The champs

In ’93, it was the Miracle in Milwaukee. Though not the perfect alliteration, call this one the Endeavor in Anaheim.

It was harder this time. Not just in tougher competition in an increasingly competitive conference or in a more difficult route to the Frozen Four and the national championship, but where it really counts — as a gut check. This Black Bear team didn’t have the eye-popping NHL-quality talent of six years ago. It didn’t have the likeable underdog status of an upstart program on the rise.

Give the players the credit. Not just for winning the big one, in overtime, no less, not just for bouncing back from a late-season slump and Hockey East disappointments, but for sticking with UMaine and sticking together. Two years of NCAA sanctions is a lifetime in a college career of just four. They knew coming in there would be taunts, teasing, doubts. They had a hunch hard work would prevail and they were right.

Credit, too, to Coach Shawn Walsh. He went from celebrity to suspension, from bringer of glory to bringer of shame. Other coaches who create a mess just move on and leave the cleaning up to others. Walsh, like his team, persevered. He took his lumps when it would have been easier to pack his bags. His lack of attention to the administrative details of running an NCAA program cost him dearly. His ability to hold the program together as he regained the trust of players and fans is remarkable.

How appropriate then, that the Bear’s championship run produced such unlikely and deserving heroes: Alfie Michaud, the goalie not good enough for conference honors, carried the team into the tournament and kept Maine alive in the championship game with a series of point-blank saves in overtime. The game-winner was scored by Marcus Gustafsson, who lived through the dark days of NCAA investigation, returned to his native Sweden to meet his two-year military obligation and then came back to Orono.

For the university, it’s a moment in the spotlight, a little attention-getter that can only make the school a little more attractive, a little more interesting, to prospective students. The only negative is the post-game vandalism and the university’s decision not to take action against the culprits. By quietly yet diligently seeking restitution from those who spoiled an otherwise swell party, the university could combine athletic excellence and a stand for personal responsibility, a rare combination these days.

That’s a minor quibble. A handful of nitwits cannot detract from what Coach Walsh and his Black Bears accomplished. They overcame adversity, they outworked other hard-working teams. That’s not a miracle, that’s endeavor.