Road To Glory Begins Final Descent

Greg Brown's pause at the door of the bus idling ahead of Boston College's Frozen Four trip to Minnesota offered oodles of untold and unsaid emotions. He was minutes removed from the Eagles' final practice on the home ice - the last time BC would ever skate inside Conte Forum's walls for this year - and the moment seemed to linger as the head coach and his team walked through a cheering throng of supporters. A long day of travel lay ahead, but Brown's last minutes of conversation ended with one last wave to a crowd specifically gathered for the sendoff.

The expression on his face mixed satisfaction with a sense of appreciation and determination. The stories littering the media cycle extolled BC's overall virtue for 10 days after the Eagles' regional win over Quinnipiac, but the walk understandably left an impression that the last wave said goodbye to his team's entrenched reputation as a favorite.

He didn't need to say anything about the five-time national championship program's return to the Frozen Four, and he didn't need to embark on any superfluous adjectives. He knew the fairytale ended as soon as that door closed, and Boston College was boarding a flight that represented the differences between a treasured championship banner's immortality and the final hurdles that begin with Thursday's national semifinal matchup against Michigan.

"The thing that first jumps out at you on video is the speed that they play," said Brown ahead of the BC's trip to St. Paul. "The abilities they have to create offense, [and] I think all four teams in the Frozen Four are excellent at generating offensive chances. That's why we're stressing how to manage pucks and how to really concentrate on defense. I'm sure the other teams are doing the same [because] there are a lot of offensive weapons throughout the lineups of each team. Michigan is no different. Our guys are familiar with a lot of their guys from the national program, so they know how each other can play."

No team advances to the Frozen Four by accident, but Michigan's edge for Thursday's game is defined by the belief that this year's Big Blue lacks the firepower associated with the previous two installments. There are still first round and second round draft picks, but the resume lacks the flash of the team that advanced to Boston's Frozen Four in 2022 with the No. 1 overall seed. The fact that Michigan melted into last year's No. 3 overall seed without even playing for the national championship raises further eyebrows when the team that beat them in each of its two previous trips advanced to clinch their own banners and hardware.

Subsequent turnover left college hockey openly wondering if Michigan's window slammed shut without a title, and the debate intensified when the Wolverines finished its 2023 portion of the schedule on the national tournament bubble. They were still ranked, but the No. 15 team in the nation lost too many games to Ohio State, Notre Dame, St. Cloud, Providence and UMass. That they were in the national tournament, at the time, was a testament to the Big Ten's overall strength.

"We have heart-to-heart conversations where we're always honest and transparent with our players," said Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato. "Whether we're challenging them or they need a lift, we had an honest conversation with the guys about what it takes to win, and then people being all-in, [they] just went out and earned it. It was kind of the story of the year where you could play 40 or 50 minutes of good hockey and there would be a 10-minute letdown, and when we weren't having those letdowns, having someone step up and make those plays, it had to be by committee. It's not one line or one set of pairings or a power play, and everyone [had to be] bought in together."

Two dominant scores over Stonehill included 1-1 tie scores at different junctures of the first period - including a 1-0 deficit to start the second game - but that mentality paid immediate dividends after Michigan ripped Michigan State in East Lansing before taking four points from a home series against Wisconsin. A sweep over Ohio State strapped the proverbial rocket to the Wolverines' back, and they finished the year by reopening the window of their national championship candidacy with an 11-6-0 record in the second half before a run to the Big Ten Championship against their archrival Spartans.

"Each coach has their own wrinkles," Brown said, "but the most important part is to start with players who can create, guys who read plays, and who see around the corner a little bit. They know what's coming and how to adjust to it and how to create offense off of just a tiny little opening. They don't need much."

"Our senior class did a really good job with showing [the freshmen] what being a Michigan man is all about," Naurato explained. "It's a culture of good dudes, but having fun and being yourself and being the best version of yourself. Those guys have been outstanding on the ice, but more importantly, off the ice, they drive the energy of the group. They're so close [and] always bring people together. It's been fun to watch them grow."

Michigan forged its way to Minnesota by eliminating North Dakota in a one-goal game before unseating Michigan State in a 5-2 rubber match in the regional hosted by the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights, Missouri, but drawing Boston College in the national semifinal has the Wolverines facing an underdog status that wouldn't ordinarily fit like a comfortable glove for a team with 11 NHL draft picks, 28 Frozen Four appearances, nine national championships and a 12-7 overall advantage against the Eagles that dates back to the 1948 national semifinal.

They are, though, and expecting BC to advance to Saturday's national championship with an easy win perilously overlooks Michigan's historic status as a giant killer with a five-game winning streak against No. 1 teams. The program has been to every Frozen Four hosted in St. Paul and last advanced to a national championship game during the 2011 championship won by Minnesota-Duluth, and a roster with Rutger McGroarty, Gavin Brindley, Dylan Duke, TJ Hughes, Seamus Casey and others is more than capable of putting exclamation points on a trip to Saturday.

"I think we're able to play big boy hockey, honestly," said forward Ryan Leonard. "The question throughout this whole year was that we're a young team [and] can we perform at that high standard against those bigger, tougher opponents. I think we proved ourselves pretty well [throughout the postseason[, but we have two games left."

No. 1 Boston College and No. 10 Michigan play in the second semifinal game on Thursday, tentatively scheduled for 8:30 p.m. from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The game can be seen on national television on ESPN2 with streaming available through the network's family of Internet and mobile device apps. Radio broadcast is also available through the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, local in Boston on WEEI 850 AM.

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