The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday. October 10, 1994 -- 7 aWoo -7 CCHA title up for grabs as changes abound among perennial By DARREN EVERSON Daily Hockey Writer If you're a hockey fan, chances are you couldn't keep from chuckling at the strike that ended the baseball season. "Hockey players don't care about money," you thought. "Can't happen in our sport,," you said. Well, chances are you're not chuckling anymore, because the owners locked the players out anyway. Luckily, though, the powers that be in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association have not done the same to their athletes. It should come as no surprise, then, that in a year full of work stoppages, the team that comes out on top in the CCHA this year will be the one that outworks the rest of the pack. Last season, Michigan simply outmanned and out- classed its rivals en route to winning both the regular season and playoff titles. Led by the experienced play P re of goaltender Steve Shields and 60-point scorers Brian Wiseman and David Oliver, the Wolverines took care of business earlywinning 16 of their first 17 conference contests. Those three stars are gone, however, and with them any realistic chance of a repeat of last season's performance. However, Michigan isn't the only team in this league that will rely on a new group of workhorses this year. The No, 1 goaltender position at Lake Superior State is vacant, since incumbent Blaine Lacher took a job with the Boston Bruins. Freshman John Grahame and sophomores Paul Sass and Sean Ku lick will compete for the top spot. Defensemen Keith Aldridge and Brad Willner also have their work cut out for them, as they will be asked to lead a defense that posted seven shutouts and a 2.29 goals against average last year. All of this means that despite coming off their second NCAA championship in three years, the Lak- ers might be hard-pressed to win their first CCHA regular season title since the 90-91 campaign. "If you lose three or four forwards, you can generally get by with that," Laker head coach Jeff Jackson explained. "But if you lose goaltenders and defensemen, that has a bigger impact on where you're going to finish." Some of the same questions facing Lake State also need to be answered by Michigan State. The Spartans retain the services of -senior netminder Mike Buzak, but defensive inexperience still could be a problem in East Lansing. "The most difficult position in my estimation to come in and play is defense," head coach Ron Mason said. "It's very difficult for freshman defensemen to make the adjustment. But I think our players are as good as it gets, and I think they'll do it." Hockey writers across the Midwest picked Michi- gan State to win the title this season, and forwards Anson Carter and Steve Guolla are the two main reasons why. In order to challenge for the champi- onship, however, Michigan State will certainly have to do a better job at home, where they won just 17 of 33 contests last season. Mike Mazzoleni is no stranger to Michigan State's Munn Ice Arena, having played goalie for the Spartans back in the late 70's. When Mazzoleni returns to his old college stomping grounds this season, however, it'll be as head coach of hated foe Miami. Whether the Redskins can improve on last year's fifth-place finish depends primarily on junior center Kevyn Adams, who led Miami in scoring, and junior goalie Kevin Deschambeault, who will have to replace longtime netminder Richard Shulmistra. "A feel good with Deschambeault in goal," Mazzoleni said, "and I feel there will be a lot of competition to back him up, which will help strengthen that position." Last season, Western Michigan finally earned the kind of respect reserved for the league's best teams, as they had a winning record against the Spartans and Lakers. As is the case with Lake State and Michigan State, Western will be most inexperienced at the blue line. Juniors Darren Maloney and Misha Lapin figure to be the leaders of that unit. Western Michigan fans can only look at their team's fourth-place finish (two points shy of second place) with despair, knowing that they gave away two points in an early-season loss to traditional doormat Kent State. They needn't worry about that happening again this fall, now that the Golden Flashes have dropped hockey as a varsity sport. The league will fill the vacant I 1th spot next year, when Alaska Fairbanks becomes an official mem- ber. Fairbanks managed a respectable 8-7 league record last year, and return a number of the key players of that tague powers squad. Brian Fish and Larry Moberg split time mind- ing the net last season and will have to step up their play, now that graduation has lessened the Nanooks' scoring punch. Notre Dame could also have problems putting the puck in the net, but they won't have graduation to blame - the Fighting Irish lose a league-low three players from last year's team. However, there's still a couple of reasons to look forward to hockey in South Bend this year. "For the first time in 26 years we have a new look at Notre Dame," head coach Ric Schaefer said. "Gone are the sound panels that we had in the fieldhouse that looked like a set out of Laugh-In." "Other teams have been talking about new are- nas and new players - I'm proud to say that Bowling Green has recycled an old coach," said first-year Falcon coach Buddy Powers, reflecting on the new faces and places in the CCHA. His Falcons are primed to compete for the league title, which would also be something new. All-CCHA rookie team selections Bob Petrie and Curtis Fry return, and with 22-goal scorer Brian Holzinger, they give the Falcons one of the better blends of talent and experience in the conference. Ohio State has as much experience as one could ask for, with 18 out of 22 players from last season's club still on the roster. Head coach Jerry Welsh expects the league's 'abused stepchild' - as de- scribed by its own preseason prospectus - to be one of the most improved teams in the league. Last season's lower echelon of teams seem to have the greatest number