Tuesday, January 23, 2001

Tuesday, January 23, 2001, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Correction

At the end of last Saturday’s article Michigan’s opponent for this coming Saturday was listed as Lake State. That was incorrect. Michigan will play the Michigan State Spartans this coming Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

Game Coverage

Some of the scratches for this evening’s game were not unexpected, however, there were a couple of surprises. First Jay Vancik was back in the lineup after missing several weeks because of a knee injury. After skating last weekend David Huntzicker was held out of tonight’s game to give his knee a little more time to heal prior to this weekends contest against the Spartans. The coaching staff felt he was favoring his injured knee last weekend and felt it best to give him the extra time.

The Wolverines started this game on fire and never really looked back. It took just 1:09 for Michigan to score their first goal of the night and that was to be a sign of things to come in this game. The puck was tied up along the boards on the West side of the ice (by the announcer) when Shouneyia switched with another Wolverine and came onto the ice. As he made his way across the ice a Wolverine dug the puck out and slid it across to Shouneyia who was all alone. Shouneyia took the puck into the Irish zone and put it in the net to put the Wolverines on top early. The lone assist on this goal was given to Jed Ortmeyer. Unfortunately this would be just about all we would see of Ortmeyer in this game as he left the game limping quite badly shortly after assisting on this goal. He did attempt to skate a couple of times during breaks in the action, but he left the ice prior to the end of the first period and did not return.

It would only take another two minutes for the Wolverines to once again put the puck in the Irish goal. This time it was Mike Cammalleri, taking a shot from the top of the face off circle (to the right of the goalie), who drew blood. Assists on this goal went to Andy Hilbert and Geoff Koch.

The next ten minutes would see both teams settle into a rhythm of up and down hockey. The Wolverines carried the play during this span of time as the Irish just tried to recover from the two early goals. The score would remain the same until there was just 3:39 left in the period when it was Mark Kosick who would once again score for the Wolverines. With Michigan on the power play the Irish had cleared the puck and had it in the Michigan zone. Kosick got the puck and took it the length of the ice, finishing off the drive with a goal (unassisted) to extend the Michigan lead to three goals.

There were a pair of matching penalties called with just two seconds remaining in this period so the teams finished the first period skating four on four. The first period came to an end with Michigan holding the 3 to nothing lead. The Wolverines finished this period with a 19 to 8 advantage in shots on goal.

The second period started with both teams skating with only four players with the first five minutes of the period being fairly uneventful. However, with just over five minutes gone it would be Mike Roemensky who would score next for the Wolverines. Taking a pass from Scott Matzka at the top of the right circle Roemensky let go with a shot that blasted past the Irish netminder. Assists on this goal went to Matzka and Kosick. This would also be the last goal that the starting Irish netminder would give up as he was replaced following this goal.

It would only take another three minutes before the new Irish netminder would give up his first goal of the night. Coming from behind the net it would be Mike Cammalleri who would slip a little backhand shot between the goalie and the post to give Michigan a five-goal lead. Assists on this goal went to Hilbert and Koch.

There would be another long stretch of time in this period when both teams moved the puck up and down the ice. With just over two minutes remaining in the period the Wolverines would strike again. Again it was play from behind the net that saw the Wolverines get the goal. This time it was a pass out to Koch who took the shot and buried the puck. Assists on this goal went to Cammalleri and Vancik.

Just as he did in the first period it would be Mark Kosick who would finish off the scoring for the Wolverines in this period. This time the goal would come off a rebound that came out front. Kosick was right there to chip the puck into the net scoring Michigan’s seventh goal of the game. Assists on this goal went to Mike Komisarek and Andy Hilbert.

The second period came to an end with Michigan leading by a score of 7 to nothing. The Wolverines also continued to dominate in shots on goal with a 36 to 18 count.

The third period would begin like the second ended with a goal from Mark Kosick. Just 4:22 into the period the Wolverines smartly passed the puck down the ice with the final pass going to Kosick who had gotten in close to the Irish goal. As soon as he had the puck he put it in the net to complete his hat trick and give the Wolverines an eight-goal lead. Assists on this goal went to Andy Hilbert and Mike Roemensky.

The play in this period would get a little chippy and would finally come to a head as the mid-point of the period was reached. At that time there was a dust up in front of the announcers booth involving most of the players on the ice. When the dust was settled Notre Dame’s Neil Komadoski would collect three two minute minor penalties and a ten-minute misconduct. Michigan’s Brad Fraser picked up a two minute minor, but it was coincidental. Only two of Komadoski’s penalties went on the board, but the Wolverines ended up with a four-minute power play.

With just twelve seconds left in the first two minutes of the double minor it would be Cammalleri who would score the Wolverines ninth and final goal of the night. Michigan was working the puck around the Irish zone quite well and had gotten some shots off. Cammalleri got the puck behind the net, skated around toward the front, and put a little wrap around shot into the goal. This was a power play goal and completed Cammalleri’s hat trick for the night.

There would be no further scoring as the game came to an end with Michigan winning by a score of 9 to nothing. The Wolverines finished the game with a 51 to 21 advantage in shots on goal.

An impressive win for the Wolverines tonight as they did not look past the Irish to their Saturday contest against Michigan State. Michigan played a pretty solid sixty minutes of hockey and had two different players’ complete hat tricks. All in all it was a good way to propel themselves into their Saturday show down with the Spartans.

Week in Review

The CCHA continues to have three teams in the top ten, while Michigan’s win and tie against Western last weekend helped them move from eighth to sixth in the Pairwise rankings. Michigan State and Western Michigan are also in the top ten of the Pairwise rankings. The conference that is probably best represented in the polls, including the Pairwise, is the WCHA.

Mike Cammalleri was honored as the CCHA offensive player of the week for his five points against Western Michigan last week. Cammalleri was instrumental in the Wolverines coming back to achieve a tie against the Bronco’s on Saturday night in Kalamazoo. Mike was joined by two Michigan defensemen who were honored as notable performers for their play against the Bronco’s last week. Those two defensemen were Mike Komisarek and Jeff Jillson. Komisarek was +2 on the weekend, helped the Wolverines hold the high flying Bronco offense to five goals for the weekend, and added an assist on Saturday night. Jillson joined Cammalleri with five points on the weekend, was +3 for the weekend, and was a key component in the Michigan defense.

The goal by Mark Kosick that brought Michigan even with the Bronco’s was Mark’s 50th as a Wolverine. Andy Hilbert extended his scoring streak to fourteen games, the longest of his career. Jeff Jillson’s five-point weekend moved him into 14^th place on the all-time defensemen career-scoring list.

Michigan goes into this week five points behind the conference leading Spartans. Both the Wolverines and Spartans have Tuesday night games and will then face off in a show down at Joe Louis Arena at 7:35 PM Saturday night. The game Saturday night could determine whether the Wolverines continue to play for the conference championship or if the Spartans will effectively lock up the regular season crown. If Michigan looses another game, whether against the Spartans or another CCHA team, they will fall seven points behind; one more than they can make up by playing the Spartans head to head. A bit week of hockey is ahead for the Wolverines with a great deal at stake. Will the real Wolverine team show up this week? We’ll know a great deal about where the Wolverines are headed by time Sunday comes around.