SportsMonda - March 20, 2000 - The Michigan Dail - 5B .Fans not su ortive n 'M'tlras ig at Joe ETROIT - Section 276 sat deserted. There was not one fan sitting in the upper-level &ction beneath the Cuervo Gold equila sign. On the other side of Joe Louis Arena, up against the glass, fans clanged cowbells, rattled milk jugs -and raised clever signs. And those5 Weren't the Michigan faithful.I This time I'm talking about fanss at traveled over our states to STEPHANIE Detroit to see OFFEN their 15-17-7 Off the team play in its Record first CCHA tour- nament semifinal game - the Nebraska-Omaha fans. Friday evening, while the league's rookie team was embarrassing the Wolverines en route a 7-4 victory. Se Michigan hockey fans were nowhere to be seen. Maybe you were drinking Cuervo Gold instead of sitting below its sign, dancing the Irish jig and wear- ing funny-looking green top hats. Maybe you were watching the NCAA basketball tournament dili- gently, praying that Florida would pull out that game against Butler, so you wouldn't fall behind in your CAA tournament pool. Maybe you were just planning on supporting your Wolverines on Saturday when the time and the opponent were more agreeable. What was the CCHA committee thinking planning the first game at 5 p.m. when the entire alumni base is still at work? Wherever you were, I know where you weren't. You weren't sup- *orting your Michigan hockey team at Joe Louis Arena. You weren't on hand to witness the game that may have lost the Wolverines a chance at a national title. You didn't have a chance to witness the Wolverines fall from a top seed to a fifth seed in only two and a half hours. There was plenty of time to cele- brate St. Patrick's Day after the early game. And I learned that *lorida did pull out that win, thanks to highlights on SportsCenter which airs every evening. in other words, you could have gotten the best of all three worlds and helped motivate probably the least motivated Michigan team that I have seen all season Nebraska-Omaha had fire beneath its skates. The Mavericks were the t team going into Friday night's lame after pulling the unthinkable as a seventh seed - being the first team to ever make it to the CCHA semifinals in their first year in the league. They had the drive and the moti- vation to pull one of the biggest upsets of the season and knock the Wolverines out of the race for the CCHA tournament trophy. They also had a small, but ani- mated section of fans. This small group of fans only learned Tuesday that their team would make the 12-hour trek to Detroit, a city that most of the Mavericks have never even visited before. But they packed up their stuff, boarded a plane or a bus and hollered and yelled their team right past the Wolverines. Michigan fans on the other hand, could barely be heard. The handful that were in attendance were scat- tered around the arena, trying their hardest to help the pep band in bringing the Yost cheers to the Joe. But only a handful of fans can't turn a 19,275 seat pro arena into the Wolverines' home. I've seen the Joe turn into a larg- er-scale Yost during last season's run to the CCHA tournament cham- pionship. Those crowds, just like Nebraska- Omaha's crowd on Friday, motivated the Wolverines to capture last sea- son's title and the automatic NCAA berth. This season, the Wolverines already have that NCAA berth. This season, the Wolverines weren't fac- ing Ohio State or Northern Michigan, two of last season's biggest hockey rivals. This season gave the Wolverines no motivation to defeat a hot Nebraska-Omaha team, one that the Wolverines clob- bered 6-2 and 6-1 in early December. On Friday, the Wolverines needed you. The Wolverines needed that home-crowd feel to bring them back when they were down 3-1, then 4-1, and so on. The Mavericks had all the moti- vation in the world, and Michigan had none. But I can't lay all of the blame on the fans. If I could have foreseen how the Wolverines played against the Mavericks, I probably would have skipped the game too. Who wants to see their team get embarrassed? But just remember the Michigan team that played with motivation. Remember how the Wolverines left you, with a 6-2 victory over Western Michigan to continue to the semifinal game. That's the team that deserves support. And the season's not over. The Wolverines travel to Albany next weekend for the NCAA tournament. While it may. not be as convenient as Yost or Joe Louis, it is for all the marbles. One loss and the season's over. If that can't act as a motivator for the fans - or the team - I don't know what will. - Stephanie Offen can be reached via e-mail at soffen@umich.edu. DAVID KATZ/Daiy Nebraska-Omaha goalie Kendall Sidoruk had a stellar game against Michigan recording 32 saves. The Wolverines were unable to generate any offense in the contest and fell to the Mavericks, 7-4. Ice dancing: Hockey's madness set to begi NCAA Tournament field announced; Wolverines receive No. 5 seed By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sports Editor