4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - December 8, 1997
CCHA Players
of the Week
Muckalt's leadership, skill guides Wolverines.
Offense: Chris Richards, Ohio State
The junior center recorded seven
points this weekend in a sweep of
Alaska-Fairbanks. Richards had two
assists and two goals on Friday and
two goals, one assist on Saturday,
Defense: Shawn Timm, Bowling
Green
The freshman goaltender made 42
saves in yesterday's 1-0 victory
over No. 1 Michigan State. He
stopped 63 of 66 shots (.955 save.
percentage) over the weekend
series with the Spartans.
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Michigan 7, Lake Superior 0
Michigan 0 2 5-7
Lake Superior 0 0 0-0
Frst period - No goas.
Second period- 1. UM. Muckalt 1 (Herr),1:18; 2.
UM, Hayes (Muckalt, Rominski), 5:36
Third period - 3. UM, Muckalt (Herr. Kosick, 0:42
(pp); 4. Muckalt (Hayes, Fox) 2:03: 5. UM, Langfeld
(Koch, Kosick), 14:48; 6. Rominski (unassisted),
17:12 (sh); 7. Fox (Hayes) 18:05 (pp.
Shots on goal - UM 6-5-10 - 21, LSSU 9-5-1 -
lY15.
S;Powr ways -UM, 2of 9;LSSU, 0of 5.
Saves -UM, Turco g5-1- 15; SSU, Galatiuk 6-3-
5-14: LSSU, Platt x-x-0 - 0.
At: Abel Arena. A:3,996,
The Three Stars
The Michigan Daily hockey writers'
picks for Michigan's three stars of
the game:
Third Star: Matt Herr
The return of Michigan's captain
made an impact beyond the num-
bers. Herr had two assists, but
even more, his presence gave the
Wolverines added experience and
leadership. Herr was rusty at times,,
but that only shows how good he'll
be when he gets his timing back.
Second Star: Marty Turco
The senior goaltender helped make
his last game in his hometown of'
Sault Ste. Marie one of his - and
Michigan's -most memorable.
The Wolverines' shutout wouldn't
have happened without some key
saves in the first period by Turco.
First Star: Bill Muckalt
Muckalt continues to prove he is
.one of the best players in the courn-
try. Muckalt had a hat trick to
power Michigan to a 7-0 blowout
over Lake Superior State..
Over break
Westerr Michigan
Friday, Van Andel Arena, Grand
Rapids, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Yost Ice Arena, 7 p.m.
Great Lakes invitational'
Dec. 27, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit,
3 p.m. First Round: St. Lawrence
Dec. 28, third-place game,
- 1:30 p.m., championship game
5 p.m.
Ohio State
ean.2-3, Yost Ice Arena 7 p.m.
UJLUUU3E~hUE OC 4........ "I+
schedule '1 ~
Wednesdiay
Notre Dame at Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Friday
Northern Michigan at Miami
(Ohio), 7 p.m.
Ohio State at Lake Superior
'State, 7 p.m.
Wsdonsin at Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Ferris State at Alaska-Fairbanks,
-1 p.m.
Northern Michigan at Miami, 7
p.mn.
Ohio State, Lake Superior State,
7 p.m.
Sunday
Ferris State at Alaska-Fairbanks,
11 a.m.
By Chris Farah
Daily Sports Writer
SAUILT STE. MARIE - Who can
say exactly what went through Bill
Muckalt's mind as he stood with the
puck, poised in front of the Lake
Superior net and goaltender Rob
Galatiuk?
It was five minutes into the second
period. The Wolverines were leading
the Lakers, 1-0, thanks to a goal
from Muckalt just minutes earlier.
And now the senior forward
seemed to have another perfect scor-
ing opportuni- _
ty. He had
skated down
the left wing,
blazing by two
Lakers as he
curved around.
the back of the
goal to come
face to face
with Galatiuk +
in the right
slot.
Muckalt only had seconds to react.
Only seconds to make a decision.
He had already proven he could
score on Galatiuk earlier in the
game. And there he was. Virtually
alone, Galatiuk was the only thing
between him and a goal, as several
Lakers streaked across the ice to
intercept him.
So what did Muckalt do?
Naturally, Michigan's leading scorer
passed the puck.
Wait a minute. He passed the
puck?
Muckalt passed, and he passed it
perfectly - to Michigan's Bobby
Hayes, skating down the right wing,
just beyond the Lake Superior
defense, just beyond Galatiuk's view.
Muckalt had drawn away the
defense, drawn away Galatiuk, leav-
ing Hayes with an open shot at the
net.
