Drop the puck

Tourney time is all that matters

SHARAT RAJU Sharat in the Dark

Yesterday, I was sitting in the NCAA's pre-Tournament media conference, listening to the each of the six coaches speak at Yost Ice Arena.

The first things the coaches from North Dakota, Yale, Princeton, Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan addressed were the events of this season. Each discussed his team's progress from the beginning of the season, the recent performances, their goals in the postseason, etc.

These press conferences - as helpful as they are to people like me, who need to get quotes and truckloads of information - are a travesty of sorts.

PAUL TALANIAN/Daily Matt Herr and the rest of the Wolverines, like all the other teams in the NCAA West Regional, know that a successful regular season would be overshadowed by an early postseason exit.

Coaches' attempts to condense a season into a short, minute-long splurge belittle everything that the team has accomplished during the season. The highs and lows, the cliché-ridden 'do-or-die' games or 'taking things one game at a time' - all of these are quickly glazed over or soon forgotten around NCAA tourney time.

How can Michigan coach Red Berenson adequately relate - to those who don't know - just how this season has progressed? Goalie Marty Turco breaking the NCAA all-time victories record; the surprising second-place CCHA finish; right wing Bill Muckalt becoming a feared on-ice presence - all of these are quickly forgotten at this time of year.

The same goes for all of the teams.

Michigan State coach Ron Mason's 800th career victory.

North Dakota's 30-win defense of their national title this season.

Yale's surprising surge to the top 10 after being picked in the preseason to finish 10th in its conference.

Ohio State's emergence from the CCHA's depths to its first-ever tournament appearance.

Princeton's first time playing in the NCAAs in more than 90 years.

Each of these teams have colorful stories of a season's worth of struggle, hardship, victory and elation.

But when it comes down to it, none of this matters.

Despite popular opinion, all the hard work of the season does not really pay off. It pays off in the sense that the teams are here, playing in the NCAAs.

All of it can come crashing down, coming to a complete halt with a single loss. Then most people, especially at programs accustomed to going to final fours, won't be so forgiving. It will take some time to recover and remember all the highs of a season that spans almost an entire school year.

It's the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately complex, commonly paired with a statement like "Oh yeah, sure they won 35 games during the season and broke 45 records, but they blew it in the postseason."

Do you think places like East Lansing or Grand Forks, N.D., will tolerate anything less than a trip to Boston? Don't count on it. The same is true in Ann Arbor, and maybe even Princeton, N.J., and New Haven, Conn.

These teams are here to win, obviously. The Tigers, who really don't have any business being in the tournament at all, are definitely a team that the Wolverines should be worried about. Similarly, the Spartans and the Fighting Sioux should be worried about being toppled before they even head out East.

This weekend is the season. For now, forget all that happened during the 'other' season - what happens between this weekend and next is all that counts. For now.

- Sharat Raju can be reached at sraju@umich.edu.

03-27-98