Yesterday, hockey's version of March Madness got underway with the announcement of the 12- team NCAA tournament field. Though this tournament is a lot smaller, and the potential for major upsets in the first round does not exist because the top two seeds in each region receive a bye, the year 2000 version of college hockey's Big Dance promises to be just as excit- ing. It's time to sharpen up those pencils again bracket junkies, and get ready for the road to Providence. EAST REGIONAL: PEPSI CENTER, ALBANY Defending national champi Maine occupies the top spot in the East. The BlackBears are coming off a dramatic 2-1 victory over Boston College in the Hockey East championship game. Maine tallied both its goals in the final 39.6 sec- onds of the contest, highlighted by Massachusetts native Niko Dimitrakos game-winning goal poked in with just 2.5 seconds left to play in regulation. The Black Bears finished the season on a hot streak, winning i11 of their last 12 contests. Their only blemish in the last two months? A 6-6 tie to Providence, home of this season's Frozen Four. Second seeded St. Lawrence won its conference tournament at the site of hockey's most dramatic moment - Lake "Do-you-believe-in-miracles?!" Placid. The Saints 2-0 victory over RPI this weekend was not nearly as dramatic as the Americans win over the Soviets or Maine's victory at the Fleet Center, but the win was cause for celebration as St. Lawrence completed the coveted regular/confer- ence tournament sweep of the Eastern College Athletic Association. Hockey East regular season champion Boston University occupies the three seed in the east with ECAC regular season runner-up Colgate right behind them in the four spot. Michigan represents the five seed after losing to CCHA upstart Nebraska-Omaha in the conference semifinals. The stock of the CCHA's regular sea- son champs has fallen dramatically in the past few weeks. The Wolverines dropped a seemingly meaning- less game against Bowling Green in the regular season finale and struggled against Western Michigan in the first round of the conference tour- nament before losing to Nebraska-Omaha. Despite their recent struggles thought the Wolverines appear ready to refocus and get ready for another tournament run. "We need to think about our best game or best shift we have played this season and build off that," Michigan left winger Scott Matzka. "We are going up against the best teams in the nation, we're just fortunate to be there. We need to get our pri- orities set for this weekend." St. Cloud State, whose tournament chances were up in the air until Sunday, floats in as the sixth and final seed of the region. WEST REGIONAL: MARIECCI ARENA, MINNEAPOLIS Wisconsin leads the pack in the West despite losing to North Dakota in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Championship game, 5-3. The Badgers have owned the top spot in the polls for virtually the entire season - just ahead of the Fighting Sioux. The Badgers are led by the nation's most prolif- ic scorer in center Steve Reinprecht - one of the finalists for this season's Hobey Baker Award. Second seeded North Dakota enters the tourna- ment on a high note. The Fighting Sioux avenged two overtime losses to Wisconsin earlier the sea- son by winning the WCHA tournament crown over the Badgers. North Dakota will face the winner of two tour- nament-tested teams - No. 4 seed Boston College and No. 5 seed Michigan State. The Spartans, the newly crowned CCHA Tournament Champions, are looking to duplicate last season's Frozen Four appearance and then some, while Hockey East runner-up Boston College is making an NCAA record 20th appearance in the tournament field. Despite the Eagles prominence in the tourna- ment, Boston College has only one national cham- pionship to hang its hat on - and that came 51 years ago. If the Eagles plan on adding to that total they'll have to topple some of the nation's top team's in arguably the most difficult section of the bracket. In one of the more interesting matchups of the tournament No. 3 seed New Hampshire will take on tournament Cinderella Niagara. The Wildcats have already proven themselves against the year's tournament field with wins over Boston College, North Dakota, St. Lawrence, Maine and a tie to Boston University. Niagara, out of College Hockey America, are setting precedent on two fronts. The Purple Eagles will be making the school's and the conference's first ever tournament appearance after compiling a record of 29-7-4 this season. 2000 NCAA Ice Hockey Championship East Regional East Regional 2. St. Lawrence 1 Maine Pepsi Arena Albany, NY March 25 Y Pepsi Arena Albany, NY 4. Colgate March 26 5. Michigan 3. New Hampshire 6. Niagra Pe si Arena Albany, NY March 26 Mariucci Arena Minneapolis March 24 Providence Civic Center Providence, RI April 6 3. Boston University Championship Providence Civic Center Providence, RI April 8 Providence Civic Center Providence, RI April 6 6. St. Cloud State 4. 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