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February 08, 1993 - Image 13

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1993-02-08

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The Michigan Daily -Sports Monday- February 8, 1993 -Page 5
Wolverines didn't get
it done at crunch time
by Tim Rardin
Daily Hockey Writer
OXFORD - Following their game with Miami Saturday, most of the
Michigan hockey team wasn't looking on the bright side of its 4-3 overtime loss
to the Redskins.
What the Wolverines saw, on the other hand, was the painful reality that they
simply didn't get done what they had set out to do, and what they virtually had to
do if they boasted any hopes of defending their regular-season CCHA title.
Yes, Michigan blew it in a big game, one that Coach Red Berenson had
previously described as being a playoff-type game. But itis precisely that fact -
that it was like a playoff game - that could be the brightest bright side of all in
this story.
The Wolverines had won six straight games going into Saturday's contest, and
had been playing as well as they had all year in the run. In those six games,
Michigan rolled over its opponents by a combined score of 45-5. Suffice it to say,
Michigan had not played in a game of the caliber, or significance, of the Miami
game in some time.
And it showed.
"We haven't been in a game like that for awhile," Michigan captain David
Harlock said. "Things have been going our way, so it was a drastic change from
what we've been used to."
Indeed, the Wolverines came out flat, allowing the Redskins to strike just 14
seconds into the game. Though Michigan would eventually tiethe score toward
the end of the first period, it would never lead, forced to play catch-up the whole
way.
Costly errors and missed chances killed the Wolverines.
Michigan might have won had defenseman Aaron Ward not made a bad passe
in the Wolverine zone that Miami promptly converted for its third goal. Then
again, Michigan might have won had center Mike Stone, standing right in front
of the Miami goal with goaltender Richard Shulmistra out of position, put the puck
in the net late in the third period. But they didn't.
And certainly, blame cannot and should not be placed on any single play, or any
single player. The Wolverines, as a team, just gave Miami too many opportunities,
and failed to convert on enough of their own to win that kind of a game.
Simply put, Michigan did not play big in the big game.
"We came out flat off the bat," Harlock said. "For every step we took in the right
direction, we took one in the other direction. But we'll rebound."
And that's the beauty of it.
As cliche as it sounds, the Wolverines will learn from their mistakes. And they
will learn precisely because they have time to learn.
If those miscues occur in a CCHA playoff final, or an NCAA tournament
game, there is no opportunity to rebound. There is no opportunity to "do betternext
time." There is no bright side.
Make no mistake, this game was big. But the reality is that it really didn't
matter, not in the grand scheme of hockey things. It was not a playoff game; it was
only like a playoff game and so, for that reason, the Wolverines got a good chance
to learn what they cannot afford to do in the next big game.
Indeed, because the Wolverines learned this valuable lesson sooner, they can
make sure that the same mistakes they made against Miami don't happen again
later, when it does matter.

Michigan's David Roberts backhands the puck past Ohio State goaltender Kurt Brown in Friday night's 10-1 Wolverine victory at Columbus. Michigan
lost Saturday night at Miami, 4-3, in overtime.

HOCKEY
Continued from page 1
bad if I watch it on tape and it didn't go
in."
It was a series of mistakes that
crippled Michigan. The team outshot
Miami, 32-26 overall and 17-10 in the
third period. Shields and Shulmistra
had brilliant stops at both ends. How-
ever, :14 into the game, Wolverine
defensman Chris Tamer misplayed a
dump-in and Savage lifted the puck
over Shields for the first goal of the
game. Ward's debaclealsocostthe team
a goal.
"It was a game of mistakes,"
Berenson said. "We made two and it
cost us the game. We're going to be
disappointed but we'll bounce back.
We have to do that now."
'They are probably the best team
we've played this year," Stone said.
"We're behind the eight-ball now. It's

Did the puck really go

up to somebody else to beat them for
us."
Friday was a bit of a different story
as Michigan mercilessly pounded Ohio
State. It was never close as Michigan
led 4-0 at the first intermission and did
not look back.
Junior Cam Stewart continued his
scoring ways with a goal and four as-
sists. Right wing David Oliver scored
two goals for the second consecutive
game and defensemen Dave Harlock
and Ward dented the twine for the first
time this season.
"The red light looked like the sun,"
confided Ward.
Stewart, now second on the team in
scoring with 38 points, has found his
confidence as of late.
"We're trying to build with each
win," he said. "Our lines are more bal-
anced. Our defense and Shields are play-
ing really well."

