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Saturday, November 18, 2000
Saturday, November 18, 2000, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Saturday would be the second meeting of the weekend between the Wolverines and Nannooks and it was yet another test for the Wolverines. Last weekend the Wolverines followed a solid performance on Friday with an absolutely dismal performance on Saturday. Would they be able to put back to back solid games together or continue a disturbing pattern emerging in the month of November? All questions will be answered by 9:30 PM tonight at Yost arena.
Things were looking like they were going to break Michigan’s way right from the start of the game when UAF committed a penalty and the referee was waiting for the Nannooks to regain control of the puck to stop play and put Michigan on the power play. However, things took a decidedly odd turn while the fans waited for the delay penalty call. As Michigan got control of the puck at the Nannook blue line they sent a shot toward the Nannook goal. A UAF player went down on the ice to block the shot, which he did. The puck bounced off the player and slowly made it’s way down the ice and into the empty Michigan net. Blackburn had gone to the bench when he saw the delay penalty to give Michigan the extra attacker and when UM took the shot everyone crashed toward the UAF net to look for a rebound. The bottom line was that there was no one in position to chase down the slowly moving puck and Michigan found itself down by a goal just 26 seconds into the period. The goal counted because it only hit a UAF player, he never got control of the puck. After the goal the penalty was called and UM was on the power play and with 51 seconds left in that power play Michigan got the score back to even as Hilbert got the puck into the UAF net. Assists on this goal went to Cammalleri and Jillson. Action continued up and down the ice until there was 16:29 left in the period when UM was called for a penalty. Michigan killed off that penalty, but with 12:18 they were called for another penalty. Michigan was close to killing this penalty off when UAF was called for a penalty with 10:35 left in the period. This left the teams skating four on four for 18 seconds and then UM moved to the power play. All these penalties would be killed off and play would continue up and down the ice until there was 6:01 left in the period when UAF would pick up another delay penalty. The Nannooks killed this penalty off as well and both teams skated at full strength. That would all change with 3:18 left in the period when UAF got the entire Michigan team, including Blackburn, going one way across the ice, then passed the puck back to the backside, where a waiting Nannook had an easy shot into the net to give UAF the lead late in the first period. The period came to an end with UAF leading Michigan by a score of 2 to 1. Michigan held a slight edge in shots on goal with a 12 to 9 count.
The second period started pretty much as the first had ended with both teams going up and down the ice, but the Nannooks, despite being out shot, really carrying the play to the Wolverines. With 17:07 left in the period matching penalties were called even though I thought there should have only been a Nannook going into the sin bin. With 15:26 left in the period Michigan was called for another penalty that was another real weak call. That being said the penalties were all killed off with no goals scored and the play continued for almost ten minutes with UAF skating hard and Michigan just kind of skating around the ice in a daze. With 6:46 left in the period UAF was called for a penalty and everyone in the stands was wondering if this would be the spark that would light Michigan’s fire. Michigan was struggling to get any kind of flow in the power play when UAF was called for a second penalty with 5:58 left in the period and 1:12 on the original power play. This gave Michigan a fairly long two-man advantage – if the maize and blue were going to get anything going this was the place to do it. There was no fire as Michigan was just terrible on the power play. They couldn’t get anything set up and it seemed as all the players were standing around waiting for someone else to step up and take control of the puck. The UM players continue to look lost on the ice. Just as all of the UAF penalties were killed off by the Nannooks, UAF picked up another penalty to put Michigan back on the power play. Finally, Michigan got some players on the ice that were at least trying to make something happen. Ortmeyer crashed hard toward the net and Burnes got him a pass. Once he had the puck in close Ortmeyer slammed it into the UAF net to get Michigan back to even for the game. With 2:57 left in the period UM picked up yet another penalty to put UAF back on the power play. Just as Michigan had killed off this Alaska power play they picked up another penalty to put UAF back on the power play. Michigan was able to get out of the period without giving up another goal. The second period ended with the score all tied up at two goals apiece. Michigan slightly widened their gap in shots on goal with a 20 to 14 count through two periods.
The third, and decisive, period got under way with UAF on the power play for 1:16. Michigan was able to kill this penalty off and was trying to put some pressure on the UAF goal. With 16:24 left in the period it looked like Michigan got the go ahead goal, but it was waved off. The referee had whistled play dead, why I will never know. I could clearly see the puck still in play and I was at the opposite end of the ice. The bottom line was that the game stayed tied. With 16:04 left in the period UAF was called for a penalty, as they had to drag Hilbert down to stop a good scoring chance. You would have thought this would get Michigan going, especially after having one goal taken away from them just seconds before. However, with 14:48 left in the period it was UAF who scored a goal, short handed, to take the lead. They got a three on one rush and floated a shot past Blackburn for their third goal of the night. With 11:47 left in the period UM was called for tripping. The people around me, who saw this better than I, said it wasn’t the UM player who had tripped the UAF player, but the backside official. Whatever the case may be the call went against UM and UAF was on the power play. It didn’t take the Nannooks long as they got themselves in position, outplayed the UM defense, and got another shot past Blackburn to extend their lead to two goals with just 11:09 left in the game. There was only one more penalty called in the game and that went against Alaska with just under five minutes left in the period. Michigan was unable to take advantage of the man advantage and found themselves still down by two as this power play came to an end. Michigan pulled their goalie with more than 1-½ minutes left in the period, but they could not notch another goal in this game. Alaska added an empty net goal with just nine seconds to go in the game to put things completely out of reach. UAF won the game by a score of 5 to 2 while Michigan clearly out shot the Nannooks by getting 35 shots on goal to the Nannooks 18.
Well this was quite simply an uninspired and unemotional game for the Wolverines; they were never really in the game. It was as if they had showed Alaska they were the better team on Friday night so all they had to do was show up and go through the motions on Saturday. Sound anything like last weekend? To point out how truly disappointing this loss was let me point out a few things. First, this was the first time ever that Alaska-Fairbanks has won a game in Yost. It is only the second time in twenty-two games that Alaska-Fairbanks has beaten the Wolverines (the first time coming last year up in Alaska). With the game on the line the Wolverines failed to score a single point in the third period and gave up three (though the final goal was into an empty net). Alaska got four, that’s FOUR, shots on goal in the third period; three of those shots turned into goals. This team will have to decide, and soon, what they really want to accomplish this year. They cannot continue to play like this and expect to reach any of the goals I would believe they had set for themselves at the start of the year. They played fairly well in October – for the beginning of the year, but then came November. They haven’t played a solid weekend of hockey yet this month. The result for the Wolverines is loosing three of their last five games. Two of those losses to teams they clearly should have beaten. Where are the seniors on this team? What has happened to Langfeld, Kosick, and Matzka? These guys have to step it up and lead this team through their play. Langfeld who started out the year so good has once again faded into the background. I hope captain Geoff Koch takes the entire senior class aside Sunday and has a heart-to-heart with them. Then have the entire class meet with the rest of the team and re-commit themselves to this season. Without some changes in the way they are playing hockey right now, the Wolverines are in for a rough year. A big test looms on the horizon as we play in the College Hockey Showcase next weekend against Minnesota and Wisconsin. Play the way we did tonight against either of these two teams and they will bundle us up and ship us home with out tails between our legs. The end of the first half of the season is drawing near. What Michigan’s season truly ends up being could well hinge on the tone we set in the next four weeks. Let’s hope this team can rise to the challenge and play to the level that I know they can. If they do this they will do Michigan proud. Until next weekend, C-ya.
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