The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, November 2, 1977-Page 9
Frosh icers add depth,;
nine recruits join Blue
By ELISA T. FRYE
The future of any athletic organization rests with its
recruits, and the Michigan hockey team is no exception.
Five tendered players and four walk-ons make up the base
of this year's in-coming team.
"THEY'RE AS GOOD as any freshmen class we've had,"
said Michigan coach Dan Farrell. "They're good prospec-
ts."
One of these newcomers is Gordie Hampson, from Edina,
Minnesota. His father, Ted Hampson, played for several
NHL teams, including Detroit, Minnesota and Toronto.
Gordie started playing hockey in the second grade. "He
(his father) didn't push me," said Hampson of his first
"coach."
HAMPSON PLAYS center, although what line he'll be on
isn't yet certain. Right now he is most anxious about
making contributions to the team. "I want to help out
scoring-wise," he added. He was able to do that in his first
game when he scored a goal against Bowling Green, and
tallied twice last Friday against Denver.
Jeff Mars, of Duluth, Minnesota, feels that the Michigan
hockey team is, "the best I've ever played for. Everything
is better." Mars was named to the All-City and All-
Conference teams in the Duluth area.
DEFENSEMAN Tim Manning has played Junior "A"
hockey in Detroit and in Stratford, Ontario for the past two
years. Because of hospitalization this summer, he feels that
he is not in prime condition. "I am slowly fitting in," he said,
"but I want to do the best job I can." Manning also scored a
goal against Bowling Green (in the Saturday night game),
and against Denver last Friday.
It is John Olver from North Burnaby, British Columbia
who led the freshmen in points with a goal and three assists
against BGSU and the Pioneers. "Some days you work hard
and get nothing. Some days you're in the right spot at the
right time. Being with those two seniors (Bill Thayer and
Kip Maurer) really helps," commented Olver.
Most recently he played minor league hockey in Bur-
naby and Junior hockey in Kelowna, which is in the interior
of British Columbia.
RUDY VARVARI IS concerned about the goal-tending
competition. "I just want to dress for the games," said the
Dearborn Heights recruit. Varvari will be contending with
seniors Rick Palmer and Frank Zimmerman for action in.
the nets.
Likewise, freshmen walk-ons Mark Perry (defense),
Roger Bourne (right wing), Dave Fardig (center), all from
Ann Arbor, and defenseman John Blum of Warren em-
phasized their eagerness to play. "The game means a lot
more, you represent a lot more when you play for a college
team," Blum said.
As of now, how much any of the freshmen will play is un-
certain. In spite of his high hopes, Farrell remains
cautious.
"They're still making freshmen mistakes. I don't know
how much ice time they'll see."
However, if they continue to show the promise that they
did the past two weekends, these rookie icers may prove to
be good investments.
Daily Photo by BRAD BENJAMIN
OPPOSING GOALIES often get a closeup view of Michigan's Dave Debol (12), who led the Wolverines in scoring last year
with a school record of 99 points. Here Debol is shown releasing a quick shot against Boston University in the semifinals of
the NCAA tournament last March. Michigan won the game, 6-4, then fell to Wisconsin in overtime in the finals.
I m
Michigan Daily Hockey Beat
Consensus WCHA Picks
COACHES TAKE ANOTHER LOOK
HOUGHTON, Mich. (UPI) -
Michigan took the lead in the sea-
son's first college hockey ratings re-
leased Monday.
1. MICHIGAN (3).........3-1 80
2. Wisconsin (4).........2-1-1 79
3. Boston Univ.
(not yet competed).........53
4. Colorado College (2) ..... 2-0 45
5. (tie) Minnesota (1).......2-0 43
(tie) Denver ........... 1-1 43
7. Michigan Tech .......... 2-2 42
8. St. Louis ............... 0-1-1 29-
9. Bowling Green.........3-1 23
10. Clarkston, N.Y.
(not yet competed) .........21
(Each of the five hockey writers
polled used a 10-9-8 ... basis with 10
points for first down to 1 point for
10th. .
