PAGE'src THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST 24,196!5' PAGE SIX THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST ~4. 1965 _ _, I HOCKEY COACH VIEWS SEASON: -S 'Young Team, Tough League' LLOYD GRAFF Senior Suit of University Men! sst _ _l By JIM TINDALL "The Western College Hockey Association plays the best ama- teur hockey in the world, and we finished fifth in that conference, so I'm not real disappointed," said Coach Al Renfrew, reflecting upon the past season. Michigan wound up behind' Michigan State in dramatic fin- ish that held the four WCHA playoff teams in ?doubt until the last weekend of the season. The league lived up to the old adage that "any team can beat any other team on any given night." Denver found this out the hard way as Coach Murray Arm- strong's squad, which he con- sidered stronger than last year's runnerups to Michigan's NCAA champs, won only four WCHA games. Colorado College, which beat Boston College, the 1965 NCAA runnerups to WCHA champ Michigan Tech, could win 'only two games in the rugged confer- ence. Bright Spots The season was certainly not without its bright spots for the Wolverines. Michigan's master- ful center, Mel Wakabayashi, who was elected 1965 captain and most valuable player, won the WCHA individual scoring championship and was selected on the Western All -America team. M i c h i g a n brought home some hardware from the East Coast over Christ- mas vacation as the Blue walked away with the Boston College tourney by beating Harvard, Northeastern and Boston College, the NCAA runnerup. The Wolverines continued to play the powerhouse hockey that won them so much attention last season as they romped over a rugged Cornell team early in Jan- uary, 7-1. Upon their return to Ann Arbor, the Wolverines re-en- tered WCHA play. Michigan held the second and third spots, in the conference for several weeks, but was unable to win the big games that would put them over the top of the .500 mark. According to Renfrew, the turning point in the season was the Michigan State series the first week of February. The Wol- verines had won five out of six games going into that home-away series, but those games were all played in the short space of nine days. This left the icers exhausted, and they were not able to get up for either game, losing 7-2 and 6-4. Michigan had a two goal lead in the second game but wasn't able to hold it in the late periods Michigan had to play Minnesota in a two-game away series while the Spartans met Colorado Col- lege, WCHA cellar-dweller. At Stake The Wolverines knew what was at stake when they went to Min- neapolis but they were still un- able to come up with a big victory. Musing on the first game of that series, Renfrew said, "The boys played as well in that game as A Tough League Means Rough Action and second leading scorer, Alex Hood, starting wing, Marty Read, the other wing on the Martin- Hood line, and Pete Dechaine. The effect of the losses will, of course affect nextyear's squad, butthey might not be a disasterous as the losses sustained by the 1964-65 team. Captain Mel Coming on to captain the team this season will be Wakabayashi, of Chatham, Ontario, who with an extra year of experience under his belt could be the terror of the league. The "Mighty Mite," who tips the scales at 155 pounds, played the entire WCHA season without incurring a single penalty. Wakabayashi, whose name gives PA announcers fits, has to be rat- ed as one of the most colorful and clean players in Michigan hockey history. Returning on defense will be a much-improved Teddy "Bear" Henderson and Hank Brand. Both players drew high praise from Renfrew, and much is expected of them for the coming season. All- America Tom Polonic, who has been the 220-pound bulwark of the defense for the past two sea- sons, will also be returning, as will two-year veteran Barry MacDon- ald. Thompson Too A strong forward can be found tn junior Mark Thompson, who came on strong at the end of the season and copped the Dekers Booster Club's Rookie of the Year award. At goalie the Blue will have Greg Page, a junior who had a nearly impossible Job last year of filling in for Bob Gray. Page picked up some rapid seasoning at the first of the year, and play- ed "extremely well" in Boston, but after that, and with the tough WCHA competition, Page's play was somewhat less consistent than Renfrew would have liked. Renfrew explained, "The entire game of hockey revolves around the goalie. A team has to have confidence in their netminder to play a good offensive game. Our style when we won the national title was wide open, and we had to reverse that last year when we had such a lot of young players. This is hard to do in one season and our defensive lapses were par-I tially due to this. Seven Juniors "We had a group of about sev- en players that were in their first' conference last year, and with a year of experience they can be real tough. "This year's team will also be a different squad tlan we have had for a number of years. We will be a young team, and our workouts will be centered more (Continued on Page 9) as -MSU vaulted into third place in the WCHA just a hair behind the Blue. The Rematch The Wolverines then had a week off before a rematch with the Spartans. That game was considered a "must" by the icers and going out on the ice with that in mind the Wolverines clobbered State by a 7-2 margin. With' only four games left in the season the outcome of the WCHA was anything but definite. North Dakota was solidly en- trenched in first place with Mich- igan Tech and Minnesota hot on the heels of the Sioux. In the battle that was raging for the fourth spot Michigan held a .022 percentage edge over State, and both teams had a home series left with Michigan Tech, but they did all season. I thought that was one. that we -had won, but I guess we won some we shouldn't have, but