Away from home, 'M' has harder path

By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer

Last year at this time, the Michigan hockey team notched a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and received the luxury of playing the West Regional in the warm confines of Yost Ice Arena - something they won't have this season.

Home sweet home turned out to be an understatement.

margaret myers/Daily Unlike last year, Josh Langfeld and the Michigan hockey team won't have a home-ice advantage.

Thanks to what many players call the best crowd ever at Yost, Michigan fought off Princeton and then North Dakota in the NCAA Regionals.

That victory gave the Wolverines the necessary confidence that enabled them to win their second championship in three years.

"Confidence is everything with these guys," Notre Dame coach Dave Poulin said.

The crowd at the North Dakota game in last season's regional was a memorable one for both fans and players. In fact, the building was so loud that the television and radio announcers were nearly shouting to get their messages through.

The gift of home ice came at a time when the team needed to prove itself in the playoffs. It was coming off a 1997 season - one of the greatest Michigan regular seasons in history - in which it had lost a disappointing NCAA seminfinal game.

The '98 Wolverines hadn't won either the CCHA regular season title nor the CCHA Tournament and needed a strong NCAA Tournament showing.

"If we hadn't won (the NCAA Championship), and lost in the first round of the playoffs, it would have been a disappointing season." Michigan coach Red Berenson said.

This season, the Wolverines won't have the luxuries of home, playing almost 11 hours away in Worcester, Mass.

Plane tickets to surrounding airports are selling for up to $1,000, and many Michigan fans have no choice but to stay home.

Fans also look to save their money for the possibility of a Frozen Four trip to Anaheim.

"We need the fans in the building," Berenson said. At least "our band is going, but we can't control that. With Denver, both teams will be on equal footing. I don't think either team has the edge."

The Wolverines hopefully will be able to count on a larger alumni crowd out east when compared with Denver in order to make up for the fans who can't make the long trip.

"Maybe we'll have a few more, 100, 250 more,"
Berenson said. "It's too bad that the lowest attendance has to come in the most important game of the year."

And instead of a No. 3 seed, the Wolverines settled for a lower No. 5 seed this season, meaning they will be the underdogs for at least the first two games.

A No. 5 seed has never won the tournament. Lake Superior, a No. 4 seed, won the 1994 championship.

But the process of seeding teams only began eight years ago, and Berenson believes that his team knows how to play in different rinks.

The Wolverines had a 3-2-0 record in neutral rinks this season. In its two losses, though, Michigan still gave Michigan State a run for its money.

"We know we have to play a hockey game whether it's on the road or at home," Berenson said. "Of the nine years we've been in the NCAA Tournament every year we played in Wisconsin and that sure as heck wasn't home ice. The regionals have been in all sorts of rinks."

But with the huge home-ice factor, last year the Wolverines lucked out in the regional pairings by landing a spot in the West regional.

The selection committee may have changed its mind when deciding this season's NCAA brackets. Boston College was shipped out to Wisconsin, instead of playing close to home in Worcester where it may have had the home advantage that Michigan had a year earlier.

"It can be a factor, but it won't be a factor this year," Berenson said. "I don't think it's been a factor in most games, but it was in the game against North Dakota."

03-25-99