11 - The Michigan Daily - Monday - April 6, 1998

Champons!


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Quotables:
"I'll never have any regrets.
When I'm 40 or 50, I'll still be
able to look at these two nation-
al championship rings. If some-
body says anything about me or
about us, I can't hear them
because I'll have my two nation-
al championship rings stuck in
my ears."
- Michigan forward Bill
Muckalt
"I just shot it low, it went into
the net - and we're national
champions."
- Michigan forward Josh
Langfeld, discussing his game-
winning overtime goal
"We lost the GLI for the first
time in nine tries. We lost the
CCHA regular season, we lost
the CCHA playoffs. But then we
won the regional and the 1998
national championship.
"That makes up for everything
else."
- Michigan center Bobby
'Maize'Hayes
"Such great players like Coach
Berenson and Brendan Morrison
wore the number ... I didn't want
to try to match or be Brendan
Morrison or Coach Berenson, I
just wanted to go out and play my
own game."
- Michigan freshman Mark
Kosick, on wearing No. 9.
"This is a great, great environ-
ment. You don't get this in pro
hockey. ... Our kids will never
have anything like this happen to
them. Even if they win a Stanley
Cup - believe me, it won't be
the same as this kind of experi-
ence."
- Michigan coach Red
Berenson on winning the NCAA
championship

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The seniors on the
Michigan hockey
team -- (from left
to right) Gregg
Malicke, Matt Herr,
Bill Muckalt, Chris
Fox and Marty
Turco -- went out
with a bang. The
group leaves
Michigan with two
national titles.
MARGARET MYERS/Daily

Pain of leaving for 'M' seniors eased by title
After four consecutive final four appearances and two titles, upperclassmen can leave satisfied

By Fred Link
Daily Sports Writer
BOSTON - After meeting the
media following Michigan's 3-2 vic-
tory over Boston College, Marty
Turco sat in the corner of the
FleetCenter lockerroom and took off
his No. 35 jersey for the last time.
"l'm proud I got to wear it," Turco
said. "But I know it's time and I have
to move on."
For Turco and the rest of the
Michigan seniors - Matt Herr, Bill
Muckalt, Chris Fox and Gregg
Malicke - Josh Langfeld's overtime
goal marked the end of their careers
at Michigan.
And what a way to go out.
With the victory, Turco, Herr,
Muckalt, Fox and Malicke became
the winningest class in Michigan
hockey history with 133 career victo-
ries, eclipsing the record of 132 vic-
tories set by last season's senior class.
More important, this year's seniors
ended their careers with a second
NCAA championship.
"It's your senior year - your last
game," Turco said. "You couldn't
write a better script. That's what you
want - to say I graduated when we
were national champions."
For Muckalt, the national champi-
onship was the perfect ending to the
senior year that he almost passed up.
Before the season started, Muckalt
had the opportunity to leave college

to play professional hockey for the
Vancouver Canucks. But Muckalt
chose to stay for his senior year at
Michigan.
"If feel like I have no regrets,"
Muckalt said. "I came back for my
senior year. I've got my degree. I've
won a national championship.
Everything I came back to accom-
plish we've taken care of.
"I'll never have any regrets. When
I'm 40 or 50, I'll still be able to look
at these two national championship
rings. If somebody says anything
about me or about us I can't hear
them because I'll have my two nation-
al championship rings stuck in my
ears."
As a class, the national champi-
onship was sweeter this time around
because of the criticism the seniors
encountered throughout the year.
Entering the season, some fans
asked whether the seniors were capa-
ble of leading the young Wolverines
after the loss of nine seniors -
including Hobey Baker Award winner
Brendan Morrison - at the end of
last season.
When the Wolverines struggled a
bit during the regular season, losing
the regular season CCHA title to
Michigan State, many questioned
whether Michigan was capable of
winning the big game.
With an early exit in the CCHA
playoffs at the hands of Ohio State,

the Wolverines were left with one
more chance to prove their critics
wrong.
"It's special for our senior class
because we had people doubting us,"
Herr said. "People saying Brendan
Morrison is gone, Jason Botterill is
gone.
"It's not about individual talen
For Billy, Marty, Chris, Gregg and
this will be one of the greatest
moments ever, because people doubt-
ed us. Everybody chipped in. That
class led this team."
For some, the championship was
especially significant because it
proved what the team could acdom-
plish if they came together.
"It goes to show you what you can
do when you've got a group of guys
that will put it all on the line, and 4
as close as we are, even when every-
one is against us," Malicke said. "It is
so special because as a senior you
can't ask for a better way to go out."
With their win on Saturday night,
the Michigan seniors finally stepped
out of the shadows of the teams of the
past three years and won a champi-
onship that they can call their own.
"I just want to remember that
did it in style - the captains and t
seniors," a jubilant Muckalt shouted
from the shower. "This is what I came
back for and now the mission is
accomplished and it's time to move
on.

WARREN ZINN/Daily
Michigan star forward Bill Muckalt played his last game as a Wolverine in
Saturday night's NCAA championship game against Boston College.

Drury nets Hobey Baker;
Alban takes runner-up

Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
BOSTON - In one fell swoop, Jim Rich,
the master of ceremonies for the 1998 Hobey
Baker Memorial Award recipient announce-
ment, completely deflated any sense of sur-
prise in the ceremony when describing the
atmosphere at Faneuil Hall in Boston on
Friday.
"It feels like a Little League World Series,"
Rich quipped.
To the average fan, that may not mean a
thincr Rito the+ dprAiti e nnnnrtParc of the

was the type of place I could go get a good
education, have fun ... I couldn't think of any-
thing else I could want from a school or a col-
lege hockey program."
The runner-up for this season's trophy was
Michigan State goalie Chad Alban, who posted
a 0.98 goals-against average on the season, in
addition to a .951 save percentage.
Alban was also named the CCHA player of
the year, with a 1.63 goals-against average in
conference play, setting a new conference
record.
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