esday, November 2, 1977-The Michigan Daily

Michigan's offense:

Power to burn

Dan Lerg Mark Miller

Mike Coffman

Bill Wheeler Doug Todd

By ERROL SHIFMAN
The Michigan hockey team has come into the age of the machine gun offense
(also pronounced Mi-shee'-gun or Michigan).
The unabridged dictionary defines this type of offense as "the rapid firing of.
small arms ammunition," and the Michigan gunners should blast holes in the
WCHA this year.
The icers averaged almost six goals per contest last season and set a team
record fpr goals in a season(260). Four of last year's top five scorers return for
the Blue and so far this year. the' Wolverines have averaged seven tallies per
game.
Running the shooting gallery for Michigan is probably the best combo of
college centers in the nation: Dave Debol, Kip Maurer, and Dan Lerg.
"There aren't centers like this around anywhere," beamed Michigan Coach
Dan Farrell. "We've never had centers like this, who can put so much pressure
on. .
All-American senior Dave Debol leads the center ice riflemen. Dave is con-
sidered by many to be the finest collegiate player in the land. Debol's 43 goals, 56
assists and 99 points made him the West's leading scorer last season and gave
him three team scoring records.
"DEEBS": HAS the moves of a professional and game after game leaves
enemy defenders tied in knots with his fakes. Debolhopes to equal his scoring
output of last season but more importantly, he wants an NCAA Championship
diamond ring.
Kip Maurer (38-38-76) is probably the most aggressive center on the team,
Maurer has a nose for the puck and ,always seems to be in the right place at the
right time. Off to his fastest start ever, "Kipper" already has seven goals and

five assists after four games this year. Maurer could give Debol a run for his
money for the league scoring championship this season.
Sophomore Dan Lerg shared team rookie-of-the-year honors last season.
"Lergie" became one of the highest scoring first year players in Wolverine
history with his 24 goals, 19 assists and 43 points. Lerg netted nine playoff goals in
last year's post-season play. Dan Lerg worked on a quicker release and better
accuracy during the pre-season and should be right up there with Debol and
manery in the scoring department.
Rookie Gordie Hampson will be looked on to center Michigan's fourth line this
year, and his junior hockey stats show that he has the potential to be in the same
class as the other centers. In 26 games last year, Hampson notched 22 goals and
33 assists and copped All-Conference, All-State and All-American honors.
COACH FARRELL believes that inter-squad practice will bring Hampson
along the fastest. "It will help Hampson a lot playing against the best three cen-
ters in the country," said Farrell.
Sophomore Verne Shaver rounds out the center position. Shaver did not see
much ice time last year but should see increased action this time around.
Left wing is the most experienced of the forward positions. Senior Bill Thayer
and Ben Kawa are joined by juniors Bill Wheeler and Mark Miller.
Thayer was the 14th leading scorer in the West last season with his 17 goals, 43
assists and 60 points. Thayer hopes to equal last year's output and his fine play-
making should lead to some great scoring chances.
BEN KAWA (12-12-24) is known more for his forechecking and defense than for
his scoring. Kawa can be explosive, however, as he erupted for four goals in a
game against RPI last season. Kawa will be looked to mostly as a penalty-killer
where he has proven most effective.
Coach Farrell is looking to his two speed merchants, Wheeler and Miller, to
bolster the scoring on the left side. Wheeler (10-8-18) is among the team's best hit-

ting forwards and hopes to show his scoring potential in a regular starting role
this year. "Wheels" has improved his puck handling and would like to hit the 25-
goal plateau.
Miller finished strong last season and has worked on his play-making and puck
handling during the pre-season. Miller saw action in 40 games last year and
scored seven goals and grabbed 16 assists. Mark will be a regular this year and
a big junior year is expected.
The right side is a question mark for the Wolverines. The big job of replacing
Kris Manery's 38 goals and 38 assists falls on one senior, one junior, one
sophomore and three freshmen.
SENIOR DAN HOENE and sophomore Doug Todd were saddled with injuries
for most of last season. Hoene wore a protective mask for the final 15 games of
last season to protect a broken jaw. He did contribute six goals and 16 assists but
was more valuable to the team as a penalty-killer and forechecker.
Todd was sidelined for 11 games with a knee injury last year but came back
strong. Todd has been working on his shot and he thinks he should shoot a little
more often to be effective. He would like to double his 10 goal output of last season
and improve on his nine assists.
Junior Mike Coffman (15-12-27) owns one of the team's hardest shots. He will
be expected to pick up much of the scoring slack in the right side.
Freshmen John Olver, Jeff Mars and Roger Bourne round out the right wing.
Olver should be a valuable addition to the team's scoring punch. He netted 53
goals and 89 assists in 61 games last year in junior hockey.
"ON PAPER, there isn't an offense as good (as Michigan's)," summed up
Farrell. "There's a lot of fire power."
As the old saying goes, the best offense is a good defense, but with the amount
of time the Michigan offense will control the puck, they man not need a defense.


