1995–96 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season

Even though they dominating an outclassed Guelph squad in one of the last seasons that the NCAA permitted official games against CIS schools, Michigan opened its conference schedule against Western Michigan and fell flat on its face. The Wolverines lost the first game 2–7 at home before salvaging the weekend with a 3–2 road win. While the Wolverines dropped to fifth in the polls, they were down three forwards for the big game against Maine. The first annual US Hockey Hall of Fame Game was a rematch of last year's national semifinal, the then-longest game in NCAA tournament history,[1] but with Morrison still recovering from a knee sprain and both Matt Herr and John Madden suspended for the game,[2] fortunately for the Wolverines, Madden's suspension was reversed and he was allowed to play in the game. Despite facing 37 shots and 9 power plays from the Black Bears Turco dominated throughout the game, surrendering only three goals while his counterpart Blair Allison allowed 6 goals on just 23 attempts.[3]

After high profile win, Michigan won each game over the next three weekends and temporarily regained its #2 ranking. During that span Morrison returned from his injury and his 3-point night showed he was more than ready. Michigan also shut but out the opposition for the second time that season but with Turco sharing the net with Gregg Malicke on both occasions no goaltender received credit for either '0'.[4]

The Wolverines headed into the third annual College Hockey Showcase ranked third and after an easy win against Wisconsin the Wolverines looked a bit flat against #5 Minnesota, dropping the game 2–3.[5]

Three days later Michigan faced off against arch-rival Michigan State and though the Spartans were unranked at the time they were still a force to contend with. MSU handed the Wolverines their second consecutive loss and, with #8 Bowling Green up next, Michigan was in jeopardy of dropping from the polls. An offensive outburst of 5 goals in the first period helped arrest Michigan's slide and the 8–1 win gave the voters enough confidence in the Maize and Blue to keep them at the #4 spot. One side story with the game was Jason Botterill, a first round pick of the Dallas Stars, had already been suspended twice for fighting and was piling up unneeded penalty minutes. In the Bowling Green Game he was finally able to keep his nose clean while retaining his physical game, performing exactly how coach Red Berenson hoped he would.[6]

Michigan Would end the first half of its season with an oddly scheduled weekend where they won at home against Lake Superior State then lost in their worst offensive performance of the season at #10 Western Michigan. The loss to the Broncos was even worse considering that Michigan had finally claimed the top spot in the CCHA from WMU the day before but now with the season series permanently in favor of their conference rivals Michigan was dropped back to third place.[7]

At the 31st Great Lakes Invitational, Michigan was looking to continue its run of championships. After trouncing Northern Michigan in the semifinal, the crowd of 18,000 at the Joe Louis Arena watched the Wolverines defeat #10 Michigan State for their 8th consecutive GLI title. Brendan Morrison was named as the tournament MVP for the third consecutive year after contributing on 6 of Michigan's 9 goals.[8]

Michigan did not rest on its tournament win, completely dominating both opponents the following weekend by a combined score of 23–3. Morrison was again the star, earning 11 points in the two games and climbing up into the scoring race. Both weekends were missed by Botterill who was busy playing at the 1996 World Junior Championships, becoming the first player to win three gold medals at the event. The Wolverines continued to dominate the opposition for another two weeks winning each game and closing to within 2 points of the top spot in the CCHA with a game in hand. Botterill continued to build on his game, recording a hat-trick for the third time in 5 games.[9]

The good times could not keep rolling, however, and the following weekend Michigan could only escape with a tie against a down Ohio State squad before losing the following night at Bowling Green. The next weekend Michigan hosted the Buckeyes and earned 3 points but had now dropped 6 points behind Michigan State for the CCHA crown.[10]

The schedule handed Michigan a win when the Spartans and Broncos split a weekend series, allowing the Wolverine's 2 wins to put them in second place with a showdown against MSU looming. After both teams won on Friday, Michigan and Michigan State met at the Joe Louis Arena for the second time the game remained close for 40 minutes but the Wolverine's potent offense broke the game open in the third, finding the net 5 times with the power play finishing 4 for 6 and leading Michigan to an 8–1 win and putting them 2 points back with a game in hand.[11]

Riding high from their win, Michigan endured a nightmare weekend at #7 Lake Superior State, losing both games and bringing the Lakers into a tie for second with Blue.[12] Fortunately Michigan's next game was against the Spartans and the conclusion of their regular season series. The Wolverines won their third game against MSU and followed that up with a win over Bowling Green. With the Spartans idle, the two points sent Michigan above Michigan State in the standings and allowed Michigan to claim a shared CCHA title with the Lakers.[13]

