Underdogs turned champions
Oakland club hockey team looks for a repeat after winning the national championship its first year in D-I
By Zach Swartz, Sports Editor
October 13, 2007 | 3:07 p.m.
After taking the 2006 American Collegiate Hockey League Division II title for the second time in three years, the Oakland University Grizzlies felt that it might be time to take their dominance elsewhere, to Division I.
The Oakland club hockey team, located in Rochester, Mich., had always been considered one of the premier teams in D-II of the ACHA, a claim supported by its 185-81-17 overall record since 1999, its six consecutive playoff appearances since 2001, and most impressively, its appearance in the national finals in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Grizzlies captured the crown in 2004 and 2006 and almost won in 2005 when the team was defeated by just one goal in overtime. It was for these reasons that the team decided to make the move.
“I thought we were ready talent-wise, and by that time we had nothing really left to do in D-II,” said Grizzlies coach Sean Hogan. “We had won two Division II national championships…and there wasn’t much left for us to do, so we thought it was time to make the jump, and it ended up working out really well.”
Although the Grizzlies’ move was not unprecedented--a decade earlier, Western Michigan moved up to D-I after taking the D-II crown in 1996--what the team was about to do was something that no one expected. After starting the season 6-2-1, losing only to No. 3 ranked Illinois, the new Division I team went through some ups and downs. After its impressive opening, the team lost seven of its next eight games, including two losses to fifth-ranked Iowa State and three losses to its former D-II archrival, Davenport. Still, the Grizzlies never gave up, and after closing out the regular season with a win over No. 1 Penn State, Oakland finished with a winning record and was ranked 10th in the nation.
Going into the tournament, the Grizzlies’ chances of winning it all were bleak at best. To get to the final game, the Grizzlies would have to face and defeat Lindenwood, in-state rival Michigan-Dearborn and Illinois, all of which had impressive regular seasons. As even the Grizzlies’ coach admitted, there was no doubt that his team was the underdog.
“When we first went in they considered us an underdog—against Michigan-Dearborn I didn’t really consider us an underdog, but definitely against Illinois and versus Penn State, and we used that to our advantage,” said Hogan.
Using that to its advantage is indeed what the team did, as Oakland stared adversity in the face and took care of business, overcoming Lindenwood with a third-period comeback and handedly beating both Michigan-Dearborn and Illinois. After that, the Grizzlies were on a roll, and not even top-seeded Penn State could stop them. Three-time team MVP, and later national player of the year, Will McMahon scored four goals and, when the final buzzer sounded, the first-year D-I squad had defeated one of the top teams in the nation to take the national title.
Never before in the history of the ACHA had a team come up from Division II and won the national title that same year. Even the Grizzlies’ players themselves were stunned.
“Realistically I guess we didn’t expect to win,” said this year’s team captain Brent Cooper, who was the second leading scorer last season behind McMahon. “But for the most part, we had it in our eyes that we could do it and we should do it, it was just if we showed up or not that night that would determine how we did.”
Show up is what the Grizzlies did, and even though the players had confidence in their team, the ending that was not exactly predictable.
“I didn’t expect it at all,” admitted Hogan. “Going into the tournament, I was hoping to be able to win the first game, and then we were just going to see what could happen. [Winning] it was probably the biggest accomplishment, even more so than winning the Division II titles.”
The 2006 championship proved that Oakland was in fact one of the premier teams in the league. Having captured its third ACHA title in four years, the Grizzlies became the winningest program in Division I or II ACHA since Penn State won four titles in a row between 2000 and 2003.
Looking for a repeat?
The Grizzlies opened this season ranked No. 3 in the nation behind Penn State and Illinois, and have played well so far, notching a 4-2 record. The team split a series with in-state, and now intra-division, rival No. 14 Michigan-Dearborn to begin the season. This past weekend the Grizzlies came to Athens to take on No. 4 ranked Ohio, losing 3-2 on Friday and winning on Saturday by the same score. On January 4, the Grizzlies return to its roots to face rival Davenport, ranked No. 1 in Division II. If a repeat is in store, it definitely won’t be an easy road to it. This still does not discourage a team that is one overtime goal short of winning four national championships in a row.
“Our expectations are always to be there at the end,” Hogan said. “Nobody on our team, with the exception of this year’s freshmen, have known anything but winning a national title. Every returning player has won a national title or two, so the guys don’t know anything less than that; they expect to be there at the end all the time.”
To have a team whose majority of players have never lost a national championship game is a feat that is not easy to accomplish, especially considering the way the rules work for a team jumping from D-I to D-II. Division II eligibility requirements allow players to play for up to five years, whereas in Division I, they can only play for four years. By moving up, the Grizzlies lost a corps of players, including Will McMahon, the team’s all-time leading scorer. Also, the team’s returning players have no more than two years of experience on the club team.
This does not mean that the Grizzlies do not have players willing and ready to step up to the challenge. Senior captain Brent Cooper played three years of Junior A Hockey and one year of NCAA hockey before playing two seasons, and winning two national titles, at Oakland. He was the second-leading scorer last season behind McMahon, and is expected to dominate in the goals category this year.
“I’ve been a lot of places and seen a whole lot of things, so I’ll be able to lead the guys through,” said Cooper. “[Scoring] is my main focus, so as long as my linemates and I can put up consistent numbers, I don’t think we should have a problem dominating anyone.”
The new recruiting class, which is made up of seven freshmen, four sophomores and two juniors is impressive too. Many have had previous experience playing competitive hockey at highly competitive levels, and since the team lost so many players last year to graduation, many of the newcomers will be called upon to perform consistently and often. Sophomore Kyle McMahon, Will’s younger brother, who played on Oakland’s D-III hockey squad last season, is entering his first season on the Grizzlies’ D-I team and is expected to be a good, aggressive addition. True freshman Kevin Kranker, who earned first team all-state honors in high school and was the Oakland Athletic Association Player of the Year, is also highly regarded.
There is no doubt that these new players have the Grizzlies’ recent success on their minds, but their coach does not want them to take anything for granted.
“We’re trying to get [the new players] to realize that it takes a lot of hard work,” Hogan said. “You don’t just come to Oakland and win a national championship; it takes a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck.”
Oakland came to Bird Arena this past weekend, and there was no doubt that the Bobcats did not take the game lightly.
“The value that you learn from winning at any level carries over, and they played well,” Ohio coach Dan Morris said. “They were well-coached, they were well-prepared, so I don’t think [their D-I title] was expected, but it kind of falls into place when you know how to win…The top-end teams [in D-II] are just as good as anybody in our division, but it just comes down to where you want to play. There are other teams in the division that play mostly Division I schools, and play them all and beat them.”
Oakland was one of those teams.
On Nov. 30, the Ohio Bobcats will take on D-II No. 2 ranked Davenport, again testing their skills against those pesky lower division teams. Oakland used to be one of those teams, but it has proved that it does belong up with the bigger squads. Are the Grizzlies the Appalachian State of collegiate club hockey? Perhaps not, but at the very least the team is an unforeseen force. Underdogs turned champions, don’t be surprised to see the Grizzlies skate out on the ice on March 5 in Rochester, N.Y. at the finals. Three in a row, anybody? The Grizzlies will take it, no matter what division it’s in.