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Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 26, 1984
Stars' Richter hits hard
Life in NHL not so
rosy for ex-Micer
a
.lk
"There's a lot more hitting in the pros..
It's rougher, more physical. But the
biggest thing is speed. The NHL is much
faster," Richter said.
No doubt, the most common com-
plaint people have about the NHL is the
high level of violence. Of course, there
is- the obligatory, sarcastic one-liner,
"we went to the fights and a hockey
game broke out."
RICHTER scorns such comments
and accuses spectators of, holding
double standards.
"That (the one-liner) is a bloody far-
ce. Sure, there's fighting, but what do
people do - they keep coming back to
By ADAM MARTIN
In an era when professional athletes
are assumed to earn millions for
playing out childhood fantasies, Dave
Richter knows better.
Richter, a 1982 Michigan graduate,
currently hovers around the blue line,
preventing goals an: playing
aggressive hockey for the Minnesota
North Stars of the National Hockey
League. -
"I think (jumping up and down from
the minors to the NHL) is frustrating,"
Giordano said. "Dave was getting
disillusioned, but I think he's found
himself."
Indeed, Richter finds himself in a
league much different than the one he
played in at Michigan.
'There's nothing
wrong with a good,
honest fight. The
most that can hap-
pen is a bloody nose
or a few stitches.'
- Dave Richter
You've got to use the tools you have."
IT'S WHEN the hitting gets a little
cheap that the fighting begins. But, ac-
cording to Richter, who won the 1982
Vic Heyliger Trophy for outstanding
Wolverine defensemen, "There's
nothing wrong with a good, honest fight.
The most that can happen is a bloody
nose of a few stitches."
Richter actually sees some
justification for fighting because, he
says, it counteracts cheap, dangerous
violence. "If someone on the ice spears
you or crosschecks, you can retaliate
within the rules. I think (the violence)
is counteracted.
"Fans don't see what really goes on
on the ice, the little extra hook, now and
then. The other day, I got elbowed in the
head and that was all the justification I
needed (to start a fight)."
BUT THE style of play isn't the only
difference between Michigan and the
pros. "At college you have to practice
and do your homework and have a cur-
few," Richter said. "You're confined."
With that atmosphere, however,
comes camaraderie, something
missing from the NHL. "At Michigan
everybody was single and everybody
was going to school," he said. "Here,
there are five people on the team who
aren't married. Everyone has their own
life. It's nowhere near as close as
Michigan. It's the real world."
Still, now that he has settled into life in
the NHL, Richter has gotten used to it.
"Hockey can be what you want to make
it," he said. "I like the hours, I do enjoy
it. You're in control."
He does, however, have his own sar-
castic one-liner to pass on to those who
think life as a pro athlete is nothing but
fame and fortune.
"It's no picnic.
4
rr R'
Former Wolverine defenseman Dave Richter
more physical than college hockey.
-Sports Information photo
finds NHL hockey faster and
But life as a pro has not been
glamorous for the former Wolverine
defenseman. Richter was up and down
between the minors and the NHL before
finding a spot with the North Stars this
season.
"IT'S TOUGH mentally and
physically," he said. "Every job has its
pressures. Here, if you don't do your
job, you could be traded, sent down, or
bought out. It's very grueling."
During his last year at Michigan,
Richter received a lot of help from
Wolverine coach John Giordano and
matured into an outstanding defen-
seman. After being drafted by the Nor-
th Stars, he experienced first hand the
harsh realities of life in the NHL.
Gophers shut down
Badgers, 75=6.2
"There's a great deal of difference
between college hockey and pro," said
Richter. "I don't play college hockey."
SO WHAT'S the difference? Well, if
you take a nice little stroll down to Yost
Ice Arena one chilly Ann Arbor
evening, sure, you'll see the icers play
an aggressive, fast-paced game, but ...
watch."
As for his own style, the Winnipeg,'
Manitoba native plays a physical game,
but also knows aggressiveness is
inherent in hockey.
"I get hit, and I hit with authority,"
he said. "It's part of the game. I can in-
timidate as well as the other guy.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Sophomore
center John Shasky shoved in 18 points
and ripped down 16 rebounds, both
career highs, as Minnesota clobbered
Wisconsin 75-62 last night.
Both teams are now 3-4 in the con-
ference.
At 7-0, Shasky was three inches taller
than Badger center John Ploss. While
Shasky used his height advantage to
control the chaos beneath the basket,
Minnesota clamped down on high-
scoring Badgers Rick Olson and Cory
Blackwell in the first half..
OLSON AND Blackwell came into the
game the second- and third-ranked Big
Ten scorers, but Olson scored only five
first-half points and Blackwell
managed only four. Although Blackwell
led all scorers with 27 points and Olson
finished with 18, it didn't matter much.
Minnesota guard Marc Wilson scored
all 16 of his points in the.second half, as
the Gophers opened a 15-point lead, 58-
43, with 5:49 to play and breezed to the
buzzer.
Minnesota led 28-20 after a first half
of Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde basketball.
Wisconsin (built a 16-8 lead, outscoring
the cold-shooting Gophers 9-2 midway
through the half.
