Wolverines Break Broncos

Friday, February 2, 2007
Lawson Ice Arena, Kalamazoo, Michigan

The Wolverines ventured into Lawson Arena for a road game against the Western Michigan Broncos, a building and a team that generally gives Michigan a lot of trouble. The Bronco's split the years first home and home contest with the Wolverines earlier this year, with the teams each winning on the others home ice. The first salvo for a repeat of that was fired last night as the Wolverines scored early and often on their way to a seven to four victory. What remains to be seen is whether they can hold off the Bronco's tomorrow night when both teams face off once again at Yost Ice Arena.

With the clock just under the eighteen minute mark the Bronco's began what would be a continuous stream of players into and out of the penalty box. With the games first power play opportunity of the night the Wolverines immediately went on the attack, making the Bronco's pay with the games first goal. With just under seventeen minutes to play Porter passed the puck to Cogliano in the slot, where he fired off a one timer that beat the goal tender for the score. Porter got the lone assist on the power play goal.

About fifteen seconds later, with sixteen and half minutes to play the Bronco's were again whistled for a penalty to put the Wolverines right back on the power play. This time, however, things didn't work out so well. A misplayed puck at the Bronco blue line led to a break away by the Bronco's. They carried the puck into the Michigan zone, closed on the goal, and put the puck through the five hold for the short handed goal.

With just over eleven minutes to play the Wolverines once again moved into the lead when Hensick got the puck from center ice, to Turnbull at the Bronco blue line. Turnbull put on a burst of speed, blazing to the net, and finishing the play off with by sliding the puck under the Bronco goalies leg for the score. Hensick and Dest each picked up an assist on the goal. With that assist Hensick reached 200 points for his career at Michigan.

With a minute and half left in the first period the Wolverines were whistled for a penalty to put the Broncos on the power play. With just under a minute to play in the period they would score a power play goal to once again tie the game.

The first period would come to an end with the game all tied up at two goals each. The Bronco's out shot the Wolverines eleven to ten in the period.

Michigan would use a three goal second period to finally get some semblance of control in this game, but it would take almost eleven and half minutes before they started to get the puck into the net. With the clock just under the ten minute mark the Bronco's were whistled for a penalty that put Michigan on the power play. With about eight and half minutes to play the Wolverines scored a power play goal to retake the lead, a lead they would never again surrender. Hunwick got off a shot from the point that was knocked down before it could get through to the net. However, it bounced to Naurato in the right circle and he got of a blistering one timer that got behind the goalie before he could adjust to the shot. Naurato got credit for the goal, while Hunwick and Mitera each picked up assists.

Almost exactly two minutes later, with six and half minutes left to play, the Wolverines extended their lead to two goals when Hensick scored his first goal of the night. Hensick carried the puck up the right side, putting on a burst of speed that left a Bronco defenseman staring at his back. As he closed on the goal he made a little move to avoid an attempted poke check, finishing things off by slipping the puck into a wide open net for the score. Porter and Hunwick each picked up assists on the goal.

With just under two minutes to play the Bronco's were whistled for a penalty, giving Michigan another power play opportunity. With just under one minute to play the Wolverines would score another power play goal, extending their lead to three. It was a cannon blast from Johnson, from just inside the blue line, that beat the Bronco net minder for the score and the three goal lead. Hensick added to his nights work with the lone assist on the power play goal.

The second period would come to an end with the Wolverines holding a five to two lead. Michigan out shot the Bronco's thirteen to three in the period to hold a twenty-three to fourteen advantage in shots on goal through forty minutes of play.

With just under sixteen minutes left in the final period a total of six penalties were called, sending four players to the penalty box, two from Western and two from Michigan. Michigan's Johnson and Rohlfs were each given double minors, leaving the Bronco's on the power play with a two man advantage. Barely twenty seconds into the power play the Bronco's got the puck past Sauer for a power play goal that cut the Michigan lead back down to two.

With just under five minutes to play Hensick would score his second goal of the night to put Michigan back up by three. Porter had the puck behind the net when he passed it out front. The puck looked like the ball in a pinball machine as it bounced as it bounced off one player after another. It finally ended up on Hensicks stick and he got off a quick wrist shot through the five hole for the score. Johnson and Porter each received assists on the goal.

The Bronco's would not go away as they once again cut the Michigan lead to two goals when they managed to beat Sauer to his glove side with just under three minutes left on the clock. The goal gave the Bronco's a boost, but they would not score again, even though they finished the game on the power play for the final minute and half.

Since they were already on the power play they pulled their goalie as soon as play got going to give themselves a two man advantage. With just over a minute to play Michigan got the puck out of their zone and Dest was able to direct it into the empty net for the goal that sealed the win for Michigan. The goal was scored as unassisted.

The game would come to an end with the Wolverines winning by a score of seven to four. Michigan outshot the Bronco's thirteen to ten in the period to end the game with a thirty-six to twenty-four advantage in shots on goal.

Road wins are always hard to come by and they always seem extra hard to come by when at Lawson Arena. The Bronco's seem to make a living by beating visiting teams that are ranked and they certainly gave Michigan all they were looking for in last nights game. Both teams will play again tomorrow night, this time at Yost. If things follow the same pattern they did when these two teams played earlier this year, the Bronco's will win the game. Hopefully the Wolverines have learned enough over the last month to know that they have to come out even harder tomorrow night if they want to reverse that trend, win their final regular season home game, and give the Seniors a victory in the final home game of their careers.

It wouldn't be right to finish things off tonight without mentioning T.J. Hensick. He put together another multi point game tonight with two goals and two assists. Those four points allowed him to reach and surpass the 200 point career point total, the first Michigan player to go over 200 points since Bill Muckalt (now ten years in the past). With those four points Hensick now leads the country in scoring, three points ahead of Michigan's own Kevin Porter who is tied for second with Eric Ehn from Air Force. He is averaging 1.72 points per game, fourteen goals and thirty-six assists through twenty-nine games played. Of those goals three were game winners, five were power play, and two were short handed.

If T.J. can continue to produce at this pace he has to be considered a strong contender for this years Hobey Baker award. I say that with more than just points in mind. I would think that anyone who follows Michigan hockey would agree that T.J. has played the best hockey of his career this year. He is not only dishing out assists and scoring goals, but has also been taking care of his defensive responsibilities whether at even strength or on the penalty kill. He has become as much an asset on the penalty kill as he always has been on the power play. While he has played well all year, his play seems to have picked up since the break, and he seems to continue to improve. Watching him one gets the feeling that he is realizing that the end of his Michigan career is not only coming, but it can be seen. This is what we all miss when players with his talent leave the college ranks early to take a shot at their NHL dreams. Seeing a player in his final year, playing the best hockey of their career, doing what it takes to lead his team. I know it's unrealistic to think that other players of his skill level will follow his example and stay the full four years, but it sure would be nice if more of them did. For now I'll enjoy the last few months of Hensicks Michigan career. Hopefully he will continue to play at this level or even higher through the final weeks of his career, leaving us all with something to talk about for years to come. Do you remember that game where...