-4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 11, 2000
Shouts from the point
"J.J. Swistak is short."
- Michigan sophomore Mike Cammalleri,
responding to a prank Swistak
pulled on him. The 5-foot-8 Swistak claims
to be taller than the 5-foot-9 Cammalleri.
1 SATURDAY'S GM~Ef I
Key play
I a-l A, ii V 1<L
1 V V l i1T1L '
St. Lawrence 1
Michigan 5
St. Lawrence
Michigan
2
6
Friday, 14:08 of second period
In a tight game, Scott Matzka smashed a
puck through the legs of St. Lawrence
goaltender Jeremy Symington, putting
the Wolverines up for good, 2-1.
LU
i
Ine ivicnigan Daily nockey writers'
picks for Michigan's three stars of
the weekend.
ANDY HILBERT
RIGHT WING
Hilbert went on a tear this weekend,
scoring a goal on Friday and adding
his first career hat trick on Saturday
to lead the Wolverines to two wins.
JOSH BLACKBURNj
GOALTENDER
While battling illness, Blackburn was
spectacular, stopping 46 of the
Saints' 48 shots on the weekend.
SCOTT MATZKA
LEFT WING
After slumping for the past few
weeks, Matzka was reinvigorated by a
line change and scored two goals.
The goal on Friday night was the
game-winner.
Blackburn saves the day for 'M'
Heroic goalie, fighting sickness, continues recent hot streak
By Ryan C. Moloney
IDaily Sports Writer
When Josh Blackburn left the goal
crease in favor of L.J. Scarpace at the
6:06 mark of the third period Saturday
night, it looked like a surprising but logi-
cal move by coach Red Berenson.
The Michigan hockey team was slap-
ping St. Lawrence up and down the ice,
and behind the strength of Blackburn's 23-
save performance, it made sense to give
backups Scarpace and Kevin O'Malley a
workout before the semester break.
When Blackburn left the bench and
skated toward the Michigan end boards
en route to the lockerroom, more than a
few eyebrows were raised.
Did he have a dinner date or some-
thing?
What most people didn't realize until
the aftermath of Michigan's 6-2 drubbing
of St. Lawrence was that Blackburn had
spent much of the previous 24 hours
vomiting and immobile - possibly as a
result of food poisoning the day before.
The early exit was a much-needed rest
for a player who has quietly become an
unbreakable plowhorse for the
Wolverines.
"I just thought I would stick it out," a
haggard-looking Blackburn said after-
ward. "I wasn't thinking about much, I
just wanted to keep the puck in front of
me."
Prior to the game, the Michigan coach-
ing staff discussed keeping Blackburn
out of the lineup, as he was experiencing
an acute amount of distress. The junior
said he would try to play and Berenson,
who emphasized the importance of
sweeping the weekend series before the
break, stuck with his game-breaking
goalie.
The result was a Jordan-esque perfor-
mance, though during the game few out-
side of Blackburn's teammates knew
about it.
Amazingly, Blackburn's trademark
physical surliness was not compromised
by the illness. With just over 10 seconds
left in the first period, St. Lawrence's Jack
O'Brien wandered into the Michigan
crease while both Michigan defensemen
converged on the play in the left corner.
Blackburn turned around and swatted
O'Brien into the left goalpost with his
trapper, energizing the Yost crowd and
pumping-up a Michigan team that would
go on to score three goals in a span of
1:48 in the middle of the following peri-
od. When the roughing penalty was
announced, the crowd cheered.
Prior to the Wolverines' second-period
scoring spree, Blackburn made his best
saves of the night, robbing Charlie
Daniels and Mike Muir on repeated in-
close opportunities. With Blackburn
sprawled across the crease, both Daniels
and Muir attempted to poke the puck by
Blackburn two or three times before the
whistle blew. Daniels skated away raising
his arms in the air out of frustration.
"It was definitely a lift for our team,"
senior Bill Trainor said. "When you see a
goaltender go out and battle like that and
make some great saves, knowing he's
only at 50 percent health-wise -- it was
definitely big."
Big and consistent. In the six games
after he allowed three goals in a 5-2 loss
8
-..-
BACK IN BLACK
Since being sidelined for three months due to
afoot injury last season, Michigan goalie
Josh Blackburn has come back with a4
vengence, becoming a force to be reckoned
with. Check out examples of his major roles
in key Michigan victories since his return:
January 7, 2000, at Michigan State:
Blackburn made his triumphant return to
shut out the Spartans and their highly
touted netminder Ryan Miller, 2-0. This
marked the Wolverines' first victory in
East Lansing since 1995.
March 3, 2000, at Bowling Green:
Helped Wolverines clinch CCHA regular-
season title with a 20-save performance.
November 25, 2000, at No. 2 Minnesota
Blackburn kept the wolverines in a close
game before they could break it open and
upset Minnesota, 4-1.
December 9, 2000, vs. St. Lawrence
Battling illness, Blackburn turned away
33 of 34 shots to give Michigan a much-
needed weekend sweep.
BRENVDAN UONrNELL/0aily
ec. 3s t
Great Lakes Invitational
to Alaska-Fairbanks, Blackburn has gone
5-0-1 with a 1.72 GAA and a .945 save
percentage.
Among the top 20 goalies in the coun-
try, Blackburn leads in minutes with
1,088:20.
