ST. PAUL, Minn. — The stakes might have been high the last time the No. 2 Michigan hockey team played at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, but they don’t even come close to what’s on the line this time around.
As part of the Ice Breaker Invitational, the Wolverines faced then-No. 2 Boston College in the first game of the 2007 season. Michigan defeated the Eagles 4-3 in overtime, but the story of that game lies in how.
Then-freshmen Carl Hagelin and Louie Caporusso started and finished the game on a bang for the Wolverines. Hagelin scored the first goal of his Michigan career at Xcel during the first period to put the Wolverines up early. And his linemate, Caporusso, scored the overtime game-winner for Michigan.
The Wolverines know they can’t live in the past, but Hagelin, Caporusso and the current Michigan seniors who started their collegiate careers in St. Paul won’t deny the history they have in this building.
“I wasn’t feeling it as much until I got here,” Caporusso said. “When I was walking in the rink, I felt like it was freshman year all over again, like when I just started here. I think it was the same exact walk to the dressing room, I think it was the same exact dressing room. It’s kind of cool how we’ve made a full circle here. Hopefully this time we can win both games.”
Hagelin and Caporusso will take the ice again as linemates against North Dakota tonight, but this time around, Michigan comes in to the NCAA Frozen Four as an underdog to the No. 1 team in the country.
The Fighting Sioux (21-6-1 WCHA, 32-8-3 overall) demolished their NCAA regional and regional final opponents, outscoring Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 6-0, and Denver, 6-1, last weekend in Green Bay, Wisc. North Dakota was the No. 2 team overall heading into the NCAA Tournament, and is the only remaining No. 1 seed in the field.
But while North Dakota poured on the goals in Green Bay, the Wolverines had to win two close games in St. Louis, one against Nebraska-Omaha and another against Colorado College.
Michigan beat the Mavericks after coming back from a two-goal deficit. Sophomore forward Kevin Lynch scored the game-winner in overtime, after the referees overturned an initial no-goal call to end the game. Against the Tigers, the Wolverines got out to an early lead but had to tighten up their defense in the third period when Colorado College cut the lead in half.
“You’re going to face adversity,” senior defenseman Chad Langlais said. “You have to be able to come back, you have to be able to play those tight games. That’s what the playoffs are all about. North Dakota, they’ve walked all over teams. I think it’s a good thing for them, but I think it’s a great thing for us to be able to win close games.”
Michigan’s task defensively will be stopping North Dakota senior forward Matt Frattin, who headlines an impressive offense for the Fighting Sioux. As a team, North Dakota has scored 36 more goals than the Wolverines this season. Frattin is a Hobey Baker award finalist and was named both WCHA and College Hockey News Player of the Year.
While Frattin has netted 36 goals during his senior campaign — cut that in half to get Hagelin’s team-leading 18 for the Wolverines — he’s had help along the way. His linemates, seniors Evan Trupp and Brad Malone, have scored 17 and 16 goals, respectively. Junior Jason Gregiore has chipped in 25.
When the puck drops tonight, defense will be the name of the game for the Wolverines.
“We need to play our game, and if we let (North Dakota) do what they are good at, they will do it,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “We need to stay on the ice, be responsible with the puck, and be ultra-responsible without the puck. If you give this team out-numbered rushes and power plays, they will take you right out of the game.”
Michigan knows that despite being No. 2 in the country, it is the underdog in this matchup. But just as no one expected the freshmen to make waves against Boston College three years ago, Caporusso and Hagelin are happy to embrace the underdog role against the top-ranked Fighting Sioux.
“On paper, they’re the better team,” Caporusso said. “But I’m not sitting here telling you that we can’t beat North Dakota. I definitely think we can beat North Dakota. But they’re going to be a tough match. They’re the favorite coming into this tournament and they’re the best team in this tournament. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think our team is capable of doing it. We have a lot of confidence.”