Blue/White Game Ends In Tie

Friday, October 4, 2002
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

After what seemed an eternity of waiting the University of Michigan Hockey team took to the ice once again in the annual Blue/White intrasquad scrimmage. A crowd, just shy of 1,900 people, ventured to Yost to get their first glimpse of this years edition of the team. With questions to be answered on the blue line and in goal many couldn't wait for this first look.

The white team came out hard and fast peppering freshman goalie Noah Ruden with shot after shot in the early minutes of the first period. Through the initial flurry of activity in his end Ruden turned away all comers.

Even though they had been out shot through the period it would be the Blue team who would draw first blood in this contest. With just over eleven minutes to play it would be Brandon Rogers letting loose a quick shot from in front of the net that would beat Montoya over his blocker for the games first goal. Assists on the goal went to Gajic and Ryznar.

The play would continue up and down the ice for the remainder of the period. At the end of twenty minutes of play it would be the Blue team holding the one to nothing lead over the white team. The Blue team got closer in shots, but the White team held the lead in shots on goal with a thirteen to nine count.

Coming out of the locker room Montoya had switched from White to Blue, but Ruden stayed in goal for the Blue team. The third goalie, Chris Gartman, would finish the game in goal for the white team. This was the same type of rotation used in the Alumni game in August that would see each goalie get two periods of work.

The White team started out the second period in the same fashion they had started the first, buzzing the net and getting off several quick shots. However, unlike the first period, this time the White team would get the puck into the net. With just over one minute gone in the first period Woodford would take a pass at the red line, skate hard into the Blue zone, and send a sizzling shot past Ruden to get the White on the board. Assists on the goal went to Martens and Moss.

About two minutes after the first White goal they almost came up with thier second of the game, but Ruden came up with a great save to turn the scoring chance away. It would be almost five minutes later, with just 13:37 left in the period, when the White team would once again score a goal and take their first lead of the game. This time Shouneyia would receive a nice pass as he cruised into the Blue zone and would walk in on Ruden all by himself. As he closed on the goal he deked Ruden and put the easy goal into the net. The lone assist on this goal went to freshman Jeff Tambellini.

Barely two minutes later, this time on the power play, the White team would strike again to take a two goal lead. As they worked the puck around the Blue zone Martens suddenly sent a hard shot down low to the left of the goal where Moss was waiting. As the puck reached him Moss redirected it into the Blue net for a sweet looking goal. Martens and Helminen would both receive assists on this power play goal.

Just over one minute later the White team would score thier fourth goal of the period, again on the power play. This was a strange little goal, but Shouneyia was in the right place at the right time, and unlike many times last year, made the best of the opportunity. After a somewhat weak shot at the Blue goal the puck took a weird hop away from the goaltender right to Shouneyia, who wasted no time punching the puck into the net. The lone assist on this goal went to Nystrom.

After giving up four straight goals the Blue team would get one back with just twenty five seconds left in the period. To get things started Ryznar would make a nice up ice pass to Gajic who broke up the ice and found himself closing on the White goal with no one else around. Wasting no time Gajic made the best of the chance by burying the puck in the goal to get the Blue teams second goal of the game, first of the period.

The second period would come to an end with the White team holding a solid four to two lead. The White team also continued to outshoot the Blue team, ending the second period with a 29 to 17 advantage in shots on goal.

To start the final period of the game Montoya would go into goal for the Blue to get his second period of work and Ruden would head to the bench. Gartman stayed in goal for the White. The third period was also played with a running clock.

With just over sixteen minutes yet to play in the period the Blue team would get within one goal of the White team when Henderson made a great move in close to score the Blues third goal of the game. Receiving a pass down low, Henderson would cut to the right of the goal and tuck the puck into the net over an extended Gartman. Assists on the goal went to Kaleniecki and Ebbett.

With time running out on the Blue team desperation entered into their play. With one minute left in the period the Blue team would pull Montoya to get the extra attacker. Even with the additional man, it looked like the white would hold onto their slim one goal lead, however, that would all change with eighteen seconds left in the game. Winning a face off in the neutral zone Ryznar got the puck immediately to Gajic who broke into the White zone. Leaving a defensman behind Gajic came in uncontested moving from right to left. As he closed on the goal he slid the puck under the outstretched arm of Gartman to tie the game at four goals each. The lone assist went to Ryznar.

The game would come to an end with each team, Blue and White, having four goals. The White team ended the game with a 32 to 24 advantage in shots on goal. With each goaltender seeing forty minutes of play, Montoya stopped 10 of 11 shots faced, Ruden stopped 25 of 29, and Gartman stopped 9 of 12.

Although you can't really draw any conclusions from a game like this some observations can be made. Several of the returning players look like they have gotten bigger over the summer. Moss, Rogers, Martens, Ryznar, to name a few, looked bigger and more imposing on the ice. Many of these sophomore players seem to be playing with a great deal of confidence at this point (they will have to play with confidence all year for this team to succeed).

The passing looked good at many times during the game, crisp and clean. The defense was also pretty solid on the night even though eight goals total were scored. The special teams seem to be a little off, but they look better at this point than they did last year at this time.

Finally, the freshmen look good, I might even say real good. This class is small, but if this game is any indication this class could well go down as one of the best in Michigan history, but that still remains to be seen. For now let's just say, they are good. Richmond looks solid on defense, is quick on his feet, and isn't at all afraid to shoot the puck. Kaleniecki, Ebbet, and Tambellini are all fast and don't seem to be out of place at all on the ice. While last years large freshmen class could at times look a little confused in the early going, at least in this intra-squad game, these freshmen already look like they they have a month or two of experience under their belts. All of the forwards have wheels and at times just blew past people. They also all have a nose for the puck and the net. These guys could be downright scary come February and March. Montoya looked comfortable in goal and while big for a goalie, he is quite athletic and moves well around the net. He is also quite active, much like Turco was, moving out away from the goal and showing no fear at going out to play the puck.

All in all the team looks good for this point in the season. The only question I saw from tonight's game was the absence of Captain Jed Ortmeyer. He apparently sat out tonights game to give his knee a break after undergoing off season surgery. Michigan plays an exhibition game against the Toronto Varsity Blues tomorrow night at Yost.