The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday,_February 6, 1995
Q&A: EDMONTON VILERS FORWARD DAVID OLIVER
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Former Wolverine hockey player talks
about Michigan and life in the NHL
Aftergraduating from Michigan a
yearago,formerhockeyplayerDavid
Oliver began his career in profes-
sional hockey as an Edmonton Oiler.
Daily sports writer Sarah DeMar
recently spoke to Oliver about the
transition from college hockey to pro
*nd his days with Michigan.
D: What did it feel like stepping
onto the ice for the first time as an
Edmonton Oiler?
0: It was the most unbelievable
feeling of my life. It's something I've
waited for quite a few years and for
that to come through.
D: How did you feel about the
league going on strike during your
Wbut year in the NHL?
0: It's kind of good and bad. It
was bad because I made the team and
I knew I was going to be able to play,
and it was good in the way I got the
experience in the minors and I got to
play hockey. I'm better from the ex-
perience than a lot of guys who haven't
been playing the games.
D: So it wasn't disappointing at
all starting off for Cape Breton during
0e lockout?
0: Sure, it was disappointing, but
I think it helped me in a big way. You
need experience to play in the NHL
and I got the experience down there.
D: Do you get teased at all for
being the rookie on the team?
0: Well, no. We have a few
rookies on the team - you see, we
have the youngest team in the NHL,
g it's probably not as bad as it is in
some places. The guys I'm playing
with are great guys and they're there
to help me out. You don't know really
what to expect when you get there,
but they've been tremendous.
D: How do you like playing under
coach Burnett as compared to Red
Berenson?
0: It's going to take a little time.
very time you change coaches it's a
g adjustment and Red helped my
game of hockey out so much that I
owe him where I am today. As far as
George goes, he'd the first coach to
give me a shot to make my dream
come true, so it's going to take a while
before I can compare them.
D: Now that you are back in Yost,
do you miss playing for Michigan?
0: I'd like to be on the ice right
Ww. I'll never forget this place - it
was the four best years of my life. I get
chills when I hear that announcer.
D: Is the atmosphere of Northlands
Coliseum similar to Yost's?
0: Not at all. I've only played
there once, but it's a lot different. It's
a real business there and you're get-
ting paid to do ajob, so the fans expect
to see you doing that job every night.
ere it's more of a good time for the
ns to come out and cheer on the
score That's probably the biggest dif-
ferences. If something goes wrong
the fans are more likely to get on you
rather than get behind you and try to
push you through it.
D: How does the 48 game sched-
ule affect you physically?
0: Isat out my fourth game because
I was a little tired, and I'm going to sit
out here and there because I'm not
really used to playing the pro season.
It's a big adjustment and it will take a
while - probably take a year or two.
D: What is the major difference in
level of play between college and pro
hockey?
hockey?
0:I went and tried out, but I didn't
make it. I wasn't really hitting the
boards well, so I wanted to come back
for my senior year and I'm glad I did.
D: What do you feel was the
advantage of that?
O: Well, I got more time. More
time to learn and more experience. Like
I said earlier, experience is the best
thing; the more games you play, the
better you're going to be. Playing under
a guy like Red Berenson, you're going
to get better every time you step onto
the ice.
D: Because you're from BC (Brit-
dad had seen it. You couldn't write a
better story. The way they acted...they
might have been happier than I was!
D: When you were growing up
was Edmonton your favorite team'?
Or Vancouver...?
0: Montreal.
D: Montreal? Why is that?
0: It was probably the influence of
my middle brother. He's a big Montreal
fan and I kind-of got molded into being
a Montreal fan all my life. I liked
Edmonton and then when Wayne
Gretzky came into the league I was a big
Gretzky fan. That's probably when I
started edging towards Edmonton.
D: How did you get into hockey as
a kid?
0: Both of my brothers played.
One is seven years older than me and
the other is six years older and they
always have played. It's just some-
thing I picked up from seeing them on
the ice - I wanted to play.
D: How did your parents influ-
ence you to continue with it?
0: They never pushed me any
which way. They always let me do
what I wanted to do and I think they
were the most obvious influence on
me.
D: Have you followed college
hockey much this year now that you've
moved on to the pros?
0: I follow these guys. Just Michi-
gan.
D: What do you think - can they
win the NCAA title?
0: They better. I feel like I'm still
a part of these guys.
D: Do you ever think about last
year's Lake Superior game during the
playoffs?
0: Sure, but you got to move on.
It was probably one of the biggest
disappointments of my life. Our
chance was right there and we had
owned them all year, but then...yeah,
I think about it often.
D: What would you be doing if
you weren't playing hockey'?
0: I'd be back here.
D: Graduate school?
0: I'd be doing something with
the school; I don't know exactly what
it would be. I really miss this place.
