ANN ARBOR, MICH. — Jack Johnson, the sleek and fierce defenseman for the University of Michigan, goes over the boards for a third-period shift and the chant trails him onto the ice: "Two more years, two more years, two more years."
This is senior night, the last regular-season hurrah for six of the Wolverines' players. Yost Ice Arena is the school's beloved, 85-year-old brick building that leaks, creaks and is packed with so many hockey-loving freaks that it trembles at times from foot-stomping emotion.
David Rohlfs, a senior, tucks in a backhander for the game-winning goal in the 3-1 victory over Western Michigan. Matt Hunwick sets up the play with a slick pass. Yet another senior moment.
But what has the loud and occasionally vicious student section in a lather is a sophomore: "Two more years, two more years."
This may be Johnson's last Hail-to-the-Victors night in Ann Arbor. Students plead for him to stay put, but the woeful Los Angeles Kings, who acquired his rights in a September trade, hope he comes west.
"Last year, they were yelling, 'Three more years,' now it's two," Johnson said the next day, huddling at Yost as the temperature outside fought its way toward 6, the day's expected high. "After the game, the seniors [on the team] said I should go out with them to say goodbye. That was funny."
But California dreamin', even on such a winter's day, is on the shelf until his college season ends, which could be as early as next month. His future is clear, however. He became a linchpin in the Kings' rebuilding process as soon as General Manager Dean Lombardi pried him away from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Johnson is reviled in Canada, in English and French, after last year's on-ice tete-a-tete with Team Canada's Steve Downie during the World Junior Championships.
And he is certainly despised in every college town the Wolverines have tromped through; Nebraska-Omaha fans threw pucks at him after a game, he said.
But in Southern California, his arrival is eagerly anticipated. Even Lombardi, try as he might, finds it hard to couch his words.
"To expect him to come in and turn around the franchise, that's unrealistic and unfair," Lombardi said.
Still, Lombardi added, "We're excited about getting our hands on him. There is some work that needs to be done. But, as the old saying goes, I'd rather tame a tiger than try to paint stripes on a kitty cat. He's a tiger."
