4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 13, 1995
Illinois-Chicago sportscaster angered by Wolverines' play*
By Darren Everson
Daily Hockey Writer
WOODRIDGE, Ill. - Michigan's Bill Muckalt
slashed Clay Awe during overtime of Saturday's game.
The officials punished him by putting him in the pen-
alty box; the Flames punished him and his teammates
by winning the contest on the subsequent power play.
All of that wasn't enough, though, for one particular
Illinois-Chicago fan.
"Muckalt is a thug and should be in jail!" yelled
WMVP announcer Les Grobstein just a moment after
the play.
Grobstein does the play-by-play for Flames hockey,
and he does very little to hide who he's pulling for. It's
not that he has anything against Michigan; he's just a
Flames fan.
But after what happened Saturday, there just might
be some hatred in his heart for these Wolverines -
especially Muckalt.
"At least he got his comeuppance, though, because
his team ended up losing the game because of that
play," said an elated Grobstein afterwards. He had just
congratulated Rob Mottau for "sficking it in
(Michigan's) ear" with his game-winning score, and
could not sit still as he described the penalty that led to
the Flames' glorious win.
"That was an NHL-quality cheap shot," he said.
"I've been doing this for 13 years, and I've never seen
such a cheap shot."
Despite his obvious bias, Grobstein still holds some
respect for the Wolverines and their coach, Red
Berenson.
"I don't think Red is sending guys out there to do
(what Muckalt did)," Grobstein said.
Whether Grobstein is right or not does not take away
from the fact that when these two hockey teams are in
the same arena, the games have a way of getting out of
hand.
Illinois-Chicago and Michigan aren't naturally big
rivals. They're not in the same state and the Flames
usually aren't any good.
What makes these games so intense is Larry Pedrie,
Illinois-Chicago's coach and a former Michigan assis-
tant. While his teams have become known for playing
the Wolverines rough, Grobstein just hopes that Pedrie
gets credit for what he did at Michigan.
"Michigan was a dog program back when Pedrie
started there," Grobstein said. "Red was a good coach,
but he had no players until Pedrie started to get the
Brian Wisemans and the Denny Felsners.
"Red ought to kiss his feet."
Feet-kissing might be a little excessive, but all
Grobstein wants for his Flames is respect. While Michi-
gan may be an established program, Illinois-Chicago is
anything but that. The Flames have never sold out their
current home arena - the UIC Pavilion - and this
season'they're in seventh place, which is about where
they can usually be found around this time of the year.
The turnout at this weekend's games showcased the
poor state of Illinois-Chicago hockey. The crowd at the
Seven Bridges Ice Arena booed the home team all
weekend long. It was a shock, then, to see the Flames
return to the ice after their win to celebrate in front of
the pro-Michigan audience.
"(Michigan fans) were turning around and giving
me the finger; I'mjust pointing to the scoreboard-'5-
4, baby!"' said Grobstein.
The Flames' win, though, didn't accomplish any-
thing as far as the CCHA standings are concerned, and
it doesn't mean that the ice arena will be packed the
next time Illinois-Chicago plays.
That being the case, Grobstein is willing to do
whatever it takes to drum up interest in his beloved
Flames - even if it means being biased to a fault.
"People know who I'm rooting for," he said, "but I
don't hate Michigan or Lake Superior State or (tradi-
tionally strong) teams like that.
"All we're trying to do is build up a program."
Michigan wing
Jason Botterill
tangled with
Illinois-Chicago
defenseman
Deuce Wynes
during a bench-
clearing brawl
after Saturday's
game. The
Flames won in
overtime, 5.4.
The setback
was the
Wolverines first
since Nov. 26,
and it pushed
Michigan down
a notch into the
No. 3 ranking.
__-- - _-- .-------_.............._-.__... _ .: .....i....SARA ST1LLMAN/Daily
Noneed for 'M'
BDto panc after loss,
By Barry Sollenberger
Daily Hockey Writer
WOODRIDGE, Ill. - Never
mind that the No.3 Michigan hockey
team's 14 game unbeaten streak
ended Saturday against Illinois-Chi-
cago.
The loss might even help the
Wolverines down the stretch.
As far as the CCHA title chase is
concerned, it really doesn't matter.
Despite splitting with the Flames,
Michigan is in control of the confer-
ence race - courtesy of the No. 7
Bowling Green and No. 3 Michigan
State hockey teams. The two squads
combined to go 0-4 this weekend.
Lake State trounced the Falcons
twice in Sault Ste. Marie, 7-2, and
8-2. Miami (Ohio) shocked the Spar-
tans in East Lansing Friday and Sat-
urday, 3-2, in overtime, and 1-0,
respectively.
The Redskins are now tied with
Bowling Green for second in the
conference, six points back of the
Wolverines. Third-place Michigan
State now trails Michigan by eight
points. All four teams have six con-
ference games remaining this sea-
son.
Indeed, the CCHA title chase
doesn't rival The Silence of the
Lambs in terms of suspense. To tie
for the title, the Falcons and
Redskins need the Wolverines to
lose at least three of their last six
contests. And because Michigan has
lost only three times in its last 19
contests, that's not likely to happen.
While the Wolverines will prob-
ably win their second straight CCHA
championship, they hardly looked
like a team that hadn't lost since
Nov. 26 this weekend. They were
indeed lucky to split with an Illi-
nois-Chicago team that will be
watching the NCAA Tournament
on the tube come March.
"They looked like a first-place
team and we looked like a seventh-
place team," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said after Friday's 5-4
Wolverine win. "We don't want to
finish the season with games like
this."
At the same time, it's hard to
find fault with the Wolverines for
losing a game. After all, their un-
beaten streak spanned 14 games and
some 77 days. The most important
part of Michigan's streak was that
the Wolverines found a way to win
the close ones. During the streak,
the Wolverines won six of 13 games
by a goal.
