The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 22, 1998 - 15A SHADOWED 1BY MARK 1RANCIESCUTTl - IDAJILY SPORTS WRITER had never happened in the 19-year United tates Hockey League's history. A young goalie took his oversized goal stick and sent the puck zooming across the ice. He shoots, he scores! Wait a second, that was the goalie who just scored? lie became the first to score a goal that day, but lately he's been hidden in the shadows. While freshman goaltender Josh Blackburn has received much of the limelight, many people don't know that there's another new set of pads in the Michigan net. hose pads belong to Kevin O'Malley. he 'other' freshman goalie has sat quietly the past few weeks, out of the hoopla. With Blackburn receiving the nod from Michigan coach Red Berenson early in the sea- son, O'Malley hasn't been in the spotlight. Even though Blackburn was recruited to become Michigan's No. I goaltender and even though O'Malley might have been No. I else- where, he doesn't feel he gave up anything in choosing Michigan. Y didn't give up anything," O'Malley said. "If re coming to Michigan, there's always a ton of options so it doesn't even matter" And he isn't far behind. O'Malley will compete for playing time and could easily step into the starting position in a moment's notice. "From O'Malley's perspective, he's got to be ready to play every night," Berenson said. "Blackburn could start and he could be out in one shot." The Wolverines haven't had worries about an injury to their goalie, because for almost a decade, they have had a worthy backup. First, the Wolverines counted on Steve Shields and Chris Gordon. Then it was Marty Turco and Gregg Malicke. Now, Michigan has a double whammy with the duo of Blackburn and O'Malley. The 20-year old Grosse Pointe native has kept a positive attitude about his role. "I know I'll get a fair chance here, and I know I'll be a part of this team," O'Malley said. "Whatever my role is, I am going to remain posi- tive " It's a positive attitude that No. 2 goalie Malicke had last season. "Gregg Malicke was so important to this team last year and no one understood it except the guys on the team," O'Malley said. "he was so positive, I mean he was so mad that he didn't play. "But who knows, Marty could have twisted his knee in the first game and Gregg could have been the man all year." Regarding playing time, O'Malley feels no pressure to compare himself to Blackburn. "He's the one who has the pressure," said the backup. "Everyone on the ice is good enough, it's just the guys who can put it together under pres- sure." Besides being the future of Michigan hockey, the two freshman goalies also share an address. The two goalies share a luxurious deluxe dou- ble room in West Quad, which O'Malley says has one room for the beds and another for hangin' out. "We've got everything: Two rooms, lofts, car- peting and every kind of appliance," O'Malley said. "We get along great." The two goalies are plenty different, however. Just look at their choice of pads. O'Malley has white pads that camouflage his legs on the ice, while Blackburn has blue pads which form a yellow 'M'. O'Malley is the morning person, while Blackburn, true to his name, likes the nightlife. O'Malley also admits that he is the clean freak of the two. "I'm always cleaning the room," O'Malley said. "I always like having everything clean. I can't even read my notes if they're messy." Having two freshman goalies could have turned into a messy situation, because the last thing most hockey coaches want is a controversy. But thanks to guidance by his predecessors and his positive outlook on the situation, O'Malley says that the situation is far from a problem. "Marty (Turco) talked to us a lot," O'Malley said. "Turco and Malicke were best friends from the beginning because right away they made it a point that before they even stepped on the ice together it's not me against you." O'Malley said that he and Blackburn have a comparable relationship and says that not talking about hockey has helped the two leave the Michigan goaltender's pressures on the ice. "Outside the rink we don't talk about hockey much, if there's ever a problem we can, but we like to talk about other things," O'Malley said. "We're busy with hockey from one o'clock everyday till 6:30." O'Malley's daily routine is much different now than it was during juniors. In juniors "my routine was every morning we would skate from 8:30 to 10," O'Malley said. "Then, Tyler Arnisson, one of the top recruits in the nation, he'd play in goal and I'd play forward and we'd screw around until two in the after- noon." After a short team meeting later in the day, O'Malley was free to do whatever he pleased for the rest of the night, and the whole routine would start again the next day. But now O'Malley spends his time with books and homework, and often doesn't get home until 9:30 at night. A little change from what he's used to, but O'Malley finds his fun in his friends. He and Blackburn spend most of their free time with the four other freshmen. The six are always together. "We eat every meal together, we got to all the football games,' O'Malley said. "It's always us six, no one stays behind." Still, O'Malley wants to have a different side, separate from hockey. He said he's trying to meet as many people as possible, and often doesn't tell them about his 'hockey life'. "No one needs to know that I'm a hockey play- er," he said. DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily In his debut performance, a 2- loss to Niagara, Kevin O'Malley stopped 15 of 17 shots and kept Michigan in the game, blocking several Niagara scoring chances. Meanwhile, the shadows of leg- endary predecessors Steve Shields and Marty Turco loom over the freshman netminder. In addition, O'Malley has to compete for Ice time with fellow freshman goal keeper, Josh Blackburn. Overshadowed by predecessors Kevin O'Malley not only has to battle Josh Blackburn for playing time, but when he does get a chance to play he'll be expected to perform as well as his predecessors of the past eight years - Steve Shields and Marty Turco. Here are all the goalies' stats, including O'Malley and Blackburn this season. Steve Shields Marty Turco* Josh Blackburn Kevin O'Malley 1990-1994 1994-1998 1998-present 199-present 111-25-8 127-29-8 2-1 01 2.74 2.36 2.00 2.00 .810 .796 .886 .883 * holds NCAA Record for wins Wolverines trapped down The Michigan hockey team fell from No. 2 to No. 6 in the latest U.S. college hockey online poll. But the biggest surprise was Ohio State. The Buckeyes faltered to No. 9 after a poor 1-3 start, USCHO (October 19, 1998) Rank am Roord Pt L at 1 Boston College (24) 2-0-0 292 1 2 North Dakota (6) 0-0-0 269 3 3 Maine 2-0.0 188 8 4 Colorado College 04--0 180 6 5 Michigan State 141 136 5 6 Michigan 2-1-0 123 2 7 Clarkson 0.0-0 120 7 8 Notre Dame 5-0-0 107 - 9 New Hampshire 1-0-0 51 - 9 Ohio State 1-3-0 51 4 Others receiving votes: Northern Michigan 35, Boston University 24, Wisconsin 16, Minnesota 13, Princeton 12, Rensselaer 12, St. Cloud 7, Niagara 6, Ferris State 4, St. Lawrence 2, Yale 2