Before
the start of the 2002-03 season, the Bulldog icers gathered at
the home of captain Troy Milam’s parents in Lake Orion.
It was a chance for freshman players to get to know the veterans
and for the team as a whole to “build chemistry” before
the first face-off. Picked to finish ninth in the Central Collegiate
Hockey Association, they would need just the right formula to
catch fire.
During the season the team displayed each winning
game puck in their locker room, and (as it turned out) a ninth-place
finish would have given them just 15 of the hard little disks
to hang from a hockey stick mounted up near the ceiling.
But by the time they were through, the Bulldogs
had mementos from 31 wins, which propelled them to their first
CCHA regular season championship, a national ranking and their
first trip to the NCAA tourney.
It was a hot year out on the ice.
The
Most Unbelievable Team
By Jan. 23, when the Bulldogs were 17-6-1 overall
and leading the CCHA with a record of 12-3-1, people had definitely
begun to take notice. The team topped a Fox Sports Detroit poll
to find the “Most Unbelievable Sports Story in the State
Right Now.”
Coach Bob Daniels thinks people should not have
been so surprised.
“We had a very good team even last year,”
he says. “Until the last three weekends we were in the hunt
for an upper division finish in the league. Then our top goalie
went down with an injury and we proceeded to lose four straight.
Our being picked ninth was a reflection of last season’s
finish. We knew we were a better team than that.”
In part, it was that confidence going into the
season that helped fuel the Bulldogs’ success. It also went
a long way toward earning Daniels many post-season honors, including
West Michigan Sports Coach of the Year, CCHA Coach of the Year
and the prestigious Spencer Penrose Award as the American Hockey
Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year.
With the season over, Daniels finally has a
chance to reflect on the historic year from his office in Ewigleben
Sports Complex, which seems almost eerily quiet after a season
of packed games that culminated in a pair of 6-1 home victories
over Lake Superior State, which lifted them into the CCHA Super
Six Championship tourney. He credits improvements at the University
at large with helping propel the hockey team to their record season.
“Recruiting is a sales job—it’s
pretty competitive,” he says. “All of a sudden we’ve
got the new library, the renovated Timme Center, the Student Recreation
Center, a brand-new basketball facility, the quad area…When
we brought recruits on campus to look around you could feel a
shift in attitude about the campus. That helped recruit a better
quality of player.”
The
Hunter and the Hunted
Two of those “better-quality” players
were senior left wing Chris Kunitz and sophomore goalie Mike Brown.
Kunitz’ achievements this year were as
impressive as his presence on the ice. He was the CCHA Player
of the Year, finishing the year as the league’s overall
leader in points, goals and assists. He was named to the all-tournament
teams for the NCAA West Regional, the CCHA Super Six Championship
and the Connecticut Classic.
At left wing, the Bulldog sniper bagged 51 points
with 24 goals and 27 assists. According to Kunitz, it was a team
effort.
“I played with two good linemates—Jeff
Legue and Derek Nesbitt—both sophomores who had phenomenal
seasons,” he says. “Really, it was the combination
of the whole team playing well that gave me the opportunity to
go out there and score goals. I didn’t have to worry about
my end so much—I just went out there and tried to create
some offense.”
Coach Daniels thinks the kind of offensive fire-power
Kunitz brought to the ice was made possible in large part thanks
to Bulldog goalie Mike Brown.
“It’s funny—everybody knows
a good goalie will help you defensively, but where Mike helps
us as well is offensively,” Daniels says. “Because
he played so strong at the net, it allowed us to be more aggressive,
to take more chances.”
Brown was featured in Sports Illustrated’s
“Faces in the Crowd”
section after having been named CCHA Defensive Player of the Week
for four straight weeks. By the end of the season he had earned
that title an unprecedented six times. He placed first among CCHA
netminders with 26 overall victories and 21 league wins.
“I felt confident this season because
the guys played so well in front of me,” Brown says. It’s
a confidence that also came from being in front of the net regularly,
rather than the sporadic play he saw as a freshman.
“It’s tough, especially after a bad game, not coming
back and playing the next one,” Brown says. “Playing
every game also lets the team relax a little bit in front of me
because they know my style and I know theirs.”
Centered
on the Ice
Having topped their league in the regular season,
the Bulldogs looked to extend their dominance to the post-season.
The team took advantage of home ice to twice
beat Lake Superior State, propelling them into the next round
of the CCHA tournament at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, where they
beat Northern Michigan 4-2. In the championship game, the Bulldogs
finished as runners-up after a close game against the University
of Michigan. The 5-3 loss included an open-net goal by the U of
M as the Bulldogs put six offensive players on the ice, trying
for a tying score in the closing seconds.
Undeterred,
the team looked forward to its first-ever NCAA regional tournament
appearance. At a gathering for the icers and their supporters
at a packed banquet room in the Big Rapids Holiday Inn, with ESPN
on hand to interview Coach Daniels live on national television,
the Bulldogs learned they would face perennial powerhouse North
Dakota in the opening round.
Their 5-2 victory over the Fighting Sioux lifted
the Bulldogs to the NCAA Elite Eight and a contest against defending
national champion Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers scored three goals early
in the first period of the regional final, which proved to be
the margin of victory. The 7-4 loss ended a season during which
the Bulldogs far out-skated the pre-season prognosticators who
picked them to finish ninth in their league.
But even with the schedule completed, at least
one player wasn’t yet done making headlines.
After returning to campus from Minneapolis,
Kunitz found that he was one of three finalists for the coveted
Hobey Baker Award and also signed a two-year contract with the
NHL’s Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
“He has a chance to play right away,”
says Ducks’ General Manager Bryan Murray.
“My hope is to come into camp healthy,
in shape and try to crack a spot on the team,” said Kunitz,
who went to Anaheim a few weeks after the Hobey Baker announcement
to spend time with the Ducks during the playoffs.
“We had a phenomenal year and phenomenal
support from people who might not have followed hockey in previous
seasons,” Kunitz said. “It was just amazing how around
town and around campus, everybody was involved. That was a big
thing for our team, the support we got. It made our guys happy
to see there were people who enjoyed watching us play, and we
wanted to play well for them.”
As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly
and carry a big stick.”
All campaign-long the Dawgs let their actions
speak for themselves.
When the zambonis clean the ice for this year’s season opener,
they’ll be ready to do it again.
Starting this time, ya gotta think, ranked higher
than ninth.
