6 - The Michigan Daily -- SPORTSMonday -- Monday, January 9, 1995
HOCKEY NOTEBOOK:
Exhibitions not kind to Wolverines
0
By MELANIE SCHUMAN
and TOM SEELEY
Daily Hockey Writers
Michigan has not fared well against Team Canada,
and Saturday's loss was the third consecutive in the
three games that the Wolverines have played against
the Canadians. The last time Michigan played a Team
Canada squad was Nov. 1-2, 1985 when after losing the
first game 8-2, they lost the second contest 6-5 in
overtime.
Overall, exhibition play has not been kind to the
Wolverines, who have posted a lifetime record of 7-17 in
contests that did not count against their regular season
record. Against international competition, Michigan is
now a lowly 4-9.
CRAMPED QUARTERS: Saturday's general admission
crowd of 6,577 was considered a sellout despite the fact
that the capacity of Yost Ice Arena is 7,235. At games
seating general admission, people tend to spread out,
thus limiting the number of seats that can be sold.
The game was not part of the regular season-ticket
package, and numerous fans were turned away at the
door.
Before Saturday's contest, Michigan had an average
home attendance of 6,662 per game and was on pace to
draw 100,000 fans at Yost this season. The Wolverines
also currently lead the CCHA in attendance for league
games, averaging 7,199 per contest.
ToP OF THE CHARTS: Heading into Saturday's game,
Brendan Morrison was tied for second place in the
nation with 34 points. Mike Knuble was in the top three
in two categories, snaring second place in the goals-per-
game category with an average of 1.15 goals. He is also
tied for third place with an average of 2.00 points per
game. Goaltender Marty Turco is third in country with a@
.813 winning percentage.
Within the CCHA, Morrison is fourth in overall
scoring with 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists), while
Knuble ranks fourth with nine goals. Turco is tops
within the conference with nine wins and fourth with a
2.83 goals-against average.
LOOKING BACK: Last year at this time, Michigan had
just won its sixth straight Great Lakes Invitational and
safeguarded a 18-1-1 record overall and a mark of 13-0-
I within the CCHA. The team was in first place in the
conference and was ranked No. I nationally, snaring all 15 '
first-place votes in the WMEB poll.
Currently, the Wolverines have an overall record of
14-4-0 and a conference mark of 9-2-0.
This weekend, Michigan was the only CCHA team
without a conference game, and as a result the Wolver-
ines have fallen to third place in the league.
One slight statistical improvement from last year's
team is in the goals-per-game average. This year the squad
is averaging 6.28 goals per game, whereas last year it was,
5.95.
TONYA BROAD/Daily
Robb Gordon and the Michigan hockey team have never been able to defeat the Canadian National Team.
Botterili and Hilton score big at World Junior Championship
By TOM SEELEY
Daily Hockey Writer
What could be better than win-
ning a seventh-straight champion-
ship at the Great Lakes Invitational?
A third straight gold medal per-
haps?
While most of the Michigan
hockey team was claiming another
GLI title, two members of the team
found themselves 1,500 miles away
at the World Junior Championship
held Dec. 26 to Jan. 4 in Red Deer,
Alberta.
Sophomore Jason Botterill
suited up for the Canadian national
team while junior Kevin Hilton
donned the stars and stripes of Team
USA. Botterill, who also skated for
Team Canada last year, registered
four assists and helped the team to
its third consecutive gold medal -
a feat the team had never before
accomplished. Hilton's American
squad, on the other hand, finished a
disappointing fifth.
The Canadian team, spurred on
by a spirited home crowd, finished
with a perfect 7-0 record. It was the
first time a team went through the
tournament unscathed.
"It was a special situation, play-
ing at home and having 19,000 people
going berserk," Botterill said. "There
were microphones and cameras all
over us because we were the only
hockey going on in Canada at the
time.
"It's a special feeling playing in
that tournament, and then to win gold
is something you'll remember for the
rest of your life."
