Page 6- The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - March 8, 1993 I Icers can't capture CCHA crown Blue manhandles Kent OSU, but watches Miami hold on to flst place t EVArN P , IE/Daly While Michigan coach Red Berenson did not have many reasons to get this intense last weekend, he did earn his 200th career victory Saturday. ereson adds a new number to his legacy by Chad A. Safran Daily Hockey Writer COLUMBUS - Michigan began its 1984-85 season with a new head coach. Then-athletic director Don Canham hired former Wolverine hockey great Red Berenson to lead Michigan back to the national prominence it knew in the 1950s and early 1960s. Almost nine years later, Berenson has reached a milestone he never contemplated arriving at. Saturday night against Ohio State, Berenson earned his 200th victory at the Michigan helm. "It's insignificant," Berenson said. "I never really thought about it." Berenson coached the St. Louis Blues for three seasons (1979-82), winning the Jack Adams Award for NHL Coach of the Year following the 1980-81 campaign. After Berenson was dismissed from the Blues job, he embarked on his coaching career at Michigan. When he arrived in Ann Arbor, his team was of quite a different caliber from the one he coaches today. Berenson's first season began well enough with Michigan, as his Wolverines won four of their first five games, including the season opener against Miami. "When we won, we acted as if we had just won the Stanley Cup," Berenson said. "For a few years, no one on the team expected to win. The players had just hoped to win." The rest of the season was far from being successful. The Wolverines finished in the CCHA cellar with an overall record of 13- 26-1. The lowest point of the season came when Ferris State took two high-scoring games from Michigan. "We were up, 7-2, going into the third period and ended up losing, 9-7," Berenson said. "It was horrendous. That was the longest night." Numerous long nights followed as the Wolverines lost 26 and 20 games, respectively, during the next two seasons. Yet Michigan improved its position in the conference, finishing seventh after Berenson's third season. "It was a learning process for me and the team," Berenson said. "There were a lot of great teams, a lot of tough teams, a lot of long nights. Bowling Green was coming off a national championship (1983-84). Ohio State used to give us a tough time and of course, Lake Superior was tough. We needed to convince the players that they were good enough to compete." Berenson's fourth season (1987-88) proved to be the turning point for the Wolverines, catapulting them to the next level of competition. Michigan won 22 games and finished fourth in the CCHA. The finish marked the first time since the 1980-81 season that Michigan had passed the 20-victory plateau. Three seasons later, the Wolverines made their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 14 years when they won a school-record 34 games and came away with a second-place finish in the CCHA, the team's best ever in the conference at the time. That accomplishment was surpassed by last season's league championship and an appearance in the NCAA semifinals. Berenson said that his successslies in something other than his coaching abilities. "It comes from recruiting good players," Berenson said. "They don't always turn out the way you expect, but we have had a lot of good recruiting the last five to six years that has paid dividends. We've got a program, a facility and a school with a lot of recognition." by Chad A. Safran Daily Hockey Writer COLUMBUS - With the Michigan hockey team (23-5-2 CCHA, 27-5-3 overall) comfortably ahead in its 13-1 thrashing of Ohio State Saturday, the players' thoughts turned to, of all places, Sault Ste. Marie. Why would the Wolverines be contemplating the happenings in the Upper Peninsula? Miami was playing Lake Superior, and, following Friday's 6- 2 victory over Kent, Michigan found itself two points behind the Redskins for the CCHA regular season cham- pionship as a result of Miami's 1-1 tie at Ferris State Friday night. