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Page 12 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 10, 1984

KEY SERIES A GAINS T FERRIS

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February 13-19

By TIM MAKINEN
At this point in the season, every game is crucial.
But for the Michigan hockey team, this weekend's
games against the Ferris State Bulldogs in Big
Rapids are especially important.
Ferris State is a good team, but it still may be the'
easiest opponent Michigan will face in its six
remaining games. The Blue tackles Michigan Tech
and Northern Michigan on the last two weekends of
the regular season. Anything less than a split with the
Bulldogs could be the kiss of death for the
Wolverines' playoff chances.
MICHIGAN (9-14-1 in the CCHA) finds itself
currently clinging to eighth place, the final playoff
spot, along with Lake Superior State.
Ferris State, meanwhile, also finds a degree of
cruciality in the season. At 11-11-2 in the conference,
the Bulldogs are in a three-way deadlock for fourth
place with Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.
When playoff time rolls around, a home-ice advan-
tage will be given to the top four teams in the league.
"For both teams the series looms very big," said
Ferris coach Dick Bertrand. "They (the Wolverines)
know their backs are against the wall. And we want to

grab a piece of fourth. It's our last home series, so
we'd like to make a good showing."
IF ANYTHING is going to prevent Ferris from
making a good showing, there are two possibilities -
illness and inconsistency. The Bulldogs have looked
"sluggish" in practice this week according to Ber-
trand, and three of the team's top players have been
hit with the flu. Center Randy Merrifield (19-49-68
overall), the third leading scorer in the league,
missed practice Monday because of the bug, and top
defenseman Jim File (9-36-45) sat out Wednesday.
Graham Craig (20-21-41) also has been ailing. All
three are expected to play.
As far as inconsistency goes, Ferris State displayed
the trait when it played the Wolverines last Decem-
ber in Ann Arbor. The Bulldogs allowed four third
period goals in the first contest as Michigan came
back to win 5-4. The next night, Ferris blew a four
goal lead before eventually struggling to a 6-5 over-
time victory.
"I hate to say it, but inconsistency has been our
trademark this season," Bertrand said. "I can't put
my finger on what makes us so inconsistent. I can
never be sure how we will play from series to series,
game to game, or even shift to shift. We can be good,
bad, or indifferent.

"ON A GOOD night we can beat any team in the
nation. On a bad night we couldn't beat anyone. If'we
aren't ready for Michigan they'll give us a lot of
trouble because they are a very determined bunch.
But we're not taking them lightly, we're giving
Michigan top priority."
Michigan, for a change, will be in pretty good shape
going into the series. The Wolverines will still be a lit-
tle short on defense due to injuries, but the blue liners
will get a boost with the return of junior Mike Neff
who has recovered from a knee injury sustained over
two months ago against Lake Superior. Neff's
playing time could be limited, however, depending on
how well the knee holds out.
The sagging Michigan troops also got a much
needed rest this week when coach John Giordano
cancelled a couple practices.
"I GAVE THEM a few days off, so they should be
pretty fresh," Giordano said. "We've got to commit as
few defensive mistakes as possible if we are going to
win."
Michigan also will be hoping for nothing better than
"indifferent" play from Ferris. That would give the
Wolverines a better chance of putting some more'vic-
tories in the win column as they make their crucial
drive for a playoff spot.
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hockey
SARAJEVO (UPI) - The lights went
out more than once for the United
States Olympic hockey team yesterday
and even before the Americans could
get started they are all but wiped out.
The Miracle on Ice of 1980 would be
nothing more than a prayer in the park
compared with the miraculous turn of
events that would be required for the
Americans to even qualify for the
medal playoffs in these games.
A LIGHT FAILURE at Zetra Arena
greeted the first goal by
Czechoslovakia, and for all practical
purposes, the power was zapped out of
the United States as it dropped a
demoralizing 4-1 decision.
With two losses in two games, the
Americans now are four 'points behind
Canada and Czechoslovakia in Group
B, and only an incredibleasequenc
would prevent those two teams from
advancing into the medal round. Twc
teams fom each group qualify.
"We gave our best tonight, we gave a
60-minute effort," U.S. Coach Lou
Vairo said. "We're very disappointed
but we got beat by a team which is
physically stronger than us and better