The series loss to the Lakers left Michigan with the #2 seed and a first round meeting with Miami. Turco was stellar in the series, surrendering only one goal in the two-game sweep. In the semifinal they were met by the Spartans once more and the third time at 'The Joe'. The Wolverines continued their winning streak with a 6–2 win then met Lake Superior in the championship and avenged their earlier losses with a 4–3 victory.[14]

The CCHA tournament title almost earned Michigan the #1 seed but Colorado College's superior record had them as the top western seed. The second spot for Michigan did grant them a bye into the regional semifinal where they faced WCHA champion and fifth-ranked Minnesota. The Gopher defense was stifling throughout the first half of the game, limiting Michigan to just 2 shots in the first. With the Wolverines down 1–2 in the second and in desperate need of a goal, Mike Legg for himself alone behind the Minnesota net and when no Gopher went to challenge him he had time to scoop the puck up with his stick and stash it into the top corner while he was still behind the net.[15] 'The Michigan Goal' immediately became famous as the first time anyone scored a lacrosse-style goal during a game, or at last a game with cameras rolling. The stunned Golden Gophers continued to play well but with the tension that the Wolverines had been playing with now apparently gone, Michigan was able to score twice in the third and advance to the Frozen Four.

In Cincinnati, Michigan faced #3 Boston University who had spent much of the year as the #1 team, but the defending national champions had faltered at the end of their season and continued that trend against Michigan. Defense was the key to the game, allowing BU to only get 17 shots on goal with each being turned aside by Marty Turco for his 5th solo shutout of the season. Part of the bad game can be attributed to a damaged cooling pipe that caused the game to be delayed by 90 minutes, but the Wolveries had to endure the same wait.[16]

The championship game saw Michigan returning for the first time since 1977 where they faced a familiar foe. The Wolvers had played Colorado College for the NCAA championship three times before, though not since 1957 (which was CC's last championship appearance), and now the top two teams in the nation were the only ones left vying for the title. Michigan opened the scoring in the first but after the Tigers' rebounded in the second Michigan found itself down 1–2. Mike Legg tied the game on the power play but neither team could regain the lead before the end of regulation. When overtime began the Michigan faithful grew worried; the Wolverines had lost in overtime in each of the previous three NCAA tournaments and desperately hoping that they were not about to see a repeat performance. Both team played conservatively for the first few minutes but when a clearing attempt from Colin Schmidt hit Morrison the puck bounced to the Wolverine alternate captain who slid the puck to Greg Crozier in the high slot. Crozier's shot was blocked but the puck bounced to Bill Muckalt who was standing off to the side of the net. Bob Needham slid to block the shot but it got on goal where Ryan Bach made the save but ended up off-balance, falling away from the front of the cage. The rebound slid to a stop at the top of the goal crease when Morrison came streaking in from the right circle and knocked the puck into a half-vacated net for Michigan's 8th national championship and 1st in 32 years.[17]

Brendan Morrison was awarded the Tournament MOP and was joined by Marty Turco and Steven Halko on the All-Tournament team. Morrison finished tied for fifth in the nation in scoring and was Michigan's lone appearance on the AHCA All-American West First Team while Kevin Hilton both players were also on the All-CCHA First Team while Halko and Jason Botterill made the Second team. Marty Turco tied the record for most wins in an NCAA season with 34 and finished second in the nation with a 2.16 goals against average but received no recognition from the voters for his accomplishments. Morrison and John Madden were the only Wolverines to receive an individual conference award, with Morrison earning Player of the Year while Madden took home the Tournament MVP.[18]

Morrison earned The Hockey News U.S. College Player of the Year award for the first of two consecutive years.[19][20] He was joined on the CCHA All-Conference first team by Kevin Hilton.[21]

John Madden established the current NCAA Division I national record for single-season shorthanded goals (10).[22] The team led the nation in both goals allowed per game and scoring margin per game.[23] Hilton led the CCHA in assists (44) and points (50), while Jason Botterill led the conference in goals (26). Madden led in conference shorthanded goals (5). The team had the conference's best power play. The team had the top two, four of the top five and five of the top ten conferences scorers.[21]

The win by Michigan also began a resurgence in popularity of the program that had been lagging far behind the football and basketball teams for years.[24]

[30]