Sn? Nobody knows

0..

by Chad A. Safran
Daily Hockey Writer
OXFORD - Mysterious and un-
known happenings often make for fine
entertainment. For the Michigan hockey
team, the strange ending that accompa-
nied Saturday's overtime loss to Miami
was anything but amusing.
At the 1:00 mark of the extra ses-
sion, Redskin right wing Jason Mallon
fired the puck past Wolverine netminder
Steve Shields to give Miami the 4-3
victory. Yet, all did not seem right in
Goggin Arena as the Miami players
celebrated the win.
The Wolverines did not leave the ice
immediately following the goal. Their
eyes focused on the figures of the three
officials, who appeared tobe discussing
the goal near the penalty boxes.
A little over a minute later, the offi-
cials headed off the ice and the teams
held their customary handshake at cen-
ter ice amid Miami's jubilation.
So, what was the big puzzle causing
the delay? The answer is another ques-
tion - did the puck even cross the goal
line?
The puck apparently hit the cross-
bar, ricocheting to the ice. Shields ended
up on top of the disk immediately. How-
ever, the goal light did not go on. After
a few second delay, the bulb's red glow
filled the arena, the referee signaled the
goal, and the Redskins raised their arms
in triumph.
Following the game players and
coaches expressed doubt whether the
goal should have stood. And although
he was on thebench at the time, Michi-
gan defenseman Al Sinclair was able to
offer his assessment of the play.
"(The puck) hit the lower part of the

crossbar," Sinclair said. "Ithit thecurved
part of the bottom and went straight
down. Steve was down and it landed
somewhere between his pads. The ref
thought it hit the crossbar and went
straight in."
But this mystery can not be solved
with a single observation.
The winning coach expressed his
doubts with regard to the call as well.
"I saw the shot. I wasn't sure if it hit
(Shields') shoulderand then hitthe cross-
bar or if it hit the crossbar," Miami
coach George Gwozdecky said. "I saw
it go up and I wasn't sure if it was in or
not. A lot of people were questioning
whether it was in."
The Michigan defensive tandem of
David Harlock and Pat Neaton was on
the ice at the time of the decisive tally.
Harlock felt that the situation should not
have even occurred.
"It was a miscue on our part,"
Harlock said. "Neaton stepped up to
take the puck and it slid by him. I didn't
see (the goal)."
The plot thickens in this tale of the
"phantom goal" as the play remained an
enigma to many involved, including
Shields as well.
"I didn't see it, but I heard it hit the
crossbar," Shields said. "I don'tknow if
it went in, but by the time the referee
reacted, the red light went on."
Will the case ever be solved?
Michigan coach RedBerenson might
me able to unravel this web of intrigue
when he gets a chance to review the last
play through the use of moderntechnol-
ogy.
"I didn't think it went in," Berenson
said. "(the referee) might think it went
in when it came back down."

Team
Miami
Lake Superior
Michigan
W. Michigan
Michigan State
Ferris State
Bowling Green
Kent State
Illinois-Chicago
Notre Dame
Ohio State

w
17
16
16
13
12
10
8
7
5
4
3

L
2
4
5
7
8
9
14
14
14
18
17

T
3
4
2
2
1
3
0
1
2
2
2

Pts.
37
36
34
28
25
23
16
15
12
10
8

SCORE BY PERIODS
Michigan 42 4- 10
Ohio State 010- 1
First Period: 1, UM, Oliver 24
(Stewart), 10:31. 2, UM, Ward 1
(Sittler) (pp), 12:13. 3, UM, Hilton
10 (Wiseman, Stewart) (pp), 16:14.
4, UM, Stewart 13, (Roberts,
Wiseman) (pp), 18:49.
Second Period: 1, OSU Green
(Choi, Peters) (pp), 2:30. 5, UM,
Roberts 12 (Stewart) (sh), 9:27. 6,
UM Knuble 15, 15:32.
Third Period: 7, UM, Tamer 3
(Knuble, Stone), 1:52. 8,UM, Oliver
25 (Stewart), 2:51. 9, UM, Sacka 5
(Roberts), 5:22. 10, UM, Harlock 1
(Stone, Knuble) (pp), 19:35.
Goalie Saves: UM, Shields (4-8-x
- 12), Gordon (x-x-4 - 4). OSU,
Brown (9-7-x -16), Slazyk (x-2-15
- 17).
Officials: Referees-Matt Shegos,
Don Cline. Linesman - Larry
Lulich.
At: OSU Ice Rink
Attendance: 1,600.

