SPORTS

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The Michigan Daily-
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Friday, October 30, 1981.

The Michigan Doiy


FACE UPSET-MINDED TORONTO

UNION
STOP

Icers must avoid

By MARTHA CRALL
The Michigan hockey team will have to be just as
intense tonight in its home opener against the
University of Toronto as it was last weekend in, its
two-game sweep of Michigan Tech. This weekend,
though, the Wolverines won't be battling a college
hockey powerhouse-they'll be battling themselves.
After their surprise double victory over the Huskies
in Houghton last weekend (3-2, 3-0) it would not be
surprising if the Wolverines encountered serious in-
tensity problems. Head coach John Giordano admit-
t that the chances that the icers will let down this
Weekend is "very great." But he added that "we've
taken measures in practice to prevent that from hap-
pening."
THE BLUES come into Ann Arbor sporting a 2-1
record (not including the result of last night's contest
with cross-town rival York University). They lost

their season opener to Concordia (Montreal) before
winning their own invitational by defeating Mc-
Master of Hamilton, Ontario and Laurentian of Sud-
bury.
Toronto is directed by first-year mentor Bill Pur-
cell, who formerly coached Kalamazoo of the Inter-
national Hockey League.
Last season, the Wolverines defeated the Blues
twice in overtime by 4-3 scores, and they lead the
overall series 21-14-3. Giordano is wary of taking the
Canadian team too lightly, which is exactly what he
and his icers did one year ago when he used all of his
second-team against Toronto.
"THEY'RE A tough team, .very physical," said
Giordano. "We're going with the same lineup (as last
weekend). Only (freshman John) Hawkins (among
those who did not see action against the Huskies) will
play; we'll dress six defensemen."

letdown
Giordano will either start freshman Jon Elliott
(who picked up both wins at Tech) or senior Peter
Mason in goal tonight. All of the Michigan icers are
healthy going into the series.
The series is one of only two non-conference sets
this season.
MICHIGAN IS ranked fourth in the nation in this
week's WMPL radio poll and boasts CCHA Player-of-
the-Week Ted Speers (4 goals-0 assists-4 points).
Also leading the Wolverine attack are forwards
Brad Tippett (1-2-3) and Paul Brapdrup (0-3-3).
Four of Michigan's six defensemen are seniors; the
other two are freshmen (Hawkins and Mike Neff).
Tonight and tomorrow night's games begin at 7:30
p.m. at Yose Ice Arena and will be the only chance
hockey fans get to see the Wolverines in action until
November 14, when Western Michigan comes to
town.

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