6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 23, 1998
Forget Columbus, Yost has plenty.
of action, and some winning, too
By TJ. Berka
Daily Sports Writer
This weekend, pads were cracking, sweat
was pouring and trash talk was flowing as
Michigan fought for conference supremacy.
But this weekend's action didn't just take
place in Columbus. Sure there was a foot-
ball game, but some of -----------------
the most intense action Hockey
took place on the Yost
Arena ice. OmmetaV
Wait, f t e Artna--------------
tockey re ust s'artd a woth ago and
nost teams ar 'just finding their legs right
now. The season lasts until March, or early
April for the really good teams, so there is
plenty of time to play around.
"I don't really think this weekend is that
important," Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "It gives the kids some confidence, but
there is plenty of hockey to be played."
So what's the big deal? It' s early
in the regular season and there are many
games still to be played before the CCHA
playoffs begin in mid-March. Why should
hockey be a big deal now when everyone
knows that the real season doesn't start until
the playoffs?
If that is the case, then this weekend saw
some good preseason action. The
Wolverines, in third place coming into this
weekend, now see themselves in a first-
place tie with Notre Dame after victories
over the Fighting Irish and previously sec-
ond-place Michigan State.
Even after the weekend sweep, the
Michigan team seemed pretty apathetic
about being in first place. Of course they
were happy about winning, but the top spot
doesn't mean much in November.
It really doesn't mean tlo' in farch
cithcr. a last car's confero , 11)n.
Michican Sat was eliminateu. i ic:- t
Regional of th. NCAA tournament. So, this
weekend was just another round of endless
regular season hockey games to tide us over
until March.
This weekend wasn't meaningless,
though; there were many important events
on the surface. First of all, the Wolverines
pulled out two victories over two teams
ranked among the top five in the nation.
They also defended their home ice with
vigor, reaffirming the belief that Yost is one
of the toughest places in the country for a
visiting team to win,
And this weekend's game was a huge
building block in the development of fresh-
man goalie Josh Blackburn. After giving up
and down performances during the first
month of the season, Blackburn put togeth-
er two spectacular games, only giving Itp
one goal the entire weekend.
While all this stuff is all well and go
and likely to get the Yost junkies in a fev
ish pitch, the mental edge that this weekend
provided may be the most valuable victory
of all.
This weekend, the Wolverines proved they
can beat the Spartans. After being whipped
ha Michig St.t'tate four times last season.
Si p mis "'m to prove th- ;seaso
ci c, aim.:. not a :. And th
1 erines turned S , Slat0en1a.
Ron Mason's face a shade of red usually
reserved for Nick Saban in the Aloha Bo
The Wolverines also sent a message to
Irish. Notre Dame, a former CCIA patsy,
was getting a little big for its britches this
year. The Irish tied Michigan in South Bend
last weekend and took the Wolverines to the
wire in the CCHA playoffs last March.
Notre Dame was getting cocky, thinking
that they were actually a national power. So
Michigan sent Notre Dame a little message.
The message was clear - 'You're good,
but you've got to get better to play with
big boys.'
Michigan is still one of the big boys. It
proved it this weekend.
Three Stars: The Michigan Daily hockey writers' picks for the three stars of the weekend
3I Josh Langfeld: The sophomore for- 2. Dale Rominski: The senior assis- 1. Josh Blackburm The freshman
ward took a partially blocked shot and tant captain's shorthanded goal goalie allowed just one goal over the
wristed it past Michigan State's Joe against Michigan State tied the game two games, putting together by far his
Blackburn for the game-winner in the at one goal apiece and allowed for best weekend of the season. Although
third period on Friday night. Josh Langfeld to score the winner in Michigan played well defensively,
the third period. Blackburn made crucial saves when
needed.
Michigan forward Mike Comrie tries to fight his way past a linesman to get at a Michigan
during Friday night's game.
SWEEP
Continued from Page 163
eight minutes.
But after a Dave Huntzicker penal-
ty left the Wolverines shorthanded,
Michigan State captain and Hobey
Baker-hopeful Mike York snatched
up a loose puck after a Michigan
turnover and lifted it over a screened
Josh Blackburn to give the Spartans
an early lead.
With Huntzicker in the penalty
box again at the 14:02 mark in the
first, Michigan turned the tables on
the Michigan State power play.
