The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 14, 1988 - Page 13
Outlook:
Parity pervades
the conference
BY LISA GILBERT
Welcome to the world of the
Central Collegiate Hockey
Association 1988-89. Sit tight in
your seats and get ready to see
college hockey at its finest.
College hockey is considered to
be one of the fastest growing sports
in America. And among the four
major NCAA conferences, the
CCHA has increased in popularity
by leaps and bounds.
"Over the past six or seven years
the league has been strong and this
year is no exception," said Bowling
Green coach Jerry York. "Not only
will the teams battle from within the
conference but also on a national
level."
Here is proof of the CCHA's
dominance. The CCHA has:
'Three out of the last five NCAA
champions.
-Over 50 percent of last year's
NHL collegiate draftees.
-A major television contract,
which brings the CCHA "Game of
the Week" to over eight million
viewers and networks across the
country.
-A post-season tournament at The
Joe Louis Arena in front of the
} largest crowds to watch college
hockey anywhere in the nation.
The league has also achieved
greater parity. Four teams, Lake
Superior, Michigan State, Western
Michigan, and Bowling Green
received first-place votes in this
year's CCHA coaches pre-season
poll.
Michigan State coach Ron
Mason agreed. "The CCHA has the
most balance of any conference.
There are no weak sisters, which is
unusual in a nine team league."
Here is a team by team analysis
of the teams in the CCHA:
THE FAVORITES
Lake Superior State -
Laker Coach Frank Anzalone was a
bit concerned about complacency
when last year's defending NCAA
champs began their fall practice this
year.
"The first day (of practice) I
noticed a few guys walking with a
little hitch in their walk," Anzalone
said. "Now we're back to reality.
The national championship means
nothing anymore."
With six of the top seven scorers
returning, Lake Superior appears to
be ready to meet the challenge of
staying on top. The only obstacle in
their path will be to replace Mark
Vermette, CCHA Player-of-the-Year
and a first-team All-America
selection last year.
Anzalone is counting on the
contribution of sophomores Jim
Dowd and Brett Barnett to pick up
the scoring slack. As first-year
players, they led the Lakers in
scoring during the postseason.
All-CCHA goalie Bruce Hoffort
returns as does his backup Mike
Greenlay, whose .878 winning
percentage was second only to
Hoffort's league-leading .908 mark.
Michigan State - Always a
perennial CCHA powerhouse, the
Spartans will once again be a force
to be reckoned with this year.
Despite an up and down season,
MSU still finished third in the
CCHA and qualified for their eighth
consecutive NCAA tournament. The
only question mark for this year's
team will be on defense, where the
Spartans must replace captain Tom
Tilley and Sean Clement
The Spartans are blessed with the
services of two top-notch sophomore
goalies in Jason Muzzatti and Jamie
Stewart along with the nation's
second-leading goal scorer in senior
Bobby Reynolds.
THE CHALLENGERS
Bowling Green - Last year's
1987-88 Coaches Poll
1987-88 Final Standings
Team (Ist Place Votes)
1, Lake Superior (4)
2. Michigan State (2)'
3. Western Michigan (2)
4. Bowling Green (1)
5. MICHIGAN
6. Ferris St.
7. Illinois-Chicago
8. Miami (Ohio)
9. Ohio State
pts
75
70
63
60
43
29
28
22
15
1.
2,
3.
4.
5,
6.
7.
8.
9.
Team
Lake Superior
Dowling Green
Michigan St,
Western Mich,
MICHIGAN
Il.-Chicago
Ferris State
Ohio State
Miami (Ohio)
W
22
19
18
17
17
14
11
07
07
L
04
11
12
15
17
17
21
24
T
6
2
3
3
0
1
4
4
I
Pts.
50
40
39
37
34
29
26
18
15
goals-against mark of 3.43 over the
last 27 games.
Michigan - The Wolverines,
who finished fifth last year, have
added a quartet of talented newcomers
and are ready to make a serious run
for the conference title in coach Red
Berenson's fifth season.
Michigan came on strong in the
second half of the season, including
a weekend sweep of archrival
Michigan State.
