Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament streak comes to a close

By Alyssa Girardi –

DETROIT — Everyone knew Sunday afternoon was marking the end of one era — not as many expected it to mark the end of two.

A 3-1 win by Notre Dame over Michigan crowned the Fighting Irish the last-ever Mason Cup winners in the final CCHA matchup. The end of CCHA Championship weekend marks the end of one of the most historically successful college hockey leagues, but the loss by the Wolverines ends an ongoing history of NCAA Tournament berths.

The last time Michigan failed to make it to the tournament was the 1989-1990 season, but since 1991, the Wolverines have ridden a 22-year streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, setting an NCAA record.

Only one player on the current roster — junior goaltender Adam Janecyk — was alive the last time Michigan didn’t compete in the tournament.

“We definitely were on a mission, and we got cut short,” head coach Red Berenson said.

Michigan was off to a rocky start at the beginning of the season before turning things around Feb. 1. From that time until Sunday, the Wolverines went 10-3-1, with the only three losses coming at the hands of Notre Dame.

The season the Wolverines had is similar to its 2009-10 season, where Michigan finished seventh in the league and managed to win the CCHA Championship to earn a trip to NCAA’s.

Senior defenseman Lee Moffie said he spoke for him, senior forward Kevin Lynch (Grosse Point) and senior forward A.J. Treais (Bloomfield Hills) when saying they felt like passengers on that ride. Noting team issues at the beginning of this season, Moffie said them three and the rest of the seniors pulled the Wolverines together and led the charge they made.

The comeback they made this season had the air of a Cinderella-type story. Michigan sat near the bottom of the league in the first half of the season, but managed to battle through teams at the top of the CCHA to get to the CCHA Championship final.

The Wolverines defeated Miami — the regular season CCHA champions — 6-2, on Saturday night, and Berenson called it a “huge win” for the team to get to where they did.

“We probably had as much momentum as we’ve had all year,” he said. “We were in a good place and we had a tough game (Saturday) against Miami.”

Statistically, they were the underdogs against the RedHawks, much like they were the underdogs against Western Michigan in the second round of the playoffs. They managed to prevail through both, but the only thing missing from the tale is an NCAA Tournament appearance.

“You can’t ever count out Michigan, even with the season that we’ve had,” Lynch said. “Any team can make a run at it — especially come playoff time — they just gotta put the right pieces together. We did that in time, and we came up short.”