. Defenseman Mike Van Ryn, as he
was falling down slapped away a
puck from a rushing Spartan.
The turnover led to center Bobby
Hayes, scooping the puck up and hit-
ting a waiting Dale Rominski, who
tied the score at one.
"At first I wasn't going to jump on
the play," Rominski said. "There was
a winger next to me and he wasn't
too concerned about picking me up,
so I decided to go it was a 2-on-2. I
got around the D', faked a shot, and
put it in the dpen net."
With both teams deadlocked at a
goal apiece one team needed a break,
and this time Josh Langfeld found
himself in just the right spot.
The junior winger received a
deflected shot from Jeff Jillson,
which gave him the puck at point-
blank range in front of Joe
Blackburn.
"We made an adjustment in the
third period to put me higher in the
slot," Langfeld said. "I don't know
how I got the puck, I just fired it."
The timely adjustment gave
Langfeld his sixth goal of the season
and Michigan a 2-1 lead it wouldn't
relinquish.
"It was a good battle," Langfeld
said. "There was a lot of checking
going down, there was a lot of extra
stuff going on after the whistle, and
coach doesn't like it that much, but
you have to do it to stick up for your
school and your teammates."
Rominski caps solid all-around weekend
By Chris Duprey
Iaily Sports Writer
By most standards, the Michigan
hockey team would consider the week-
end of Nov. 13 and 14 to be quite
impressive, as the Wolverines picked up
a win over Alaska-Fairbanks and sal-
vaged a tie on the road at Notre Dame.
But the three-point weekend wasn't
enough to satisfy Dale Rominski. The
assistant captain left the Joyce Center in
South Bend that Saturday disappointed
in his play.
"I take notes after each game,"
Rominski said. "The notes I took for last
weekend showed I wasn't playing the
body as much and that I might have
been hesitating a little bit on my hits. So
this week I concentrated on taking the
body and anticipating more"
And his adjustments sure did have an
impact. Most will just remember him on
Friday against Michigan State -short-
handed, speeding around three Spartans
and tucking the puck past Joe
Blackburn to tie the contest at one
apiece.
"I love the crowd here, and they real-
ly got me going today," Rominski said.
"It's great to have their support."
It was a huge goal, helping Michigan
to a 2-1 victory - but perhaps
Rominski's best accomplishment of the
weekend came in another area.
Don't turn to the box score of
Saturday's 1-0 win over Notre Dame to
find Rominski's name. He didn't notch
any points. Good tempo and maturity
aren't found in the statistics. Too bad -
if they were, Rominski might be among
tops in the league.
Actions speak louder than words. If
it's to be said talk is cheap, then
Rominski's play this weekend was quite
expensive.
While the Yost Ice Arena crowd wit-
nessed Rominski's performance this
weekend, Notre Dame's Brian Urick felt
it. With just 2:02 left to play in the third
period of a tight game, a crunching
check from the Wolverine left Notre
Dame's superstar center flat on his back.
If play hadn't continued, the person-
able Rominski might have stopped to
ask, 'Are you OK, Mr. Urick? Would
you like some Pepsi with your ice?'
Every time there was a hit to be
made, Rominski was there. He was all
over, defending his teammates, defend-
ing his territory and defending himself.
He seemed to know when to draw the
line on his physical play. With the
exception of one behind-the-play
elbowing penalty in the second period,
Rominski stayed disciplined - exactly
the way Michigan coach Red Berenson
wants his team to conduct itself.
Leadership by example. Coaches
can't teach it, but if they knew the
recipe, they'd bottle it as fast as they
could. The Wolverines are fortunate
enough that Rominski was named an
assistant captain at the start of the sea-
son, allowing him the responsibility to
encourage the same brand of play from
his teammates that he showed on
Saturday.
As the defending national champions,
Michigan already had a target right on
its back. Now that the Wolverines have
tied for the early lead in the CCHA,
those crosshairs are sure to grow in size.
As an assistant captain, it'll be partly
up to 'Romer' to make sure his team's
concentration doesn't roam in the sea-
son's next few months.
' ptCH1pGAN
real music,
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V tMO*A (h;+S)
DAVID ROCHKiNDJ
Michigan State's Mike York had his hands full with Michigan at Yost Ice Arena
Friday night. The Spartans managed just 16 shots on goal.
-- CCHA Standings
Team Won Lost TIed Pis.
