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. I Izr.lvM-.WL.far.s r --- -- r sawj a gw w 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