{"id":31240,"date":"2010-03-29T10:42:39","date_gmt":"2010-03-29T15:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/29\/commentary-these-detroitbound-tigers-bask-in-frozen-four-glow\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:57","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:57","slug":"commentary-these-detroitbound-tigers-bask-in-frozen-four-glow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/29\/commentary-these-detroitbound-tigers-bask-in-frozen-four-glow\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: These Detroit-Bound Tigers Bask in Frozen Four Glow"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Let’s win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here.”
\n— Merle Webb, “Hoosiers”<\/i><\/p>\n
The bus pulled on to the Rochester Institute of Technology campus at 2 a.m. Sunday. The electronic marquee on the front of the bus read: “RIT HOCKEY. WHO ARE THESE GUYS?” <\/p>\n
The college hockey world is asking that question, but the thousands of fans who welcomed the RIT Tigers back to campus in the wee hours of the morning after a stunning and improbable weekend of hockey in Albany know very well who these guys are. They are NCAA East Regional champions, and one of four teams left in the quest for a national title. <\/p>\n
No scholarships. No draft picks. No former RIT player in the 48-year history of the program has played a minute in the NHL. The Tigers are in just their fifth season in Division I, and just the third where they were eligible for postseason play of any kind.<\/p>\n
But they are a team in the old-fashioned sense, a solid, mature group of players with great chemistry who roll four lines and played with more poise and confidence than their higher-ranked opponents. <\/p>\n
The Tigers shocked Denver 2-1 on Friday thanks to great goaltending and intense but poised team defense. But they were even scarier on Saturday, dominating New Hampshire for most of the game and blowing the doors off the Wildcats with three goals in a 94-second span in the second period en route to a 6-2 win. This was no fluke. <\/p>\n
“One thing I can tell you is that the 30 guys in our dressing room definitely believed it,” said RIT captain Dan Ringwald. “We expected to win and we still expect to win. A lot of the outsiders didn’t give us a chance, but we just take that in stride, accept it for what it is and still go out there and approach the game the same way.”<\/p>\n