Painful defeat in playoffs can't taint four successful years

Each sat in his cubicle, some sobbing, some staring, some just staying.

They had nowhere to go, no more games to prepare for, no more foes to vanquish.

The Michigan hockey team sat in the Bradley Center lockerroom after the national semifinal -- finished off by Boston University, 3-2.

Mark Snyder On the Mark

The Terriers hit Michigan from all angles in the game. Michigan junior Matt Herr, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward, was knocked around like a rag doll by BU's defensemen.

Brendan Morrison, named the Hobey Baker Award winner just one day earlier, was leveled near center-ice by a vicious hit by Hobey runner-up Chris Drury of BU.

BU played like it was on a mission of revenge for having been trounced by Michigan, 4-0, in the same game one year earlier.

But this night was not about BU and its revenge against the Wolverines. It was about a dream unfulfilled. It was about history. But mostly it was about people and pressure.

The intense light focused on Michigan coach Red Berenson's team all season long, and it was relentless.

The Wolverines took the ice each night as the hunted. During the four years previous, they had fallen just short of the national championship. The prospect of another shot at the title drove them on a daily basis to improve.

But this year was different. Michigan sat atop the college hockey world as the defending champion and the number-one team in the nation. While being the envy of all opponents, these sudden heroes were also the targets.

Teams attempted, unsuccessfully for the most part, to knock Michigan from its pedestal. A season record for victories was interrupted only slightly by Michigan State on two occasions as Michigan dominated foes.

Accolades from other coaches were abundant after their teams had fallen to the mighty Wolverines.

"The (Michigan) team may be one of the best teams I've ever seen in college hockey," said Miami (Ohio) coach Mark Mazzeloni during the season.

And Red's army justified that appraisal.

Michigan rolled through the regular season, conference playoffs and NCAA regionals like few teams in the sport's storied history. This was a team destined to be the first to repeat since the 1971-72 Terriers.

Which made the scene in the Bradley Center lockerroom so improbable.

Each Michigan player built up to the pressure of the day with his own personal story.

Morrison, the captain, set Michigan records throughout his career in the spotlight. The scrawny kid Berenson had recruited four years earlier had seized the national spotlight through his play on the ice and exemplary character off it.

Center Mike Legg, known internationally for his ESPY-winning goal, had spent the last year of his life traveling the globe and answering questions about the most unique five seconds of his life.

The largest man on the team, Jason Botterill had turned down millions of dollars from an NHL contract for this shot at history and had accelerated his play during this, crunch time.

Then there is defenseman Harold Schock. Schock, an Okemos, Mich. native who spurned his hometown team's offer of a scholarship to walk-on at Michigan, had earned this day. It was his after four years as the smallest defenseman on the ice yet still making the opportune pass or the timely goal.

These men, all seniors, had played their last game at Michigan.

In the press conference following the loss to BU, Schock sat before the media sobbing.

Each player had his own story, but on this day, at this moment, their stories were the same. Every man was crushed, not so much by the defeat, but by the finality of the moment.

"It is like there was a death in the family," sophomore Bubba Berenzweig said.

It felt that way because there was a death to their dream.

Because the Michigan players cared so much, this team was unique.

And deserving of the moniker it didn't earn -- the title of champion.

-- Mark Snyder covered last season's Michigan hockey team for The Michigan Daily. He can be reached over e-mail at msnyder@umich.edu.

09-03-97