Sherrone Moore offers title-winning advice to Michigan hockey…

Sherrone Moore of Michigan football offers title-winning advice to Michigan hockey: ‘It fired the boys up.’

For Michigan supporters, the Wolverine hockey team’s postseason bears more than a few similarities to their football counterparts’ championship run.

For the third consecutive year, Michigan will compete in a national semifinal. The Wolverines, a touch deeper and more experienced than the previous two years, will try to get over the hump against possibly the most talented team in the country, in a fight of blue-blood programs that don’t compete as much as they should.

For Michigan supporters, the Wolverine hockey team’s postseason bears more than a few similarities to their football counterparts’ championship run. Frozen Four opponent Boston College hockey has as much pro-caliber skill as Alabama football, and Michigan is as hungry for a title on the ice as it was on the football field.

The Wolverines’ football squad completed the task in January. The hockey team is now seeking for a third win in St. Paul this weekend.

“I can just remember that Alabama game in the semis,” senior forward Philippe Lapointe told reporters on Wednesday. “The momentum swings were insane throughout that game. I recall Naur entering the room afterward and remarking, “You guys see those momentum swings.” That is how it is during the competition. We are aware of this.

“We have been here two years in a row. So that is what it is all about. And just kind of regulating those emotions through those momentum swings and keeping level-headed.”

The football club, currently managed by Sherrone Moore, a well-liked, younger head coach who proved effective as an interim coach, is sharing insider tips for advancing to what appears to be a high-octane semifinal round. Boston College is the nation’s top-ranked team, with 13 NHL Draft picks on its roster, and has won 14 straight games, an incredible feat given the parity in college hockey.

“We know a lot of the football guys,” said senior defenseman Jacob Truscott. “We’re friends with them, so it’s great to hang out with them and learn about their playoff experiences and team dynamics. The most important thing they discuss with us, and we have it in the locker room, is having that swagger, knowing you’re the best, and going out there every day and competing against one other.

“I feel that the closest team wins championships. I think we did a wonderful job of bringing the guys together to chill out, have fun, and just enjoy the process.

However, as the Michigan football team demonstrated in their Rose Bowl victory over a red-hot Alabama team, riding momentum waves and winning each winnable play might be more important than athleticism or talent.

“Just with the momentum swings, even in that Alabama game, we’re watching the football team, it’s just making the big play at the right time,” said Lapointe. “But you’re not sure when that time will come. You don’t know if it’s a huge or minor play, but we’re just piling all of things up to ensure we’re on the right side of it.”

Moore’s speech to the hockey team was all about being consistent with what has led the Wolverines to the Frozen Only two programs (North Dakota 2014-16, Minnesota-Duluth 2017-19) have done this four times in three years in the last 15 years.

“It was quick, simple stuff, but stuff that matters,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato recalled. “If you hadn’t been here before, you wouldn’t get his message, but it was incredibly good. It’s simply a commercial attitude. We’re here like any other road trip during the year. We’re not walking around town, but delighted to be here. We have a job to do, and we are prepared to do it.”

Lapointe added, “Kind of gave us his perspective on his championship this year.” And it energized the boys. And it was wonderful of him to do that for all of us, and we are grateful.”

While there are several parallels between the Michigan football and hockey teams, there is one more that Michigan fans hope will be realized. Three months after the Wolverines won a football national championship, a gritty, underestimated Michigan hockey team claimed the national crown.

This year’s Wolverine group will have to earn their own championship, but the possibility of a similar fate is not lost on them.

“Obviously it’s cool to see the stats with the ’98 team and how it’s all aligning,” Truscott went on to say. “But, at the end of the day, it is up to us to replicate history, which hasn’t happened since 1998, when both football and hockey won in the same year. It’s really cool to see those metrics, but it’s up to us to make it happen.”