs three other years as they made the postseason four years in a row. The star of most of those years was Pat Keenan, who still holds the school records for goals (105) and points (180). And he only played for three years.

The coach during that era was Jack Canniff, who has the most victories in school history with 120. Current coach Don Cahoon is second with 101.

They began to fall on hard times after those successful teams of the early ’70s, eventually falling to 1-18-1 in 1978-79. After that season, the school dropped hockey until 1993.

Coaching History

Like their respective schools’ hockey history, UMass coach Don Cahoon has been involved in college hockey longer than Maine’s Tim Whitehead.

Whitehead played collegiate hockey at Hamilton, graduating in 1985. He started coaching at UMass-Lowell in 1996-97. He led them for five seasons, reaching the Hockey East semifinal round three times. He then took the job at Maine where he has accumulated a 154-68-26 record in six seasons, a Hockey East championship, and has twice played in the national championship game.

Cahoon played at Boston University, where he won back-to-back national championships in 1971 and 1972 in his junior and senior years.

He coached for three years at Norwich from 1979-82. Afterwards, he moved to Princeton for nine seasons where he led the Tigers to an ECAC championship and an NCAA appearance. He’s been at UMass since 2000-01, compiling a mark of 101-132-22 and the school’s first NCAA bid this year.

All Tournament Team

All members came from the final two teams. UMass had two representatives, forwards Matt Anderson and Kevin Jarman. Maine had the rest of the All-Tournament team with forward Michel Léveillé, defenders Mike Lundin and Bret Tyler, and goaltender Ben Bishop. Léveillé was named the Most Outstanding Player.

One Seeds Struggle

So much for a “one” seed.

Since the tournament expanded to 16 teams, Holy Cross’ win over Minnesota last year was the only victory by a fourth-seeded team over a one. This year, however, two out of four No. 1s (New Hampshire, Clarkson) lost in the first round, one (Notre Dame) went to double overtime to win and one (Minnesota) needed a miracle comeback to survive.

“I hope this year puts an end to the talk and speculation about whether these teams belong here,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia.

Falcons Win Crowd

The Denver crowd quickly swung its allegiance to the local team, starting with supporting them on big plays.

“Anytime we had a big play or a goal the energy was lifting us from the crowd,” said Air Force defenseman Billy Devoney on the support of the attendees at the Pepsi Center Saturday.

In the second period, chants of “Air Force” emerged as the Falcons gathered momentum. It was the second time in two years that Minnesota went into a neutral site and had the crowd against them, after last season’s appearance against Holy Cross on rival North Dakota’s home ice.

With host team Denver failing to make the NCAA tournament, a great deal of conjecture had centered around how big the crowd would actually be. The presales were solid at 8,400, but the number of fans in the seats was substantially harder to project.

The official — tickets purchased, that is — attendance was announced at 11,161, with estimated gate attendance around 7,000.

Battle of the Brothers

Air Force defenseman Greg Flynn and Minnesota forward Ryan Flynn faced off against each other for the first time in a college game, and both found themselves on the ice with less than two minutes to go after Air Force had pulled goalie Andrew Volkening.

Needless to say, it must be tough on the parents to figure out who to cheer for.

Quotables

“I looked at their bench and the look of concern was all over.” — Air Force head coach Frank Serratore.

“They were definitely one of the toughest teams we played this year.” — Mike Carman on Air Force’s play.

“I would be a liar to say I didn’t have an ache in my gut.” — Serratore.