Team Points
1. MICHIGAN (5) .............. 50
2. Wisconsin .................... 45
3. Denver ...................... 37
4. Michigan Tech,............. 34
5. Notre Dame.............27
6. Minnesota ................. 26
7. North Dakota ................ 24
8. Colorado College ............. 14
9. Michigan State ............... 13
10. Minnesota-Duluth:............5
College
By TOM STEPHENS
Unlike the NFL and NBA, which
are made up almost exclusively of
former college players, only about 15
per cent of the players in the NHL
were drafted out of college ranks.
The number is growing, but it is still
comparatively small.
The reason why NHL players don't
often come from American colleges
is that the Canadian professional
junior leagues supply most of the
NHL talent. It's been that way for
many years, but some important
hockey men are beginning to revise
their opinions of the NCAA game.
One indication of that change is a
direct result of last year's NCAA
finals, capped by Wisconsin's thrill-
ing sudden-death overtime victory
over Dan Farrell's Michigan squad.
An interested observer that night
was Red Wing general manager Ted
Lindsay, who came away very im-
pressed, calling it "the best hockey
played in the Olympia in ten years."
He praised every aspect of the tour-
nament, from the skills of, the teams
involved to the knowledge and "tre-
mendous spirit" displayed by the
fans.
Tindsav also showed his respect for
college hockey in the NHL's 1977
draft of 20-year-olds, choosing seven
Contingent
former NCAA players last year. He is step of hiri
counting heavily on these draftees to because it m
help rebuild his lackluster team. ing and hon
Included in the Wings' draft were
Wisconsin's 1977 all-American de- Lindsay d
fenseman John Taft, as ,ell as three too sees gr
players from former Red Wing GM hockey, and
Ned Harkness' powerhouse at Union that the nu
College' drafted by
The best way to answer the increase, as
question of why there aren't more now.
NCAA "graduates" in the NHL is to But in reg
compare the relative quality of play Lindsay say
in the Canadian junior leagues and in yet, but th
college. seems frorr
increasing,l
Farrell disagrees completely with bers of NCA
what seems to be the NHL's attitude those in af
on the subject. NCAA hockey, says with him.
Farrell flatly, "is every bit as good,
maybe better," than the competition NCAA play
in Canada. scouted "m
past", says
He believes that with a little sea- poppe, pr
soning, American college players are "bigger and
ready right now to invade the NHL in now active i
large numbers. He explains the pro's
continued reliance on the juniors by Poppe of
pointing to a deep prejudice on the insights int
part of the game's movers and continued g
shakers, virtually all of whom are amateur ho
Canadian, favoring the system they he believes t
were raised by. drawing me
who usedti
Farrell, for one, feels that those other sports
with authority refuse to take the bold at the time.
1976-77 WCHA
Wisconsin
Notre Dame
MICHIGAN
Denver
N. Dakota
Michigan Tech
Minnesota
Colorado Col.
Michigan State
Minn-Duluth
Michigan Overall Record
Home Record
Road Record
Neutral Ice Record
STANDINGS
W L T
26 5 1
19 10 3
20 12 0
16 14' 2'
16 16 0
15 16 1
13 16 3
11 20 1
11 20 1
6 24 2
28-17-0
16- 5-0
10-10-0
2- 2-0
grows in pros
ng more college players
would upset a long-stand-
ored tradition to do so.
disagrees, to a point. He
eat potential in college
i he believes with Farrell
imber of NCAA players
the pros will continue to
s it has for many years
ard to the junior leagues,
ys the NCAA "is not there
ey're getting there." It
n the recent trends of
but still not equal, num-
AA draftees that most of
position to say so agree
yers have been seriously
ore recently than in the
NCAA official Dennis
Dbably because of, the
J more physical" players
n college.
fered some interesting
o this situation. Due to
rowth of and interest in
ckey in the United States,
the college teams are now
ore and betterathletes
.o be more interested in
that were more popular
Meanwhile, all the best
Canadian athletes became involved
in hockey at an early age. As that
situation erodes, so does the juniors'
advantage over the NCAA.
What will happen if the NCAA does
eventually become a major supplier
to the NHL is an interesting problem.
Perhaps there would be widespread
media coverage, as in the case of
college football and basketball. If
this should happen, it could be the
best thing to happen to hockey in
years.
