NBA; BASKETBALL CLEVELAbI43, Boston 86 ORLANDO 86, Charlotte VOP UTAH 84, Miami 81 SAN ANTONIO 112, Denver 82 Toronto 113, CHICAGO 90 Golden State at PORTLAND, inc. NHL HOCKEY Buffalo 1, NEW JERSEY 1 PITTSBURGH 5, Chicago 2 Dallas at PHOENIX, inc. Ulbe £tui~n &u Tracking 'M' Internet sites Check out the Michigan hockey team battling Denver on Friday by way of the Internet. You can watch all t action straight from the Michigan hockey Website at http://www.mgoblue.com/icehockey. Wednesday March 24, 1999 10 ' WCHA experience may help Michigan Common ground Games vs. common foes W 20 vs. Lake _0Superior W 4-0 Hockey U' NCAA East Regional By: David Den Herder Daily Sports Writer Although the Michigan hockey team has not once faced Denver this season, tiie' two teams have seen some of the same competition. The Wolverines got to taste WCHA- flavor hockey on two separate occasions over the holidays. During Thanksgiving break, while inany students inhaled turkey and stuff- ing, Michigan was on the road getting a healthy dose of the WCHA at the HOCKEY College Hockey Notebok Showcase. The tbo Wolverines man- ----------------- aged a victory over Minnesota, 3-2, and tied Wisconsin, 1-1. "Michigan winger Josh Langfeld said tht Olympic-size ice surface that is cpmmonplace in the WCHA gives rise t6smaller, speedier players on the whole. "It's a lot more wide open," Langfeld aid. "The WCHA is definitely a good brand of hockey." Michigan's other encounter with the western conference came over winter ireak - in the form of a 4-1 drubbing vf'Michigan Tech at the Great Lakes 'Invitational on Dec. 26. "I don't think there's a big differ- 4ence," between the WCHA and CCHA, AMichigan coach Red Berenson said. "The big difference is the goals scored (average per game). Maybe our league is a little more defensive, or less skilled offensively." j That said, Denver may be the most CCHA-like team in the 'W.' The Pioneers are "big, they grind and 4d1eck hard," Langfeld said. Denver leads its league in penalty 'minutes per game with 19.62, but despite a WCHA goals-allowed average of3.39, they are fifth best in the confer- ence standings. + Men's gy y Dan Dingerson Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's gymnastics team can finally claim that it is the best team in el the country. Following the team's second straight t-*seore over 230, the Wolverines claimed -the top spot in the latest National Association of Gymnastics Coaches poll. Michigan wrested the honor away from Penn State, who has been ranked number noe for much of the year. Michigan - also fifth in league goals allowed - averages a stingy 2.40. "Everybody thinks they have the bet- ter league," Michigan's Mark Kosick said. Incidentally, the CCHA topped the WCHA in the games against each other this season - 11-7-1. THE FLIP SIDE: The other two CCHA teams in first-round action this Friday will face opponents from the Hockey East conference. Northern Michigan, a No. 5 seed in the West, will face last year's NCAA runner-up, Boston College. The Eagles are coming off a Hockey East playoff title, but won't have any kind of home-ice advantage as they will meet the Wildcats in Madison instead of Worcester, Mass., the sight of the East Regional. Boston College will apply a large amount of offensive pressure to the Wildcats. The Eagles lead Hockey East with a league average of 4.15 goals per game. But as Michigan fans are well aware, Northern's offense is nothing to scoff at either. Led by forward J.P. Vigier, the Wildcats averaged 3.13 goals per game in the defense-oriented CCHA. Ohio State, who will also travel east to Worcester, is set to face No. 3 seed Maine in Friday's early game. Also members of Hockey East, the Bears are better known for their defensive ability. With a league average of 2.65 goals allowed per game, Maine is second in its conference behind top-seeded New Hampshire. Similarly, thanks in part to the play of goaltender Jeff Maund, the Buckeyes allow only 2.20 goals per game - good enough to be ranked second in the CCHA (behind Michigan State). The CCHA was on the short end of a 5-7-1 overall record to Hockey East this season. Seniors ready1 for last hurrah By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Editor They've been part of two national championship teams. They've captured three CCHA playoff titles, and won t Great Lakes Invitational on two occasions. Meet the members of the Michigan hockey team's senioif class. Finish your introductions quickly - the NCAA Tournament, beginning in the first round Friday against Denver, will