Hilton's opportunity for glory
came to an end when a loss to Finland
put the U.S. team out of medal con-
tention.
"We had a decent team, but we
just didn't finish where we thought
we were going to," said Hilton, who
scored two goals for the American
squad. "At the end of the tournament,
it came down to five minutes of one
game that if we would have played
well, we would have won a silver
medal.
"Against Finland, we went ahead
with five minutes left in the game, but
they came back and tied it and then
won in those five minutes. After that,
we were out of a medal and it seemed
like nobody really cared any more."
While the American and the Ca-
nadian teams did face off against each
other during the tournament, the two
Wolverines saw very little ice time
together. In the game that Botterill
called Team Canada's best perfor-
mance, the Canadians trounced the
Americans, 9-3.
"We always lose to Canada,"
Hilton said. "Every time I've gone
to one of these things, (the game)
has not even been close. We thought
we were going to give them a better
game than what we did, but they
came out flying and we came out
flat."
Saturday night, the two players
returned to Yost Ice Arena and suited
up for in their familiar Michigan uni-
forms for an exhibition game against
Team Canada.
Botterill tried to approach the
game as he would any other, given the
unique situation of lining up against
his country's "senior" team after rep-
resenting it on the "junior" team less
than 72 hours earlier. He assisted on
Michigan's only two goals before sit-
ting out the end of the game with a
slight back injury.
"(At the championships), those
were seven really intense games, so
there's a bit of a drop-off," Botterill
said. "But this is a big game, and you
want to play very well whenever you
play a team like the Canadian na-
tional team."
Despite the American team's final
record of 3-4, Hilton said the squad
enjoyed itself and had a much better
overall experience than it did at last
year's championships when the team
finished 1-5-1.
"We had a good time, where we
finished was disappointing, but the
team got along and overall it was a
good experience," the Monroe native
said. "It was about 10 times better
(than last year). Last year nobody
knew what they were doing.
"We were like chickens with our
heads cutoff. This year we had sys-
tems where last year (the coach) just
told us to go out and play. This year
there was coaching, and when there's
coaching you're going to play better,
and it is going to be more fun."
At last year's championships,
Botterill's Canadian team also won
the gold medal, but he remembers
that the circumstances surrounding
that victory were a little easier than
this year's.
"Last year, we were sort of a no-
name team over there, and our home
country didn't expect too much," the
forward from Winnipeg, Manitoba
said. "But this year with the NHL
lockout, we had a lot of big name
players like (Alexandre) Daigle, (Ed)
Jovanovski, and Todd Harvey. So
there was a lot of pressure on us, but,
again as for myself and the rest of my
teammates, it was great to come out
with the gold again."
_ If l A9*
,:
I"
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Sophomore Jason Botterill won a gold medal at the World Juniors.
CCHA STANDINGS Falcons back in sole possession of first place
Through games of Jan. 7 BGSU's Holzinger notches 43rd point to lead the nation in scoring
Associated Press
Bowling Green's Tom Glantz,
Mike Johnson and Kevin Lune each
scored twice as the Falcons defeated
Illinois-Chicago 8-4 Saturday in the
Central Collegiate Hockey Associa-
tion.
Bowling Green (14-6, 11-3
CCHA) took command in the third
period after Illinois-Chicago (7-9-3,
4-5-2) rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie
the Falcons.
The Flames took a 1-0 lead in the
first period on Matt Brenner's goal.
But Bowling Green surged ahead on
goals by Glantz, Johnson and Matt
Eldred's first collegiate score.
Illinois-Chicago tied the game 3-3
in the second period on goals by Rob
Mottau and Brenner. But Johnson's
second goal put the Falcons ahead
again, 4-3.
In the third period, Lune scored
twice and Glantz scored his second
goal, giving Bowling Green a 7-3
lead. After Darren Tymchyshyn
scored for the Flames, Brian Holzinger
added Bowling Green's final score
with his 22nd goal of the season.
Holzinger now has 43 points to lead
the nation.