that's hockey." Michigan outplayed Minnesota in the first game according to Renfrew. and held a one-goal lead in the first period, but was un- able to hold that margin and wound up on the short end of a 5-4 score; however, Tech bested the Spartans in East Lansing to keep Wolverines playoff hopes alive. Repeat Performance Saturday night was a near re- peat performance as the same combination of wins and defeats left the icers precariously perched in the fourth spot of the WCHA by .021 percentage points. This set the stage for the last weekend of action as the Spartans faced Colorado while Michigan had to tackle Michigan Tech. The Tigers were unable to live up their mascot, while Michigan took two games on the chin from the Huskies to eliminate Michigan from the WCHA playoffs. These losses also cost the Wolverines their chance to repeat as NCAA champions, a title they held in 1964. Michigan played the entire sea- son with only one senior on the team, Dave Newton, and loses four players to the WCHA eligi- bility rule-Wilf Martin, captain How Long Must This Curse of Victor Continue? It's a sad thing to discover after three years and 89 credit hours that you went to the wrong college. But I had this rueful revelation when I checked the awesome winning records of Michigan's varsity teams since I've inhabited Ann Arbor. Every single one is over .500. You see I'm slightly perverse (that's the collegiate word for nuts) for I'm a lover of losers. I can't help it, they just fascinate me. Some people collect their kicks in numismatism and philatelism. Others adore milking cows, feeding pigeons, taking out contorted appendixes (or is it appedices), or planting zinnias and petunias. Humans are a screwy sort of fauna. But my passion is for also-rans, guys who stink but still retain their own distinctive smell. I'm the kind of nut who keeps hoping that Studebaker will outsell Chevy next year, and I yearn for the day when Adlai will finally make it to the White House. I've even got soft spots (admittedly, rather microscopic ones) for folks like Ken Keat- ing, Madame Nhu, Charles Van Doren, Ming, Richard Burton's first wife, and Ringo's barber. Sorry Specter. Which brings me back to the sorry specter of Michigan sports. One of the reasons I chose to come to Michigan was because it had a lousy football team. I remember three years ago how joyful I felt when I told people I was coming to Ann Arbor and they said, "Isn't it Michigan State that always has the great football teams?" Man, was I cocky when I came up here so confident that I'd be greeted by a miserable football team I could really root for, a team that would be the Chicago Cardinals of college ball. Well, thank goodness Bump's boys didn't disappoint me-that year. There were some guys on that team who sent blissful shivers down my'spine-they were that inept. One hero I'll never forget is the fullback. There was a football player. So help me, if I was putting together a pro franchise, he'd be my number one draft choice. His nickname was Cowboy because he was bowlegged and is alleged to have worn spurs on his football shoes one day in practice. You wouldn't call him exactly a bulldozing type of back. As a matter of fact some folks claim he was felled by a stray hot, dog wrapper in the Ohio State game, but this isn't true. He just tripped over it. Then there was Wrong Way, the halfback on that immortal team. He often seemed rather confused about which way the team was going. The fellow had the blinding speed of a Sumu wrestler-but he always found daylight. The quarterback would make the routine handoff for a slant off tackle. He would grab the ball, look at the vanishing hole and aburptly turn around. Seeing an empty field ahead of him he would take off. Let me tell you, the Wolverine quarterback made more tackles that year than both guards and the center. Fateful Yea i... But Cowboy and Wrong Way graduated that fateful year and none of the green sophomores could- take their place. The football team started a rebuilding program which culminated in last year's hor- rendous Rose Bowl victory. That 1964 team was disgustingly good and-damn it all-this season's team might be even better. Why Cowboy would be a fourth stringer on this squad even if he wore spurs to practice every day. But the shattering football renaissance isn't the half of my misery. In basketball they didn't even give me the pleasure of one losing season. Wouldn't you know it. The year I arrive Bill Buntin becomes a sophomore. Not only that, Cazzie Russell and Oliver Darden are entering freshman eagers to make Michigan a basketball colossus. It's enough to drive you to Wheaties. Well, you know the sordid story. Suddenly the Wolverines forsook the blessed cellar and ruined my winter months. How can you really root for a team that's'so beautifully brutish and graceful. This isn't all. The hockey team wins a national championship two years ago, the track team makes the Big Ten in '64, the gym- nastics team cops the NCAA in '63 and the conference title every year since 1960, and those wretched wrestlers hardly ever lose. Thank goodness for Indiana or the swim team would. have three champion- ships too. And of course the baseball boys have been runners up in the Big Ten the last two years just to rub it in. Do I sound bitter? Good. How long must this curse of victory continue? Why, people have forogotten how to burn coaches in effigy on this euphoric campus. They say the alumni haven't com- plained in years. How long can this morbidly tranquil era of good feeling continue? The frightful truth is that there is no end in sight for the Mich- igan victory trail. It's enough to make you transfer to Michigan State. Of course, with my luck Duffy Daugherty would probably wind up number one in the nation. BIG SELECTIONS...IN STOCK NOW! campus BIKE & TOY 514 E. 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