Ferris State - The Bulldogs,
under the tutelage of third-year coach
John Perpich, proved that they are
ready to make the jump to the upper
division in posting a 2-2 record
against Lake Superior and a 2-1-1
mark against MSU.
Five seniors return along with
CCHA Rookie-of-the-Year John
dePourcq to give Ferris State line-up
a balance between youth and
experience.
"We're gaining in maturity as our
program enters another phase of
development," Perpich said. "This
will be my biggest senior class and
the largest at Ferris in several years."
THE SPOILERS
Illinois-Chicago - Both
offensively and defensively the
Flames enter the 1988-89 campaign
with several holes that need to be
filed.
Gone are UIC's top two career
scoring leaders, Jeff Nelson and Rob
Klenk. Team captain Darin
Alexander and Barry McKinlay, who
forfeited his last two year's of
eligibility to play for the Montreal
Canadians must also be replaced.
Ohio State - Led by last
year's second leading scorer Paul
Rutherford. The Buckeyes will have
the services of eight of their top ten
scorers this season.
"One of our strengths will be an
increased balance offensively," said
head coach Jerry Welsh. "From top
to bottom, we'll be able to put
people on the ice who can score
goals and come up with the time of
possession."
Miami (Ohio) - With their
only consistent scorer gone from last
year's last place team this will
undoubtedly be a rebuilding year for
the Redskins.
File Photo
Five Michigan players find sanctuary in the penalty box
during a game last year. With the new rules changes, full
penalty boxes are expected to be commonplace this season -
especially in the early going.
New rules tighten game
Western Michigan - With
17 lettermen returning, including
four of the top 20 scorers in the
CCHA, from last year's fourth-place
team, Bronco coach Bill Wilkinson
has good reason to be excited about
the upcoming season.
"This year's team, unlike the past
two, knows. exactly what it has to do
in order to get to Joe Louis Arena
for the CCHA championship and,
perhaps, beyond," said Wilkinson.
"We're a talented team. I think we
have every reason to be optimistic."
Veteran goalie Bill Horn returns
for his senior season to anchor an
experienced defense that Wilkinson
cites as the key to the Broncos'
fortunes this year.
CCHA runner-up, the Falcons may
be hard pressed to match last year's
success. The loss of five of their top
six forwards in addition to team
MVP and All-America defenseman
Scott Pauluch may result in a slip in
the standings.
Said coach Jerry York: "The
departure of our seniors, especially
among the forwards leaves us with a
dent in our offensive production and
a need to restructure our offensive
lines."
One veteran York knows he can
count on is junior goalie Paul
Connell, last year's CCHA
Tournament MVP. Connell showed
marked improvement over the second
half of last season, compiling a
The NCAA, in an effort to reduce
violence in college hockey, has made
adjustments in certain rules calling
for stricter enforcement in three
different areas.
Hitting from behind:
If a player delivers a check directly
or diagonally to an opponents back, a
penalty will be called. If the blow is
extremely violent, a major penalty.
will be assessed. The reason for
additional concern in this area is that
this tactic makes a player's neck
especially suceptible to injury.
Hitting after the whistle:
In order to reduce retaliation and
unnecessary game delays, penalties
will be called in instances of
intentional contact after the whistle.
Interference:
Players attempting to impede the
movement of an opponent without
the puck will be called for
interference. This includes holding,
hooking, slashing and screening with
illegal use of the hands, stick, arms
or body.
Overtime:
This new rule applys only to the
CCHA conference. After a two-
minute break, a five-minute sudden-
death overtime period will follow.
WHETHER PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE...
Blue tradition continues
"I want to make it an environment for a boy that when he plays here
and skates out on the ice, it just makes hairs stand up on his back."
-Michigan hockey coach Gordon "Red" Berenson
BY MIKE GILL
Michigan hockey has had quite a few hair-raising moments. Its past
has been filled with glory.
The Wolverines have won a record seven NCAA championships in
thirteen appearances. Their 21-6 NCAA playoff record is tops with a
.778 winning percentage. However, not since the 1963-64 season has
the team celebrated being No. 1 in the nation.
But the Michigan tradition is more than 866 wins in 66 seasons. It's
more than NCAA championships, WCHA championships, or CCHA
playoffs. It's what comes with tradition - atmosphere, attitude,
acceptance by the student body, and the comraderie of the team.
