4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 31, 2000 Puck talk "I truly think we deserved to win that game, but we didn't bury the chances we had. We're a better five-on-five team, but we didn't bury them tonight." - Michigan forward Scott Matzka g Michigan Key play Saturday, 11:47 into the first period. Captain Sean Peach trickled in a pass firmjunior Geoff Kochfor his fifth goal of the season. This would be the Wolverines only goal in the I-1 tie. SOhio State 1 S J - C I Few penalties may have hurt 'M' The Michigan Daily hockey writers' picks for the three stars of the weekend. - JOSH BLACKBURN - GOALTENDER The sophomore saved 27 shots, keeping Ohio State scoreless until six minutes into the third period. - SEAN PEACH- DEFENS.MAN The senior captain scored Michigan's tone goal, while holding up the defense, as Jeff Jillson did not play. - MAIZE-OUT - THE FANS 2,500 T-shirts were handed out at Yost and led to the best crowd the team has seen all season. 0 By Stephanie Offen Daily Sports Editor Saturday, a post-renovation record crowd of 6,343 fans witnessed some- thing amazing. Something they hadn't seen all season. They witnessed - a Michigan tie. But that may not have been what they were expecting. Saturday, the Yost fans were expecting a brawl. And the two go hand in hand. The lack of brawls and calls that factored into Michigan leaving Yost without a victory. They were expecting Ohio State's chief suspects from last weekend's brawl, Scott Titus and Ryan Jestadt, to take revenge on the team that beat them at their own cheap game. The Wolverines took a 6-4 victory over Ohio State on Jan. 21 as the Buckeyes played after the whistle, drawing penalties and putting Michigan on the power play. That's the opposite of what they wit- nessed on Saturday. The game was clean and virtually penalty-less, which seemed to play into the hands of Ohio State. "It was a lot cleaner;" junior Bob Gassoff said. "We expected them to come out and be a lot chippier." The Buckeyes currently stand in eleventh place in the conference, and have lost to Michigan in three penalty- filled battles this season. In the first game of the rivalry on Nov. 5, the Wolverines scored four of their six goals on the power play, as Michigan dealt the Buckeyes a 6-1 road loss. The next night, the two teams met again, this time in Columbus. Michigan's first two goals of the night came off the power play. Then in the third period, Ohio State's chippy style of play showed its face again, as Jason Selleke hit Michigan captain Sean Peach with a check from behind. A fight broke out, giving the Wolverines two five-on- three opportunities and the momentum to win the game, 84. in Michigan's final victory of the series last weekend, more than 40 penal- ties were recorded. Michigan took advan- tage of Ohio State's excessively rough play - converting on two opportunities. "They like to play after the whistle," junior Josh Langfeld said Jan. 21. "Like coach said that's going to hurt them. We'll get on the power play and beat them on the power play." But Saturday, the Wolverines didn't even have a chance to convert on the power play opportunities they received when Ohio State played after the whistle' The Buckeyes played a clean game and were only whistled for five penalties. "It could have been one of the best officiating games of the year," Gassoff said. "They let us play. There was so much more flow to the game and so much more intensity. Any time we can get a good five-on-five, we're going to dominate anybody." Even though the Michigan players praised the officials for letting the two squads play five-on-five hockey, history tells them that whistle blowing would have been to their advantage. The Wolverines did not convert on any of their five power play opportunities. It is important to keep in mind that Michigan was not at full strength with the one man advantage. The team's top defenseman who leads the attack from the point, Jeff Jillson, was scratched for the game because of his disqualification the previous weekend. So Berenson was forced to play five forwards on one power play opportunity. "I know that I made the point of hav- ing our team play focused and mentally tough," Berenson said. "The referee was instructed accordingly so that this game did not have any problems or issues.: Although Michigan was happy that the referees were laying off the whistle, and the Buckeyes were laying off the fighting, they were not happy with the final result. It's ironic that what made the Wolverines happy - the lack of whistle blowing - may have been a factor lead- ing up to the unhappy final result. "Any time you win, it doesn't matter how you win, you will be more excited and ready for the next weekend," junior Scott Matzka said. Michigan 1, Ohio State 1 Ohio State 0 0 1 0-1 Michigan 1 0 0 0-1 Frst period-1. UM, Peach 5 (Koch. Hilbert), 11:47. Penalties-OSU. Ganga (charging), 13:30; OSU, Titus (holding the stick), 19:16. Second period - no scoring. Penalties -UM,.Peach (tripping). 