Sports: Arch Madness?

MSU ICERS WIN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP!

            In just his fifth season at MSU, Rick Comley leads MSU to the NCAA title in St. Louis and eliminates all doubts about his program.

            After sophomore forward Justin Abdelkader scored against Boston College in the NCAA ice hockey championship game, giving MSU a 2-1 lead with 18.9 seconds left, ESPN’s camera zoomed in on MSU’s bench in the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The players were jumping with delirium. Rick Comley and assistants Tom Newton and Brian Renfrew looked like little kids hugging each other behind the bench. 

            Seconds later, when Chris Mueller scored an empty netter to make it 3-1, with 1.2 ticks still on the clock, the Spartans mobbed heroic goalie Jeff Lerg in wild celebration. 

            Etch that moment in your mind.  It will long be remembered by Spartans as one of the greatest triumphs in MSU athletics history. 

            Layers of irony and vindication surround this most improbable of triumphs, one even the players called “unbelievable.”  For example:

•  This was not supposed to be MSU’s year.  Heck, some felt MSU might not even make the dance.  MSU was supposed to win in 2006—a sequentially perfect year after championships in 1966 and 1986.  With the graduation of stars like David Booth, Corey Potter and Colton Fretter, and the departure of Drew Miller for the NHL, many dismissed 2007 as a “rebuilding” year.  Ironically, Ron Mason’s 1986 national championship team was deemed not as strong as his 1985 team, which was ousted in the regionals.
• Rick Comley wasn’t supposed to win.  Many fans have long doubted Comley and vented their doubts on talk radio and via Internet message boards.   Hey, didn’t Leo Durocher say that “nice guys finish last”?  Case closed.
• The MSU team boasted no superstars—no All-Americans, no Hobey Baker finalists, no first-team All-CCHA players.  The team captain plays on its fourth line. Its best player is a 5-6, asthmatic goalie whose helmet bears the inscription, “L’il Guy.”
• During the NCAA tournament, the media held a dismissive attitude toward MSU while heaping adjectives upon the other teams.  Thus MSU had to face “defensive powerhouse” Boston University, “No. 1-ranked” Notre Dame, “nation’s best power play team” Maine, and “powerful, high octane” Boston College.  As MSU kept winning, the media continued to disregard the Spartans as merely “the team that wouldn’t go away.”

            No, pesky MSU would not go away. A bunch of resilient grinders, they chose not to follow the media’s script. They penetrated the “Maginot Line” of Boston University five times. Their 2-1 win against Notre Dame was an eloquent way of saying “rankings, schmankings.” They allowed zero power play goals by the masters of the power play, the Black Bears.  Lastly, they wilted a bit—allowing Boston College’s “high octane” offense to explode for one goal. 

            These Spartans played with discipline and tenacity throughout the postseason.  They never gave up, nor did they panic when trailing. In the final game, three key plays stood out.  Early in the third period, Eagle star Brian Boyle had a near-certain second goal when he took a point-blank shot while Lerg was sprawled on his belly.  But Lerg’s glove suddenly came out of nowhere to snatch the speeding puck.  The spectacular play probably shocked Boyle, but it felt more like deja vu  for true Lerg connoisseurs.  Tim Kennedy then beat his defender after a face-off and scored a ferocious goal to tie, and later made a shifty move to assist Abdelkader for the winning goal. 

            The icing-on-the-cake goal by Mueller preserved a perfect statistic:  Whenever he scores, MSU wins.  It happened 16 times this season.  

            At season’s end, MSU defied all conventional wisdom.  Yes, MSU did prevail.  Yes, a nice guy did win.  Yes, a group of non-stars proved that team play and chemistry trumps individual stardom. “It’s not the parts but the sum of the parts,” Comley reiterated in the manner of an arithmetic teacher. 

            Thankfully, the win quieted the Comely bashers (at least for now).  And it provided vindication to Comley supporters—including athletics director Ron Mason and MSU president Lou Anna K. Simon. 

