Friday, December 29, 2000

Friday, December 29, 2000, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan

The Huskies could give Michigan a harder time tonight than I expected. I didn’t know much about Michigan Tech going into tonight, but I’ve been able to review their season so far and while they haven’t got a lot of wins, they have played a lot of good teams and played them close. Michigan is going to have to work to win this game. The senior line of Mark Kosick, Josh Langfeld, and Scott Matzka got the start with Jillson and Burnes on the defense. Of course Blackburn started the game between the pipes. They did put Kautz into the sophomore line containing Mink and Shouneyia. Murray was centering the line with Koch and Ortmeyer on the wings, while the fourth line had Trainor, Wyzgowski, and Swistak. Brad Fraser is indeed back in the line up and it appears the walk-on, Robbie Kohen, is not playing tonight as Bob Gassoff on the ice.

While both teams are going after each other at the start of this game, it appears that Michigan is just a little rusty. Their passing is off and they are finding themselves out of position on defense quite often, but the game is quite exciting. With just 2:30 gone in the first period Trainor picked up a stupid penalty while in the Tech zone to give the Huskies the first power play chance of the night. This power play was filled with action. With 1:25 left in the power play Tech had gotten into the Michigan zone and got off a shot. Blackburn blocked the shot, but he had to come out to the top of the crease to do it. Then the puck took a weird hop on the rebound and it was lying in the crease behind Blackburn waiting for a Huskie to put the puck into a wide open net. Just as an opportunistic Huskie tried to do that Blackburn dove back across the crease to pin the puck against the post and stop what looked to be a sure goal. Then with 33 seconds left in the Tech power play Matzka got loose and went speeding toward the MTU goal all alone. The MTU goalie came up with a great one-on-one stop of his own to keep Michigan off the board. Michigan finally killed the penalty off, but it sure was an action packed power play. As action packed as the first five minutes were, the middle of the period seemed to settle into a routine for both teams. The downside to all this was that Michigan continued to find themselves out of position defensively, giving Tech several chances to get the puck behind the defense. Luckily for the Wolverines the Huskies were unable to capitalize on any of these chances. With 6:57 remaining in the first period Tech picked up their first penalty of the game to give Michigan their first power play chance of the night. While Michigan was able to get a couple of shots off they were unable to get any in the net and the power play ended with the score still tied at zero. Action continued on the ice with neither team really getting close to a score, but Michigan did continue to give up the puck in bad places on the ice. As an example with just over one minute to go in the period Michigan gave the puck up deep in their own zone and Tech almost got themselves a cheap goal. Then with 1.1 seconds (19:58 officially) to go in the period Ortmeyer got the puck out by the blue line. He fought his way around two Huskies and with another Huskie draped all over him he got the puck into the net to give Michigan a one to nothing lead at the end of the first period. The lone assist on this goal went to Murray. Michigan held a slight edge in shots on goal with an 8 to 3 count.

It didn’t take very much of the second period for Tech to tie this game up. They got the puck tied up in the Michigan zone forcing a face off to the right of Blackburn. Tech won the face off, passed the puck across the ice in front of the crease, where yet another unaccounted for Huskie was waiting for the puck. As soon as he got the puck he buried it in the wide-open net to tie the game for the Huskies. How Michigan could not account for this player is beyond me as he is Tech’s leading goal scorer. Michigan was able to get through the first five minutes of this period without giving up any more goals, but they did continue to give Tech wonderful scoring chances as they mishandled the puck and generally played poorly. With 12:40 remaining in the second period Gassoff was called for a slashing penalty that was one of the weakest calls I have ever seen. With 12:07 remaining in the period, 1:27 in the Tech power play, Tech was called for a penalty to effectively kill their power play chance. This left the teams skating at even strength (four on four) for 1:27. With 10:50 remaining in the period, ten seconds in the original Gassoff penalty, Tech let loose a shot from the blue line that sailed in over Blackburn’s shoulder to give Tech a one goal lead. Michigan then got a short power play, but they were unable to do anything with that chance. With 9:46 remaining in the period Tech almost got their third goal of the period, as Blackburn again had to dive all the way across the crease to stop a wide-open shot. While the action certainly picked up in the second five minutes of this period Tech was really pushing Michigan around the ice. Even with that Michigan almost dribbled a shot through the Tech goalies five hole, but it just went wide of the net. With 8:03 left in the period Tech was called for a penalty giving Michigan their third power play chance of the game. However, with 46 seconds left in the power play (6:48 in the period) Langfeld was called for a penalty effectively killing the Wolverine power play. Tech ended up getting a short power play, but Michigan was able to kill that off. With 4:29 remaining in the period Michigan finally put a little bit of decent play together. Ortmeyer got the puck in the Michigan zone and skated it out through neutral ice. He broke to his left drawing the Tech defense with him. He made a nice pass back to the right to Koch who buried the puck in the Tech net to tie the game. Assists went to Ortmeyer and Murray. However, the tie score was not to last for very long. With 3:12 left in the period Tech drove into the Michigan zone and simply out muscled Michigan’s defense to get the go ahead score. They pushed three or four Wolverines back into the net and got off a shot. Blackburn stopped the initial shot, but the puck dropped to the ice right in front of the net. With Blackburn on his back it was an easy shot for Tech to flip the puck into the net and take the lead. The second period came to an end with Michigan Tech leading by a score of 3 to 2. Even with their disjointed play Michigan significantly increased their lead in shots on goal with a 24 to 13 count.