D: So do you think (freshman)
Chris Fox can live up to your former
jersey number'?
0: I hope so. He's on defense,
though, so it's a little different, but he 1
has a long time to do it.
RACHL BACHMAN
Bach's Score
Minnesota sports
warn of what may be
INNEAPOLIS - Saturday's basketball game against
Minnesota exposed more than just Michigan's offensive
scheme. Visit the Gophers' stomping grounds - Minneapolis - and
behold a diorama of the state of fa sports.
You have your classic '90s NBA team: the Timberwolves. Team focal point
Christian Laettner is a whiner the likes of which became fodder for a recent Sports
Illustrated cover story. Not even the state-of-the-art Target (as in shopping) Center
was enough to give these guys a winning record.
Next, there are the football Vikings, whose head coach just agreed to settle a
sexual harassment case filed against him.
The hockey team - formerly the Minnesota North Stars - was moved to
Dallas a few years back by a man named Norm Green. The color of money surely
was the only thing on his mind; how else could the state that produced 11 Miracle
On Ice gold medalists in 1980 not have a hockey team?
On to baseball. Ah, but no city has a team this year, does it? Even if the Twins
did play ball come spring, it would be inside the plastic-fenced Metroidome.
Metropolitan Stadium, the team's old, outdoor facility, eventually became the site
of the Mall of America, a carnival of commercialism complete with mini-golf
course and police force.
With a pack of pro squads like that, the college teams stand out like a palm tree
in New York City.
As a result, the college game has been upgraded. The hockey team has a brand
new arena; the basketball team a newly remodeled one. But with increased
attention brought on in part by disenchanted pro fans came some unsettling side
effects.
Hoping to cash in on TV and night-game revenues, the Gopher football team
moved to the Dome- quite a hike from campus-several years ago. And, at $158
a year, student season basketball tickets are the Big Ten's most expensive.
What does the Minnesota trend mean to the average Wolverine fan'?
Michigan, too, has seen hints of a pro sports culture developing at the collegiate
level. The athletic department's contract with Nike may have helped some
Michigan teams. But that didn't outweigh the fact that the school came off looking
like Chevy Chase in a Dorito's commercial.
Michigan has made some moves to safeguard the college mystique. Most
notably, last fall, ofticials voted down a proposal to build luxury boxes in Michigan
Stadium.
But the threat is still there. Let our neighbors to the west serve as reminders not
to let pro sports viruses like greed and power hungriness infect the college ranks.
That is, not unless you want to see Foot Lockers on the concourse of Crisler Arena
0: There are two real big ones.
One is probably the size of the guys
- guys are so much bigger and so
much faster, too. That's the other one.
The pace of the game is so much
quicker. It's something that takes a
while to get used to. In college you
have a lot of time to do it out on the
ice, while up there the guys are going
to do it right off the bat. It's tough.
D: What do you think about
Michigan's new, young team?
0: I think it's great. Once you
play for a school, even when you
leave you want to see them win. I got
some great friends on the team and
they're young, but good.
D: Was it ever an option to leave
Michigan early to play professional
SPORTS INFORMATION
ish Columbia) and your parents saw
you first game, what did they say
about seeing you score your first goal?
O: They were in awe just as much
as I was. Ijust kept things in my head.
I didn't really know what to say to
them - I couldn't really say any-
thing. Itjust stuck there in my head all
night and it was so hard to believe that
the dream that I'd had for so long had
actually come true and my mom and
The razing of Metropolitan Stadium proved that in pro sports, you can't
always go home again.
I
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403
Introduction to American
Sign Language
Joan E. Smith
February 1, 8, 15, & 22
Four Consecutive Wednesdays
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Free of Charge
Sponsored by:
Services for Students with Disabilities
Michigan Union
University Unions - Associated Network Television
(UU-ANT)
STAFF AND FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
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The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
presents
The Nineteenth Annual Hayward Keniston Lecture
"How Can One Be a Caribbean Writer?"
by
Maryse Conde
Visiting Professor, Harvard University
Friday, February 10, 1995, 4:30 p.m.
Schorling Auditorium, School of Education
A reception will follow the lecture.
10 Great Reasons
Why YOU Should
Choose Air Force Nursing
1. Change, Challenge, Growth
2. Management opportunities early on
3. Rapid advancement
4. Advanced education
5. Opportunity to be selected for specialty training
Here
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Announce your Graduation in a
way that is uniquely yours. Over 75
designs to choose from imprinted with your
message in your own words.
We will be on campus February 8, 1995
from 9 to 4 in the Michigan Union Ball Room at the
African American Fair or call us for an appointment.
20% Oj
(313) 494-6519-5
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"STRAIGHT FROM THE COACH'S MOUTH"*
(Talk Series)
will feature
RED BERENSON