Ironically, the 5-4 loss Saturday
might even help Michigan down the
stretch. A Wolverine win would
have put them a whopping eight
points up on Bowling Green and
Miami and all but ended the confer-
ence race.
You needn't look any further
than last year to see a possible con-
sequence of clinching the CCHA
title with a month left in the season.
The 1993-94 Wolverines were
27-2-1 when they clinched the
league championship Feb. 11. Then
motivation became a problem.
Michigan promptly dropped three
straight and five of their last 11, in-
cluding a distasteful 5-4 overtime loss
to Lake State in the NCAA
quarterfinals. The Wolverines had
nothing to play for during the last
month of the regular season and it
hurt them in the NCAA Tournament.
While Michigan controls the con-
ference race this season, the Wol-
verines can't clinch the title for at
least a couple of weeks. On top of
that, Bowling Green comes to town
Friday and Michigan State meets
Michigan Saturday at Joe Louis
Arena.
Motivation won't be a problem
for the Wolverines down the stretch
this season.
This could be the difference be-
tween a team that, say, loses in the
NCAA quarterfinals and one that
plays April 1 in Providence, R.I.
For the national championship.
SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Michigan forward Bill Muckait tries to stop Chicago's Rob Hutson from stealing the puck from Robb Gordon.
HOCKEY NOTEBOOK:
Muckalt penialty costl for Blue
By Barry Solienberger
Daily Hockey Writer
WOODRIDGE, Ill. -Michigan'sBill Muckalt created
quite a stir in the Wolverines' 5-4 overtime loss to Illinois-
Chicago Saturday.
A linesman whistled Muckalt for slashing the Flames'
Clay Awe 1:16 into overtime. Michigan coach Red Berenson
questioned the linesman's call.
"Just because a player goes down doesn't mean it's a
penalty," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "It had better
have been awfully flagrant."
While Illinois-Chicago did not score on the ensuing
power play, it gave the Flames the momentum they needed
to win the game. Robb Mottau scored the game winner 3:23
into the extra period, seven seconds after the power play
ended.
"I hope (the penalty) was a deserved call," Berenson said.
In reality, Muckalt showed Awe his best Babe Ruth
imitation.
SNAPPED STREAKS: Saturday's loss broke the Wolverines
14 game unbeaten streak. Before the weekend, Michigan's
last loss came to Minnesota, 4-3, in the College Hockey
Showcase Nov. 26.
The loss also ended a 15 game conference unbeaten
streak, dating back to a 4-3 loss to Miami (Ohio) Nov. 19 at
Yost Ice Arena.
Touch Turco: Saturday night, Wolverine goalie Marty
Turco allowed more than four goals for the first time in 28
outings this season.
Despite the loss, Turco's record stands at 20-4-1. He leads
the CCHA in victories, six ahead of Western Michigan's
Brian Renfrew.
"He makes the saves that he has to make," Berenson
said. "I don't think he gets as rattled as everyone else out
there."
Bo'rrs Is BACK: Friday marked the return of left wing
Jason Botterill to the Michigan lineup. The sophomore
missed last weekend with a strained ligament in his left wrist.
Illinois-Chicago, however, held Botterill pointless on the
weekend. In fact, Botterill hasn't notched a point since he
registered a couple of goals against Notre Dame Jan. 21.
Berenson, however, said that Botterill's weekend was an
improvement over his play two weeks ago when he played
hurt against Western Michigan and the Flames.
"I thought he was all right out there," Berenson said. "He
played with a lot more confidence."
On the season, Botterill has 13 goals and 14 assists.
HAT TRICK HAPPY: Junior Kevin Hilton and sophomore
Warren Luhning recorded their first career hat tricks this
weekend. Hilton found the back of the net three times in
Michigan's 5-4 victory Friday night and Luhning scored
three of the Wolverines' four goals Saturday.
Besides Hilton and Luhning, Muckalt, Botterill, Brendan
Morrison, Mike Knuble (twice), Mike Legg and John
Madden have notched hat tricks this season. A year ago,
Mich i a3 notched only three hat tricks all season long.
K-1 Lvs, CRITflCAL: How important is Mike Knuble to
the WoilV nines ?
Saturday night was just the second time this season that
Michigan lost with the right wing in the lineup. Overall, the
Wolverines are 20-2-1 with the senior on the ice and 2-3
when he's on the sidelines.
Knuble has registered a point in 22 of his 23 games this
season.
CCHA Standings
Through games of Feb. 11
CONFERENCE
OVERALL
TEAM
Michigan
BGSU
Miami
Michigan State
Lake Superior
Ferris State
Illinois-Chicago
W. Michigan
Notre Dame
Ohio St.
17
14
12
12
11
8
8
7
5
2
L
3
6.
6
6
8
10
11
12
17,
17
T PTS
5
3
3
4
2
2
35,
29
29
27
25
20
18
16
11
6
22
19
14
'17
13
11
11
15
9
5
L
9
11
10
13
15
14
21
22
T
1.
I
.5
5
4
3
3
I
2
C F M ES
Centinud from page l
who stuffed it past Illinois-Chicago
goalie Paul Spencer.
Still, the Wolverines were dis-
Friday's Game
MCHIGAN 5, ILLINOIS-CHICAGO 4
i igan 131-5
ilinois-Chicago 0 3 1-4
MR Puld- 1, UM, iHon 12 aas Sinclair,
Saturday's Game
ILLINOIS-CHICAGO5MICHIGAN4 (OT)
Michigan 1 1 2 0-4
Illinois-chicago 1 2 1 1-5
rPe- 1, Uceron 12 (Dunbar Hutson
Wiaimi stuns Mchigan