5:13; OSU, Team (too many on ice), 7:13; UM. Peach (obstruction-interference), 8:22; UiM, Team (too many on ice), 13:57: OSU. Ganga (holding). 19:03. Thurd period -i.OSU. Meloche 13 (Lafeche. Jestadt), 622 Penalties - UM, Matzka (roughing), 538,;UM, Peach (interference). 7:22;OSU, Jestadt (interference), 11:33. Overtme - no scoring. Penalties - no penalties. Shots on goal -OSU.61363 -28; UM,.146142 - 32. PowerPlays - OSU. 1 of 5: UM.0 of 5 Saves -OSU, Aho 13&102 - 31; UM, Blackburn 13d5-3-27 Referee - Mark Shegos Linesmren - Patrick Bracco, Brian Hill At: Yost Ice Arena Athendance: 6.738 0 SAM HOLLENSHEAD/ Dany Even though Michigan played five-on-five hockey for most of the game, the team could not convert on scoring opportunities including this one by freshman Mike Cammalledi. Muckalt, Ohio State return to hear vocal Yost crowd This5 home-4 time Michic< season. NEXT WEEKEND Friday: at Ferris State 7 Sm. turday: vs Ferris State 7 p.m. -nd-home series is the only gan will face the Bulldogs all The 6,738 fans at Saturday'sgame represented the largest omwd.at Yost ke Arena since the renova- tion in 1996-97. Saturdays tie was the first time this season when the Whverineswere not victorious when allowing two or fewer goals. The tie was only the fifth time in the past 122 games that Michigan did not win when leading after two eriods. By Uma Subramanian Daily Sports Wnter Bill Muckalt has played in every arena in the NHL. He's competed for his hometown Vancouver Canucks; he's competed in front of the rambunc- tious fans in Phoenix; he's even competed in the Motor City. Yet through it all, Muckalt's favorite ice is not in a multi-million dollar locale, but in a field house that was built in 1924. "In Yost (Ice Arena) you have a lot more of that atmosphere, which is very exciting," said Muckalt - a former Michigan center and one of the NHLs top-scoring rookies last season. "In the NHL, the crowd and the fans are good, but if I had to rate my favorite place to play, I'm in it right now - Yost." Muckalt,W ho is currently on the New York Islanders' injured reserve list, picked a great week- end for a return trip to Michigan. The Wolverines took on Ohio State in what had been touted as a battle for the ages. Though the teams skated to an inconclusive 1-1 draw, the atmosphere in Yost lived up to the hype. The anticipation for this past Saturday's game was fueled by a contest that took place one week earlier. In a bloodbath in Columbus, Michigan had dismantled the Buckeyes. 6-4, in front of a rau- cous, NCAA-record crowd of 1 7,343 at Value City Arena. Unknowingly, the Buckeye faithful played a huge role in the vociferousness of the Michigan crowd in this past Saturday's game. When the Wolverines visited Columbus, the Buckeyes fans were decidedly unsportsmanlike, throwing objects at the visiting athletes. In retaliation, it seemed, Michigan fans came prepared for battle. "The crowd was really into it tonight," Michigan forward Scott Matzka said. "Right from the get-go and even during announcements, they were more raucous then they've been. "Everybody was there early and it was a big boost for us - we came out really hard and took it to them." Perhaps even more enticing than the promise of a heated battle, the Wolverines fans came out en masse for Maize Out 2000, a promotional event at which 2,500 yellow shirts were passed out to the earliest arrivals. Often times, the stands at Yost are not filled until well into the first period, but the premise of free clothing had everyone in by the opening face-off. "I think it's cool!," said Darlene McLean, an eight-year season ticket holder from Ann Arbor, of Maize Out. "I grew up in a hockey family and everybody I knew played for Michigan growing up. Though McLean's favorite Michigan player, Justin Clark, has graduated, McLean continues to number among the Michigan faithful who turn out for every home game. "I called (Clark) Opie because he looked like the kid from The Andy Griffith show," McLean said. Maize Out was modeled after the former Winnipeg Jets' White Outs - a ritual in which everv fan wore a white shirt creating an intimidat- ing background for the opposing team. On Saturday, the Michigan crowd put on a dom- inating show. But in and of itself, Maize Out was only semi-effective because the Athletic Department did not hand out enough shirts for the 6,738 fans who attended. In fact, only one-third of the post-renovation record crowd sported the yel- low look. Nonetheless, "we're excited," said Tom Brooks, Michigan's director of marketing. "The Maize Out is something we definitely want to continue as an annual event. People really rallied around the con- cept. "We're happy for our first year. We expected the students to get here close to the start of the game, but we hope that in years to come, we'll do more and more shirts." The Maize Out was originally slated to take place during Michigan's upcoming