Friday, March 9, 2001

Friday, March 9, 2001, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Playing with an intensity that they often lacked in the late going of the season the Wolverines started this game flying. Michigan got off a couple of quick shots that were turned away, but they were a sign of things to come. The Bulldogs picked up the first penalty of the night with just over three minutes gone in the period and the Wolverines didn’t waste this opportunity. About a minute into the power play the Wolverines would break out of their zone with Mike Cammalleri skating right down the middle of the ice. With no Bulldogs providing a serious challenge Cammalleri skated the puck into the Ferris zone and punched the puck into the net past the netminders glove hand. This was an unassisted power play goal just 4:13 into the game.

Each team traded penalties over the next few minutes and each team was able to kill off the resulting power plays. Michigan did get a couple of good chances around the mid-point of the period, but they just missed. It would take almost four minutes of the final ten minutes of the first period, but Michigan would once again find the twine in the Ferris net. This time it was Mark Kosick who would take the puck into the Ferris zone. The Bulldog defense pushed him to the side, but he circled back around, coming out toward the point. Once near the point Kosick spun, shot, and the puck sailed into the net over the goalies blocker giving Michigan the two-goal lead. The lone assist on this goal went to Joe Kautz.

It was about two minutes later when Michigan would strike for the third and final time of the first period. Once again Michigan would break out of their zone, this time with a three on one advantage. Langfeld dropped the puck to Shouneyia, who got it back to Langfeld, and Langfeld lifted it over the goalies shoulder to extend the Wolverine lead to three. Assists on this goal went to Shouneyia and Jillson. The first period would come to an end with Michigan holding the three to nothing lead. Michigan also held a commanding lead in shots on goal after one period with an 18 to 6 count.

Ferris started the second period with 1:44 of power play time as Andy Burnes was called for a penalty late in the first period. Michigan would make this penalty kill extra difficult as Jillson was called for a penalty just twenty-four seconds into the second to give Ferris the two-man advantage. The Bulldogs would help the Wolverines by taking a penalty of their own about thirty seconds later. In the end all the penalties were killed off and neither team was able to score a goal.

Ferris would finally get on the board with just under six minutes gone in the period when the Wolverines committed a defensive error. With the puck in the Michigan zone the Wolverines left a Ferris player all alone in front of the net. A Ferris shot was sent toward the net, which Blackburn turned away, but that lone Bulldog was right there to chip the rebound into the Michigan goal to cut the lead to two.

The parade of players to the sin bin would pick up speed for the next several minutes as each team took several penalties. The most damaging penalties were taken by the Wolverines. After a pair of matching penalties were called Michigan was called for another penalty to give Ferris a four on three-man advantage. At the same time this penalty was called Michigan lost a second man as they were called for a bench minor (to many on the ice). Michigan had almost killed of the first penalty when Ferris scored a power play goal to get within one. The bench minor was the penalty taken off the board, so Michigan still found themselves down by one man and the Bulldogs had new life. In perhaps the biggest save of the night Blackburn made a diving stop that turned away what looked to be another Ferris power play goal to retain Michigan’s now slim one goal lead. From the time of this save through the remainder of this period the momentum would once again go to the Wolverines.

Just short of the period midpoint Ferris would be called for a penalty putting Michigan on the power play. This time it would be Andy Hilbert who would break away clean and crash the Ferris net. Before the goalie knew what was happening Hilbert had slammed the puck into the net and Michigan was once again up by two goals. The lone assist on this power play goal went to Mike Komisarek.

It would be about three minutes later when Michigan would strike once again. This time the Wolverines had the puck behind the Ferris goal with Trainor out in front of the net. Matzka sent a nice centering pass out to Trainor and Trainor punched the puck home to score Michigan’s fifth goal of the game. The lone assist went to Matzka.

The final goal of this period would come on a Ferris mistake as they mishandled the puck in front of their own net. The Bulldogs lost control of the puck, leaving it on the ice right in front of the net. Freshman Joe Kautz was right there to get his stick on the puck and send the puck into the net. Mark Kosick and Geoff Koch picked up assists on this goal. The second period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a score of six to two. Michigan would also maintain their large lead in shots on goal as they end the second period with a 32 to 15 edge in shots.

The majority of the third period was defensive in nature and it looked like no additional goals would be scored, but in the final two minutes of the game a total of three goals would be scored. First, it would be Michigan who would score a goal as Mike Cammalleri would score his second goal of the game. Assists on this goal went to Joe Kautz and Bob Gassoff. About forty seconds later Jon Rogger would score an unassisted goal for the Bulldogs. The final goal of the game would come with just 45 seconds left to play when Andy Hilbert got his second goal of the game with the lone assist going to Mike Cammalleri. The game ended with Michigan winning by a score of eight to three. Michigan held the Bulldogs to just one shot on goal in the third period to end the game with a 44 to 16 advantage in shots.