Wisconsin gridders ineligible
MADISON (AP) - The University of
Wisconsin football team will lose two
players next season who did not enroll
in second semester classes but will
regain the services of an ineligible
player, a Wisconsin faculty represen-
tative to the Big Ten Conference said
Tuesday.
Defensive- back Ken Stills, who last
November was ruled ineligible to com-
pete in the 1984 season as part of san-
ctions handed down against the univer-
sity by the National Collegiate Athletic
Asociation for recruiting violations,
will be allowed to play next fall.
Sophomore punter George Winslow
and junior defensive back Richard Bax-
ter will not be back, according to
station WKOW in Madison. The
Wisconsin sports information office
confirmed today that Winslow has left
school.
The Crash Line
I
State
5S
high-scoring trio stirs up trouble
By MIKE PRISUTA
Of the State News
Special to the Daily
EAST LANSING - It isn't pretty -
just very effective.
No, the Michigan State Crash Line of
Mike Donnelly, Mitch Messier, and Jeff
Parker will never be confused with Buf-
falo's fabled French Connection, the
New York Rangers' flashy Goal -a-Game
Line or even Ohio State's current high-
scoring trio known as the Production
Line.
But that doesn't bother Spartan head
Thursday, January 26 --4:00 PM and 7:30 PM
4:00 PM East Lecture R., Rackham
"Popular Organizations, Politics and the
Catholic Church in Brazil"
7:30 PM St. Mary's (William and Thompson)
"Base Communities in the Catholic Church in Brazil"
SCOTT MAINWARING, Fellow of the Kellogg Institute of International Affairs of Notre
Dame recently did a major study of Religion and Politics at the grass roots in Brazil.
Dept. of Political Science, Dept. of History,
Dept. of Romohce Languages, Office of Ethics and Religion
the other team's end; hit people, and go
from there.
"When they score, it isn't so much an
end-to-end rush as simply hitting
somebody in the corner, jamming the
slot and converting a hard-earned op-
portunity."
What makes the Crash Line's success
even more amazing is that it was for-
med basically out of convenience.
Mason wanted to try Newell Brown -
who had been centering for Parker and
Donnelly - at right wing, so he gave
Messier's spot on the Bill Shibicky line
to Brown, and put Messier, the cousin of
Edmonton Oilers Mark Messier, at cen-
ter.
"AT FIRST it wasn't really a line,
just three guys playing together,"
Mason explained. "But after we saw
them play we kind of liked it, so we kept
them together. The three make a good
blend, because they all like to hit. Often
they'll stir up so much trouble on their
shift that the opposition is still worrying
about them after they leave the ice and
there are better scoring opportunities
for the next line."
Parker, a 6-3, 190-pound freshman
from White Bear Lake, MN., likes to hit
best of all. He leads the team with 28
penalties. Lately, though, his trips to
the, box have decreased and his point
production (four goals and eight
assists) has started to rise.
Messier (three goals and 12 assists)
has also picked up now that he's ad-
justed to playing in the CCHA. After
scoring 108 goals in juniors last year,
the freshman from Regina, Saskat-
chewan didn't score his first collegiate
goal until joining the Crash Line. Don-
nelly, a sophomore from Livonia and,
at 20, the elder statesman of the
group, is just doing what comes
naturally.
"WE'RE JUST playing basic
hockey," said Donnelly - who has
already surpassed last season's goal-
production with ten this year. "The.
coaches want us to make sure we don't
make any mistakes in our own end or in
the neutral zone. We just worry about
getting the puck in the other team's
end.
The MSU coaching staff expects the
Crash Line to be right in the thick of
things this weekend in a home-and-
home series against Michigan.
"Those are usually very physical
4
games, so it should be right up their
alley," said Spartan assistant coach
Terry Christensen. "They're best on
the scrambly-type situations, like after
a face-off. Their greatest asset is their
work-ethic and that's what it takes to
beat a Michigan team - hard work for
60 minutes."
I
Mason
...finds line convenient
coach Ron Mason. The combination has
been putting points on the board ever
since it first appeared against Ferris
State (November 25 and 26). And the
line has given the Spartan icers a real
lift as the team gears up toward playoff
time.
"THEY'RE PLAYING with con-
fidence now and they're really making
things happen when they are on the
ice," Mason said of the group that has
produced eleven goals in its first 12
games as a unit. "Their success,
comes'from work habits. They get into
4
op
-Sports Information photo
4
THE U.S. AND THE SEARCH FOR
PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
A Conference presented by
THE CENTER FOR NEAR EASTERN AND
NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Michigan State rightwinger Mike Donnelly powers his way past Michigan
Tech's James DeGenaro towards the Husky goal. The most productive of the
Spartan's Crash Line with ten goals, Donnelly hopes to be "right in the thick of
things" in this weekend's home and home series against Michigan.
INTERVIEWS*
Monday, January 30th --9 A.M. - 5 P.M.
Student Activities Building
3rd Floor"
Friday, January 27
1 pm- 9pm
"The Use of Religion:
Conflict Intensification or
Conflict Resolution?"
Saturday, January 28
9:30 am - 4 pm
"U.S. Foreign Policy"
Speakers from the State Depart-
mont, Center for Defense Infor-
mation, American Friends Service