MILWAUKEE - The weekend didn't go as planned for Brendan Morrison and Jason Botterill, or any of the other nine seniors on the Michigan hockey team.
This wasn't the way their careers were supposed to end. Not like this.
But believe it or not, this was why they returned for their senior seasons.
After the season screeched to a halt against Boston University on Thursday night, the scene in the Michigan lockerroom was one of devastation. Botterill sat by himself in the corner, staring in disbelief at the floor. Morrison sighed and blinked into the television lights and told reporter after reporter that he didn't know what went wrong.
Red Berenson paced around, then sat and stared, then paced some more. Finally he just sat and slumped. Defeated. Defenseman Bubba Berenzweig said it felt like there was a "death in the family."
Morrison and Botterill, the pair that returned to school for one more shot at a national title, were two of the most disconsolate.
And strange as it seems now, this was why they stayed.
Yes, they have said all along that winning the championship was their goal from day one.
But you know what? They did something bigger for Michigan than winning any championship.
They helped build a dynasty before our eyes. And the fact that their careers included their senior years says a lot about Michigan's program.
It says a lot about the program they helped to build.
It took a special pair of athletes to do what they did. Anyone can bolt out the exit when there's a guaranteed pot of gold on the other side of the door. Probably, at least one Michigan athlete will do so in the near future.
But these guys deserve credit because they did not. They deserve credit for coming back for another year, to a place where the pot of gold was not guaranteed.
And then, after all the hours spent working toward the ultimate goal, to have it yanked from under their feet like a rug - it's easy to see why they couldn't figure out what to do other than sit and cry.
It would have been easy to leave after winning the title last year. It would have been easy to sign on the dotted line, step out of rental housing and into the professional ranks.
It would have been easy to go out on top.
This, on the other hand, was not easy. Going out on a losing note is something - because of the life that these players have poured into Michigan hockey - that they will never forget. It is something that will always be frustrating.
But as disappointed as they are now, check back with these seniors in about five years. Chances are, they won't be hung up on whether they won or lost their final game together.
Chances are, they'll remember the time when they were college students and for a few days, they put off tests and classes to go to Milwaukee and play hockey for Michigan.
What a great scene it was, the day after the horrible loss, as Morrison was handed the Hobey Baker Award and his teammates were there to cheer for him.
Morrison choked back tears during his acceptance speech. Botterill cried while watching in his seat.
And then the fans in the audience broke into a rendition of "The Victors." Michigan was not even in the tournament anymore. It was the day after the most difficult loss in the careers of nine Michigan hockey players, and at the same time, the culmination of an extraordinary four years.
Morrison and Botterill did not win a second national title. They did not go out in heroic style, like they hoped. But they gave Michigan fans - and the entire Michigan hockey program - something far greater than a championship ring.
They gave four solid years, even when the easy thing would have been to take the safe route and head to the NHL. They put themselves on the line, and for that, they should be proud. And their fans should be appreciative.
Not all of the nine seniors will play professional hockey. Some of them will. But all of them will remember that Morrison and Botterill didn't have to come back and finish school and be Wolverines for their senior seasons.
But they did.
And it was worth it.
 WARREN ZINN/Daily Senior Mike Legg contemplated his last step off the ice in a Michigan uniform for several moments. Traditionally the last Wolverine to leave the ice, this was the most difficult departure of his career. |  WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan junior forward Matt Herr consoles classmate, goale Marty Turco after the Wolverines were shocked in the NCAA semifinals by Boston University, 3-2, last Thursday. |