Seniors take final lap in style

By Uma Subramanian

Daily Sports Writer

Their lap around the ice traversed familiar ground they'd skated over hundreds of times before.

But this final jaunt, with the spotlights shining exclusively on them and the 'M' flags they carried, was a tribute to four seniors who each, in his own way, left an indelible mark on Michigan hockey.

On Saturday, prior to Senior Night festivities, Krikor Arman, Kevin Magnuson, Andrew Merrick and Sean Peach played in their final regular-season game at Michigan.

Though the Wolverines suffered a 6-3 defeat at the hands of Bowling Green in a meaningless game as far as postseason plans were concerned, the contest represented the end of an era.

The Class of 2000 is the final link to perhaps Michigan's greatest team ever - the 1996-97 team that won thirty-five games and made a trip to the Frozen Four.

These graduating seniors have done it all in their Michigan careers.

Besides that remarkable freshman campaign, the class partook in an NCAA championship as sophomores and claimed a CCHA tournament championship last season.

Saturday night, when Peach, the Michigan captain, accepted the CCHA regular-season championship trophy from league commissioner Tom Anastos, everything came full circle.

After his name was announced, each senior took a turn around the rink hugging his teammates as his career accolades were announced.

When he took his solo lap, Merrick reflected on that remarkable first year.

"I thought back to freshman year when I was standing out there with Brendan (Morrison) and Jason (Botterill) and all those guys going around and how I thought to myself I'd never go through this," Merrick said. "Three years seemed like forever then, but they really went by fast.

"It was a nice feeling to go around. I know there's bigger and better things to move on from here. This part of my life is coming to an end - which is a good thing, but it's a sad feeling too."

This season, due to an overload of talented young players, the seniors haven't had a chance to skate together much - a fact which made Saturday's outing all the more special.

"My happiest part was being able to just play with these guys - it's not too often that all four of us get to play together," Peach said. "It was a surreal feeling skating around and everything flashed right in front of me. I also remember Morrison and everyone was chanting 'Hobey Baker' for him.

"At the time, we were like 'Man, those guys are pretty cool and this is pretty cool.' I know that the freshmen look up us and they probably think this is pretty cool - this is a great tradition we have here."

Unfortunately for the seniors, on the whole, their final regular-season game was a pitiful team effort - one that was not representative of the Wolverines' recent stretch of games.

"It's almost emotional for me 'cause you know the guys and know what they've been through," Michigan freshman Mike Cammalleri said of the celebration. "It's great to watch and it's great for them.

"But I feel really bad for the seniors because we gave them a final game like that."

Yet fortunately, because their team was crowned regular-season champions, these seniors will witness at least another two games in Yost Ice Arena when Michigan hosts Western Michigan in the first round of the CCHA playoffs this upcoming weekend.

But if the season is any indication, the likelihood is that all four may never play together again. That reality did not escape any of them.

Despite the debacle, "I'd like to say that I think the four of us played a good game tonight," Merrick said. "We were ready to play and we can be proud of that."

In fact, the seniors played their hearts out in a penalty-filled game that saw Arman, Merrick and Magnuson in the box simultaneously.

"I laughed a little bit when I saw that," Merrick said. "At one point we'd all been sitting on the bench together kind of as a buffer. Then we all moved over to the penalty box together. It was kind of funny. I took the penalty that Krikor had to serve."

"And I figured it's the last game, why not give them a good headlock," Magnuson said. "When I analyzed the situation when I got in the box it was like, 'Hey, it's our night and we're in the box.'"

The seniors also bowed and paid homage to the Michigan hockey band - which they count amongst their biggest supporters.

All joking and losses aside, the seniors know - perhaps better than anyone - what it will take for this Michigan team to succeed in the postseason, which began at the final buzzer of Saturday's game.

"We remember that we have the most points in the CCHA and won a conference championship," Magnuson said. "And all four of us truly believe that this is the best chance we have to win it since our freshman year. We're ready for the run."

KIMITSU YOGACHI/Daily

Andrew Merrick and fellow seniors Krikor Arman, Sean Peach and Kevin Magnuson played in their final regular-season home contest on Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena.