4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 13, 1995 Icers' Morrison nets Ali-CCHA selection .By Tom Seeley Daily Hockey Writer So far this season, Michigan center Brendan Morrison has done his best to dispel any fears of a "sophomore jinx." Last season, Morrison was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year and has only improved his numbers in his second season of collegiate hockey. Yesterday, Morrison was rewarded for his efforts when he was named to the All-CCHA first team. He received seven first-team votes and garnered 85 out of a possible 100 points. "It's nice to get recognized as an individual, but in no way is it an individual award at all," Morrison said. "It reflects on the team's performance throughout the year, and if your team is doing well, then individuals get recognized." Bowling Green forward Brian Holzinger was the only unanimous selec- tion to the team. Morrison currently has 72 total points (22 goals-50 assists) and leads the nation in scoring. Last season, Morrison had 48 points (20-28) in 38 games. "I felt last year that I could have played a little better at times," Morrison said. "This year I just wanted to focus on being consistent throughout the whole year and not play in spurts here and there." Joining Morrison and Holzinger on the conference's first team were goaltender Chuck Thuss from Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green's Kelly Perrault and Lake Superior's Keith Aldridge on defense, and forward Anson Carter from Michigan State. The Wolverines also placed two players on the second team -defenseman Steven Halko and forward Mike Knuble. It was the second year in a row Knuble was named to the second team, while Halko made honorable mention a year ago. "I thought I had a better year last year overall, but I've had some good games this year," Halko said. "It's an honor that the coaches in the league looked at me and considered me for the second team." Michigan goaltender Marty Turco, fresh off being named to the CCHA All-Rookie team, center Kevin Hilton and defenseman lake Sloan were also recognized by the league. All three achieved honorable mention status. 1994495 AII-CCHA Senior Ron Sacka scored MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily the final goal in the Wolverines' 4-0 blanking of the Buckeyes' Saturday at Yost. Second-seeded Falcons oust Irish Assosciated Press Jason Clark's powerplay goal in the second period broke a tie Satur- day as Bowling Green went on to a 5- 4 win over Notre Dame and advanced to the second round of the CCHA playoffs. The Fighting Irish (11-25-1) took a 1-0 lead at the 3:12 mark of the first period after a goal by Tim Harberts. But the Falcons (25-10-2) an- swered with goals by Mike Hall and Brian Holzinger to take a 2-1 lead. Notre Dame fought back, scoring three consecutive goals in the first pe- riod. Harberts, Jamie Morshead and Lyle Andruslak gave the Fighting Irish the 4-2 lead. Todd Kelman made it, 4- 3, at 16:53 of the first. - In the second period, Bowling Green came out on top, 5-4, after a goal by Curtis Fry and Clark's game- winner. Bowling Green defeated the Fighting Irish, 7-2, Friday night. Michigan State 4, Illinois-Chi- cago 2 Four different players scored for Michigan State Saturday as the Spar- tans went on to a 4-2 win and a weekend sweep over Illinois-Chi- cago to advance in the CCHA play- offs. The Spartans won, 6-4, Friday night. Lake Superior State 5, West- ern Michigan 0 Wayne Strachan scored two goals Saturday as Lake Superior State shut out Western Michigan, 5- 0, and advanced to the second round of the CCHA playoffs. The Broncos (17-18-5) and the Lakers (19-11-6) were scoreless in the first period. The Lakers beat the Broncos, 7- 2, Friday night in the opening game of the playoffs. Miami (Ohio) 4, Ferris St. 2 Chuck Thuss made 32 saves as Miami (Ohio) beat Ferris State, 4-2, Saturday and advanced to the sec- ond round of the CCHA playoffs. The Redskins won the best-of- three series after defeating the Bull- dogs, 10-2, in the first game Friday night. (Blu i Jnues Conference playoffs in need ofI overhaul By Barry Sollenberger Daily Hockey Writer It's hard to imagine two more oppo- site hockey teams than Michigan and Ohio State. The No. 1 Wolverines have as good achanceas anybody towin the National Championship. Michigan leads the na- tion in goals per game (5.75) and is 9-2 against teams ranked in-the top 10 of the WMEB hockey poll. The Wolverines can beat anybody. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, couldn't beat egg yolk. Ohio State won only seven of 36 games this year, one of0 which came against Guelph (whatever that is). So why did these two teams face each other this weekend? Welcome to the CCHA, where ev- eryone makes the playoffs. Under the current format, the first round of the playoffs pits the No. I seed against the No. 10 seed, the No. 2 seed against the No. 9 seed and so on. Last Tuesday, the Buckeyes defeated Alaska Fairbanks in apreliminay playoffgame to grab that coveted last seed. Ohio State ended the regular season dead last in the conference in overall scoring (3.09 goals pergame) and goals, allowed (5.2). And, yet, there they were Friday and Saturday at Yost Ice Arena. Notre Dame also made the playoffs. While Michigan handled the Buckeyes, Bowling Green took two from the 9th- seeded Fighting Irish this weekend. Ohio State and Notre Dame fin- ished their seasons a combined 17-54- 3. Both teams deserved a post-season berth about as much as Charlie Manson deserves to be let out of prison. Indeed it's difficult to see the point in allowing everyone into the CCHA playoffs. Doesn't it make sense to cut them down to eight teams? If that were the case this season, Michigan would have opened Friday at Yost against Illinois- Chicago. A Wolverines-Flames series was potentially much more interesting than the Michigan-Ohio State matchup. The Wolverines struggled to take two of three from Illinois-Chicago this season. Attendance at Yost Ice Arena may have benefited from a better matchup. Since these were the "playoffs," you might expect Yost Ice Arena to be so full that the building's officials would' need to bribe the fire warden. Not so. The Michigan-Ohio State matchup drew only 11,389-aYost season-low for a two-game series. The No. 1 Wol- verines certainly deserved a better send off to the CCHAs and the NCAAs. The weekend marked the last home appear- ance for a distinguished senior class that finished its four years at Yost 60-6- 5. First-team Position Goaltender Defense Defense Forward Forward Forward Player, School Chuck Thuss, Miami (Ohio) jelly Perrault, Bowling Green Keith Aldridge, Lake Superior State Brian Holzinger, Bowling Green Anson Carter, Michigan State Brendan Morrison, Michigan Second-team Position Player, School Goaltender Mike Buzak, Michigan State Defense Andy Roach, Ferris State Defense Steven Halko, Michigan Forward Mike Knuble, Michigan Forward Kevyn Adams, Miami (Ohio) Forward Rem Murray, Michigan State HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Seniors bid farewell to Yost By Tom Seeley Daily Hockey Writer The seniors on the Michigan hockey team certainly picked an op- portune time to flex their muscle. In their final appearance at Yost Ice Arena, the seniors were respon- sible for seven of the 11 goals that the Wolverines scored over the weekend. The bulk of the scoring came off the stick of Mike Knuble, who re- corded six goals on a pair of hat tricks during the two-game sweep of Ohio State. After Saturday's 4-0 victory over the Buckeyes, the 6,006 fans at Yost Ice Arena paid tribute to a class that currently stands as the second winningest in the history of Michi- gan hockey. The current core of seniors has been a part of 124 Wol- verine wins - a total second only to last year's senior class that finished with 129. The Yost faithful gave the entire team a standing ovation in the wan- ing moments of the game. Once the final horn sounded, captain Rick Willis, who sat out the game with a knee injury, skated out to join fellow seniors Knuble, Ron Sacka, Al Loges, Tim Hogan, Mark Sakala and Alan Sinclair on the ice. Willis started waving a Michi- gan flag and led the seniors around the rink. They stopped to acknowl- edge each section of fans before gathering at the center faceoff circle where they individually kissed the 4M1. Willis also received a Willis Road street sign from a dedicated fan. RACKING 'EM UP: Sophomore cen- ter Brendan Morrison is making a Octopus late push for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate hockey player. Against Ohio State, Morrison bested his own mark for most points in a weekend by a Michigan player this season. He tallied eight assists in the two victories over the Buckeyes - five in Friday night's 7-2 win and three dur- ing Saturday's 4-0 shutout. Morrison surpassed the record of seven points that he set Feb. 3-4 against Western Michigan and Michi- gan State. Last Sunday, Morrison tallied six points on a goal and five assists against the Buckeyes, and