The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 7B Icers fall just short of Championship Comeback attempt fails in semifinal loss to Notre Dame April 11, 2008 - DENVER - None of the Michigan hockey team's opponents this season have pro- duced as many heart attack-induc- ing moments as Notre Dame. Two games against the Fighting Irish - last night's 5-4 overtime loss intheNCAAsemifinals and aJan. 18 3-2 thriller - were among the year's most exciting. One legitimized the young, inex- perienced Wolverines' improb- able midseason run to the top of the national rankings. The other ended Michigan's sea- son one game early. "It's devastating," freshman Matt Rust said. "Just to see one shot end your season. I feel bad, but I feel worse for seniorslike Chad (Kolarik) and (Kevin) Porter. They've given it their all, and their one goal in col- lege hockey was to win a National Championship. It just sucks." Th January game was the Wol- verines' first true test of the season. Six head-scratching minutes in, Michigan (33-6-4) was down 2-0 and seemed dead on arrival. But the Wolverines clawed back into the contest, capping off the comeback win in the final minute of regula- tion. After a 22-second span in last night's first period, Michigan was in an eerily familiar two-goal hole. Notching its second goal of the night before the announcer could call the first, Notre Dame went up 2-0 less than six minutes into the game. The Wolverines saw their stock crumble from the favorite to win the Frozen Four to a team that looked wholly unprepared for col- lege hockey's biggest stage. -- ANDYREID Freshman Stu Douglass celebrates after a breakaway layup in the Wolverines' 62-59 victory over Clemson in the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. After an era of losses and letdowns, winning ways will emerge in its shadow egendary Michigan broad- caster Bob Ufer described Michigan Stadium as "the hole that Yost dug, Crisler paid for, Can- ham carpeted and Schem- T bechler filled." And for four years, we had the privilege DAN of visiting its FELDMAN northwest corner seven or eight times each year. If you're a Michigan fan on this campus, many of the seminal moments from your time here are almost certainly Football Satur- days. For us fourth-year seniors, that first game came in early September of 2005 against Northern Illinois. Unobstructed by anyconstruction, sunlight filled Michigan Stadium. And the Wolverines, wearing their classic Nike uniforms, beat North- ern Illinois, 33-17. The game wasn't anything spe- cial, just a typical warmup game against Mid-American Conference fodder. Jason Avant had nine catch- es for 127 yards and a touchdown in Michigan's pro-style offensive scheme. But Michigan's defense, under the coordination of Jim Her- rmann, let Husky running back Garrett Wolfe rush for 148 yards. The game was over as quickly as it began, and we went back to our dorms to rest up for the last night out before our first classes started. Flash forward to the Northwest- ern game this year. Remember how you were happy you were standing in the sleet? At least it was more comfortable than the cold rain. In an absolutely miserable game for everyone involved, Michigan lost, 21-14. In between, there were plenty of moments that will stand the test of time - both good and bad. The Wolverines ruined Penn State's perfect season on a last- second Mario Manningham touch- down catch, lost twice to Ohio State, staged a 19-point comeback against Wisconsin, lostto Appalachian State and Toledo and waited in the locker room while the student section held an impromptu dance party during a lightning delay. But this is our legacy: 12 times we got up early, went to our favorite pregame spot, drank our beverages of choice, headed down Hoover, into the Big House and then walked home after a Michigan loss. That's the most home losses since the class of'68. From 1970-77, the Wolverines lost just one home game. And the letdowns extended beyond football. Before us, it had been 15 years since a graduating class didn't see a Michigan team win a national championship. We are the class of transition. In our four years here, we ushered out an era of Michigan athlet- ics and witnessed the beginning of another. We saw Lloyd Carr, Tommy Amaker and Nike out and Rich Rodriguez, John Beilein, adi- das and luxury seating in. And no, I didn't forget about Red Berenson. He transcends eras. Last year, he led the hockey team to break its longest Frozen Four-less streak in two decades, including two years while we were in Ann Arbor. Don't get me wrong. It hasn't been all bad. In addition to many excellent games, we've seen some of the greatest athletes in Michigan history. Running back Mike Hart and Chad Henne might be the best Wolverines ever at their respective positions. And for my money, offen- sive tackle Jake Long is the best player in Michigan football history. If Jack Johnson had stayed four years, he could have been the best hockey player in Michigan history. Ditto for Manny Harris if he stays two more years with the basketball team. And although most of you never saw them compete, our three years overlapped with four ath- letes I consider to be the best ever in their sport at Michigan: Tiffany Ofili (women's track and field), Peri Marosevic (men's soccer) and Peter Vanderkaay (men's swim- ming). Still, the crowning moment for our class came March 15 of this year. We all knew the Michigan men's basketball team would qual- ify for the NCAA Tournament - even before CBS's Selection Sunday show. But when 60 teams' names were called before the Wolverines', a familiar skepticism festered in us all. I guess nearly four years of letdowns will do that. But we're in a new era now, our. second at Michigan. After 10 years of waiting, the men's basketball team was finally invited to the NCAA Tourna- ment. Beilein took the team from a program-record 22 losses in his first season to the Big Dance in his second. The first-round win over Clemson was just icing on the cake. I remember a friend who was a senior when we were freshman, incredulous he went four years without seeing the basketball team make the tournament. At the time, I laughed. I knew it wouldn't hap- pen to us, even though two years later I was sure we would have the same fate. Making it was enough. And it probably won't be long until Rodriguez has the football team, which lost a program-record nine games last year, heading in the right direction, too. Just a year too late for us. - Feldman can be reached at danfeldoumich.edu.