of players returning this year, and Ferris State is no exception. Defensemen Andy Roach, an all-rookie teamer, and Dwight Parrish, voted the team's Most Improved Player, have the task of making goalies Seth Appert and Rich Nagy's lives easier, since they have just 13 career games played between them. On paper, Illinois-Chicago didn't appear to be much of a threat to anyone last season. However, if last year is indeed any indication of what's to come, Flames head coach Larry Pedrie already knows his team can compete - but what they must do is to improve. "In the four years I've been here...we've played fairly well, but we find ourselves on the losing end of a lot of close games," Pedrie said. "We'll certainly focus on avoiding that this year. Freshman class delivers on both ends of the ice not going to get worked up about it." After'a Jason Botterill goal gave the White an early 1-0 advantage, the Blue reeled off five unanswered scores to take a 5-1 lead into the first intermis- sion. For the game, the front line of rrison, Knuble and Hilton combined or eight points, including five in the first period alone. Going into the game, Berenson knew that Turco would have his hands full with the three forwards. "We wanted to make sure he got some work and he did," Berenson said. "It's a good introduction to college hockey for a young goalie, and a big ustment. 0 "It was a good learning experience or him." After giving up the early Botterill goal, seniorgoalie AlLogessettleddown and kept the White offense at bay. "I thought Loges played well," Berenson said. "But he didn't face the pressure that the other team did." The senior from Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., is enthusiastic about getting the chance to perform, after being relegated to backup duties the previous three sea- sons. "For me, every type of scrimmage is a game because I haven't played very much in two-and-a-half years," Loges said. "I have to play with that game-time mentality." The Wolverines' highly touted fresh- man class made its first public appear- ance Friday night in impressive fashion, and Berenson was excited to see the newcomers in action. "They're all competing well and fit- ting in," he said. "They're not going to carry our team, but as the season moves on, I think everyone is going to see why they're here." there. It is one of the most consistent and dependable parts of your day. For the last four years, Steve Shields, Brian Wiseman, David Oliver and Mike Stone were Michigan hockey's morning paper. In fact they were more than that. They were the New York Times - the paper of record. These four players graduated as the winningest class in the history of Michigan hockey after amassing a staggering 129 wins in four years. Shields 00 graduated as the NCAA's all-time winningest goalie and joined Wiseman and Oliver as finalists for last year's Hobey Baker award, col- lege hockey's most coveted individual prize. But much to the despair of Wol- verine hockey faithful everywhere, that edition is now out of print, as all four players have now moved on to the professional ranks. However, a new edition - head- lined by this year's highly touted fresh- man class - has arrived on campus and is circulating. Goalie Marty Turco, center/left wing Matt Herr, center Robb Gordon, right wing Bill Muckaltand defenseman Chris Fox round out a recruiting class ranked No. 1 by the Central Scouting Service. With only one week of official practices under their belts, the quintet came out firing in Friday's Blue-White i4ntrnnn Ad rrmmao legiate level of play. Turco comes to the Wolverines after playing with the Cambridge Winterhawks last year. With Shields now minding net in the Buffalo Sabres organization, Turco has some rather large skates to fill. "I try not to look at it as coming in behind the NCAA's all-time winningest start of any of the newcomers. A two-sport star in hockey and baseball last year at the Hotchkiss School, Herr holds the unique distinc- tion of being drafted by teams in two professional sports. He was selected by the Washing- ton Capitals in the fourth round of the 1994 NHL draft and by the Atlanta for the Wolverines for years to come. The 6-foot- IMuckalt led the British Columbia Junior Hockey League in goals scored last year with 70. Fellow six-footer Gordon led the same league in scoring last year after tallying 6P goals and 89 assists in 60 games for the Powell River Paper Kings. "I think we expect it out of our- selves to perform well," Gordon said. "We're touted as a good class and we should perform that way. (Last year's seniors) are a chapter that's closed, and I think now we're supposed to start a new chapter." Fox is stepping into a crowded unit behind the blue line. With eight elder defensemen on the squad, it may be hard for the Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. native to see as much playing time as his fellow freshmen. Fox, how- ever, is more offensive minded than the Wolverines' other defensemen, and that may lead to more ice time for him. Much will be expected from these five over the next four years, and just because they're freshmen doesn't mean that their coach won't be afraid to cast them, skates first, into big-time college hockey. "They're all highly touted for one reason or another, and I've always felt good about throwing freshmen into situations," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "When I took over the program, the program was pretty sad, so the freshmen were pretty impor- tant. "We got to the point where it be- came a norm that if you were a fresh- man coming to Michigan, you were going to play and we would find a role for you on the team. Either you thrive on it or you don't do well, but for the October 14 York University 21-22 Colorado College 28-29 at Ferris State November 4 Ohio State 5 Lake Superior State I1 Michigan State 12 at Bowling Green January 7 13-14 20 21 27 28 Februai a Team Canada at Lake Superior State Bowling Green Notre Dame @ Western Michigan tllinois-Chicago ry Western Michigan at Michigan State F. -r .&" , .a s~&~- j,..,;. a ..