ALBANY, N.Y. – The similarities are striking. In 1998, Michigan stumbled through a late-season slump and didn't exactly come into the NCAA Tournament on a roll.

The Wolverines went 5-5 down the stretch, including a CCHA tournament loss to Ohio State. This season, the pre-tournament ledger read 4-5-1 with a CCHA tourney loss to Michigan State.

Both finishes led to a No. 3 seeding out West, and both resulted in a pair of wins that landed Michigan in the Frozen Four.

The '98 story finished with a national championship after beating Boston College 3-2 in overtime. Thursday night, the Wolverines and Eagles meet again in the second semifinal (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) at this year's Frozen Four.

"It's definitely been a rocky road throughout the season. We use '98 as a model for a team that maybe wasn't the best team in the tournament that won because they were the best 'team,' captain Geoff Koch said. "That's what you can take from the '98 experience.

"Definitely it's the same type of team. We have to use our hard work and our defensive system to our benefit. Like we did in '98 we peaked at the right time and that helped us throughout the Frozen Four."

Coach Red Berenson is playing it a little closer to the vest. He says he's not sure what to expect from his club on Thursday night.

"I can't tell you from game-to-game with this team what kind of game we're going to get," Berenson said. "It's not like we're coming in here on a big roll. Right now, we're feeling pretty good about ourselves.

"But if we're feeling too good about ourselves, it will be a short weekend."

Fourth time's a charm?
The Boston College senior class has the most wins in school history. Bobby Allen, Scott Clemmensen, Brian Gionta, Marty Hughes, Mike Lephart, Mark McLennan and Rob Scuderi have been a part of 115 wins, three Frozen Fours, two national championship games, but no national titles.

"I guess the alternative is to stay home and not get here," coach Jerry York said. "We feel a lot of pride about getting here. Hey, this is a chance for us to win a national title."

But will they? BC hasn't won the national championship since 1949, although it has played in the title game four other times: 1965 (lost to Michigan Tech 8-2), 1978 (lost to Boston University 5-3), 1998 (lost to Michigan 3-2 OT) and 2000 (lost to North Dakota 4-2).

"For the seniors it's our last opportunity," captain Brian Gionta said. "This team is the most experienced from top to bottom. We've got a ton of guys who have played in the tournament multiple times. We're confident in the way we're playing and we need to keep it up."

A goal for a goalie
Boston College goaltender Scott Clemmensen has been criticized in college hockey circles for not playing well in big games.

The senior from Urbandale, Iowa, who is 2-3 in Frozen Four games, doesn't necessarily agree with the assessment, but he knows a pair of wins this weekend will help everyone to forget the past.

"I'm happy with the way I've played, but I'd trade that for a championship," Clemmensen said. "I don't care about the score. It could be 10-9, I don't care. I just want to win.

"I really believe it's only a matter of time before we break through."

So far away from here
North Dakota coach Dean Blais is here trying to win his third national championship but his thoughts are more than a thousand miles away.

That's because his daughter Mary Beth, 16, is suffering from a form of leukemia and is undergoing chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Blais said she is about halfway through the six months of treatment.

"When I'm on the ice with the team I don't think about it and during the game I don't think about it. But every other second of the day I do," Blais said. "They're hoping she can come home at the end of this week for treatment in Fargo or Grand Forks but a lot depends on whether she can handle it."

Miller time
Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller was the center of attention following Wednesday's practice session at Pepsi Arena. And he was up to talking about goaltending and then some ...

On setting NCAA records:
"I never expected it. I thought I had a game that could compete at this level. I think it's just that my game matches up with our defense pretty well. I don't do anything too spectacular. The team in front of me deserves a ton of credit for where we are right now. I just happen to be a part of the team and I play my role."

On NHL goaltenders:
"My dad has the NHL Center Ice package and we watch about six games a night looking for a goalie I like. I like (Dominik) Hasek and Curtis Joseph purely because they don't give up on the puck – ever. Even if they're down and out they're scrambling and going to get a hold of it somehow."

On why at 6-foot-2 he didn't try basketball:
"Have you seen the guys now? I'd be short out there. I'm horrible. I've got no inside game, and no outside game either."

On enjoying the week off:
"You get to watch basketball and realize how great this tournament is. You get to see somebody win it before you even go do it. It was pretty amazing watching Duke win."

Bad Cymbalism?
The trip from Grand Forks, N.D., was uneventful for the North Dakota traveling party ... once it got off the ground, that is.

As the team charter was preparing to leave, a cymbals player in the pep band began to feel ill.

"We were ready to take off and a member of the band got sick, so we had to wait about 15 minutes to decide if he was going to get on the plane or not," Blais said. "We weren't going to make an emergency landing halfway or something.

"The odd thing is he took Dramamine to prevent sickness and here he got sick from the Dramamine."

North Dakota was attempting to get the student onto a commercial flight so he could get to Albany prior to Thursday's game.

David Albright is a senior editor at ESPN.com.