Adam Lord made 33 saves for
Illinois-Chicago while Bob Petrie
made 19 for Bowling Green.
Lake Superior St.6, Ferris St. 3
Mike Morin and Keith Aldridge
scored power-play goals in the third
period that gave Lake Superior State
a 6-3 victory Saturday over Ferris
State in the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association.
Lake Superior State (7-7-3, 5-5-1
CCHA) took a one-goal lead three
times, but each time Ferris State (7-
11-2, 4-8-2) tied the score.
Morin broke a 3-3 tie at 5:51 of the
third with his goal and Aldridge made
it 5-3 at 14:06.
Brian Felsner gave the Lakers a 1-
0 lead at 12:12 in the first period.
Ferris State's Jason Blake tied it
57 seconds into the second period
with a shorthanded goal. The Lakers
went ahead 2-1 on a goal by Rob
Valicevic at2:51, which the Bulldogs
answered with a Derek Crimin power-
play goal at 11:49. Sean Tallaire gave
the Lakers their third lead, 3-2, with
32 seconds left in the second.
Ferris State's final goal, by Tim
Christian, tied the game 3-3 at 5:01.
After Morin and Aldridge scored,
Bates Battaglia added an empty-net
goal for the Lakers.
Lakers goalie Sean Kulick made
19 saves while Jeff Blashill made 28
for Ferris State.
Miami, Ohio 3, W. Michigan 1
Miami's Kevyn Adams scored two
goals as the Redskins beat Western
Michigan 3-1 Saturday in the Central
Collegiate Hockey Association.
Jason Mallon gave Miami (8-10-
2, 6-5-2 CCHA) a 1-0 lead at 2:53 of
the second period.
Adams made it 2-0 with a power-
play goal at 10:05. Five minutes later,
Jamal Mayers scored the lone goal for
Western Michigan (11-8-2, 5-6-1).
Adams second goal was into an
empty net with 40 seconds left in the
third period.
Western Michigan outshot Miami
38-19 -and the Broncos went 0-for-4
on power plays.
Chuck Thuss made 37 saves fora
the Redskins while Brian Renfrew
made 16 for Western Michigan.
PLYR OFTH WE
.
Michigan State left wing Rem
Murray and Miami goalie
Charles Thuss have been
named CCHA Players of the
Week.
Against Ferris State on Friday,
Murray scored two goals and
two assists for the Spartans.
Thuss saved 83 of 87 shots
this weekend as Miami tied
and defeated Western Michi-
gan in Kalamazoo.
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EXHIBITION
Continued from page 1.
Tom Renney said. His team also
skated without some of its top play-
ers, including Guy Leveque who was
sidelined by a John Arnold check
early in the first stanza.
The CCHA didn't schedule a game
this weekend, 'but with most other
league teams in action against one
another, Berenson knew his squad
needed at least one game to stay in
game shape.
"I'd much rather play in a game
like this than against a (team) like
maybe a Canadian school that wasn't
as cnmnetitive." aidBre nnn of the
not count for any records, Michigan fell
out of first-place after Bowling Green's:
8-4 win over Illinois-Chicago Saturday
and a 3-1 victory Friday.
The Canadians' trip to Ann Arbor
was one of their 69 road games this
season (one is played on their home,
ice in Calgary) and their fourth con-
test against a collegiate team this sea-
son. Team Canada defeated Lake
Superior State 6-5 Friday, withstand-
ing a four-goal rally in the third pe-
riod by the Lakers.
~ il ?1Ilk ~U'VA~ TAk
UAC is looking for motivated individuals
r its executive board for a variety of positions
ECRIPTIOM
friendly
responsible
Canada 1 1 2-4
Michigan 0 2 0-2
Mrst Priod-1, Can, Burkett (Heward) 4:32.
Penalties - Bright, Can (tripping), 1:43; Corpse,
Can (elbowing), 7:39; Luhning, UM (slashing),
11:38; Hussey, can (interference), 18:44.
t