Senior defenseman Jon Insana remembers being overwhelmed during MSU’s game against Colorado College in the NCAA Tournament West Regional in Madison, Wis., on March 28, 1999.
MSU was trailing the Tigers 3-2 late in the third period and, with less than two minutes separating the Spartans from a disappointing end to their season, emotions started to burst out.
“I remember (former defenseman Brad) Hodgins on the bench, literally in tears,” said Insana, who was a freshman at the time. “He was telling me that he couldn’t go out on the ice, that I had to go out there.
“It was quite a shock because I was a freshman and there was so much going on there.”
Hodgins’ tears were a little premature, though, because MSU was about to stage one of its most spirited comebacks in recent history.
Then-freshman defenseman Andrew Hutchinson started the Spartan recovery with a power-play tally with 1:40 to play. Just 32 seconds later, then-freshman right wing Adam Hall notched the go-ahead goal - his second tally of the game. Officials had to view replays of both late-game goals to verify their legality - causing even more uneasiness in the already edgy contest for MSU.
But behind then-sophomore goaltender Joe Blackburn, MSU held on for the last 1:08 and advanced to its first Frozen Four since 1992 with a 4-3 win over Colorado College.
“With the ups and downs of that game, it was probably the most exciting game we’ve been in as our senior class,” Hutchinson said.
Then-freshman forward Joe Goodenow had scored earlier in the game, meaning all four Spartan goals came from freshmen. Now Hutchinson, Hall, Goodenow and Insana are seniors, and their quest for an elusive national title goes through Colorado College again.
No. 3 seed MSU (27-8-5) plays the No. 6 seed Tigers (26-12-3) in the first round of the West Regional at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. The winner plays No. 2 seed Minnesota at 4 p.m. Saturday for the right to go to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn. next month. MSU has not won a national championship since 1986.
MSU head coach Ron Mason, who has coached for 36 years, said the classic ’99 game was “one of the most up-and-down games I’ve been in in my life.”
“They felt, after the game, they got screwed by a bad referee call,” Mason said. “They were just furious about the loss. Even their radio announcer was still talking to me about it (this week). They still remember.”
Colorado College head coach Scott Owens took over the program about a month after the game, so he didn’t see it first-hand. But he said a few of the seven Tiger seniors on this year’s team - who were freshmen in ’99 - have been rehashing their meltdown as a means of motivation for Friday.
“Revenge isn’t something that we preach to our team, but it’s been brought up a few times around here this week,” Owens said. “You also have to remember that three-quarters of both teams are different, so I don’t know how big of a deal it is.”
To the four four-year seniors on MSU’s squad, the game was a big deal. But that doesn’t mean they necessarily want to relive it.
“It was kind of a neat game,” Goodenow said. “It was probably one of the most memorable ones I’ve had, really, since I’ve been here. It was pretty intense for us to come from behind like we did.
“But hopefully, we won’t have to do that again this year.”
Vote for Hobey: Junior goaltender Ryan Miller is in ninth place out of 10 players in the latest fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award. Miller, who won last year’s award, has 803 points, which is well off the pace of New Hampshire forward Darren Haydar, who leads the vote at 2,735.
Only Ferris State forward Rob Collins has fewer votes than Miller.
The winner of the fan balloting gets one of 25 votes that determine the award winner. The other 24 votes are submitted by the Hobey Baker Award Selection Committee. The top three vote-getters will be named award finalists next Wednesday and the trophy winner will be announced on April 5 in St. Paul, Minn.
Fans can vote at www.voteforhobey.com until Monday.