contest with Michigan State. But since that game will be played during Spring Break, Michigan coach Red Berenson requested that the event be moved to this past weekend. "The crowd was great," Berenson said. "I wish we could've given them something more to cheer about. They were awesome. "The Maize Out was a good idea. It gave the rink a lot of color, but we couldn't give the crowd what they needed." This season, the Michigan-Ohio State hockey rivahy took on new meaning. Here is a recap of the match-ups. Now. 5,1999: The Wolverines hosted a 6-1 thrash- ing of the Buckeyes as sophomore Mike Comrie scored a career high five points. Nov.6, 1999: Michigan traveled to Columbus and defeated the Buckeyes 8-4 to complete the weekend sweep. SJan.21, 2000: In a penalty-filled battle, the Wolverines defeated Ohio State 6-4 in Columbus in front of a NCAA-record 17,343 fans. t lan.29,2000: The 1-1 tie left the Wolverines unsatisfied with the series' results. KIMITSU YOGACHI/Daily Michigan fans say 'See ya' to an Ohio State player. But the Buckeyes were not disposed of as easily. In front of a very vocal crowd, Michigan and Ohio State skated to a 1-1tie. No. t New Hampshire (18-4-4) tied Boston. Universty, 3-3; lost to Boston Universty 4-2. No. 2 WIsconsin (91) did not play. No.3 Michigan (191) tiedOhio State, 1-1. No. 4 North Dakota (18-6-2) def. Michigan Tedh 5-0; def. Michigan Tch, 11-1. No. 5 Maine (15-6-4) lost to Boston College, 3-Z~ lost to Boston College, 3-0. No.6 Boston University (1565) tied New Hampshir, 3-3; def. New Hampshire, 43. No. 7 Michigan State (17-8-2) tied Western Michigan,2-2; lost to Western Michigan 3-2(0M. No. 8Northen Michigan(17-7-2) lost to Bowling Green,7-4;beat Bowling Green, 3-2. No.9 Boston College (16-7-1) def. Maine, 3-2; def. Maine, 3-0. No.10 Rensselaer (15-7-2) def. Princeton, 6-2; def. Yale, 3-0 Ohio State stalls 'M' offense to force first tie BUCKEYES Continued from Page 1B attacking zone that made for some difficult puck handling. "The ice seemed really rough in that zone," Berenson said. "The pucks were bouncing, and you can't complain about getting bad bounces, but we sure didn't get any good ones." As chances slipped away, so did regula- tion as Michigan skated to its third over- time of the season. Once there, Michigan employed the aggressive, attacking system that has kept the squad undefeated in the extra stanza this season, while a content Ohio State squad seemed reluctant to mount a charge. "The overtime was exciting," Peach said. "We go into overtime to win; we don't want to play passive like they did." Making things exciting, Hilbert broke free for one of Michigan's best scoring chances with 3:38 left. But he failed to con- nect, and Michigan settled for its first tie this season. "I think we played hard. It's just unfor- tunate we came out on the downside of the scoreboard," defenseman Bob Gassoff said. "Well, not the downside, but not the upside, either." Is there an upside to Saturday's down- side? Gassoff said maybe it's realizing the importance of putting an opponent away early. "We had a lot of grade-A scoring chances that we just didn't capitalize on," Gassoff said. "We know we have to score more and make our chances count." And while fans found that t-shirts were free, on Saturday, Ohio State made sure that league wins came at a much higher cost. MichIan fans - a stepabove Bucks G RAN DSTAFF Continued from Page 1B But at Michigan, fans tend to slander and taunt with a little more tact and wit than the simple Neanderthal approach of the Buckeyes. Besides, the Ohio State fans are going after the wrong people. Do they really think that spilling their beer on any member of the Wolverines bench is a smart move? Do they realize the peaked intensity level hock- ey players already have? Reaching into the Wolverines bench to steal a hockey stick is about as smart as diving your hand into a bowl full of piranhas - the instinct to attack is already there. Of course they don't realize what they're doing. These are the same fans that still think they have a rea- son to talk smack about a school that consistently beats them in almost every sport - especially when it counts the most. And their players are the same way. After the game on Saturday, the Buckeyes marched back up to the lockerroom from the north end of Yost __ ... ..::.:_. rrnrc rn rnin u na. GUO.FFGAuNuN/Ua0y UNIF(@g Do oa zMqglgl U Team Michigan Northern Michigan Michigan State Lake Superior w 14 12 12 12 L' 4 4 6 7 .z CCHA r Pts GP 1 29 19 ? 26 18 25 19 25 20 z. ~)zn GF1 77, 62 58 54 GA 42 44 29 46 SA OVERALL W L T 19 6 1 17 7 2 17 8 2 13 12 1 11 13 A I Behind its top scoring line, Michigan entered the weekend with the most explosive offense in the nation, leading the country in goals scored and scoring average. One reason why - Mike Comrie, Andy Hilbert and Geoff Koch, who've spearheaded the Wolverine charge I I Mike Comne Andy Hilbert. * Ge ............ ............ Loff|Koch S I i 77!\