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Huskies draw Michigan in NCAAs
 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor SCSU�s Derek Eastman battles with Colorado College�s Alex Kim during the third-place game Saturday at the WCHA Final Five. The Huskies take on Michigan Friday in the NCAA tournament.
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 Jon Cullen
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 Ryan Malone
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It could be worse.
The SCSU men's hockey team could have to trek across Wisconsin and swim Lake Michigan to get to Ann Arbor for this weekend's West Regional on the campus of the University of Michigan, and they might just have to do that if they want to return to St. Paul for next weekend's Frozen Four.
The Huskies have the daunting task of facing the host Wolverines Friday night at Yost Arena at 7 p.m. and if they can get by Michigan, waiting in the wings will be a well rested Denver team that is coming off its first WCHA playoff championship since 1999.
To put it simple, it won't be easy.
"If your going to head into the storm you might as well head right for the eye," said SCSU assistant coach Doc DelCastillo.
The Huskies got themselves into this position by losing twice last weekend at the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul. One win would have gotten them a better seed (they received the fifth seed in the West) and a more favorable match up Friday night. But as the team sees it, it's all water under the bridge now.
"We can't look back," said captain Jon Cullen. "Let me tell you, there is going to be nothing better than beating them in their own barn."
As Cullen put it, there is a bit of revenge on the minds of the players. A year ago Michigan put an end to the Huskies' best season in school history, beating them 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the tournament to earn a berth in the Frozen Four. The Huskies were favored to win that game last year, but the legacy that Michigan carries proved to be too heavy. This time around however, the roles are reversed, as the Huskies come in as the underdog, a role they kind of enjoy.
"There is nothing like a Cinderella story," said SCSU head coach Craig Dahl. "We might not be the typical Cinderella team, but we can write the story."
The Wolverines are coming into the game as one of the hottest teams in the country. They won the regular season CCHA title, survived a scare from Lake Superior State in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, beat Ohio State in overtime to reach the title game and then squeezed by Michigan State 3-2 on Sunday to capture the playoff championship.
After starting the year with wins in only five of their first 11 games, they have been winners 21 times over the final 29 games. They are much younger than last year, but that might just make them more dangerous.
"Last year we had 10 seniors, and we had two upperclassmen turn pro. That's 12 guys off last season gone," said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "So we play eight freshmen every night. We're young, but we've put together a good season. It's like life and death every game it seems."
They do have some guns with experience though. Michigan is led by Mike Cammalleri (23 goals and 17 assists), a junior who has only appeared in 26 games, and John Shouneyia, who put up 47 points in 41 games. They also have a solid goaltender in Josh Blackburn, who is only giving up 2.23 goals per game and has stopped over 90 percent of the shots he has seen.
"Our guys are good with the puck. We're not as big as SCSU. John Shouneyia is like a smaller Ryan Malone and Cammalleri missed a lot of time with mono," Berenson said. "He's the kind of player who could be up for All-American consideration if he hadn't missed 15 games. We've only got one 20-goal scorer, whereas in our best years we've had maybe seven."
Which means, at least to the Huskies, Michigan is beatable.
"We know that if we play our game we can beat them," Cullen said. "We aren't looking at this as a tall order, we're saying to ourselves let's go out there and give this our best shot and hopefully come out with a couple wins."
And then that swim might not seem so bad after all.
Around the rink
- In search of the offensive spark that was missing last weekend in St. Paul, Dahl made some major adjustments to the Huskies lineup for this week. Mark Hartigan and Joe Motzko remain on the top line but will skate with freshman Mike Doyle. Nate DiCasmirro moves to the second line with Cullen and Matt Hendricks. Ryan Malone will skate on the third line with Peter Szabo and Dave Iannazzo.
- Malone appears to be ready to go. He separated his shoulder in the Huskies' series-clinching win over Minnesota-Duluth two weeks ago and played last Friday against Minnesota. He did sit out the Huskies 2-1 loss to Colorado College on Saturday, but said he is feeling fine for this week.
- Dean Weasler will get the nod in the Husky net. He was very good last Saturday against CC and has had a sharp week of practice.
Nick Clark can be reached at: [email protected]
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