SCORE BY PERIODS
Michigan 1 0 2 0 - 3
Miami (Ohio) 1 1 1 - 4
First Period: 1, Miami, Savage 23
(Marshall, Bergeron), 0:14. 1, UM,
Oliver 26 (Wiseman, Roberts) (pp),
16:42.
Second Period: 2, Miami, Adams
11 (Mallon, Boxer), 13:00.
Third Period: 2, UM, Roberts 13
(Ouimet), 7:48. 3, Miami, Savage
24 (Marshall), 14:10.3, UM, Knuble
16 (Wiseman), 15:05.
Overtime: 4, Miami, Mallon 4
(Adams, Boxer), 1:00.
Goalie Saves: UM, Shields (5-8-9-
0 - 22). Miami, Shulmistra (4-10-
15-0-29).
Officials: Referees-- M at Shegos,
Don Cline. Linesman - Larry
Lulich.
At: Goggin Arena
Attendance: 3,050.

Friday Results
Mich. 10, OSU 1
Miami 7, Kent St. 1
LSSU 6, UIC 4
MSU 5, Notre Dame 1
W. Mich. 3, Ferris St. 2

Saturday

Results

Miami 4, Mich. 3, OT
Kent St. 4, OSU 1
LSSU 4, UIC 3
W. Mich. 2, MSU 0
Ferris St. 5, Notre Dame 4

STONE .
Continued from page 1
pert penalty killing.
Stone is the driving force on the
CCHA's top-rated penalty killing unit.
He and sophomore left wing Rick Willis
team up to form the forward line on the
first unit of a band that kills penalties at
a rate of 85 percent. This has given
Stone an opportunity to display his de-
fensive skills, and to garner recogni-
tion.
"Mike Stone is as good a penalty
killerasthereis inourleague,"Berenson
said. "He's the bread and butter of our
penalty killing. He has probably killed
penalties in every game he's played. He
is the kind of guy you want on the ice
when things are desperate."
"He's a dominant penalty killer,"
Willis said. "He knows everybody else's
job as well as his own. If you kill penal-
ties with him, you're going to be play-
ing on one of the best penalty killing
units in the nation. He just reads and
anticinates really well."

push his abilities to the limit and get the
little outside recognition he does.
"It's frustrating seeing him not get-
ting enough credit-it'sajoke," fellow
junior Brian Wiseman said. "He sets the
mark for our team in terms of his work
ethic. He does his job so well, someone
should stop and say, 'Hey, this kid's
good."
"It doesn't matter who or where
we're playing, he always gives 100
percent," forward David Oliver said.
"He's not just out there filling a spot, he
does the job.
"He establishes a work ethic every
player should strive for. When you see
aplayer busting his butt to help the team
in any way possible, it makes you take
another look at yourself."
Stone is an extremely versatile
player. He has played on several differ-
ent lines this season. At first, he was on
aline counted on to score goals. Then he
was on achecking line. He was bounced
back to a scoring line after that.
Throughout his career at Michigan,
Stone has been asked to play all three

Michigan experience. Another reason
he is happy about being a Wolverine is
the close proximity of his family. His
parents attend most of the games and
talk to him often.
T'e best part about living close to
home for Stone, though, is Mom's care
packages. Nancy Stone loads up gro-
cery bags full of goodies and transports
them to Mike's house fairly regularly.
However, Stone's five housemates -
all teammates - see to it that he rarely
gets to eat the food.
"That guy's got all the food," house
mate Aaron Ward said. "But we always
steal it from him."
"Sometimes when I bring the bags
in, he says, 'Just take it right to my
room,"'Mrs. Stone said. "When I bring
them into the kitchen, Wiseman and
(goaltenderSteve) Shields say 'Oh, what
have we got this week?"'
Off the ice, Stone is an inconspicu-
ous, peaceful individual. He tries to do
his job and avoid the spotlight. In group
discussions, he is the one who sits back
and takes it all in.

t .... $ .

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