Inside College Hockey had a great article on the similarities between this year's Ferris State program and the 2007 Michigan State squad. The Spartans, you'll recall, came into their 2007 National Championship game matchup with Boston College with just a 24-13-3 record and came away with the program's third National title.
Just how similar are 2012 Ferris State and 2007 Michigan State? Let INCH count the ways ...
-- Both the 2007 and 2012 Frozen Fours featured a semifinal that was considered the undercard to a de facto National Championship game. The first semifinal in 2007 was Michigan State-Maine, while this year's featured newcomers Ferris State and Union.
-- Both Ferris State and Michigan State hail from the CCHA.
-- Both are public schools located in Michigan.
-- Both advanced to the Frozen Four out of the Midwest Regional.
-- Both clubs were known for their defense, not their offense.
-- Both marched into the National Title game with similar records, Michigan State at 24-13-3 and Ferris State at 26-11-5.
-- Both teams advanced to the title game with two-goal victories, needing a pair of third period goals to advance.
-- Spencer Penrose winner and current head coach Bob Daniels is a Michigan State alum.
Hopefully this is where the comparisons stop. Because the INCH article fails to mention the most eerie parallel of them all ... that Boston College went into the title tilt on a significant winning streak. In fact, the Eagles' current 18-game winning streak is the best of the York era and surpassed BC's previous high of 13 games from February 15 to April 5, 2007. What stopped that winning streak, you might ask? Only the Michigan State Spartans in the 2007 final.
If you think that the players are looking past Ferris State tonight and towards the presentation of the NCAA National Championship trophy, then all you have to do is point them in the direction of this YouTube video.
For my money though, Coach York will have the boys ready.
"Someone said this morning, Ferris State has nothing to lose and you have everything to lose. We want to win trophies. So everybody's got something to lose at this point, unless you don't want to win a trophy. So there's nobody here that has nothing to lose.
I have great respect for the CCHA. I coached in the CCHA for 15 years (at Bowling Green) so I understand the dynamics of Big Rapids (Mich.) and I understand the kind of program they have. It's unique to hockey when a Division 3 school can play on the Division 1 level. It doesn't happen in football. But all hockey people know (about Ferris)."
Go Eagles!