Lindsay, Farrell, and Poppe all
agreed that a major difference
between the pro and college games is
the greater excitement involved in
the NCAA. A few nationally tele-
vised, thrill-a-minute college games
might be the shot in the arm the
game so desperately needs. It could
stir' up the flagging fan intee t
put two-thirds of all NHL teams in
serious financial holes last year.
On the other hand, "going big
time" might have an adverse effect
on college hockey. It's arguable that
both college football and basketball
- with their grinding, run oriented
offenses and interminable ball-
control stalls - are considerably less
exciting than the pro versions. It's
easy to imagine college hockey
becoming the exclusive domain, of,
the big, aggressive player, leaving no
room for the quickness and style that
make the game so thrilling and
unpredictable.
Of course there are many other
possibilities. One of them is that the
hockey player down the hall at West
Quad may, in a few years, be trying
out for the local NHL team back
home.
1977-78
Schedule
1976-77 FINAL RESULTS
M
*7
*6
*3
*5
*8
*6
*7
*5
*8
*7
7
7
*7
*7
*5
*5
+7
+6
*6
*8
*9
*2
Opp M
Wisconsin................. 6 (OT) *3
WISCONSIN.......... 7 (OT) *3
MICHIGAN TECH....... 4 *1
Michigan Teach ........... 3 *2
Minnesota ................ 6 *2
Minnesota .......3.
Notre Dame..............6 *6
NOTRE DAME ........... 6 (OT) *8
Denver ................... 3 *3
Denver ................... 5 *7
Rensselaer ............... 4 *9
RENSSELAER ........... 8 *9
Minnesota-Duluth ........ 3 *6
Minnesota-Duluth ......... 1 *5
MICHIGAN STATE .......7 #61
MICHIGAN STATE........6 (OT) #51
Brown ................... 2 #61
MICHIGAN TECH ........7 #11
Colorado College........... 4 #0
Colorado College ......... 7 #4
Michigan Tech ............ 8 (OT) @7
MICHIGAN TECH.......3 @6
@5
Opp
NOTRE DAME ........... 4 (OT)
NOTRE DAME ........... 7
NORTH DAKOTA..........6
NORTH DAKOTA..........8
WISCONSIN .............. 3
WISCONSIN-...........11
Denver ................... 2
Denver ................... 3
Minnesota ................ 1
Minnesota ................ 6
Minnesota-Duluth........4
Minnesota-Duluth ......... 3
Michigan State ............ 3
Michigan State..........2
Michigan Tech ............ 5
Michigan Tech ............ 2
Denver ................... 4
Denver ................4
WISCONSIN .............. 4
WISCONSIN .............. 5
Bowling Green ........... 5
Boston University ........ 4
WISCONSIN ............. 6 (OT)'
'High priest'Farrell leads Blue
hockey revival into fifth season
By PAUL CAMPBELL
In 1973, Michigan's hockey team hit
rock bottom. In 34 games, the
Wolverines skated off the ice as win-
ners only six times. Following the
season, Coach Al Renfrew gladly gave
up the pressures of coaching for the
mild madness of running the athletic
department's ticket operation.
In 1977, Michigan's hockey team
finished the season at Detroit's Olym-
pia Stadium, playing for the national
championship. The icers had already
won more games than any team in the
school's history.
THE TURNAROUND in the deker's
fortunes is directly coincidental with
the tenure of the coach that came here
in the fall of 1973-Dan Farrell.
"More than anything else, what it
took was hard work," recalls the 40-
year old Farrell. "We've tried to in-
stitute a team concept, which requires
every one to work and work until we get
it right."
A young man who wishes to play
hockey for Dan Farrell starts
preparing for the season as soon as he
returns from summer sojourn. For
four weeks, he spends two hours a day
working to get into (or back into)
shape. Then he can put skates on and
start to play on the ice.
THE IDEA OF "land conditioning"
was one Farrell refined when he toured
Russia in 1975 and was exposed to the
Soviet techniques.
But travelling to exotic places is
nothing new for this native of Hamilton,
Ontario. He spent four years as a for-
ward for John MacInnes at Michigan
Tech. Then on to Thunder Bay, Ontario
for three years of teaching before he
landed in Africa. Under the auspices of
the Canadian International Develop-
ment Agency, Farrell set up a three
year educational program in Rhodesia
and Ghana.
