No. 1 Seed Hockey Team Begins Quest to Bring NCAA Championship Trophy Back to Ann Arbor
The Wolverines, winners of three tournament or rivalry trophies this season, open Friday with American International College -- a little-known program familiar with big-time upsets
Photo Courtesy of Michigan Photography
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan’s hockey team is on a quest to raise its fourth trophy this season, and skate around the ice together in triumph one more time. It will take four victories to get this NCAA Championship trophy, and the first challenge comes Friday against American International College in Allentown, Pa.
The Wolverines picked up trophy No. 1 in the ultra-tough Ice Breaker Tournament in Duluth, Minn., Oct. 15-16, beating then No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth, 5-1, before taking down then No. 1 Minnesota State, 3-2, in the championship game.
Then they claimed the “Duel in the D” trophy by beating Michigan State, 7-3, Feb. 12 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Trophy No. 3 came Saturday in a 4-3 win over Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament championship game in Minneapolis.
The Michigan captain gets to accept those trophies and then skate with it before handing off to teammates, and Michigan senior captain Nick Blankenburg of Romeo has savored every opportunity.
He recalled picking up the trophy for the Wolverines’ first conference tourney title since 2016.
“It’s definitely a special moment for me,” said Blankenburg, a standout defenseman. “I know it’s something I’ll remember, and the guys on the team will remember forever. Just, especially, to win a Big Ten title on the road, and in Minnesota. It’s definitely something I’ll cherish forever.
“When we won the Ice Breaker, we said, ‘That’s not the last trophy we’re going to win this year. And we’ll win a couple more.’ Lifting trophies over the head has been the goal this whole year, and having three of them over our heads right now feels good.
“But we’re looking for the fourth. So, it’ll be exciting.”
Michigan (29-9-1) is the No. 1 overall seed, the challenge begins 3 p.m. Friday (ESPNU) with American International College (22-12-3) – which beat top-seeded St. Cloud State in 2019. The Yellow Jackets have a pair of impressive goalies in Jake Kucharski (2.38 goals-against, .910 save percentage, 21 starts) and Alec Calvaruso (2.35, .911, 15 starts). Blake Bennett leads them with 18 goals and 32 points.
Whoever wins meets the Quinnipiac-St. Cloud State winner Sunday for the Regional championship and a berth in the Frozen Four, April 7-9, in Boston.
“A lot of these guys came back for a reason,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said of the seven first-rounders and 13 total NHL Draft picks who could’ve gone pro but stayed together. “They came back to have the college experience and have a chance to chase championships. They won the Icebreaker. They won the Duel in the D, won the Big Ten championship.
“They’re dialed in. They’re driven.”
Michigan has played seven of the other 15 teams in the NCAA event, posting a 9-7-1 overall record. Subtracting the 1-4 against Notre Dame improves the mark to 8-3-1 against Minnesota (3-2), Massachusetts (2-0), Western Michigan (1-1), Minnesota State (1-0), Minnesota-Duluth (1-0) and Michigan Tech (0-0-1).
“We’ve played a lot of the teams and Mel’s said that’s how he made up our schedule,” said fifth-year senior forward and alternate captain Michael Pastujov. “It’s to prepare us for the tournament. So, I really only speak to the first game on Friday. But everyone’s just really excited and looking forward to the tournament.
“I know, for me, and a lot of guys who never got that chance (before) with COVID and everything that’s happened, guys are just really excited and happy to play – just focusing on Friday and what we can do to win that game. It’s been awesome. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Pastujov is the lone holdover from Michigan’s last NCAA tourney team. He has 10 goals this season, 34 for his career, and none bigger than the game-tying late third period goal netted in the Frozen Four semi-final game against Notre Dame in 2018. The Fighting Irish pulled out a 4-3 win on a goal by Jake Evans with six seconds remaining in regulation.
“It’s been a long time,” Pastujov said with a smile. “It’s just nice to finally get another opportunity to play for a championship. The last time was my freshman year, and we have a lot of freshmen now, and so the message is: ‘Don’t take it for granted. You don’t know when the next time you’ll be able to play in it is.’ ”
Michigan, with a record nine hockey national titles, last raised the NCAA trophy in 1996 and 1998 – when Pearson was an assistant coach to the great Red Berenson.
“I’m excited for the players because it is the best time of year,” Pearson said. “Everybody in hockey is watching this and you get the opportunity to play for a championship. That’s why you come to Michigan is to chase championships.
“These guys have a chance. I’ve been here a long time. You know when you have a team that has all the ingredients and really does have an honest chance to win a championship, and these guys do. Just the way they’re playing right now from the net out, we’ve got everything we need to have success.”
I’ve watched these guys all year and I can attest to their focus and commitment all season long. They’ve won everywhere (Duluth, Minneapolis, Columbus, Detroit, etc.) and they’ve beaten the best (7 programs out of the 15 other schools in the NCAAs). This team is locked in and it will be a lot of fun to see how far they will go in the NCAA tuhrnament.