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the Lakers failed to hold a 6-5 third-period lead, as Brian Savage scored with less than three minutes remaining in the final period to knot the game at six. That was how the game finished, giving the Redskins their first league title ever. Michigan coach Red Berenson acknowledged that his team has ac- complished much despite ending the regular season as the runner-up in the conference. "We made a good rush for first place," Berenson said. "It's a bit of a downer. We were hoping for another favor, but you don't always get it." Berenson was referring to last season when Lake Superior dropped two games in the next-to-last week- end of the season, giving the Wolverines the outright regular sea- son title. Players offered different reac- tions upon learning the outcome of the Miami game. "(It's) a little disappointing," said right wing Mike Knuble, who scored his 21st and 22nd goals in the win over the Buckeyes. "We could have controlled the outcome. We could have clinched it, but (Miami) de- serves it. They just finished it off." "(It's) not really disappointing," center Mark Ouimet said. "We've been gunning for second for so long. Joe Louis (CCHA semis and finals) is coming up and that's where the games really count. It would be nice to have hung another banner at home." Before Michigan could even think of the Miami-Lake Superior contest, the Wolverines needed to dispatch of Ohio State. They did so in a hurry, jumping out to a 1-0 lead just :38 seconds into the game as de- fenseman Aaron Ward scored his fourth goal of the season. The Wolverines continued to roast the Buckeyes, culminating in two power-play goals within a 31- second span from Knuble and for- ward Cam Stewart, who scored his 17th goal of the season on a break- away off a center-ice faceoff. "We played well right off the start," Stewart said. "We made them play how we did." The goals kept coming, as the Wolverines moved out to an 11-0 lead at the 12:30 mark of the final stanza on Ryan Sittler's ninth tally of the season. Steve Shields ap- peared headed to tying a league record for shutouts in a season (three) until Tim Green put Ohio State on the board with a power-play goal at the 16:15 mark. It marked only the third goal the Buckeyes have put past Michigan netminders this season. The Wolverines managed to strike back quickly with the Wolverines' fourth power-play goal of the night when center Kevin Hilton scored his second goal of the game. Rick Willis followed 1:07 later with the fourth line's lone goal of the night for the final 12-goal vic- tory margin. Friday's affair against the Golden Flashes was much closer than the game with the Buckeyes. The Michigan offense continued to pro- duce numerous opportunities as evi- denced by the 47 shots fired at Kent goalie Scott Shaw. Michigan jumped in front early this night as well, scoring on the second shift of the evening at the :50 mark of the opening period when Stewart fired a shot from the left cir- cle past Shaw. "I just shot as hard as I could," Stewart said. "I didn't think it would go in. It's good to get the first goal and get on your right way." Continuously throughout the game, the Michigan defensemen, es- pecially Chris Tamer, were able to rush the puck up into the Kent de- fensive zone. "Their defensemen back in a o101" said Tamer, who assisted on to goals. "They weren't forcing. They gave me the chance and I took it. Too bad I can't score goals or else I would have had some." One defenseman who did put the puck in the net was Ward, firing in his second and third goals of the sea- son, including one at 19:56 of the first period that put Michigan up 2-0. "You never want to give up a goal at the start of a period or late in a period," Kent State coach Bill Switaj said. "We can't do that, and it certainly didn't help us. We had tco many turnovers in the neutral zone. That was our biggest problem. "Player for player, no team in the league is close (to Michigan);" Switaj said. "They can go one-on- one with anyone. No team scares you like they do." With the regular season now con- cluded, Michigan will host Notre Dame in the opening round of the CCHA playoffs. The Wolverines have taken all four contests from the Fighting Irish this season. (. EVAN PETRIE/Daily Michigan center Ron Sacka circles Kent State's net, unleashing a shot at Golden Flame goaltender Scott Shaw. SCORE BY PERIODS Michigan 2 3 1- 6 Kent State 0 0 2- 2 First- Period: 1, UM, Stewart 16 (Hilton, Ward), 0:50. 2, UM, Ward 2 (Oliver, Stewart), 19:56. Second Period: 3, UM, Ouimet 12 (pp) (Sittler, Tamer), 6:17. 4, UM, Ward 3 (Wiseman, Tamer), 11:19. 5, UM, Wiseman 11 (Sittler), 15:41. Third Period: 6, UM, Stiver 22 (Stone, Ouimet), 0:44. 1, Kent, Sylvester 29 (Purdon, Morin), 1:43. 2, Kent, Fair 6 (pp) (Morin, Neal), 19:30. Goalie Saves: UM, Shields (6-7- 2- 15), Loges (x-x-3- 3). Kent, Shaw (13-13-15-41). SCORE BY PERIODS Michigan 616- 13 Ohio State 001- 1 First Period: 1, UM, Ward 4 (Stiver, Ouimet), 0:33.2, UM, Oliver 32 (Stewart,Neaton), 4:48. 3, UM, Roberts 20, (Stewart, Oliver) 7:46. 4, UM, Ouimet 13 (Roberts, Halko), 14:29. 5, UM, Knuble 21 (pp) (Sittler) 18:08. 6, UM, Stewart 17 (Oliver, Wiseman), 18:39. Second Period: 7, UM, Neaton 9 (pp) (Oliver, Wiseman), 3:34. Third Period: 8, UM, Knuble 22 (Roberts, Sacka), 2:47. 9, UM, Hilton 14 (Oliver), 9:19. 