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Wolverine blues
As unwelcome guests in Michigan, Huskies are dismissed from the NCAA playoffs
 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor Michigan�s Andy Burnes hauls down SCSU�s Joe Motzko during the Huskies� 4-2 loss to the Wolverines Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan moved on to beat Denver University and now faces the University of Minnesota in the semifinals of the Frozen Four.
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 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor A Michigan player celebrates the Wolverines� second goal Friday night at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. SCSU�s Dean Weasler let in three goals and was pulled after the first period and Jake Moreland finished the rest of the game.
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 Mark Hartigan
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ANN ARBOR, MICH. - It almost didn't seem real for the SCSU men's hockey team late Friday night.
And as they slowly filed out of their locker room at Yost Arena following their 4-2 loss to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's West Regional, most of the players were left wondering 'what if?'
What if the goal crease around Josh Blackburn had been an inch smaller? What if Mark Hartigan would have just gotten a little more of his stick on the puck after shaking Blackburn out of his skates late in the third? What if they had started the game the way they wanted to?
But, for the first time all night, they had no answers.
"You can always say the ifs and the buts," said SCSU head coach Craig Dahl. "But the puck just didn't drop for us tonight. Our guys really wanted to win this game and they played that way, but unfortunately it just didn't happen."
Michigan's number-one priority coming into the game was to open fast and get the capacity crowd of 6,948 going early, and they did just that in the game's first five minutes.
Jason Ryznar finished off a quick tic-tac-toe play that started behind the Husky net. Mark Mink picked up a loose puck and fed John Shouneyia in the corner. Shouneyia redirected the pass to Ryznar in the slot who beat Dean Weasler to make it 1-0 just like that.
The Huskies would have their first answer just 1:10 later. After Michael Woodford went off for cross-checking, the Huskies put their top-ranked power play unit to work.
After a scrum in front of Blackburn, Jeff Finger found a loose puck and slid it between the Michigan goaltender's legs to tie the game at one.
"That's part of athletics," Dahl said. "When you are down you have to be able to fight back and we were able to get back to 1-1."
They couldn't keep it that way though. Michigan scored twice in the final 6:40 of the period to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room after one period.
The first came off the stick of Craig Murray who fired a shot from the left point that snuck over Weasler's right shoulder while the Wolverines had the extra man and the second came off of an excellent individual effort from Milan Gajic.
Gajic skated out from behind the net, all the while fighting off SCSU defenseman Colin Peters, circled around to the slot and beat Weasler with a soft shot low to the ice.
"We wanted to get off to a good start and get the crowd going in that first period," said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "We were able to do that by scoring some early goals."
Michigan out shot the Huskies in the opening frame (11-4) and outplayed them in most phases of the game, but the Huskies responded in the second, gaining a 10-6 advantage in shots in the middle frame.
Neither team scored in the second, and even though the momentum swung to the Huskies' side as the game went along, their luck did not.
The power play clicked again when Jon Cullen scored just over four minutes into the third while the Huskies had a two-man advantage. But the goal was scored just after the first penalty had expired ending what would have been another 1:27 of power play time.
They did get another chance with the extra man just two minutes later, and it appeared that the Huskies cashed in again.
As bodies piled up in front of Blackburn, Ryan Malone scored to tie the game at three, for the moment.
The goal was reviewed and the off-ice official found the toe of a Husky skate in the crease. The goal was called off.
"I was told there was a guy in on the far side of the crease, but I just want to look at it and see for myself," said Malone. "Whatever though, obviously it was a big momentum shift."
"All it is was a mad scrum in front of the net and people getting pushed into the crease," said Jake Moreland, who replaced Weasler in goal after the first period and made 12 saves. "You can try and stay out of there as much as you want but when you have three guys jamming on you it's tough. They were throwing people in there just so they could get the whistle."
It was a shot in the gut, but there were still chances for the Huskies, the best of which came shorthanded after Jeff Finger went off for a double minor less than a minute after Malone's no-goal.
Hartigan picked off a clearing attempt by a Michigan defender and skated in all alone on Blackburn. He faked his shot and deeked to his backhand, only to have the puck just slide off his stick and past the vacant net.
"I bit hard, it just rolled off his stick," said Blackburn. "It was pretty fortunate."
"With such a chance like that it's just such a letdown," said Hartigan, fighting back tears in front of a crowded press room.
And it essentially cost the Huskies their season. Dwight Helminen cleaned up a rebound that went off the post with just over five minutes to play putting Michigan back up by two, all but assuring the Wolverines of a quarterfinal matchup with Denver.
The Huskies were forced to kill off a Peter Szabo high sticking penalty in the final 3:40 and never got close again, ending their season with another loss in the NCAA tournament. They are now 0-5 all-time when it counts the most.
"It's just one of those things this time of year where we just can't get on a roll and ride it," said Hartigan, who is still in the hunt for the Hobey Baker. ""We've just been bitten by the hockey bug and it's just tough to take right now."
And it will probably sting for awhile.
Around the West Regional
- The Huskies played the entire third period without the services of Matt Hendricks and Joel Peterson. Both went out in the second with concussions after suffering vicious hits.
- Nearly every coach and player had a view on Michigan's home-ice advantage in the tournament, but no one could argue that someone had to host the regional. Husky forward Ryan Malone had a different take on it however. "Was it fair to play here? Of course it wasn't" he said. "Maybe the NCAA should have found another arena. Maybe the (Detroit) Red Wings weren't using (Joe Louis Arena)."
- Not only did Michigan end the Huskies' spectacular season, they also closed the book on Denver's banner year. The Pioneers, who won both the WCHA regular and playoff championships, took a 3-2 lead into the third period Saturday night only to see Michigan respond with a three-goal third to move on to St. Paul.
- Waiting for Michigan when they get to the Xcel Energy Center will be Minnesota. The Gophers advanced after beating Colorado College 4-2 in the other quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon. CC beat Michigan State on Friday 2-0, ending the coaching career of Ron Mason, college hockey's all-time leader in coaching victories with 923.
- Michigan pulled off their own case of d�j� vu this weekend. The last time Yost Arena hosted the West Regional in 1998, they also won a pair of games to advance to the Frozen Four. That team was seeded third and beat Princeton 2-1 before knocking off another top-seeded WCHA team (North Dakota) in the quarterfinals en route to winning their ninth national championship in school history.
Nick Clark can be reached at: [email protected]
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