his 14-point total in the last three games has made him the nation's overall scoring leader. Morrison now has 72 total points (22 goals-50assists) and is one point ahead of Vermont's Martin St. Louis, who has 71. The finalists for the Hobey Baker Award will be announced this Friday, and the winner will be named Mar. 31 in Providence, R.I. BEWARE OF FLYING OBJECTS: The Wolverines could have an opening for an air traffic controller given the number of things flying around in Yost over the weekend. Friday night, an octopus was thrown onto the ice after Knuble's goal gave Michigan a 4-1 lead. Then when Knuble scored again four min- utes later, about five hats were thrown from the stands to signal his third goal of the game. Knuble's hat trick Saturday night brought another assortment of headwear from the stands. About a dozen baseball hats came flying out of the stands, but the most notable hat was a sombrero that came floating out of the student section. Michigan's John Arnold picked up the large straw hat and twirled it on his stick before an official removed it from the playing area. Knuble claimed one of the hats but said it wasn't a keeper. "I just grabbed the first one I saw and hoped it would be a good one, but it wasn't," Knuble said. "It was all sweaty inside." GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Satur- day flight, an industrious Ohio State fan stuck a picture of former Buckeye coach Jerry Welsh to the glass behind the Ohio State bench. The black-and-white photocopy was about eighteen inches tall and was clearly visible from across the ice. Welsh was fired as coach of the Buckeyes Feb. 14. after 19-plus sea- sons at the Ohio State helm. He was replaced by John Markell who com- piled a 2-7 record as the team's interim skipper. Michigan's Jason Botterill fights with Ohio State's Sand Friday's game. Both were suspended for Saturday's con ICERS Continued from page 1 eventually, the barrage of Wolverine shots found their way into the net. "We couldn't give much more than what we gave tonight," Ohio State coach John Markell said. "Askey played great. That's the potential he's got and when he comes up with games like that, there's no question he can play in the National Hockey League." The Wolverines played without sophomore Jason Botterill who was suspended for exchanging bare- knuckled blows with Ohio State's Sandy Fraser Friday night. Botterill and Fraser were ejected for fighting 7:07 into the second stanza. with Michigan leading, 2-0. Three minutes later, a pass deflected defenseman Tim sailed past Turcot the scoreboard. For the weeke netted as many Buckeye team. "Overall, we against ourselv "We're just trying ready for next w better competitio The Wolverine the contest but Knuble's hat tri from sophomote "We were sl said. "(We did) th done since the fi season. Wheneve Knuble and Morri It's tough to find fault with the fans, though. They knew, like every other~ college hockey fan in the nation, that the Buckeyes had no chance of stealing one, let alone two games, from the Wolverines. Infact,Michiganrightwing Mike Knuble could probably beat Ohio State by himself. HeoutscoredtheBuck- DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily eyes, 6-2, this weekend. y Fraser during Still, Ohio State coach John Markell test. wasn't complaining about the format of the playoffs. He was pleased to get, --- another shot at the Wolverines. Buckeye centering "We fight all year and we want a off Wolverine chance at the very best,".Markell said. Hogan's elbow and "There is nothing wrong with the Ohio to put Ohio State on State-Michigan rivalry.Thematchup is always a great rivalry." end, Hogan's elbow Markellused theword "great"pretty goals as the entire loosely. In reality, the only thing"great" about the Wolverine-Buckeye rivalry e're just playing is the amount of Michigan wins in the es," Knuble said. series during the past five seasons. The g to play well to get Wolverines unbeaten streak over Ohio eek when we play State now stands at 25. n." While Michigan wasn't complain- es struggled early in ing about the playoff format after wax- rebounded behind ing the Buckeyes twice, this was hardly ck and five assists playoff-caliber hockey. Don't expect, Brendan Morrison. however, to see the current format uggish," Berenson changed anytime soon. ings that we haven't "I see no reason to change it," CCHA rst weekend of the commissionerBill Beagan said. "It ain't r we needed a lift, broke." son made the plays. Ifitisn'tbroken,Bill,thenitsurethe ;.. .