2B — March 23, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

Improving a quiet tournament

S

omething was wrong
when, just 40 minutes
before puck drop at Joe

Louis Arena,
the attendant
at the box
office scoffed
when I asked
if the game
was any-
where near a
sellout.

But it’s

Michigan vs.
Michigan
State! And it’s the semifinal of
the Big Ten Hockey Tournament,
where the stakes are highest —
the winner plays for a berth in
the NCAA Tournament, and the
loser sees its season end at the
hand of a bitter rival. What could
be better?

The attendant tried to talk

me into paying extra for seats
near the glass, but my friend
and I wanted to be closer to the
bands. So, with a pair of upper-
bowl tickets in hand, we walked
up the stairs, through the metal
detectors and onto the main
concourse. There were no lines
for food, at merchandise kiosks
or at restrooms — and anyone
who has been knows there’s
always a line at the Joe.

We figured we might have

some difficulty sitting where
we wanted, but the only busy
section at the arena was the
one occupied by the Children
of Yost, the Wolverines’
student supporters. Across
the rink from them stood just
three members of the A-Team,
Michigan State’s equivalent.

And believe me, the Children

of Yost noticed the attendance
disparity.

“Where are your students?”

they chanted. “Where’s the
A-Team?”

The three Spartans waved

back.

But this isn’t a dig at either

school’s students, because the
rest of the arena was mostly
empty, too. This is a suggestion
of how to fix a flawed Big Ten
Tournament, because a premier
conference’s most important
contests shouldn’t be played in
front of empty seats.

The biggest game of

Michigan’s season didn’t
feel like it at all. And that’s a
problem.

I’ve traveled the northern

United States covering hockey,
men’s basketball and football,
and no one is quite as crazy
as hockey fans. They’ll stalk
Tinder profiles (Michigan),
throw a fish at your feet (New
Hampshire), ring cowbells
incessantly (Nebraska-Omaha)
and everything in between just
to rattle opponents.

In Columbus, the band forms

Script Ohio on ice, while, in
Ann Arbor, the referees toss
candy into the stands — just
two of the countless traditions
unique to the sport.

Standing with the Children

of Yost is the best atmosphere
you’ll experience on campus.
But at Joe Louis Arena,
their chants were routinely
drowned out by pop music
or commercials blaring over
loudspeakers. Even the Blues
Brothers dance, a second-
intermission staple, was cut to
only one round.

The game itself, a dominant

4-1 victory for the Wolverines,
exuded the chippiness and
intensity of the rivalry. But the
scattered fans couldn’t match

that energy.

But it doesn’t have to be that

way.

* * *

T

hree steps to improve
the Big Ten Tourna-
ment

1) Don’t invite the

conference’s worst teams.

Here’s a crazy thought:

The 20-game Big Ten season
should mean something. If
a team is No. 6 in a six-team
conference, it doesn’t deserve
a chance to compete for an
automatic berth to the NCAA
Tournament. (Want that
opportunity? Play better in the
regular season!) Not only does
this make for higher-quality
hockey, but it also makes the
end of the regular season more
interesting. Suddenly, the end
of February and the begging of
March isn’t just a competition
for first place — it’s a battle for
fourth place and a crack at the
postseason, too.

2) Play at campus sites.
In the

current
format, the
top two seeds
receive a first-
round bye.
That’s not
possible with
a four-team
tournament,
so reward
the regular
season’s best
teams by letting them host
the semifinal games. The Big
Ten has some great fans, and
this is a good way to give the
tournament the in-person
support it deserves.

There would have been more

than three Michigan State
fans at Munn Ice Arena had

the Spartans
hosted
Michigan in
a semifinal.
Minnesota’s
hockey-
obsessed
culture
would’ve
loved another
home game as
well.

The arenas

would be packed, and the
passion would be unrivaled.
That’s what college hockey is
all about.

3) Keep the final the way it is.
The Big Ten Tournament’s

goal is to determine the
conference’s best team, so let
them do it at a neutral site.
Right now, the final rotates
annually between Minneapolis
and Detroit, and it’s reasonable
to keep it that way.

Under the new format, this

year’s tournament would have
featured:

Friday: No. 3 Michigan at No.

2 Michigan State; No. 4 Penn
State at No. 1 Minnesota

Sunday: Minnesota vs.

Michigan at Joe Louis Arena

How much fun is that?