Well it’s put up or shut up time for this team and this senior class as we move into the third period. This period started out in a bad way when, with 17:30 left to play in the game, Michigan was again backed right up into their goal as they watched Tech increase their lead to two goals. A couple of minutes of back and forth action took place when Tech was called for a penalty with 15:29 left in the game. Michigan got a couple of looks and with just 17 seconds left in the power play it looked like Michigan was going to score a goal, but Matzka’s shot went wide of the goal. ech got the penalty killed off and retained their two goal lead. With 12:35 left in the game there was a face off to the left of the Tech goal. Michigan won the face off and dropped the puck back to Vancik at the blue line. Jay let loose a slap shot that was deflected into the net by Wyzgowski to cut the Tech lead to one goal. Assists on this goal went to Vancik and Ortmeyer. With 10:05 left in the game Fraser was called for a penalty, but at least this penalty was a good one as it stopped a scoring chance. With 1:33 left in the power play, Tech clanged a shot off a post and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With 1:01 left in this Tech power play Michigan just missed picking up a short handed goal as a Jillson shot just missed. That last little gasp, as they came close to the short handed goal, was about the last good thing we saw out of Michigan the rest of the game. With 8:50 left in the game, 45 seconds in the power play, Tech scored their fifth goal of the night as Michigan once again gave the puck up in their own zone. With 8:06 left in the game Tech is called for interference to give Michigan another power play chance, one they really needed if they were going to come out of this game with a win. With 6:42 left in the game, 33 seconds left in the power play, Michigan again didn’t take care of the puck and again got lucky as the Tech shot went off a post. Tech got the penalty all killed off and the game continued at even strength. With 5:50 left in the game Tech again gets the puck on a Michigan turn over, they get a three on one break, and just bury the puck (and Michigan) as Blackburn lay on his back and Vancik lay spread eagled on the ice in front of the net. With 2:52 left in the game Michigan pulled Blackburn to get a sixth attacker (about the earliest I think I’ve ever seen a goalie pulled). They made it all the way to the 1:48 mark of the game when Tech got themselves an empty net goal to extend their lead to four goals. The period and game mercifully came to an end with Michigan Tech winning by a score of 7 to 3. Michigan did end the game with more shots on goal with a 39 to 26 count, but that is small consolation.

This was just not the kind of game you wanted to see out of Michigan to start the second half of the season. I couldn’t have been more wrong about this team or this senior class. Michigan Tech came to this game and played with emotion, intensity, and fire. Michigan came to this game and went through the motions. It was just like the second game of the weekend against Alaska or Ferris all over again. Perhaps they looked at the record and figured all they had to do was show up, but once again they had to learn the oh so painful lesson that you have to play the game if you want to win the game. The defense was often out of position and often out played. Blackburn was often out of position and simply was not in this game from the start. I am not trying to single out individual players; this was undoubtedly a team loss. I hope it stings, it should. I hope they are embarrassed, they should be. This senior class will leave Michigan never having won a Great Lakes Invitational (GLI), no matter how much they said they wanted to win one. Tomorrow Michigan has to play Boston College in the consolation game. They had better deal with this game and put it behind them quickly, because they will have to play much better, I mean MUCH better, if they want to beat the Eagles and salvage something out of this weekend. Perhaps this will turn out for the best and the Wolverines will use this loss to fuel the remainder of the season. If they don’t and they continue to play hockey like this it’s going to be a very long start to the year 2000. Until tomorrow, C-ya!

Week in Review

There really weren’t a lot of other things happening in college hockey over the last two weeks so let’s move over to the World Juniors. First, the impact of this tournament will certainly be felt by the Wolverines. Michigan will be without three of their top players as Andy Hilbert and Mike Komisarek will be playing for team USA, while Mike Cammalleri will be playing for team Canada. Cammalleri and Hilbert are Michigan’s top two scorers, while Komisarek is one of their top defensemen (especially with Huntzicker still out with that knee injury). While I think it’s great that all three of these guys get to play for their country in this tournament, I’m sure a time will come this weekend when we will all wish they were on the ice in the Michigan uniforms. Connor Dunlop (Notre Dame) was named the Captain of this year’s team while Andy Hilbert (Michigan) and John Sabo (Boston University) were named assistant Captains.

