Tuesday, December 12, 2000

Tuesday, December 12, 2000, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Unless I missed some things the players not playing in this game were Andy Burnes, probably healing his rib. Scott Matzka, I have no idea why. Mike Cammalleri, probably on his way home to Canada to tryout for the Canadian National Junior team. Craig Murray, the only reason I can think of is that he still having trouble with his shoulder. Of course Brad Fraser and David Huntzicker, still down with knee injuries. On the upside senior Rob Kohen, a player who has worked long and hard in practice, but never seen game time (as far as I know) got to see some playing time on the defense; picking up the slack for Burnes. Dave Wyzgowski was back on the ice, getting some playing time after recovering from that high ankle sprain.

The US Development team and the Wolverines got things underway in fine fashion as both teams skated up and down the ice right out of the gate. It didn’t take to long for the first penalty of the night to be called as the US team picked up the first penalty of the game with 15:59 left in the first period. With 15:35 remaining in the period, just 21 seconds into the Michigan power play, the Wolverines tallied their first goal of the night. Michigan had barely set things up in the US zone when Langfeld took a pass from Kosick and planted the puck in the net. There were two assists on the goal, one to Kosick and the second to Ortmeyer. With 15:04 remaining in the first period Michigan picked up their first penalty of the night to give the US team their first power play chance of the night. The US team came close to scoring a goal early in their power play, as Michigan’s defense didn’t play all that well and they charged into the zone with authority. The goal came off the posts and that probably prevented the US team from scoring a goal. With 13:44 remaining in the period, and the US team still on the power play, Michigan tallied a short-handed goal to extend their lead to two goals. Michigan got a turnover in their zone and broke out with the puck. Swistak had the puck and a fellow Wolverine broke with him and they split wide to spread the defense. J.J. took the puck all the way and scored the goal, unassisted, to extend the Wolverine lead. At this time Scarpace came in for Blackburn; Josh had to leave early to attend a study group for a final exam. With 13:08 left in the period and just four seconds in the US power play, the US team worked the puck into the Michigan zone and scored their first goal of the night. This was a nicely run power play that saw the US team work the puck well into and around the Michigan zone to get the score. The next several minutes saw both teams skating up and down the ice until there was 7:55 left in the period. At this time the US team picked up another penalty putting Michigan back on the power play. Michigan again worked the puck very well and again it was Langfeld who came up with the power play goal. This time the lone assist went to Koch. With 3:22 remaining in the period and with 51 seconds remaining in the period Michigan picked up penalties, but managed to get out of the period without giving up another goal. The period ended with Michigan sitting on a 3 to 1 lead. Michigan also held a slight edge in shots on goal with a 9 to 6 count.

The US team started the second period with 1:10 of power play time, but they were unable to take advantage. With 18:25 left in the period, just after the Wolverines had killed off the previous penalty, a set of matching penalties were called. These penalties were skated off by both teams and play continued for several minutes up and down the ice. As play moved into the middle part of the second period things started to get a little chippy on the ice. With 13:31 remaining in the period the US team picked up a penalty. With 12:12 remaining in the period Jillson picked up a penalty for the Wolverines as he just leveled a US player. This penalty came with 41 seconds remaining in the Wolverine power play so it ended that and it was a double minor putting the Wolverines down a man for four minutes. With 11:39 remaining in the period a whole slew of penalties were handed out. All of these penalties were called coincidental so the teams skated four on four. With 10:19 remaining in the period and 2:08 on their power play the US team picked up a bench minor for too many men on the ice effectively wiping out the final two minutes of power play time that resulted from the Jillson penalty. All of these penalties were killed off and we got down to the final 7:05 of the period when the US team picked up the next penalty of the night. As this Michigan power play was getting close to the end another scuffle broke out on the ice and more penalties were handed out. Most of these were coincidental; however, the US team was hit with a double minor giving Michigan a two-man advantage for 18 seconds, then a one-man advantage for the remainder of the power play. This period finally came to an end with Michigan still leading by a score of 3 to 1. The US team cut into Michigan’s edge in shots on goal by one, but Michigan still led by a 14 to 12 count.

The third period got under way with Kevin O’Malley starting in goal giving each of the goaltenders some time between the pipes in this game. With 16:47 remaining in the period Michigan was going to get a call that would put them on the power play as the US team was going to be called for a penalty. While playing on the delay and looking to notch a goal Michigan almost gave up an easy goal to the US team, but the narrowly averted disaster. The US team was able to kill off this penalty and the up and down play once again continued for several minutes until there was 12:49 left in the period. Then, working off a face off, the Wolverines Ortmeyer got the puck and charged into the US zone all alone. Once there Jed wasted no time in punching the puck into the net, unassisted, to extend the Wolverine lead. The teams traded penalties over the next seven or eight minutes, but neither team could take advantage of the power plays or find a crack in the other teams defense big enough to score a goal. With 2:08 remaining in the period UM was called for a penalty that gave the US team a late power play. This time, with 1:31 remaining in the power play, the US team was able to find that crack and score their second goal of the night. However, the goal was to little, too late, and the game came to an end with Michigan winning by a score of 4 to 2. Michigan ended the night with the slight edge in shots on goal with a 23 to 21 count.