10, UM, Ouimet 14 (sh) (Stiver, Neaton), 9:54. 11, UM, Sittler 9 (Wiseman), 12:30. 1, OSU, Green 4 (pp) (Peters, Choi), 16:15. 12, UM, Hilton 15 (pp) (Sinclair, Neaton), 17:21. 13, UM, Willis 12 (Stone, Sacka) 18:28. Goalie Saves: UM, Shields (4-5- 4- 13). OSU, Slazyk (11-x-x- 11), Askey (x-9-10- 19). C BIHj hc: Li " gs Depth of 'M' roster )makes for great year '%- I ----L-... by Brett Forrest Daily Hockey Writer COLUMBUS- It's pretty simple. If a team has an array of players who can put the biscuit in the oven, that team probably has the best chance of winning a good amount of games. Sure, there is no skater who stands head and shoul- ders above the rest as the guy who will carry the team, but that is just one of the prices of winning. At the outset of this CCHA season, many believed Michigan would win with a balanced scoring attack. The Wolverines needed four lines that could do just about everything - hit, dangle and score. That belief has come to fruition over the past 35 games. Five play- ers are on pace to break the 50-point mark, and four have already cracked the 20-goal plateau. "Confidence is the key," defenseman Aaron Ward said. "None of our lines doubts it can score. No line as- sumes a certain role. There is no stereotype for any of our lines." This is a far cry from the makeup of last season's squad where winger Denny Felsner was the guy. The team looked to him for the clutch goal, the big play. Felsner's linemates benefited from his scoring touch, and it seemed that no matter who he skated with, the line produced. The inherent problem with that system of hierarchy lies in the fact that it becomes a simpler task to shut down one line rather than two or three. Opposing teams keyed on Michigan's first line last season and were of- ten effective at forcing the Wolverines to the brink be- fore bowing. This year, that has not happened. "Other teams can't check just one line," right wing David Oliver said. "And when we get goals from the fourth line, you can't stop it." "What's going to carry a team in the playoffs is goal- tending and depth," center Brian Wiseman stated. "Teams like to key on one line but who are they going to key on? A lot of teams will have trouble." This even distribution should be important in thle stretch run for Michigan. With most teams, if a top line or player is shadowed and shut down, that just about does it. With Michigan, though, all the film watching and priming cannot escape the fact that the Wolverines are balanced through three lines and have a fourth that is possibly the best fourth line in the nation. "We never envisioned that it would be this balance(I, it's crazy. It's going to be important (in the playoff$) that we don't rely on one line," center Mark Ouimt said. "It works no matter* what line combinations we have. We have too many skilled players." Michigan coach Red Berenson took these skilled players and swapped them from line to line but now seems to have settled on steady combinations. They must be the right threesomes, for in the last seven games, Michigan has outscored its opponents, 59-13. Moreover, the Wolverines allowed the fewest goals and scored the most in the CCHA this season. The team's power play and penalty killing units also fin- ished atop the league. "(Balance) has been important," Berenson said. "Instead of winning 5-1 or 6-1, it's 8, 9-1. More guys contribute offensively." Michigan scored more than ten goals in five games, more than eight in 10 games - but only had three hat tricks. The Wolverines scored eight shorthanded goals from seven different players. Defenseman David Harlock has two goals and eight assists. Goaltenders Steve Shields and Chris Gordon even combined for two assists in one game. Few teams, if any, across the nation can come close to matching Michigan's chasm of talent and symmetry of offense. Who knows, depth and balance such as this might be able to escort the Wolverines to heights not seen since 1964, their last national championship. Ai .......................... . . ... E- " " " " T-SHIRT PRINTERY * A21s MULTI-COLOR PRINTING CHAMPS! * STAFF ARTIST SUPPORT. * 2-DAY RUSH SERVICE AVAILABLE. * U-M P.O. #'s ACCEPTED. * LOCATED ACROSS THE BRIDGE FROM GANDY DANCER. 5% DISCOUNT 994-1367 " MINIMUM ORDER WITH THIS AD 1002 PONTIAC TRAIL ANN ARBOR 12 SHIRTS R "5 . . I (5; dcw)vI I DEPARTMENT OF RECREATIONAL SPORTS FIELD POSITIONS AND INTERNSHIPS IL DAY & NIGHT CREWS \ $6.00-$6.75 I hour Base Salary Plus Bonus Incentives INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM VOLLEYBALL Environmental mosquito management and aquatic weed control contractor is now hiring field personnel for 110 seasonal positions beginning in May. 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