Adam Fantilli couldn't believe it.
Mr. Fantilli expressed his disapproval of my prediction before speaking to the media last March. The day before, I posted an article inspired by the Sikos Committee. bracket I posted on Twitter about the upcoming NCAA Tournament. I picked five of the eight first-round games to be upsets, but while Western Michigan and Ohio State battled for the title, his Michigan State hockey team was the best in Frozen 4. They lost to the Buckeyes.
That was a joke. Fantiri did not laugh.
The soon-to-be Hobey Baker Award winner told me that, half-jokingly, half-exasperated. How do you pick Western out of all the teams? Why doubt a Michigan team that has seen wins all season? I was shocked that someone could so brazenly doubt their own Wolverines. It reflected a concern for their outward image, especially for someone who has covered his team for two years.
Now, the University of Michigan is back in Frozen 4 for a third consecutive season, but this time with a different attitude. The Wolverines are the lowest seed remaining in the field and are underdogs against top-seeded Boston College. And that status has grown a chip on their shoulders that they haven't had the last two runs. In this mindset, they might find the difference in finally winning the Frozen Four after consecutive missed opportunities.
“Just because we're a No. 10 seed doesn't mean we're not one of the best teams,” senior defenseman and captain Jacob Truscott said Tuesday. “…From the get-go, I think we can compete with all these teams. Just because we're 10 doesn't mean we're any worse than the other teams.”
This hasn't happened in the past two seasons. It would be foolish to doubt a team that has four players in his top five draft picks in 2022 or two of the best players in college hockey in 2023. Even I am. I chose Michigan. As someone who chronically hates title fights, I ended up going to one last year. The Wolverines then took on Quinnipiac in a boat race, and for the second year in a row, the University of Michigan lost to the eventual champion.
But something changed this year. There's a different attitude with the Wolverines, a different source of confidence that suggests they can win it all. When naysayers exclude them, they are not trying to prove themselves right, they are trying to prove the doubters wrong.
“I think the difference between this year and last year is we don’t have anything to lose this year,” sophomore forward Frank Nazar III said. “Last year, we had a really good team with a lot of great players. We almost expected to do well with them and we expected to play really well with them. And this year, almost all of us It seems like they're against us.”
Sure, it's a cliché, just “The only thing that matters is what you believe in in the locker room.” Or, “I’m just playing for the guy next to me.” Or the classic “Our season could end any game.” There is a sex.” But clichés are also part of the athletics canon because there is truth behind them. When the Wolverines hear outside noises, instead of hanging on to the noise, they try to use the doubt to aggrandize themselves. They know they have talent in their locker room. It's a talent that was there all season, even when frustrating loss after disappointing loss dragged them down.
“We've always been a good team,” Michigan coach Brandon Nowrat said. “The record is not going to show that I had an injury and couldn't get things done in the third period, whether it was up or down the hoop. And it's just there. It's just that belief and their closeness that they believe they can do it and now they feel like there's no way it won't happen. So when they go out, It’s just the trust and leadership within the group that makes it work.”
Can a hockey team with 10 NHL draft picks really be an underdog if they make it to No. 4 on Frozen in quick succession? You tell me. The Wolverines were one loss away from missing out on the NCAA Tournament outright in early March. They continued to crumble in the third period, allowing soft goals and failing to finish in the clutch, before clinching the championship with a big breakthrough in the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines became the underdogs and a team that was easy to doubt.
Since then, Michigan has reinvented itself. They shut out the third period to upset North Dakota State, ending a four-game losing streak against Michigan State and becoming this year's “Frozen 4.” Now, the Wolverines will face a powerful Boston University team that was counted out from the start.
I have my doubts too.
2 weeks ago I colored pencil bracket, with the Frozen 4 Pick logo. At Michigan State, we beat North Dakota State, but lost five straight to rival Michigan State. Last week, the Wolverines defeated the Spartans emphatically, and in a dramatic play, the Spartans collapsed in the third period.
Naurat flaunted her victory as she attended a press conference on Tuesday to talk about this week's Frozen 4.
“How's Bracket doing, Connor?” he asked in a tone that made me realize how wrong I was. I stood vindicated, my critics listened, and my doubters proven wrong.
The difference between Fantiri and Naurat is the difference between the past and the present. The Wolverines are using doubts as motivation instead of worrying about low expectations. It's more about a change in arrogance, attitude and beliefs than a cynical columnist's colored pencil brackets.
After all, that's what the Wolverines need to win something in April. They use external noise as motivation and only care about the expectations they set for themselves. It may sound like a cliché, but the only opinions that matter are those in the locker room. Other people's opinions are not meant to be trifled with, because they are trying to prove everyone wrong.
The Wolverines have something to prove. Maybe that will change this time.
