Bu, N. Dakota Happy To Have Michigan Gone Meet In Ncaa Hockey Championship Today

Boston University and North Dakota are both intent on stopping their celebration over Michigan’s huge upset in time for today’s NCAA hockey championship.

It’s hard to say who cheered more over top-seeded Michigan’s early departure: the Terriers, who beat the defending champions 3-2 Thursday night in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s 50-year history, or the Fighting Sioux, who were sure they’d be facing the Wolverines for the title.

“We’re trying to get the players and the families and everybody to think about and realize that was yesterday,” Boston University coach Jack Parker said.

“We thought that we would be playing Michigan just because of their talent level and the season that they’d had,” said North Dakota coach Dean Blais, whose team (30-10-2) beat Colorado College 6-2 in the Final Four opener.

Blais and Tigers coach Don Lucia joked before their semifinal game that at least the loser wouldn’t have to face Michigan, which had lost only three times in 41 games.

“We were joking with each other and said, ‘Good luck,”’ Blais said. “And then we both looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, but then we’ll face Michigan.”’

But the Terriers (26-8-6) did something about it.

After losing to Michigan 4-0 in last year’s semifinals, they turned themselves from an offensive machine into what Parker called “a hard-nosed defensive team.”

It paid off Thursday night. They knocked out the mighty Wolverines by continually pounding them into the boards, killing penalties with precision and clogging the neutral zone so effectively that Michigan was limited to a season-low 20 shots.

The Wolverines were trying to become the first team in 25 years - since Boston University in 1972 - to repeat as national champion.

“We played great defensive hockey and limited their offensive chances,” Terriers senior center Shawn Bates said. “It’s a great all-round game for BU. We just played great hockey.”