Last year, Michigan’s men’s
hockey team was in danger of breaking its record 19-straight appearances
in the NCAA tournament – a streak that started before many of the
current players were even born.  They were picked to finish first
in the league – but they finished a disastrous seventh, unheard of
in Ann Arbor.   

The only way they could keep
their streak alive was to win six league playoff games to get an automatic
bid.  Oh, and they’d have to do it with a back-up goalie named
Shawn Hunwick, a 5-foot-6 walk-on who had never started a college game. 
Things looked bleak, to say the least.   

But the kid caught fire. 
The Wolverines actually won all six games, they stretched their streak
to 20 straight NCAA tournaments, and Hunwick won the league tournament
MVP award.  He was like Rudy – with talent.   

But there are no sequels for
Cinderella.  One run is all you get.   

This fall, Hunwick alternated
games with the original starting goalie, Bryan Hogan, who was healthy
again.  They both played well, but Hogan won more games. 
Luck was not on the little Hunwick’s side.     

So, when Red Berenson had to
pick a goalie to play in the Big Chill game at Michigan’s football
stadium – in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a hockey game
– he picked Hogan.  Hunwick was disappointed – but not surprised.  

But in warm ups, Hogan pulled
a muscle, so they had to throw Hunwick in net, with no preparation –
and the kid shuts out Michigan State, 5-0.  A star was re-born. 
Once again, Hunwick took his team on an incredible run, finishing the
regular season with an eight-game winning streak to steal the conference
crown from Notre Dame on the last night. 

Michigan went on to win the
NCAA West Region, thanks to Hunwick’s MVP performance, and the team
advanced to hockey’s final four.  But that meant they had to
face the best team in college hockey, North Dakota.  Michigan got
ahead, 1-0, then counted on Hunwick to do the rest – and he did, knocking
back 40 shots, including a few simply spectacular saves, without letting
in a single goal.  Against the best players in college hockey,
many of whom were days away from signing big NHL contracts, the best
player on the ice was the 5-foot-6 walk-on goalie who didn’t even
have a full scholarship.  But he was the one who made it to the
championship game on Saturday, not the future NHLers.   

Against Minnesota-Duluth, for
all the marbles, Hunwick was fantastic again, making 35 saves and being
named the Frozen Four’s best goalie.  But three minutes into
overtime, Duluth scored a good goal.  Hunwick didn’t have a chance. 
The dream ended one goal short.     

But the best thing Hunwick
did this season happened a few weeks earlier, on Senior Night, when
he had a shut-out going against Northern Michigan.  Finishing the
shut-out could only help his chances for winning league awards, but
Hunwick told the coaches he wanted to come out, and let Bryan Hogan,
the man who’s job he had taken, finish the game.   

“Hey, we’re friends,”
Hunwick told me.  “And I didn’t win his job.  He
just got hurt.”  If anyone knew how it felt to be the back-up,
waiting for a chance that might not ever come, it was Shawn Hunwick. 
“I’ve been on the bench, and I’ve been in the spotlight. 
This is definitely a better view.” 

Amazingly, Hunwick didn’t
get elected to the league’s first or second all-star teams – in
a ridiculous oversight — and the NHL scouts continue to ignore him. 
But I’ve never seen any athlete get two chances to play Cinderella
– and Hunwick nailed it, both times.