{"id":42346,"date":"2012-02-29T05:00:47","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=42346"},"modified":"2019-09-17T14:16:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T19:16:33","slug":"an-anticlimactic-finish-to-the-chase-for-a-nameless-ccha-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2012\/02\/29\/an-anticlimactic-finish-to-the-chase-for-a-nameless-ccha-trophy\/","title":{"rendered":"An anticlimactic finish to the chase for a nameless CCHA trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Congratulations to Ferris State, the 2011-12 regular season CCHA champions and recipients of the, um, the … ah … nameless regular-season trophy.<\/p>\n
The playoff trophy is the Mason Cup. Teams know they’re playing for the Mason Cup when they head to The Joe. That’s a championship-sounding vernacular. But a nameless regular season trophy seems anticlimactic, doesn’t it? <\/p>\n
Perhaps it’s fitting at the end of a very long, dramatic season that this nameless trophy belongs to a team with few household names and that the way in which it was secured — with one point earned out of six — is equally anticlimactic.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs needed one of two things to become CCHA champs outright last weekend, a single Michigan loss or a single earned point. FSU got both on Friday night — and just that for the weekend. On Friday, the Bulldogs tied Western Michigan 1-1 in Kalamazoo and the Broncos earned the extra shootout point. That same night, Bowling Green came from behind at home to defeat Michigan 4-3. <\/p>\n
Sometimes, the stars are simply aligned. The following night, both Western Michigan and Michigan blanked opponents 3-0. That loss — in their own Ewigleben Arena, on a night honoring the senior class — wasn’t how the Bulldogs envisioned the season ending. It was the first loss of 2012 for FSU and broke a 15-game (11-0-4) unbeaten streak.<\/p>\n
It’s not surprising, though, that the low-key Bob Daniels, in his 20th season behind the FSU bench, took it in stride. “I don’t think tonight’s a night to worry about,” Daniels said after the game. “We had enough opportunities to score, but their goaltender deserves a lot of credit. He played a great game.”<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs were presented their trophy at home after Saturday’s loss, and there are many pictures of smiling players and happy fans on the FSU hockey website. No coach wants to begin the playoffs after a losing a game, but perhaps earning the title mitigates that a bit. <\/p>\n
And perhaps the nature of this team — their under-the-radar play and players, their season-long approach to maintaining a steady course in pursuit of their second regular season title — mitigates some of the sting of last weekend’s single point as well. There’s still work to do.<\/p>\n
After receiving the trophy, Daniels quoted senior Jordie Johnston, the team’s leading scorer and only Bulldogs player to score against WMU this past weekend. Johnston is having an inspired season with 17 goals and 15 assists, numbers that eclipse his combined total points (10-11–21) from his first three seasons combined. Johnston, an under-the-radar player, may best summarize the entire team’s mentality.<\/p>\n
Said Daniels, “Jordie Johnston said it right. Let’s enjoy this for a little while before we put it on the shelf and go on to our next pursuit.” <\/p>\n
As my worthy colleague Todd Milewski pointed out in this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback,<\/a> the biggest surprise now that the dust has settled on this CCHA regular season has to be that either No. 8 Notre Dame or No. 9 Ohio State will end its season this coming weekend. The Buckeyes appeared dominant in the first half of the season — over-achieving, clearly — and Notre Dame was the national favorite as the season began. They’ll face off in the first round of CCHA playoffs in South Bend.<\/p>\n After finishing the first half on top of the standings, the Buckeyes registered one single win in the second half, a 4-3 victory over Western Michigan on Feb. 11, a win that snapped an 11-game (0-7-4) winless streak. <\/p>\n “For whatever reason, it hasn’t bounced our way,” OSU coach Mark Osiecki said. “We have to deal with the hand we’ve been dealt, and it’s going to make us stronger. <\/p>\n “The good thing is we’re into our third season — first half, second half, playoffs.”<\/p>\n The Buckeyes will face a Notre Dame team that faltered after the first two months of the season. Last weekend, the Fighting Irish halted a five-game losing skid with a 2-0 home win over Michigan State Friday but dropped Saturday’s game 4-2 to the Spartans. After Saturday’s loss, ND coach Jeff Jackson told the South Bend Tribune<\/i><\/a> that his team is lucky to be playing in the Compton Center next weekend, where the Irish are 10-7. “There’s an advantage to playing at home and we need to take advantage of it,” said Jackson. <\/p>\n The other first-round series feature No. 11 Bowling Green at No. 6 Northern Michigan and No. 10 Alaska at No. 7 Lake Superior State. <\/p>\n The Falcons toppled Michigan Friday night 4-3 before losing 3-0 on Saturday. BGSU has put together a 4-8-2 second half, and three of those wins came against ranked opponents. It’s an improvement of two league wins over last season’s record — and coach Chris Bergeron said he hopes that such small steps are noticed. After losing Saturday in front of a record-breaking home crowd of 5,031, Bergeron told the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune<\/i><\/a>: “I can’t thank everybody enough, on behalf of this program. I know the results weren’t what they wanted and they weren’t what we wanted, but we feel we’re making progress.”<\/p>\n When they travel to Marquette, Mich., the Falcons will face a Northern Michigan team that has lost just two games at home this season. After sweeping Lake Superior State in the Berry Events Center to recapture the Father Cappo Cup — an annual trophy contested between the Lakers and the Wildcats — NMU coach Walt Kyle said that home ice will be an advantage. “We’ve been really good in this building, and hopefully that’ll carry over into the next weekend,” said Kyle.<\/p>\n Last year, the Falcons eliminated the Wildcats in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, winning the third game of that first-round series in double overtime, in Marquette. <\/p>\n While every other team in the league was playing out conference drama last weekend, Alaska was playing for the Governor’s Cup, the trophy on the line annually between the Nanooks and their Anchorage counterparts, the Seawolves. Going into the weekend, the Nanooks knew they’d be traveling but they didn’t know where — and they were more focused on the business at hand. Outside of the state of Alaska, most people don’t know how highly coveted this trophy is, and the Nanooks earned it for the third consecutive year. The trophy was decided by shootout; the Seawolves won at home Friday 3-2 and the Nanooks took Saturday’s game 3-1. <\/p>\n For a team that struggled with consistency all season long, the Governor’s Cup was a boost at just the right time. “I think this is exactly what we needed, to go into the playoffs on a high like this,” senior goaltender Scott Greenham told the Fairbanks News-Miner<\/i><\/a> after Saturday’s win.<\/p>\n They’ll play Lake Superior State, a team that held onto the top spot in the CCHA for a good part of the first half. The Lakers were swept by Northern Michigan last weekend, but coach Jim Roque remained optimistic about his team’s chances in the playoffs. <\/p>\n