But Farrell gave up the jungle for the
hockey styx of Houghton, assisting
MacInnes for five years before he got
the call from Ann Arbor.
FARRELL took his initial team and
gave Michigan its first winning season in
five years. 1975 and 1976 both produced
22 wins, while last year's NCAA run-
nerups won 28 times.
But the successes of the past don't
make Farrell complacent about the
future. "We'd be crazy to lay back
now," said Farrell. "College hockey is
growing and we have to grow with it."
Farrell hopes that the team he's put-
ting on the ice will bring fans down to
Yost Arena, the largest college-owned
hockey facility in the nation. The
segson after the Michigan basketball
team finished second in the land to In-
diana two years ago, they sold out all
but one of their home games. Farrell
thinks the same thing can happen in
hockey.
ANOTHER GRADUATE of MacIn-
ness' hockey program, Doug Hinton, is
Michigan's assistant coach. The ex-
defenseman played pro hockey in the
Central League with two teams before
joining Farrell in 1974.
In fact, Houghton is the cradle of
coaches where Michigan hockey is con-
cerned. Jim Murray, a 1975 Tech
graduate, joined the staff this year as a
graduate assistant.
* WCHA regular season game,
# WCHA Plavoffs
+ Great Lakes Invitational
ra NCAA Piavoffs
1976-77 Michigan Hockey Stats
45 Gam
BFC
Name
Dave Debol
Kip Maurer
KRIS MANERY
Bill Thayer
Dan Lerg
ROB PALMER
GREG NATALE
Dean Turner
Mike Coffman
John McCahill
Ben Kawa
Mark Miller
Dan Hoene
Doug Todd
Bill Wheeler
Dave Brennan
GARY MORRISON
es Overall 28-17-0 (.622)
--Graduated Senior
Pos Goals A
C 43 56
C 38 38
F 38 35
F 17 43
C 24 19
D 5 37
D 7 25
D 13 18
F 15 12
D 0 27
F 12 12
F 7 16
F 6 16
F 10 9
F 10 8
D 3 9
F 7 5
fl..,... .... c....,.__ ii .iT s
A
Regular Season WCHA
20-12-9 (.625)
Oct.21
Oct. 22
Oct. 28
Oct.29
Nov. 4
Nov. 5
Nov. 11
Nov. 12
Nov. 18
Nov. 19
Nov. 25
Nov. 26
Dec. 2
Dec. 3
Dec. 9
Dec. 10
Dec.
28-29
Jan. 6
Jan. 7
Jan. 14,
Jan. 15
Jan. 20
Jan 21
Jan. 27
Jan. 28
Feb. 3
Feb. 4
Feb. 10
Feb. 11
Feb. 17
Feb. 18
Feb.24
Feb, 25
Mar. 3
at Bowling Green 7-2
BOWLING GREEN 64
DENVER 10-4
DENVER (OT) 5-6
at Notre Dame
at Notre Dame
MICHIGAN STATE
at Michigan State
MINNESOTA
MINNESOTA
at Colorado College
at Colorado College
WISCONSIN
WISCONSIN
at Michigan Tech
at Michigan Tech
Great Lakes Tournament
(MICHIGAN, Michigan Tech,
Lake Superior and Western
Michigan) at Detroit Olympia
at Wisconsin
at Wisconsin
at Minnesota
at Minnesota
NORTH DAKOTA
NORTH DAKOTA
at Denver
at Denver
NOTRE DAME
NOTRE DAME
at Minn-Duluth
at Minn-Duluth
COLORADO COLLEGE
COLORADO COLLEGE
MICHIGAN TECH
MICHIGAN TECH
at Michigan State
Pts
99
76
73
60
43
42
32
31
27
27
24
23
22
19
18
12
12
Goals
34
32
31
12
12
2
5
10
11
0
4
3
5
4
6
3
6
A
37
23
22
35
14
24
24
16
11
17
9
12
11
3
6
8
5
Pts
71
55
53
47
26
26
29
26
22
17
13
15
16
7
12
11
11
Farrell's record
Year
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
G
36
40
42
45
W
18
22
22
28
L
17
17
20
17
T
I
1
0
0
Pct
.515
.563
.524
.622
I
5 '%