For team USA they had mixed results in a couple of exhibition games as they beat Finland 4-2 on December 19th, but they lost to Switzerland 3-0 on the 22nd of December. Actual tournament action got under way on December 26, 2000 with team USA simply blasting Kazakstan by a score of 9 to 1. Team USA scored five goals in the first period of this game and never looked back. They out shot Kazakstan 39 to 12 for the game, simply overpowering their first opponent of this tournament. While he didn’t pick up any goals, Hilbert did pick up three assists in this game. Team USA continued their winning ways in their second game played on December 28, 2000 as they beat up Slovakia by a score of 7 to 2. Andy Hilbert didn’t pick up any assists in this game, but he did pick up two goals.

Since there is a Wolverine on team Canada we will take a look at their games as well. Team Canada also started this tournament with a bang as they spanked Belarus by a score of nine to nothing. While he didn’t get any assists Cammalleri did some goals as he picked up a hat trick in this game. Team Canada also played their second game of this tournament on the 28th of December and this time they came away with a 2-2 tie with Finland. I don’t have final statistics for this game, but it appears that Cammalleri picked up an assist.

From a statistical point of view Andy Hilbert leads in scoring with a total of five points. Also with five points is Jeff Taffe (Minnesota) from team USA. Cammalleri is tied with a group of players with four points. Team USA has five of the top ten scorers in this tournament while Cammalleri is the lone representative for team Canada in the top ten in scoring. It’s great to see both Hilbert and Cammalleri playing this well; especially Cammalleri after team Canada passed Comrie by the previous two years. Team USA is off to a great start with a 2-0 record, tying them for first place in pool A. We will get an idea of how things will go for team USA as they play the defending the Czech Republic on December 29, 2000. The Czech Republic is the defending World Junior champion and is also has a record of 2-0 in pool A this year.

Many CCHA teams are involved in holiday tournaments over the next few days. On December 27th, Ohio State lost to Cornell (6-5 ot) in the Everblades College Classic. The Buckeyes will play in the consolation game of this tournament on the 28th. On December 28 and 29 Western Michigan will play in the Silverado Shootout. The Bronco’s will play Colgate on the 28th and they will play Merrimack on the 29th. On the 29th and 30th Nebraska-Omaha will play in the Alabama Faceoff Classic. They will play Umass-Lowell on the 29th and depending on the outcome of that game will play in either the championship or consolation game on the 30th. Also on the 29th and 30th Ferris will participate in the Norwest Denver Cup which will see the Bulldogs take on Providence on the 29th. Again, depending on the outcome of their first game, the Bulldogs will play either for a championship or consolation on the 30th. In another tournament being played on the 29th and 30th Lake Superior will be playing Bemidji State in the Mariucci Classic. This tournament also features a championship and consolation game on the 30th so how they fare on the 29th will determine which game they play in on the 30th. Notre Dame plays in the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament on the 29th and 30th taking on St. Lawrence on the 29th. They will play on the 30th in either a consolation or championship game. That leaves us with the premier tournament being played during this years holiday season – the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI). This tournament will also be played on the 29th and 30th and will feature Michigan State playing Boston College in the first game on the 29th, while Michigan will take on Michigan Tech in the second game. The winners of these two games will face off in the late game on the 30th for the GLI championship, while the losers will play for the consolation prize. More on this tournament in just a bit.

As Michigan prepares to begin play in the second half of the season we have a mix of missing players and players returning from injury. As I have already mentioned Mike Cammalleri, Andy Hilbert, and Mike Komisarek are over in Russia playing in the World Junior tournament. This will certainly have an impact on the Wolverines, but the big question is what kind of impact? First, let’s take a look at the positive side of things. Scott Matzka, Andy Burnes, and Craig Murray should all be healthy for the GLI. Both Matzka and Burnes sat out the last game of the first half (the exhibition against the US Development team), while Murray only saw limited action. Brad Fraser should be back from his latest knee injury; he started skating with the team again this month. The one player we won’t have back for sure is David Huntzicker and the jury is still out on his injury. David was to have his knee scoped either right before or just after Christmas and the results of that surgery will tell the tale. If they find damage they will repair it and he will be gone for the season. If there is no damage he should be back on the ice in a few weeks. Fraser coming back will help the Wolverines on the blue line, but they loose Komisarek (World Juniors). Gassoff will probably see some playing time, but we may also see walk-on Robbie Kohen who saw his first career action in the Wolverines last exhibition game. All in all the defense, while not as good as it was looking prior to the start of the season, should be solid. There is also no doubt that the defensive losses suffered by the team over the last month or two have caused the team to play together much better. They have rallied and overcome these losses in fine fashion.