BEFORE MICHIGAN moved into Yost Ice Arena at the start of
the 1973-74 season, they played at the intimate Coliseum on 5th and
Hill Streets, with seating of 2000.
"Every game was jammed" said Michigan coach Red Berenson, who
played there from 1960-62. "In a smaller facility, it was just electric.
Everyone in there was hyped up. You were close to the players, the
players were close to the crowd. It made for an exciting atmosphere."
Lois Simmons is also part of the Michigan tradition - not very
integral on the ice, but off it. Simmons is the wife of the late Carl
Isaacson, who was the trainer for the team from 1947-56. Recently,
Simmons became the first woman to receive the honor of being
inducted into the Deker's Hall of Fame. She remembers the stir hockey
created in the late forties and early fifties, when Michigan won the
NCAA title six times in nine years.
"The students would line up to buy tickets and the line would be two
blocks long," said Simmons. "Then the place would just echo with
noise. You lived and died with that team."
The Michigan tradition.
THE ATMOSPHERE, was in place. Ask anyone from any
generation, who participated on a Michigan hockey team. They'll all
mention the close-knit Michigan family.
Art Schlander, 79, was the oldest member to attend last weekend's
hockey reunion. "I'll tell you one thing," Schlander, captain of the
1931 team, said. "We had a good club, which hung together, which was
a family. That's important."
The Michigan tradition.
AL RENFREW, who coached the team to its last national
championship and played for the Wolverines from 1946-49, remembers
a week in 1948 where the team was a family - stranded in the middle
of nowhere.
After playing out West one yeat, the team began their journey back
to Michigan. They wound up stuck in a terrible storm in Green River,
Wyoming for three days - a place with only one movie house.
"Mrs. Renfrew and I went to the depot for a week for their train to
come in," said Simmons. "The needles on the Christmas tree were
falling off. Finally they came home that night and had to play Queens
University. I went in and hung up their wet underwear which had been
packed away for a week. And you know what? They won."
The Michigan tradition.
FOUR MEN stood in the lobby of Yost Ice Arena last weekend.
They sipped beer and remembered the days they wore Michigan's colors.
All four played between the years of 1968-73 and remember their time
together well.
Bernie Gagnon and Richard Mallette recalled a hallway water fight at
a Holiday Inn in Minnesota. The team doused each other with water and
when they awoke the next morning they discovered the water had turned
to thick ice in the hallway.
"They were the greatest years ever," Jean-Yves "Punch" Cartier said.
"It was a good education, good times, good travelling, good friends.
What more can you ask for?"
When asked to sum up what the 'M' tradition is all about, Renfrew
responded, "Success adds to tradition. But first you've got a family, if
you are fortunate to play on a Michigan team. And it stays with you for
a lifetime. I think that's what our tradition is about."
AND SO, later tonight, the buzz of the crowd will echo down into
the lockerroom at Yost Ice Arena. The uniform will slip over one's
head, the coach's final words will be said, and onto the ice the Michigan
hockey team will skate while The Victors is played above them.
This is the baptism into the Michigan hockey program for six
newcomers.
This is their first night to wear the maize and blue.
This is their indoctrination into the Michigan hockey tradition -
and, the hairs might just stand up a little on each one's back.
4,
Jean-Yves "Punch" Cartier, who
hockey from 1970-72, called his1
the Wolverines "the greatest years
Sports Information
, lettered in Michigan
time spent skating for
ever."
-T *7 1
1 Ferris State
College
Nickname - Bulldogs
Colors - Crimson and Gold
Enrollment - 11,792
Arena (Cap.) - Ewigleben Ice Arena (2.573)
Illinois
Chicago
FLAMES
IY
Miami
University-
Nickname - Redskins
Colors - Red and White
Enrollment - 15,000
Ar. manna - (1mrnin Arena (9 r2500
Ohio
State
UNIVERSITY
Nickname - Buckeyes
Colors - Scarlet and Gray
Enrollment - 53,880
A ,e'-- .A f.C.. , I ne r ,IIn m1O
Nickname - Flames
Colors - Indigo and Flame
Enrollment - 25,000
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