Game #6 – University of Michigan Wolverines v. Penn State Nittany Lions – Big Ten Conference - Yost Ice Arena - Ann Arbor, Michigan

When I rail against Michigan Stadium as the most uncomfortable, overrated sporting venue in existence (seating capacity: 107,601, comfortable seating capacity: about 75,000) I am often accused of being biased against all things UM and an argument for such could be made. However, I blow that theory out of the water when I reply that, in fact, one of the central ironies of my life is that my favorite hockey arena in the world, Yost Ice Arena, is also the home of one my most hated hockey rivals, the University of Michigan Wolverines.

Yes, it is my fate that, in order to enjoy a game at Yost, I must endure a three hour celebration of my rival, that, when they are winning, is a veritable hell on Earth for me, with the hundreds of the ubiquitous maize (i.e. yellow) Michigan hockey jerseys acting as symbolic flames of hell in which I am burning.  The upside to this whole thing is that it has led to some of the most delicious hockey moments I have ever experienced, namely Michigan State hockey victories that have quieted these fanatical fans. Twice, I’ve seen the Spartans win 1-0 over the Wolverines at Yost, one of the shutouts backstopped by Ryan Miller, a future Hobey Baker Trophy winner in college and Vezina Trophy winner in the NHL. The other was in 2008 by Jeff Lerg, the hero of the 2007 MSU national championship, in a game where I was the guest of Jim Hunt, then the radio color commentator for UM hockey. Having gone in courtesy of Jim’s media pass, I had no seat, so I ended up standing with scouts from the LA Kings and Ottawa Senators for that game. The greatest tie game I ever saw was at Yost, with Spartans scoring the tying marker with 1.9 seconds remaining. Drew Miller, a future Red Wing and brother of the aforementioned Ryan, scored that one. There are, as the old hockey saying goes, good ties and bad ties, and that tie was so good it felt like a blowout win.

Red Berenson

My first game here was in 1996. Not knowing anything about the traditions there, the experience blew me away. I was 9 months away from declaring my college hockey allegiance to Michigan State, so, for a moment in time, I was (gulp) a fan of UM hockey. After entering law school at Michigan State, and then dating (and eventually marrying) an Ohio State Buckeye, my short time as a UM hockey fan was forever over, like an embarrassing love tryst from the past that you would rather not talk about. Michigan won the national championship that year, and again two years later. The program has more NCAA national championships (9) than any other school, the majority of which were won between 1948 and 1964. The touchstone figure for the program is Red Berenson, who played for UM and was one of the first collegiate players to play in the NHL. He was a good NHL player, mainly for the Canadiens, Blues and Red Wings, once even scoring 6 goals in one game. He coached in the NHL for a time, even winning the Jack Adams Trophy, until, in 1984, he returned to Ann Arbor to coach his alma mater. He brought the team to new heights, having several near misses in NCAA tournament games until finally winning in 1996 and 1998. He retired after last season as one of the best college coaches ever, and the rink in Yost is called The Red Berenson Rink. I actually pass him in the concourse in the game tonight, and we see him later hanging out in a suite. I wonder if he misses coaching or if he can actually watch a game without getting stressed about it. Mel Pearson, a longtime Berenson assistant, is now the coach, arriving after a successful stint at Michigan Tech.

Tonight, UM’s opponent is not the Spartans, but rather the Penn State Nittany Lions, a program only in its 6^th year of NCAA Division I. They are the defending Big Ten Champions, building an impressive resume for a young program. This is the first time I’ve seen PSU play, and the first thing I notice is their uniform. Modeled off their iconic football uniform, the entire outfit is navy blue with a white helmet. The UM uniforms are simple and effective, and the helmets, like Penn State, are modeled after the famous winged UM football helmets that Fritz Crisler brought with him from Princeton in 1938.  The uniforms are simple and pure. In hockey, when it comes to uniforms, less is more.

Though now perfectly suited to the task, Yost wasn’t always an ice arena. When it was built in 1923, it was the nation’s first indoor field house, hosting track and field events and basketball games. Named after the legendary UM football coach Fielding Yost, the building has been the home to UM hockey since 1973, and, after a series of renovations, (the last completed is 2012) it serves as the home of UM hockey. The building makes the most of its historic architectural heritage while providing the spectator with all the amenities that one could want. One of these renovations involved the addition of a second tier of club sets that virtually hang over the sidelines of the ice. Although I have never sat there, these seats have to be the best in the hockey world, a bucket list item for me.  Tonight, our seats are behind the UM goal, and I am here with my longtime friend Chris (a UM alumus, sporting a UM jersey no less) and another friend, Csaba, an Ohio State alumnus who has similar feelings about the team and rink that I do.

The Children of Yost and the Pep Band

As the game begins, and the teams battle, the traditions at Yost, mostly distinct chants by the lively student section, dubbed “The Children of Yost”, begin to come forth. The chants are often humorous and clever. Opposing players being penalized are treated to serenade of one long monotone vocal until the exact moment he steps into the penalty box, in which he is given a synchronized “See Ya” from the student section. More than once, I’ve seen opposing players try to fake out the students by stepping in and out of the box to wreck the timing of the cheer. There are chants about the goalie’s mother calling to say that he sucks. When a goal is scored by Michigan, not long after the resulting center ice face off, the students count, in unison, the number of goals that Michigan has with the backing a bass drum beat for each count (“on two, three, four!”) and then saying they want “mooooooooore goals!” The opposing goalie is then repeatedly called a sieve and told that it is all his fault. My favorite is when the opposing goalie lifts his mask to take a swig from his water bottle. “Ugly Goalie!” is the chorus for that event. Things got a little out of hand some years back, specifically with the addition of an obscenity laced secondary chant by the student section after the “see ya” chant described earlier. Despite pleas from university and hockey officials to stop, the Children of Yost persisted in using this chant, prompting university officials to move the pep band next to the student section and direct them to immediately play before the expletives fly to drown them out. I noticed during the game that seems to be working.

In the game tonight, Penn State comes out fast, befitting a team that leads the NCAA in shots on goal and overall scoring. Some timely saves by UM goalie Hayden Lavigne, starting his fifth consecutive game, kept the game from opening up early, and Michigan counterattacks yields a 1-0 lead. The goal energizes the Wolverines, and they never give the offensive minded Nittany Lions enough time with the puck to make a play. When Lavigne stops a breakway in the second period, so went the best of Penn State’s scoring chances, and the goal scored in the first turns out to be the winner. The Children of Yost went home happy on the heels of a 4-0 UM win.

I suffer the occasional indignities of UM traditions because the overall quality of the venue outweighs being annoyed by the UM fans. There are other college rinks that have coordinated student chants and oversized pep bands, but none of them are in a 1920’s field house with elaborate brickwork, arched windows, gambrel steel beam ceilings, with acoustics that act to energize the atmosphere into something special. At Yost, this combination of architecture, tradition and atmosphere converge to elevate the game of hockey in a way that no other arena that I have ever been in can do.

It is a special place.

Go see a game there.