First, I have to say that this US team is very talented. I think they were just a little on the nervous side when things started giving the Wolverines some opportunities early in the game that they might not otherwise have received. In the second and third periods, once they had settled down, they played Michigan pretty much even. To be fair I must point out that it is exam week at the University, Michigan was without their top line as Cammalleri did not play, Matzka being out broke up the senior line, and Murray being out broke up the fourth line. Basically Michigan had a lot of different line combinations on the ice tonight. While the Wolverines showed up and played the game I can’t say that I saw them play with the same intensity that they have exhibited over the final three weeks of the season; it just wasn’t there. They worked hard, but they just weren’t playing at their top emotional level. What I don’t want is for anyone to think that I am taking anything away from the US team, I’m not. They are very talented, in fact man for man when you go down the lineup’s they may have more talent that Michigan does. What they ran into tonight was an older, stronger, more experienced, and similarly talented team. All of those things combined to give the Wolverines the edge. Several of the players on that US team are going to be wearing maize and blue next year and I think all Wolverine fans are going to like what they see. Several others will be on other CCHA teams and some of the other top teams in the country. We will have many opportunities to see many of these young players another year older and another year better starting next fall. Well this game does it for the first half of the season. There are no more games until the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) so I guess I get a couple of weeks off to do things other that follow Michigan hockey. I wish all Wolverines everywhere the happiest of holidays and until the GLI, C-ya!

Week in Review

The action is really slowing down in the college hockey world so there isn’t much more ground to cover except a quick look at the CCHA conference. The Spartans are going to end the first half sitting in first place with 21 points, a full six points ahead of Michigan and Miami who are tied for second with 15 points each. Don’t despair Wolverine fans! The margin looks huge; however, the Spartans have played two more conference games than the Wolverines. Assuming Michigan wins those two games in hand they trail the Spartans by a mere two points with three head-to-head games coming up in the second half. The Redhawks, currently tied with Michigan for second, have played one more game than the Wolverines, so again assuming that Michigan wins that game in hand they move in front of Miami. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the conference this year Western currently holds the number four spot with fourteen points. The trouble with the Bronco’s is that they have played only nine conference games, giving them two games in hand against the Wolverines. Assuming the Bronco’s win those two games they would move in front of Michigan by three points. However, Michigan has two head-to-head games coming up in the second half against the Bronco’s – enough to move in front of Western by a point. Also with fourteen points is Northern Michigan, followed closely by Ohio State with thirteen. Northern’s problem is that they have played more conference games than anyone else so they stand to drop down in the standings once some of these teams catch up in games played. The Buckeyes have one game in hand against Michigan so they can move into a tie with the Wolverines if they win that game. Again Michigan has two head-to-head games in the second half with the Buckeyes. Lake Superior and Alaska sit in positions seven and eight, each with twelve points. The Lakers, while not doing as well as expected in the conference, have started to show some signs of life. Alaska, picked to finish dead last in the conference, has taken at least one point in every weekend of play through the first half of the season. If the Nannooks can keep this up they stand to make the CCHA playoffs. Nebraska sits in the ninth position with 11 points and Bowling Green holds down the final playoff position with 10 points. Nebraska is another team not performing as well as expected in conference play, while Bowling Green is right about where they were expected to be. The two teams currently on the outside looking in are Ferris and Notre Dame. Neither of these teams was expected to do this poorly in the conference and it will be interesting to see if they can turn their seasons around in the second half. While there are certainly some surprises in the conference as we approach the end of the first half there is a clear path for the Wolverines. Michigan plays all the teams they need to play in order to repeat as CCHA regular season champions. The problem for the Wolverines is that they find themselves in a position that provides them no margin of error. The biggest problems right now are Western and Ohio State and in order to get in front and stay in front of those teams Michigan cannot afford to loose another conference game. If they drop a conference game they will have to get help from other teams to repeat.

In the final games of the first half Ohio State takes on Western twice this weekend. This will do two things. First it will draw Western even with the Wolverines in games played so we will see where they sit in relation to Michigan after this weekend. Ohio State will actually end up having played one more game than Michigan at the end of the first half, giving the Wolverines a game in hand against the Buckeyes. On the one hand I would like to see Ohio State sweep Western, however, probably the best thing, from a Wolverine perspective, would be if these two teams split over the weekend. They can each win a game or they can tie both nights. Basically it would be best, again from a Michigan perspective, if both of these teams managed only two points apiece on the weekend. We will know how things go before we get to the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI), which will kick off the second half of the season. The only other CCHA team in action this weekend is Ferris who will play out of conference against Findlay. Again it’s important for Ferris to win these two games to further improve the CCHA conference’s record against non-conference opponents.

While no Michigan players won player of the week honors for last weekend’s performances against St. Lawrence, several Wolverines did receive recognition as notable players. First off was Andy Hilbert for his four goals and one assist against the Saints. Andy got his first career hat trick last weekend and was once again an instrumental player for the Wolverines. Second was Josh Blackburn who stopped 48 of 50 shots last weekend for a .960 save percentage. Blackburn is now unbeaten (5-0-1) in his last six games. The final Wolverine recognized as a notable performance was freshman Mike Komisarek. Komisarek tied for the team lead with a +4 on the weekend and was a big part in Michigan’s ability to kill 11 of 12 St. Lawrence power plays. This accomplishment by the team was of special note as the Saints came into last weekend with the best power play in the country.

Well I guess that’s about it for this week. Things have really slowed down as most teams finish up their first half of play. This break comes at a good time for Michigan. We started early and are pretty banged up right now so it will be good for the guys to get a little down time to catch their breath and let the bumps and bruises heal up.