* * *

F

ifteen minutes before
Friday’s puck drop, sta-
dium ushers invited my

friend and me into the lower
bowl — it didn’t matter what
our tickets said.

So, for the most important

night of both Michigan and
Michigan State’s season, during
a game played in the state of
Michigan, I watched the third
period from the fourth row.
Nobody was sitting to my right
or left, either.

And while I’ll never turn that

deal down, I’d take a rowdy,
sellout, true college hockey
environment over better seats
any day.

Zúñiga was also disappointed

in the lack of alcoholic beverages

available at Friday’s game. He

can be reached at azs@umich.

edu or on Twitter @ByAZuniga.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Joe Louis Arena was mostly empty over the weekend for the Big Ten Tournament.

ALEJANDRO

ZÚÑIGA

The biggest game

of Michigan’s

season didn’t feel

like it at all.

Drexel tops ‘M’ at
Michigan Stadium

By LELAND MITCHINSON

Daily Sports Writer

After 60 minutes of play,

the Michigan men’s lacrosse
team walked off the field
disappointed.

The Wolverines (4-4) fought

hard but couldn’t overcome a
go-ahead
goal by the
Dragons
(3-5)
in

the final minutes of the game,
losing 9-7.

“I really felt like we missed

some
opportunities
today,”

said
Michigan
coach
John

Paul. “We gave a few back that
were unforced and that’s us
continuing to work on our (stick
handling). It’s also some of the
decision-making process, when
to push it when not to push it,
those are some things that we
need to get better at as well.”

The first quarter of the game

saw only one goal, with Drexel
converting on a rebound after
redshirt sophomore goaltender
Gerald Logan made an initial
save.

The
game
escalated

offensively
in
the
second

quarter with two more goals for
the Dragons. Junior midfielder
Mike
Hernandez
got
the

Wolverines on the scoreboard,
though, with a bouncing shot
midway through the quarter.
Seconds later, Drexel responded
with another goal to make the
game 4-1 in its favor. However,
junior faceoff specialist Brad
Lott won the ensuing draw,
which led to his team’s second
goal, scored by junior attacker
Peter Kraus.

“You have to take what they

are giving to you, and today
they were really focused on
stopping our midfielders,” Paul
said. “As soon as we realized
that was what was going on we
started talking about our attack
really being more assertive and
dodging hard on the re-dodge
after our midfielders forced a
slide.”

A second faceoff win in a row

for Lott led to a goal for attacker
Mike Francia. The senior scored
on a fadeaway shot just outside
the crease after receiving a pass
from Kraus.

“I won every quarter except

the third — I went 0-for-4 in the

third, which was kind of big,”
Lott said. “Every other quarter I
was getting every single clamp.
Later in the game he was slowly
tying me up. If I could have
gotten one or two more, I think
we would have probably come
out with a win.”

With less than six minutes

to play in the half, the Dragons
went a man down as a result
of a holding penalty, and the
Wolverines took advantage of
the situation going back to the
Francia-Kraus combination for
the goal. Drexel added one last
goal to take a 5-4 lead going into
halftime.

Less than three minutes into

the second half, the Dragons put
one on the board after they had
worked the ball around well on
their offensive end. Michigan
responded with a Kraus wrap-
around goal from behind the
net, and minutes later, senior
midfielder Will Meter scored
an almost exact replica of the
previous goal.

Tied heading into the final

quarter, Drexel went ahead on a
goal with 8:09 left in the game.
However, the Wolverines tied
it right back up on a goal from
Francia, who completed his
hat trick with an intelligent cut
to the front of the net where
redshirt
junior
midfielder

David Joseph found him with
the pass.

With just 4:21 remaining in

the game the Dragons scored
what turned out to be the go
ahead goal. Drexel won the
following faceoff and was able
to run two minutes off the clock
without Michigan touching the
ball.

As soon as the Wolverines

gained possession of the ball, a
timeout was called in order to
prepare for the attempt to tie
the game. Out of the timeout,
Michigan moved the ball well
around the offensive box, but
eventually lost control of the
ball.

“We saw that they were in

zone and we have plays and
formations to kind of work
against that zone,” Francia
said. “In that kind of game it
gets pretty hectic as you can
imagine, with time winding
down. We just have to connect
on the little things and I think it
would have gone our way.”

MEN’S LACROSSE

DREXEL
MICHIGAN

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