By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writer
DETROIT - A very good thing happened to the Wolverines on Saturday night.
They lost.
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The Spartans outplayed Michigan in every aspect of the game. They outhustled, outhit, outshot and yes, even outscored the Wolverines.
And it's the best thing that could have happened to Michigan.
Because this was almost just another weekend. This was almost another instance of the same hockey we've seen, week after week after week.
The Wolverines have fallen into a pattern of coming out and not playing their best hockey - and winning anyway. After all the blowouts throughout the season, after just about every one of Michigan's 26 wins, coach Red Berenson maintained that this juggernaut of a hockey team was not ready to hit the big time just yet. And now, he's finally got some proof, in the form of a 2-1 loss to the hated Spartans.
"We've got to learn from this loss," Berenson said after the game. "We got beaten by a good team. We better realize that we're gonna have to play better than that by the time we get to the CCHA playoffs."
He's right. It has not been 24 games since the Wolverines were outworked, and it has not been long since they could have or even should have been beaten. But it had been that long since they actually left the ice on the losing side of the scoreboard.
Until now, there was nothing to point to, no proof that Michigan had to do anything other than play mediocre hockey to win. We saw it two weeks ago, when then-CCHA-leader Miami came to Ann Arbor. Michigan played well, but nowhere near great. And the Redskins went home with two losses.
Heck, we saw it Friday night. The Wolverines spotted Lake Superior an early goal, and then casually scored five times in the second period to put the game out of reach. Yawn.
But now, finally, there is something to point to, evidence that a subpar effort is not always good enough. There will come a time at the end of this season when Michigan will stop playing the Ohio States and the Notre Dames, and they'll start playing the best teams in the country. Not the teams that the polls say are good (see Miami and Lake Superior), but the teams that have survived long enough to actually get to the playoffs. And then we'll really learn what this team is like.
The weird thing is, the players seem to know it. The atmosphere after the game was almost surreal - it didn't seem like the Wolverines had just lost to Michigan State for the second time this season.
"I think this is a good thing for us," assistant captain Blake Sloan said. "This is a learning opportunity. When you come out flat, it's hard to beat anyone.
"It just shows us that if every single guy doesn't put forth that 150-percent effort, it's gonna be hard for us to beat anyone."
And what if the Wolverines had come back last night and won? What if they'd shrugged off a two-goal deficit and rallied to win against a very good team in front of a huge crowd? What would they have learned?
Nothing.
But now, there's a little caution sign hovering in the minds of all the Wolverines. They know they can be beaten.
Other teams know it now, too. The magical dream - the one where Michigan shows up and is automatically credited with a victory - is over at last.
"We'll turn it into a positive and we'll turn it into a challenge," Berenson said.
"We can't be satisfied with that game, and we won't be. Maybe we'll look back and say this is good, and maybe we won't."
Maybe the Wolverines will learn from it and maybe they won't, but make no mistake about it - this loss could not have come at a better time.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Michigan's John Madden had two goals Friday night against Lake Superior but was held scoreless Saturday against Michigan State in a 2-1 loss. The Wolverines split the weekend series at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.