BOSTON – Mel Pearson and Bill Muckalt have been here before, in the same arena, with the effort 24 years ago as great as it is right now for Michigan hockey.
Their roles are very different now that the Wolverines are preparing for a Frozen Four matchup with Denver still chasing their first championship since 1998.
Pearson, a longtime assistant under Red Berenson, is looking for his first championship five seasons after taking over the program. Muckalt, one of the star players on that team (and the school’s title team in 1996), is now a UM assistant.
THE FROZEN ENEMY:Michigan returns to the Frozen Four with a known enemy waiting: Denver
REGIONAL FINALS:Michigan took on the Frozen Four for the first time since 2018 with a 7-4 win vs. Quinnipiac
THE CHILDREN:Michigan talented but too young for NCAA tournament? “I have T-shirts older than that”
Pearson quickly returned to win it all and called his mentor shortly after he knew his team would try to bring home a championship trophy. They also recalled the player surveys they did when Wolverines could not quite do it.
“Some early years when we lost, one of the things that came up was our team being too tight,” Pearson recalled Wednesday at TD Garden. “We try to keep them relaxed and normal, not to make the game more than it is. It’s an important game, but let’s not make it more than it is.”
Only two games stand between Wolverines and the Crown, starting with a game between two of college hockey’s best attacks this season. They play the Pioneers on Thursday in TD Garden, where the winner of the 17:03 match goes on to the winner of the late game between Minnesota and Minnesota State on Saturday.
“Our coaches have national championships in their pockets. They know what it takes to win, ”said senior forward Jimmy Lambert. “They’ve told us all year round that we have it and they believe in us. I think it’s something quite special to have that kind of experience in our locker room. I think all of us 29 players are looking to get that experience this weekend. “
Michigan (31-9-1) enters with the country’s third best offensive with 4.02 goals per game. match. Denver (29-9-1) ranks first among 60 Division I teams at 4.28, with Minnesota State (4.10) and Minnesota (3.61) in second and fourth place, respectively.
And while remembering Wolverines’ most recent era of greatness – two titles in three seasons – all that goal-scoring Pearson was reminiscent of the one that slipped away between them in 1997, when UM lost 3-2 to Boston University in the national semifinals.
“I think we learned more – I did it personally – from the ’97 year,” Pearson said. “It could have been the best team I’ve ever been associated with in Michigan. We won it in ’96. Everyone came back as juniors and seniors. We were loaded. But we were not ready for the first game. BU came out and just put us on the back end.They played physically, they were ready to go.
It helped drive the Wolverines next season to win it in Boston at TD Garden (then known as the FleetCenter). And it served as a reminder as this year’s team left the ice after Thursday’s practice.
“Focus on the start,” said fifth-year forward Michael Pastujov.
“Focus on the start and be ready,” Pearson added. “It is my experience in this tournament that you have to make sure you are ready and getting started. Of course, teams have come back. When the puck falls, the time to prepare is long gone. “
These 1996 and ’98 teams had plenty of talent, including future NHL players in Muckalt, Jason Botterill, Mike Legg, John Madden, Warren Luhning and Marty Turco, among others. Pastujov – who was a rookie on the 2018 UM team that lost in the Frozen Four to close Pearson’s first season at the helm of the program in Ann Arbor – said that watching videos of these teams and hearing from Muckalt has been inspiring for this year players.
“He’s been a great role model for us. Was in our shoes. Won two national championships for Michigan,” Pastujov said of Muckalt. “Going back and watching the old movie, seeing the emotions they play with, the raw emotions, as college hockey brings to the ice – for them to be able to get it done two years out of their four years, it’s unique. It brings a lot of pride to Michigan. We are looking to follow in their footsteps and get it done in Boston. ”
Pearson said he points to these championship banners in the rafters of the Yost Arena among the nine won by UM, which are also the only two since 1964. And he also believes it is important for their players to hear the 47-year-old Muckalt – who played six seasons in the NHL and has worked under Pearson since returning to Ann Arbor in 2017 – on what those titles mean.
“It’s something you want to take with you forever,” Pearson said. “I know these guys have been talking about this one little area at Yost Ice Arena, it’s just perfect. It’s been like this for a long time. You could stick another banner right in there. I know these guys went up as a team and went up to the stands, we pointed out that there is a place right there. “
Breaking the long drought will not be easy.
The Pioneers feature the nation’s leading goal scorer and one of the last three players to win the Hobey Baker Award in Bobby Brink, a junior forward. (Minnesota State goalie Dryden McKay and Minnesota striker Ben Meyers are the other two still in competition for Hobey, who goes to college hockey’s best player each year.) Denver also has 12 NHL draft picks on its roster. , including several from Detroit Red Wings.
However, UM boasts perhaps as deep a talent pool as the program has ever had – seven first-round picks among Wolverines’ 14 drafted players. Sophomore strikers Matty Beniers (20 goals, 23 assists), Kent Johnson (eight goals, 29 assists) and Brendan Brisson (21 goals, 21 assists) are among the top 20 scorers at the national level this season.
“They got a lot of top-end players, a lot of high draft picks,” Denver striker Cole Guttman said. “They are a very good team, so we have to be very defensively healthy. I also think we are a good team, so we can go back to them the same way they will come to us. We have to to play all 60, just like we played in playoff hockey. “
Yet Pearson learned in the loss a quarter of a century ago that talent alone is not enough to win championships.
“That’s one thing I learned in ’97,” he said. “We had a damn team. Everyone just anointed us champions. You have to earn it. The teams here are all good. If you’re not ready to play, even if you play your best, it might not go your way. But you have to make sure you are ready to bring your A-game. ”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.