Michigan's

defense: Key

to success

John McCahill

Frank Zimmerman

Dean Turner

John Waymann

Dave Rrennar

Rod Pacholzuk

By BRIAN MILLER
The defense never rests, at least not for Michigan's hockey team. If the
Wolverines are to be a winning team, they must stop their opponents from
scoring. But with a young and relatively inexperienced defensive corps, this may
be a bit of a problem.
CAPTAIN JOHN McCAHILL is the team's only senior defenseman and
Michigan Coach Dan Farrell is expecting him to help keep things under control.
"John has a lot of experience," explained Farrell. "He seems to thrive on ice
time. Not only that, he handles the puck well and almost never gets mad. He's
always under control."
Junior John Waymann is the team's next most experienced blue liner.
"WAYMANN IS OUR most improved player," said Farrell. "He played very
well the second half of last year."
Waymann has been a slow starter over the years but "he's starting better
this year," claimed Farrell. "Look for him to improve from game to game."
Michigan hockey fans should well remember sophomore Dean Turner,
whose hard checks and intense play often brought roars of approval from the
home crowd.
"I sure hope he has a good season," sighed Farrell. "He has to improve on
his consistency. You know (at 6-2,215) Dean's our most physical player but he's
also an excellent skater and moves the puck around very well."
THE OTHER TWO sophomore defensemen are Dave Brennan and Rod
Pacholzuk, both of whom saw some ice time last year.
"Brennan did not play after the second week in January because of an in-
jury," noted Farrell, "but he's ready to play now. He is a hard worker-steady,
not flashy
"Pacholzuk played a lot last year for a freshman," continued Farrell. "He's

got a good shot from the point and is one of our best skating defensemen. He does
need more work on his defensive zone play, but gosh, he's a big, strong kid (6-0,
190) who has been working very hard."
SENIOR STEVE LUONGO is a transfer student from Oakland but is a junior
in athletic eligibility. To date, Farrell is quite pleased with his world in practice.
"Steve practiced with us last year, but he only became eligible to play for us
this year," commented Farrell. "Steve is an excellent skater and shows great en-
thusiasm. He works hard in our practices. You know, he's the kind of player a
coach likes to have on his team; he's a treat to have around."
THE THREE REMAINING back liners, Tim Manning, Mark Perry and John
Blum, are all freshmen and Farrell thinks highly of all of them.
"Manning is a little bit behind in conditioning due to minor surgery in the off
season," Farrell explained. "Tim handles the puck exceptionally well, though he
needs to improve some more. But he is going to be a good one.
"Perry has had a fairly good camp," noted Farrell. "He has been a pleasant
surprise. Mark's a good skater but he needs more work. If he does work (hard),
he could break into the line-up. He needs to develop confidence though.
"BLUM," CONTINUED Farrell,,"may be our best skating defenseman.
He's a walk-on, but he had an exceptional training camp. I think he will be an ex-
cellent defenseman. He's got great determination, and let me tell you this: any
mistakes John might make will be honest mistakes. If he continues to develop, he
could knock a letterman out of a regular spot."
AS YOUNG AND inexperienced as the defense is, the goal-tending crew is
just the opposite. Farrell has decided to keep three goalies on the roster, seniors
Rick Palmer and Frank Zimmerman and freshman Rudy Varvari.
"Varvari is an excellent athlete," pointed out Farrell. "He captained Dear-