be their final run in Michigan uniforms. ,. "I've always said you're as good as your senior classy Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I think this class haS really stepped forward in the playoffs." And while you'd be hard-pressed to find a coach who would badmouth his senior class, you get the feeling that Berenson is telling the truth. It would have been easy for the seven seniors to slip into' a feeling of self-satisfaction after last season. After all; they'd done the ultimate in collegiate hockey. They'd won the national championship - twice. But that wasn't how the seniors wanted to go out. And with three strong captains - Bubba Berenzweig, assistant Bobby Hayes and assistant Dale Rominski - at the helmi Michigan wasn't chalking up 1998-99 as a season of rebuilding at all. Never mind that the Wolverines would be depending mainly on younger players. Never mind that, instead of the seasoned Marty Turco, thg defensemen would be protecting a goaltender with no colle- giate experience. They wouldn't just deal with the circumstances, they4 make the most of them. "They've all played a role, and they've played it well," Berenson said. These days, Michigan rarely has difficulty attracting top! talent. Ever since Berenson proved his program's durability. with breakout teams in the late '80s and early '90s, recruit- ing has become a much easier business for the Wolverines. But the transition of raw talent into finished Michiga product is not an easy one. Freshmen and sophomores in the Michigan hockey program inevitably find a contributing role early in their careers. Obviously Berenson deserves much of the credit, but his success is partly due to the emer,. gence of leadership-oriented captains. Once mentored by their hockey elders, this season it became time for Berenzweig, Hayes and Rominski to take the reins. Most of their hard work is behind the scenes, tucked away from the public spotlight. But they're making. See SENIORS, Page 11. WARREN ZINN/Daily Bobby Hayes has won many championships during his Michigan career, but the senior would love to take home another one. The Wolverines will strive for another NCAA crown starting Friday. nnastics soars to No. 1 in nation The team's previous highest ranking this year was No. 2, which the team held for over a month. The ranking system that i5 used in gymnastics is different than in most sports, because it is computed instead of voted on. The team's ranking is currently deter- mined by taking the highest home score and the two highest road scores, eliminat- ing the highest of the three, and then averaging the other two. Because Michigan's three highest scores all came at home, none of them counted in determining the rankings. But after the team recorded a team high at Michigan State this past Saturday, the average went up almost two points, rais- ing the team from No. 5 to the top spot. The ranking system provides some inconsistencies. Although Michigan has not beaten Ohio State or Iowa in head-to- head competition, the Wolverines rank ahead of both schools. The ranking comes at the end of the regular season as the team prepares for the Big Ten Championships. "I think that this ranking will affect both us and the other teams at Big Tens," Golder said. "I think that it will give our team a lot of confidence. "I think that when the other teams see this that it will give them more incentive to beat us," Golder said. "The other teams will have it up in the lockerrooms, and have some comments about it." The ranking is important to the team, but it doesn't fulfill any of the team's goals - it is only a result of them. The team has been focusing all year on per- forming their best, and eventually win- ning the NCAA Championships. "We need to be careful not to put too much into it. It's nice, but it doesn't mean that much if we don't continue to per- form well,"Golder said. "Idon't thnk that this team will let up, though. They haven't fulfilled all of their goals yet." 4fr Kurt Golder's res- urrection of the Michigan men's gymnastics pro- gram has climbed to a new altitud. The Wolverine are ranked No. I In the nation. DANA LINNANE/Daily I I I I II P, -~ 1 Q / " " .p s~ tr - ,. : s,.., -*,: :'a crk-' , ',.:. Wednesday Night Specials (Hong Kong Stylo) cafeteria 510 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor, M IA 48104 C 8I1 PUUl Touchdown Cafe BUSINESS HOURS Mon. - Sat. 11a.m. - 10p.m. Sunday 12 Noon - 9p.m. Tel: 747-6662 Fax: 747-6620 OMM09 0 Voted Best Cheap Beer MlclganoDalyReadership Poll,1998 _ , Honoring bl "n " .