Hayes scored, Michigan took the
lead, 2-0, and never looked back,
taking advantage of a five-goal flur-
ry in the third to spank the Lakers, 7-
0, on their home ice. Muckalt and the
Wolverines silenced a boisterous
crowd, sending a group of body-
painted Lakers fans home sad and
depressed.
Muckalt also scored the
Wolverines' third and fourth goals,
recording a hat trick and racking up
four points on the evening.
But Muckalt's assist was most
indicative of his perfctrmanoe:
patient, smart, determined,> Always
finding a way to be at the ri ght place
at the right time.
"Coach always says in practices,
you only touch the puck fcr maybe
two minutes in the game," Muckalt
said. "The difference ;between
Jaromir Jagr and Peter Forsberg and
guys at this level - myself, let's say
- is what they do with the puck for
the two minutes.
"So I just try and show some
patience, maybe out-wait them and
maybe do the unexpecteia things
sometimes. That's just scmething
that comes with experience and con-
fidence."
Experience and confiden ce. After
an abysmal first period, those quali-
ties helped Muckalt get hingself and
his team back on track. During the
first, the Wolverines looked sluggish
and unfocused and were unable to
establish any kind of cffensive
rhythm.
They were getting out-hustled,
plain and simple.
At the beginning of the second,
however, it was clear that Muckalt
had found the fire his team had been
lacking. He attacked the puck like a
man possessed, using his amazing
quickness to out-pace teamnates and
Lakers alike.
It may be true that a player usually
only has the puck for two minutes
during a game. But after the: start of
the second period, Muckalt seemed
to be in possession of the puick for 40
minutes. Okay, maybe 35.
Simply stated, Muckalt wars every-
where.
"I was embarrassed by tlhe way I
played and the rest of us pilayed in
the first period, to be quite honest,"
Muckalt said. "I'm not going to
make excuses for myself or a~snybody,
I just want to go out and get tus going
and get us on track at the stairt of the
second."
Muckalt isn't going to giet three
goals in every game he plsays. And
Michigan probably won't be; match-
ing its offensive output againoist Lake
Superior anytime soon, eitbher. But
numbers aren't necessarilty what
makes a team great.
What will make Michigan a great
team, however, in games and seasons
to come, is the kind of attitude and
resilience displayed by ibluckalt
against the Lakers.
Not to say that the other
%mm ~
MARGARET MYERS/Dagy
Bill Muckalt's determination and leadership has been crucial to the Michigan hockey team this season. The assistant
captain scored three goals and recorded one assist in Michigan's victory over Lake Superior on Friday.
Wolverines didn't have great games
of their own, of course. Without key
contributions from Hayes, Matt Herr
- fresh off the injured list - Dale
Rominski and a host of other
Wolverines, Michigan wouldn't have
been able to put together such a com-
plete victory.
But in terms of his scoring and
determination, Muckalt undoubtedly
Matt Herr
returned to the
ice this weekend
for the first time
since the opening
game of the sea-
son. The senior
captain recorded
' two assists in
Michigan's victo-
ry over Lake
Superior.
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
supplied the spark for the
Wolverines.
With that kind of leadership,
Michigan can develop into a team
that puts up impressive numbers
every weekend.
"There's times when you gotta be
verbal and vocal, and there's times
when you gotta lead by example and
what you do on the ice," Muckalt
LAKERS
Continued from Page 11B
said. "His timing will get better, his
conditioning will get better but he
wanted to be here, and he made a dif-
ference."
"It's going to be great to get him back
100 percent."
After a couple of acrobatic saves by
goalie Marty Turco, the Wolverines
were on the offensive, once again led by
Muckalt. This time, lMichigan's leading
goal scorer flashed a bit of his knack for
passing, assisting on a goal by center
Bobby Hayes.
Receiving the puck from linemate
Dale Rominski, Muckalt skated in from
the left point and flew by a pair of
Lakers, this time swooping behind the
net. As he reappeared in front of the
goal, Muckalt found himself alone with
Galatiuk. Muckalt flipped the puck
over to Hayes, who poked it into an
open net for a 2-0 Michigan lead.
While Michigan's offensive
onslaught in the second was impres-
sive, it was tame in comparison to
Michigan's five-goal effort in the final
stanza.
Muckalt scored Michigan's first
power play goal of the game - 42 sec-
onds into the second period - on a
one-timer from the left faceoff dot.
said. "When you're a senior, you feel
a lot of responsibility. We've been
brought up right. We had Mike
Knuble, and (Brendan) Morrison (as
leaders) and the list goes on.
"And after we're gone, hopefully
guys will be paying Marty (Turco)
and Matt (Herr) and myself compli,
ments like we pay to Brendan and
Knuble and those kind of players "*
Once again, it was the Herr-to-
Muckalt combination that scored, as the
returning captain slipped a pass through
Lake Superior's defense over to
Muckalt.