            MSU may not have had superstars, but it had great players.  As Comley allowed, “You don’t win a national championship without talent.”  Four Spartans ended up on the all-tournament Frozen Four team—Jeff Lerg, Tim Kennedy, MVP Justin Abdelkader and Tyler Howells. But for these Spartans, the NCAA championship trophy trumped all individual honors.

            Five years ago, when asked why he came to MSU after coaching so many years at Northern Michigan, Rick Comley explained, “Because I will have an opportunity to win national championships.”  Comley was right, but he stayed humble.  “Maybe we haven’t been as good as people wanted us to be, but I know we’re going home with a pretty nice trophy,” he mustered in victory. 

            One hopes that MSU’s victory will ignite the future of the program and inject more raucousness into Munn Arena.  A positive sign was the more than 700 who attended a pep rally at Harry’s Restaurant in St. Louis co-sponsored by the MSU Alumni Association, University Development, Ralph Young Fund, the Blue Line Club and the Greater St. Louis Alumni Club.  The MSUAA also received congratulatory emails from alumni leaders around the globe, including Shanghai, China, Montreal, Canada, and Queensland, Australia. 

            The 2006-2007 regular season, by itself, did not forecast greatness.  MSU was inconsistent as it skated to a 26-13-3 record, 15-10-3 in the CCHA, with a fourth place finish in the regular season.  A highlight was winning the prestigious Great Lakes Invitational Tournament for the sixth time in the last decade, beating Michigan 4-1 at Joe Louis Arena.  During the season, Comley surpassed 700 career wins—only the fifth college hockey coach to do so.  And now he is one of only three coaches to have won national titles at two schools (he won in 1991 at  Northern Michigan). 

            It was during the NCAA tournament that MSU played its best hockey of the year.  MSU needed an overtime win against Lake Superior State University in the CCHA consolation finals to make the NCAA field for the second straight year, this time in nearby Grand Rapids.  The MSU offense clicked as it beat Boston University 5-1 and then survived No. 1-ranked Notre Dame 2-1 before a mostly pro-Spartan crowd in the Van Andel Arena.  Lerg outperformed BU’s John Curry and ND’s David Brown, both finalists for the Hobey Baker award.  As Comley noted, “In a big game, you watch him, and he just gets it done. He doesn't discredit anyone, this is his team, and they rally and focus around him.”

            The “March to the Arch” in St Louis, MO, was MSU’s 11th trip to the Frozen Four and first since 2001.  Last year’s team was poised to do so, but was knocked out by—ironically—Maine, it’s first opponent in St. Louis.  This time, MSU prevailed 4-2 after spotting the Black Bears two quick goals.  “The word I’ve used all year is resilient,” said Comley. 

            During the season, MSU was frustrated by inconsistency and lack of depth.  Good stretches gave way to scoring funks.  Even goalie Lerg got off to a slow start early in the season.  But after Christmas, MSU became outstanding at killing penalties.  They endured two negative spells, including one late in the season when they suffered three straight losses, one a shutout at Munn Arena to Western Michigan. 

            Key MSU producers include Jeff Lerg, who boasted a 2.41 goals-against average and a .913 saves percentage and could emerge as a candidate for the Hobey Baker award.  His cousin, junior Bryan Lerg, led MSU with 23 goals, 8 of them game winners to lead the nation.  Sophomore Kennedy, whose 18 goals and 25 assists led MSU’s point production at 43, scored the winning goal that sent MSU to the Frozen Four and the tying goal and winning assist in the final game.  Other double-digit goal scorers included Mueller (16), Abdelkader (15), Tim Crowder (14) and Jim McKenzie (12).  Versatile Tyler Howells settled on defense, while senior Chris Lawrence did a commendable job as team captain and leader.

            Comley currently boasts the third most wins among active coaches (714), trailing only Jerry York at Boston College and Jack Parker of Boston University.  The all-time winningest coach in college hockey history remains MSU athletics director Ron Mason, with 924.