born Fordson's football team-which is good-he knows he can handle the hit-
ting in hockey.
"I'm pleased with the way Rudy has played so far," Farrell went on. "He will
be a very good college goalie. Right now he's playing behind two seniors, but he's
learning and adjusting to college hockey well.
"RUDY IS A BIG KID (5-10, 180) and a stand-up goalie, too. "I'm looking
forward to seeing him start (soon)," said Farrell.
Last year Farrell split the goaltending duties between Palmer and Zimmer-
man, but by the end of the year, Palmer was playing exclusively. He did well, too,
winning 14 of his last 17 games. But this year, all things are equal between the two
in Farrell's eyes.
"PALMER HAS ALWAYS started camp challenging for the starting job,"
Farrell noted. "Now he's started camp as the one to beat and the other two
goalies are challenging him.
"That put Rick about two weeks behind Zimmerman and Varvari, but now he
has caught up and is doing a good job.
"Zimmerman," continued Farrell, "has had an excellent training camp.
He's looked real sharp and I feel he's back and ready to make a contribution to
the team."
NINE DEFENSEMEN and three goalies, and only three seniors among
them. Farrell readily admits that the defense might be "a little bit of a problem."
"However," noted Farrell, "we got through last year with only two seniors
on defense. We've got a young defense and they're under a lot of pressure.
"We're not as good as we were last year, yet," ended Farrell. "But (if the
defense matures) by the end of the year, we could prove to be even better."


Michigan jeers
lead the nation
in NCAA crowns,
appearances

By GARY KICINSKI
Ever since the inauguration of the
NCAA ice hockey championships in
1948, Michigan has dominated the
tournament in both appearances and
titles. The Wolverines were there for
the first one in 1948, and they were
there for the latest one last March.
They won the first one, 8-4, over
Dartmouth
They lost tie last one, 6-5 in
overtime to Wisconsin.
Michigan It-ads the nation in NCAA
championships, capturing seven
titles compared to Denver's five and
Michigan Tech's three. The Wolver-
ines have also appeared in the play-
offs more than any other school [13
times, compared with Boston Univer-
sity with 12 and Denver's 11].
Last season Michigan started fast,
winrning 14 of their first 21 games, but

stage for the NCAA finals against
Wisconsin.
The Badgers had won five of the
previous six meetings with the Blue
last year, and they skated out to a 5-2
lead early in the third period.
But Michigan refused to die. Mark
Miller and Dave Debol scored goals
just 38 seconds apart to bring the
Wolverines within one. While 14,437
fans packed into Detroit's Olympia
Stadium urged their favorite teams
on, defenseman John Waymann
slapped one by Badger netminder Ju-
lian Baretta to know the score at 5-5
with less than six minutes to play.
Those final minutes of furious
action saw Michigan's Dan Hoene
roll the puck right through the crease
and behind Baretta but not across the
goal line.
The game went into overtime and

1948-57, when Michigan went to the
NCAA's each and every year, coming
away with the championship trophy
six times.
The NCAA tournament was first
held in the spring of 1948. It took
place at Colorado Springs, Colorado,
which was to become the annual site
until 1958.
Michigan had its best season,
percentage-wise that year, compiling
a 20-2-1 record under Coach Vic
Heyliger. Michigan zipped by Boston
College in first-round action, 6-4, and
then dumped Dartmouth 8-4 to lay
claim to the title of best college
team in the nation.
Heyliger's teams later took nation-
al honors in 1951, '52, '53, '55 and '56.
They took third place honors in '49,
'50 and '54, and runner-up spot in '57.
Heyliger compiled a 228-61-13 record

squads made it to the NCAA playoffs.
In 1962 Michigan was led by senior
captain Gordon (Red) Berenson to a
23-5 season record. Berenson set
Michigan's all-time goal scorin
record with 43 tallies (Dave Debo
tied the record last year). Bu
Michigan was upset in the first-roun
game by the Golden Knights o
Clarkson, 5-4.
The 1964 season was the last tim
Michigan captured the NCAA crown
That year the icers outscored thei
opponents, 217-80 while recording 2
wins, four losses and one tie. Yet th
lost the WCHA title to Denver, 6-2
This made their national champion
ship victory all the sweeter, sincei
came over the same Pioneers squad
6-3.
Ironically, last year's season wa
in much the same situation, having
lnc t U;hnnsin ;n the WCHA final