So here we are with the GLI to talk about, who is going to win this tournament. A little earlier in this article I called it the premier tournament in the country this holiday season. The reason for this is that it will see Michigan State (#1) take on Boston College (#2) in the first game on Friday. This is a rematch of last year’s NCAA tournament game between MSU and BC, which BC won in overtime by a score of 6-5. Then Michigan (#4) will play Michigan Tech in the second game of the opening day. As you can see three of the top four teams in the country are playing in this tournament. Depending on who wins this tournament it could have a definite impact on the first poll of the new year. After reeling off nine straight GLI tournament wins the Wolverines have seen the Spartans take the last three. That means that Michigan’s large senior class has never won the GLI and from all accounts they are taking this one personally. This group of seniors wants to win this tournament and with our top two scorers currently lighting it up in Moscow there are some seniors that need to step up if Michigan is going to win.

For all you statistics people ponder this. Michigan has won more GLI tournaments (11) than anyone else (including 9 straight from 1988 through 1996). Michigan Tech has nine tournament wins to hold second place. Michigan State has beaten Michigan only five times in this tournament, three of those wins coming in the last three years. In the last 25 GLI games Michigan is 22-3-0 (those three losses to Michigan State). The Wolverines have outscored GLI opponents 126-57 and a trio of seniors is at the top of Michigan’s active GLI scorer’s list. Those players are Mark Kosick and Josh Langfeld – each with two goals and two assists. The third is David Huntzicker with four assists – obviously we won’t get any of those assists from David this year.

To make up for the missing players we will see some line changes for Michigan in this tournament. Murray, normally the center of the fourth line, will center a line with Geoff Koch and Jed Ortmeyer. This line will be expected to score points and this could be an interesting line combination. To make up for the loss of Murray on the fourth line Trainor will move from wing to center. The fourth line has made its presence known in the last few games and if they can produce in this tournament Michigan should be in good shape. J.J. Swistak, Dave Wyzgowski, and Joe Kautz will all see action this year (the first time all season that these three have been dressed for the same games). Brad Fraser will indeed be dressed and ready to go for Michigan. Right now it still looks like walk-on Robbie Kohen may come along to this tournament as well. They will probably put either Swistak or Wyzgowski on the line with Mink and Shouneyia. The only intact line for this tournament is the line of Kosick, Langfeld, and Matzka. In my opinion Michigan’s success or failure in this tournament will hinge on this line.

How do I think things will go in the GLI? I like Boston College to win their game against Michigan State. Michigan State has had a pretty long break (I believe 20 days) and I think Boston College will be just a little bit better coming off the break. I like their speed and skill to keep a half step ahead of MSU’s defense. Of course you have to like Michigan to beat Michigan Tech. If MTU were to win this game it would have to go down as one of the greatest upsets of all time. The only thing MTU has going for it is the players Michigan is missing, but I firmly believe that Michigan is deep enough to overcome the loss of these players. That’s going to leave a game between Michigan and Boston College on Saturday for the championship and I like the Wolverines. Even if we see a game between Michigan and Michigan State on Saturday for the championship I still like the Wolverines. My reasoning is perhaps twisted, but it’s fairly simple. It involves all of the intangibles. If you look at this on paper, with the players Michigan won’t have, you have to give the edge to either Boston College or Michigan State. However, I believe that this group of seniors really wants to win this tournament. I also believe this tournament will swing on a group of three seniors (Kosick, Langfeld, and Matzka). If Michigan is going to win these guys have to score goals. They have been so close all year long and it was finally looking like they were getting it going in the last couple of games. If they can lead the way and Michigan can pick up a goal here and there from the other three lines I think they will be just fine. The other key player in this tournament will be Blackburn. If Blackburn is on, like he has been over the last six or so games, he is one of the best goalies in the country. If Blackburn can hold the opponent to zero, one, or two goals our offense can and will score some goals. Once again you go back to intangibles. This is a game where you look at who is not playing for Michigan and you don’t really give them a good chance of winning. But these are the types of games and sets of circumstances in which Michigan seems to rise up and play to the absolute best of their ability. Forget who won’t be there and think about who will be on the ice for Michigan. This is a deep and talented team that can play with any of the teams in this tournament (without the players currently in Russia). It may not be logical, it may just be a feeling, but I have a feeling that Michigan will win this tournament to jump start the second half of the season. We’ll know in a few days if my feeling was right or if I just had too much to eat over Christmas. No matter how things go this should be an excellent tournament and at last check there were tickets available. I would suggest to anyone that they get one of those tickets and attend this tournament – it will be the best college hockey in the country this weekend. Until game time, C-ya!