With the 3-0 lead, Muckalt still was-
n't through. The senior followed up his
power-play goal with a hard-fought
effort to score his third goal on a pass
from Hayes. Muckalt fought *
defenders in front of the Lake Superior
net to gain position, and then he turned
on a quick shot into the net.
The goal at 2:03 in the third period
gave Muckalt his third career hat trick.
The 4-0 lead may have put the game
out of reach for the Lakers, but it didn't
slow down Michigan's offense, which
added three late goals by freshman Josh
Langfeld, Rominski and Chris Fox.
Although the outcome was lopsid
the game looked to be anything bud
from the onset. The Lakers came out
with intensity that the Wolverines had
trouble matching, as they outshot
Michigan in the period, 9-6.
"We wanted to work hard ... and play
well defensively," Berenson said. "We
didn't do either in the first period.
"We ended up watching them for half
of the period."
Turco's efforts, in spite of
defense's slow start, kept Michigan r
the game until its offense exploded.
............
Bow ' Green upsets
t4 p- d 'Michigan
State, 1-0 on the road
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)
- Dennis Williams scored the
game's only goal while his goalie,
Shawn Timm, stopped 42 shots as
Bowling Green beat Michigan
State, 1-0, yesterday.
Williams' goal came at 7:11 of
the third period, assisted by Adam
Lamarre and Zach Ham.
Both goaltenders kept their
team in the game with Timm
HERR
Continued from Page l.B
made his pride well-known to a mem-
ber of the Buckeyes.
"A guy hit back-to-back home runs
off me," Herr explained. "The next
time he was up, I was throwing at him
- I didn't care, because the kid
showed me up as he rounded the bases.
"If you are going to hit a home run
off me, you run. You don't sit there and
watch the thing."
It is that attitude that drives Herr in
hockey as well. But despite the base-
ball incident, Herr insists he's a
relaxed person - an important factor
to the development of the team.
Rather than intimidating the freshmen
who have come into the program,
Herr has insisted that the entire senior
class make a concerted effort to wel-
come every player into the Michigan
hockey family.
"I'm generally easy-going," Herr
said. "I expect a lot from the guy sitting
next to me, and I hope he expects a lot
from me.
"1 want to be somebody that people
can come and talk to - about any-
thing, not just hockey."
Obviously, the off-ice interaction is
vital to improving Michigan's chem-
hundred yards away, crashing into the
boards, falling to the ice and liaughing
every so often.
Meanwhile, Herr was in the training
area of Yost, pedaling on a stationary
bike while staring at the televvisian. A
sad sight for the Michigan hockey
faithful -not to mention Herr and the
rest of the Wolverines.
"It definitely is frustrating, wvatching
your senior year go by," Herr lamented.
"But I'm taking advantage oft playing
when I come back."
His regimen was mind-niumbing.
Rather than practicing out oni the ice,
honing his skills and learning the intri-
cacies of the game, Herr was cuff on his
own, working towards his goal of
returning.
But the only way to get tlhere was
through rehabilitation, both physical
and mental. On both counts coaches
and teammates were there For their
friend.
"Rehab is a challenge any way you
look at it, Herr said. "At on= time, I
kept thinking 'I'm never comitag back.'
"But the guys have been t here for
me, which means a lot."
Muckalt, the joker of the team, made
sure to give his roommate an extra
helping of his usual ribbing. Besides
firing pucks at Herr when he watches
right now."
Until then, Herr toiled away with an
athletic trainer,
His day began at 2 p.m., when he
would jump into a cold tub fixed at a
chilly 37 degrees for 20 minutes. After
reading every magazine he could get
his hands on, it was on to stretching.
Lunges, crunches, leg lifts - you
name it, Herr did it.
Not done yet, Herr would hop onto a
bike, where he spent 30 minutes pedal-
ing. Twenty minutes on a stair climber
was followed by another round of
stretching, and then a massage. Finally,
he rounded it all up with another dip in
the cold tub.
"You always see people in and out -
not me - in the end, I'm going to be
back for good," he said. "I'm going to
be there for the end of the year. Like I
always say, it's the end of the year that
counts."
..
Friday night in 'the Soo,' Michigan
dominated Lake Superior in a 7-0
thrashing. Afterward, Herr stood out-
side the lockerroom with a grin stretch-
ing from ear to ear, happy following his
comeback game.
He's spoke about how it felt to be
back, both physically and mentally. He
talked about how rusty he was, and
w
1
MARGARET MYERS/Qatiy
Freshman Mark Kosick assisted on the third and fifth goals for the Wolverines on,
Friday night. Kosick and his unit - the 'freshman line' - have been playing well
all season long.
CCHA Standigs