This was perhaps the finest game Michigan has played in the last month as they played with intensity for most of the game. They were a little less involved at the start of the second period, but they were also killing a lot of penalty time during this stretch of time. Senior David Huntzicker was ridden into the boards in the second period of tonight’s game and his status for the rest of the weekend is unknown. He hurt his shoulder and the extent of that injury won’t be known until sometime Saturday. The big test for Michigan will be on Saturday night. Can they put back to back games together this weekend and sweep the Bulldogs? This is something that Michigan has had particular trouble doing this year and if ever there was a time when they should be motivated to finish the weekend strong it would be during the playoffs. We’ll have the answers in about 24 hours.

Week in Review

Michigan State continues to hold the top spot in the Pairwise rankings while the Wolverines now find themselves in sixth position. Nebraska-Omaha finds themselves in the twelfth position, which in years past would have been good enough to make the NCAA tournament. However, in one of the true inequities in college hockey the Mavericks at this time would find themselves out of the tournament in favor of a MAAC team. The MAAC is a new conference and they want representation in the tournament, but they shouldn’t get it at the expense of more deserving teams. Perhaps it’s time for the NCAA to do away with all automatic bids to the hockey tournament and simply award at large bids to the most deserving teams in the country.

With the end of the CCHA regular season the all conference teams were selected this week and the Wolverines were fairly well represented. Let’s start with the all academic team. Junior defenseman Jeff Jillson was named to the all-academic team and was the lone Wolverine to make this team. However, Andy Hilbert, David Huntzicker, Scott Matzka, Mark Mink, Bill Trainor, and Jay Vancik all receive special mention for this team. To be eligible for this team a player must achieve no less than a 3.00 gpa on a 4.0 scale. The six players that receive the most votes are named to the team without regard to position.

Michigan also placed on player on the All-Rookie team and that player was defenseman Mike Komisarek. Mike tied for first among freshmen with an overall +13 and was tied for sixth in the CCHA with a +6. Fellow defenseman Andy Burnes, who was +12 for the year, received honorable mention.

The CCHA all-conference first team was dominated by the Wolverines and by sophomores in general. Michigan placed Andy Hilbert, Mike Cammalleri, and Jeff Jillson on the first team to nail down three of the six first team places. Of course Michigan State’s Ryan Miller took first team goalie honors with the other two first team spots going to Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks continue to impress as the conferences newest member.

Michigan placed just on player on the second team and that was goaltender Josh Blackburn who was second in conference play behind Miller. The only other Wolverine receiving any points in the all conference voting was defenseman Mike Roemensky. Sophomores and juniors dominated the all conference teams with just one senior among them (Western’s David Gove on second team). Things should be exciting in the CCHA for the next couple of years.

The Spartans won the CCHA regular season title in a run away, a full ten points ahead of second place Michigan. Miami tied Michigan for second and Miami will receive the number two seed in the CCHA tournament because they had one more conference win than the Wolverines. Nebraska-Omaha finished fourth in the conference while Western Michigan and Northern Michigan finished tied for fifth (the final home ice slot going to Northern). Ohio State, Ferris, Bowling Green, and Alaska-Fairbanks rounded out the top ten. Notre Dame and Lake Superior finished the year in 11^th and 12^th place respectively ending their seasons after last weekend.

After finishing the CCHA regular season in lethargic form the Wolverines will be looking to get back on track as the playoffs begin this weekend. They will have to do this against the Ferris State Bulldogs, a team that has caused Michigan all kinds of trouble over the last couple of years (including this year). In the two games between these two teams earlier this season the teams combined for over 200 minutes of penalties, excessive even by the standards of these two highly penalized teams. Looking at this game logically one would have to favor the Wolverines, but the Wolverines have been their own worst enemy this year. It remains to be seen if they can put the regular season behind them and focus on the playoffs after suffering that demoralizing defeat in East Lansing last weekend.

It appears the Wolverines will get a boost in their quest for redemption as senior Josh Langfeld seems to be ready to return to the lineup. Langfeld would be a welcome addition to the Wolverine line up as they really miss his presence in front of the net. While senior Scott Matzka will see no reduction in playing time he will see a change in his role on the team. As a penalty for his actions toward the end of the Michigan State game last weekend Matzka has been stripped of his Assistant Captain duties and will finish out the year without the "A" on his jersey. That leaves seniors Geoff Koch and David Huntzicker as the Wolverines remaining captains.