Michigan 7 1 1 15
Notre Dame 7 2 1 15
Michigan State 6 2 2 14
Ferris State 6 3 1 13
Northern Michigan 5 5 0 10
Ohio State 4 4 2 10
Bowling Green 3 5 1 7
Alaska-Fairbanks 3 5 0 ' 6
Miami (Ohio) 2 8 2 6
Western Michigan 1 5 4 6
Lake Superor 1 5 2 4
In ali
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sais re
It's nice to know
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you can count on.
Online Dining Guide
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Frday's game
Michigan 2, Michigan State 1
Michigan State 1 0 0 - 1
Michigan 1 0 1 - 2
First pefod -1. MSU, York 3 (Bogas), 9:55 (pp);
a. UM. Romnski 5 (Hayes), 14:33 l(s. Penalties
- MUHogs (holling). 4:18;SM. UHintzicke
(iting afer whistle), 8:1 S;UM, Hinicier kh5ok-
ing), 14:02; MSU, Hocoff (hitting afteraftistle),
18:15; SM, San Rye (sitting after whistle), 16:19:
M55, Whitten (slashing) 16:19; UM, Hayes (slash-
ieg). 16:19; MSU, Whiten (siting afterwhistle),
16:19; SM,taes (sitting" aferwhistle), 16:19;
UM, Team (too many menon ice), 18:46.
Second p0Od - No Scoring. Penalties - MSU,
Goodenow (slashing), 1:52; MSU, Hodgins (slash-
ing), 4:46; UM, Jilson (interference), 5:48: MSU,
Hodgins (interference), 10:33; MSU, Adams (hitting
after whistle), 11:26; UM, Comrie (hitting after
whistle), 11:2; MSU, Weaver (hitting after whis-
tie), 12:33;UM, Koch (hitting after whistlie),12:33;
MSU, Sail (sitting aftewistle), 12:33; SM,
Runeski(ifttlingafterwhitle),12:s3;MSU, York
(high.sticking),15:52; MSU, Horcoff (hitting after
whist'e). 20:00; UM, Vanik (hitting after whistle),
20:00; UM, Vancik (hitting after whistle), 20:00.
Third period - 2. UM, t.angfeld 6 (Jilison, Kosick),
11:05 (pp). Penalties - UM, Van Ryn (hooking),
7:00: MOO. Wea, r(slashing), 9:49; MSU. Hali
(high-sticiking),.1las1; UM, Rominski (highsSticik-
leg). 12:51.
Stats tgoal - MSU684-7 -17; SM 9.8.5 - 22.
Pow Plays-MSU, 1o S6UM, 1o26.
Saves - MSU, Joe Blackburn 894 - 21; UM, Josh
Btact t An 54A-iS.
Referee - Stein Piotiowski.
tnesysen - lofts Ntwostkia, lohs Laluie.
At. Yost Ice Atena. :68.94.
Michigan 1, Notre Dame 0
Notre Dame 0 0 0 -1
Michigan 0 1 0 - 1
First period- No Scoring.Penaties - ND, Henning
(hotking), 5:48; ND, Catison (slashmg). 9:17:0M,'
Van Ryn (hodin), 12:00:ND. Kopischke (ho kng),
13:48: SM,Vancii (high-sticking). 17:16; ND,
Ftaser (fighsti iki n(17:16; UM, Rominski (inter-
teretn), 17:57.
Sected ped- 1. UM, Ritchlirm2 (Matzka),
10:40. Penalties - N. Ba e(intefrn, 3;
SM, Vat Rye (toughing),8:16;-SM, ilson (hoos
ing), 15:09; UM, Rominski (elbowing), 16:54,*ND
simon (five-minute major, high-sticking), 19:55.
Third period - No Scoring. Penalties - UM, Vancik
(interference), 2:07; ND, Borega,(check from
behind), 10:23; ND, Dwyer (roughing), 19:56; UM,
och (roughing), 19:56; ND, inman (roughing),
19:56;UM, Peach (roughing),19:5
Shots on goal - ND 4-66 -16; UM 10-8-8 - 26.
Powe Pas- N, 0o5;UM 0 of 6
Sanes- ND.Rat 104-8- 25UU, Blackburn4-6
6-16.
Referee - Brent Rutherford.
Linesmen - John Nowostka, Jon Gosger.
At: Yost ice Arena A: 6,564.
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