Page 16-The Michigan Daily-Monday, September 17, 1990 - -
Hopes piled high for icers zj

by Matt Rennie
Daily Hockey Writer
All right, it was only an intrasquad scrimmage.
And, yeah, there's still almost a month until the
season begins.
Nonetheless, there they were: six skaters wearing
blue jerseys and another six wearing white, all in a huge
pile of humanity in front of the White goal as the Blue
team desperately tried to score a game-tying goal.
As it was, the Blue never did get that goal, and the
White side prevailed, 6-5, but the score in these type of
games is a very minor detail. Coaches are looking for
individual standouts and searching for the right chem-
istry in different line combinations.
"It's good to play these game-type scrimmages,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson ,said. "We're skating
well. I think everyone is excited about the season."
The excitement showed in the play on the ice, as the
players did not hold anything back, skating and check-
ing as if the CCHA title was on the line. There was a
time when the idea of Michigan competing for the
league crown was unthinkable, but Berenson has as-
sembled a group of confident players who honestly be-
lieve they are contenders.
"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves," Berenson
said. "This is Michigan; we expect to be good."
While Michigan graduated nine members of last
year's team, Berenson signed a bumpercrop of nine
first-year players. The successful recruiting class, com-

bined with the returning core from a year ago, has ev-
eryone counting on big things from the Wolverines.
Berenson, though, doesn't fear the additional pressure.
"We're getting closer to the top," he said. "A few
years ago, we knew we weren't going to compete. This
year, we expect to be a factor. We're planning to win
every game. That's good pressure."
Berenson believes that defense is the key to winning
hockey games, and he has stressed that in early
workouts.
"If you look at the top teams in the conference over
the past few years, you'll see that the team with the
fewest goals against is always near the top," Berenson
said. "We have to learn to check, and we have to learn
our defensive assignments when we don't have the
puck."
The importance of the defense is compounded by the
uncertainty of the goaltending situation, although
Berenson does not foresee any problems in the net,
where junior Tim Keough will vie with highly-touted
rookies Chris Gordon and Steve Shields for playing
time.
"I don't see us being a one-goalie team," Berenson
said. "We will probably carry three goalies. We'll just
go with whoever we think will give us the best chance
to win each night. (Goaltending) could turn out to be a
strength."
If that should come to pass, then come March, the
human pile of Wolverine icers could be one of
celebration.

0

Michigan hockey player Dan Stiver skates past a defender in a game last year against Western Ontario.
k

GET CAUGHT UP IN THE RUSH,".
----------------E-------------------EUEE

Adult & Youth Hockey Refs Needed for '90-'91 Season
Returning Refs Sunday, Sept. 23
bring full equip. 9:00 a.m.
New Refsng 9
Bring Skates A

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