medal

than us, and again we didn't get the
bounces when we had the scoring chan-
ces."
MARC BEHREND, THE goalie- in
both losing games, said, "No one is
quitting. We haven't really had the
breaks. That's hockey. You can't°.be
down. Everybody busted their butt, but
we didn't win.
Tretjak g Cacnadiens?
SARAJEVO (AP) - A Canadian
government official said Thursday that
the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation has
forwarded to goaltender Vladislav
Tretiak a contract offer from the Mon-
treal Canadiens. He said it is now up to
Tretiak to decide if he wants to play in
the National Hockey League.
The Canadiens selected Tretiak in the
seventh round of: the NHL draft last
June. Montreal general manager Serge
Savard and club president Ronald
Corey arrived in Sarajevo on Tuesday
in hopes of persuading Soviet officials
to release the Central Red Army team
veteran.

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AP Photo
Edward Olczyk (left) expressed the dismay of the USA hockey team as it
lost a demoralizing 4-1 contest to Czechoslovakia yesterday. The USA is vir-
tually out of contention for a medal.


BIG TEN !ROUNDUP:

Boilermakers crush Hawkeyes

Sunday, February 12th Monday, February 13th
7:30 P.M. AT RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
Sponsored by: Campus Crusade for Christ; Chi Alpha; Navigators;
and the U. of M. Department of Ethics and Religion.

WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) - Jim
Rowinski pumped in 20 points as Pur-
due overwhelmed Iowa with hot scoring
streaks 79-58 last night to maintain a tie
for first place with Illinois in Big Ten.
Conference college basketball.
Iowa took an early first-half lead, 11-
6, after five minutes; led by Steve Car-
fino, who scored 16 of his total 20 points
in the first half, becoming the only
Hawkeye to score in double figures.
But the Boilermakers charged back,
including six points from Rowinski, to
take a 18-15 lead with 11:16 left.
PURDUE, 15-4 overall and 9-1 in the
league, led 41-31 at the half.
During a seven-and-a-half minute
stretch in the second half, Purdue again
outscored the Hawkeyes, 19-4, to take a
64-39 lead with 11:16 to play. Ricky Hall
scored six of his 18 points in that spurt,
capped by a three-point play from
Rowinski.
Iowa, 9-11 and 2-8, never managed to
pull closer than 20 points, closing the
score to 77-57 with less than a minute
remaining.

Ohio State 73.,
IMnniesota 62
COLUMBUS (AP) - Tony Campbell
reached double figures for the 54th
straight game with 14 points last night,
leading Ohio State to a 73-62 Big Ten
Conference college basketball decision
over Minnesota.,
The victory avenged an 83-61 beating
the Buckeyes, 13-7 overall and 6-4 in the
conference, suffered at Minnesota on
Saturday night.
Big Ten Standings
Conf. Overall
W L W L
Illinois.9 1 18 2
Purdue............. 91 16 4
Indiana................8 2 15 5
Ohio State ............. 6 4 13 7
MICHIGAN............4 5 12 7
Minnesota............4 6 t2 7
Wisconsin............ 3 7 7 12
Michigan State ........ 2 7 9 10
Iowa ................28 9 11
Northwestern.........2 8 9 11

Ohio State, winning its sixth game in
its last seven Big Ten starts, built a 39-
32 halftime lead with 64 percent
shooting, then withstood a late rally by
the Gophers, 12-7 and 4-6 respectively.
THE BUCKEYES' man-to-man
defense kept the much taller Gophers
from working the ball inside, as they
had done in their rout six nights earlier.
Campbell, a 6-foot-7 all-conference
forward last year, was one of four
double figure scorers for Ohio State.
Dave Jones, a 6-2 forward, led the
Buckeyes with 20 points, his
career high.
Indiana 74, Wisconsin 64
BLOOM\4INGTON (UPI) - Wisconsin
played better on the road than it did at
home against Indiana, but Rick Olson
of the Badgers got shut down unlike he
did in Madison and that helped the
Hoosiers win the Big Ten battle, 74-64,
last night.
Olson, who scored 28 in Indiana's 81-
67 victory Saturday, was held to only
nine points, well below his 18.4 points
per game average in Big Ten contests.


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