Friday, October 12, 2001

Friday, October 12, 2001, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska

Michigan goes into its first full weekend of competition this weekend as they play in the Maverick Stampede, hosted by the University of Nebraska (Omaha). While the Wolverines have played in a big game, a really big game at Spartan Stadium that was only one game for the weekend. This young Wolverine team must now put that kind of effort forward for two straight nights, something they have not yet had to do.

Michigan's first opponent in this tournament will be the Friars from Providence; currently the number six team in the country. They are the pre-season favorite to win Hockey East, but that could be somewhat misleading. The Friars got the pre-season number one spot without receiving a single first place vote. What it really shows is how wide open the Hockey East race will be this year. Immediately following last years National Championship the odds on favorite to win Hockey East this year would have been Boston College, but that was before they lost three of their top returning players to the NHL. Not only did the Eagles have to weather the loss of a very talented senior class, but the loss of those three additional players have put Boston College into more of a rebuilding mode, than a reloading mode.

The other two teams playing in the Stampede are of course the host Mavericks from Nebraska-Omaha and the Bulldogs from the University of Minnesota (Duluth). Nebraska comes into this weekend's tournament, as the number thirteen team in the country while the Bulldogs are the only unranked team in the field. While they are unranked they finished last year playing very well and return much of that team; they could be a tougher opponent than expected.

How will this young Wolverine fare in their first full weekend of hockey? Only time will tell, but no matter the outcome there should be lessons a-plenty for this team to learn.

Michigan got the scoring started early in their game against Providence, staking themselves to a two goal lead with less than five minutes gone in the first period. Michigan's first goal of the night came while the Wolverines were on the power play. Ortmeyer fed a cross-ice pass to Komisarek, whose initial shot was stopped by the Friar netminder. However, Ryznar was there to pick up the rebound, re-position himself in the slot, and let loose a shot that would beat the Friar goaltender. Ryznar got the Wolverines on the board for the second straight game, with Ortmeyer and Komisarek picking up the only assists.

About a minute later Michigan would extend it's lead, this time with both teams skating four on four. Moss, on his knees, would get a pass off to Gajic at the right edge of the cease. Gajic would send a shot in top shelf, but the Friar netminder would stop the shot with his glove. However, he didn't grab the puck, letting it drop back down on the ice. Moss was right there to flip the puck into the empty net to score his first goal as a Wolverine. Following Michigan's second goal the Friars called a quick time out to settle themselves down.

Providence would get back to within one about midway through the period, again while both teams were skating with only four men a side. The Wolverines had a defensive breakdown that allowed a Friar to get free on a break away. DiSalvatore beat Blackburn to his glove hand to Michigan's lead to one.

With time running down in the period Michigan would once again extend their lead to two goals. Woodford would send a pass from the boards to Kautz in the right face off circle. Kautz would blast a shot from there that was tipped by Shouneyia past the Friar netminder. Kautz and Woodford both received assists on the goal. The first period came to an end with Michigan leading by a score of three to one. The Wolverines also had a clear edge in shots on goal with an 11 to 5 count.

Providence would cut Michigan's lead back to one goal just 5:42 into the second period when a shot from the right point beat Blackburn (the second puck to get past him along the ice). It would take the Wolverines a little over three minutes to answer this goal and regain their two-goal lead. This time it was another freshman that would hurt the Friars. Helminen took a shot that appeared to be stopped by the Friar netminder, but in a cruel twist of fate (at least from a Friar perspective), the Friar netminder mishandled the puck and knocked it into his own net. Helminen received credit for the goal, unassisted.

Michigan's fifth goal of the night would come approximately five minutes later. This time Vancik took a shot that was stopped, but again not covered. This time it was Nystrom in position to get the rebound, which he took and circled around the right face off circle, before taking a shot that beat the Friar netminder through the five hole (between the legs). Assists on this goal went to Vancik and Helminen.

The Wolverines would complete their second period scoring with less than a minute to go in the period while once again on the power play. Komisarek took a shot that appeared to be fired from a cannon. The puck was tipped into the net by Ortmeyer to give Michigan's their sixth and final goal of the game. Assists went to Cammalleri and Komisarek. The second period came to an end with Michigan leading by a score of six to two. Michigan continued to hold a solid lead in shots on goal with a 24 to 11 count.

Providence would again chip away at the Michigan lead early in the third period when they tipped a shot under Blackburn for their third goal of the game. Unfortunately for the Friars that was the final shot they would get past Blackburn. Michigan went on to win the game by a score of six to three. Michigan ended the game with a 31 to 17 advantage in shots on goal.

Michigan got goals by six different players in this game and a total of twelve different Wolverines picked up points in this game. Perhaps a more disturbing statistic was the number of penalties. Michigan picked up nine penalties in this game; I believe that is their highest total in a single game so far this year. So far Michigan has shown less of that attitude that earned them so many ill-timed penalties last year. Hopefully this was just a case of nerves for this young team and large numbers of penalty minutes won't become the norm for this team as the year goes on. The only reason these penalties didn't do more damage to the Wolverines is that the Friars took eleven of their own.

Michigan's goals weren't always pretty tonight, but it was a good start on the weekend and not totally unexpected. This was the first game of the weekend and so far Michigan has shown that they are fully capable of playing well for one game. The real test for the Wolverines will come on Saturday night when they have to play their second game of the weekend. Will the Wolverines be able to re-focus on Saturday night's opponent after a relatively easy time of it against Providence?

One other positive for the Wolverines was their use of an all freshman power play group. That group included Nystrom, Helminen, Gajic, Werner, and Rogers. It appears that confidence in this group of youngsters continues to grow and for Wolverine fans that's a good sign.