The play of Andy Hilbert and Mike
Cammalleri, linemates who are wearing
out net twine lately, have overshadowed
the good-natured backstop who refle t
on the Fairbanks game now much
same way he did then.
"It was just a bad game. You need to
rebound from games like that to play
well," Blackburn said. "I think I've
changed my game a little bit- I've made
it a little simpler."
And just as tough.
'Dec. 29: vs. Michigan
Tech at Joe Louis Ara,
7:35 p.m. -Dec. 30: vs.
Boston College/Michigan State at
Joe Louis Arena, 4 p.m. or 7:35 p.m.
Michigan heads into Detroit for the
,36th GLI. Michigan State has won
the last three years, but the
Wolverines took the title the previ-
ous nine.
No. 1 Michigan State (12-1-4) tied Ferris
State, 0-0; def. Ferris State, 4-1.
No. 2 North Dakota (13-3-4) lost to
Colorado Col., 6-4; def. Colorado Col., 4-3.
No. 3 Boston College (11-3-1) tied
Northeastern, 0-0.
No. 4 Michigan (13-3-3) def. St. Lawrence,
d-; def. St. Lawrence, 6-2.
No. 5 New Hampshire (10-3-3) did not
play.
No. 6 Western Michigan (11-2-2) did not
play.
No. 7 Colorado College (11-4-1) def. North
Dakota, 6-4; lost to North Dakota, 4-3.
No. 8 St. Cloud (01-4-1) def. Wisconsin, 5-
0; lost to Wisconsin, 3-l.,
No. 9 Providence (8-4-3) lost to Mass.-
Amherst, 3-1; def. Merrimack, 7-3.
No. 10 Minnesota (10-5-2) def. Quinnipiac,
11-2
Line change reunites
struggling seniors
I
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Writer
Fist peiod-.SLU.Fyfe 4 (Batlett, Geliard), 6:48
(p): 2. UM, Cammalleri 12 (liibert.Roch), 8:01.
Penalies,-,UM. Langfld (chargirg), 1:32 SLU
Carruthrs (interference), 3:44; UM, Hilbert (tnterfer-
- nce), 5:40: SLU Gellard (bstructinholding), 8:07;
UM, Langfeld (crosschecking, 11:10; SLU, Maci
*(obstruction-hook ng. 14:07.
Secoid period-3. UM, Matzka4 (Komisarek, Mink).
14:01. Penalties - SLU, Carruthers (roughing), 8:36;
UM, Komisarek (roug;ing), 8:36; SW, Carruthers
(roughng) 8:36; UM, Komisarek (roughng),.8:36; SLUJ.
Bartlett (roughing). 8:36;UM. Langeld (roughing). 8:36;
SW, Bartlett (roughing), 8:36; UM. Langfeld (roughing).
8:36: . Carruthers (roughing), 8:36; LM, MAzka
highsticking), 10:47.
thrd period -4. LCM.Shouneyia6l(Mink, Ortmeyer),
1:59; 5. UM, Hibert 11 (illson, Koch), 6:10 , 6. UM,
Murray (unassisted) 9:57. Penaties-SLU.Maci
(hooking). 7:44; UM, Vancik (interference), 10:27; UM,
Gassoff (slashing),11:57U CM, Matzka (roughing,
15:00; UM, Kautz (slashing), 18:00.
Shots on goa - UM. 16130 -39; SW, 5-1110 - 26.
PowerPays-UM,0oSL.1o'8.
Saves - UM, Black burn 4.11-10 -25; SLU, Symington
1512-7 -34.
Reeree - Bill Waisanen.
Unesmen - Butch Friedman, Kenneth Landis.
At:Yost Ice Arena.Attendance: 6.370
Michigan 6, St. Lawrence 2
St. Lawrence 0 1 1 -2
Mchigan 1 3 2 -6
Fg period- UM, Hilbert 12 (Koch, Canmalleril
14.30. Penlies -SLU. Lorentz (crosschecking), 5:29;
SL,Clarence(cross-checking), 11:40;UM, bench(too
mary on ice), 15:19: UM, Backburn lrouhgrg), 19:48.
Second period- 2. UM, MaL4a 5 (Kosick, Va ik,
1001; 3. Mink 6 (Ortmeyer, Komisaek).10:26;4. Hilbert
13 (Trainor, Canmaileri), 11:47, 5. SLU, Bartlett 4 (Fyfe),
17:57. Pemfties- UM, Hilbert (interference), 12:14.
hdpeiod-6.UM,.Hilbert 14(unasssted), :08; 7.
SLU, Batlett 5 (Claence, Cormier), 8:36:8. UM, Tranor 1
(Murray, Vanik), 9:54. Peaids- UM, Gssdoff(amterfer-
ence),11:56.
Shots no-LCM.14-1610-40 SLU,1614-10-30
Power Pays - UM, 0 o3;SLU.,0 of4.
Saves - UM. Blackburn 6134 - 23; UM,.Scarpace O4
3- 3; CM, O'Malley 042 -2;SLU, Coakley 13-138 -
-e ew - BllWasaien.
Jinesrnu -Butch iedmanChris Davis
At: Yost Ice Arena. Atteace: 6.352.
IRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
Sophomore Andy Hilbert's sniper-like shot puts fear in opposing goalies. Hilbert notched his first career hat trick Saturday.
Saints no match for Hubert's firec
By Jon Schwartz
Dlily Sports Writer
:or the last few weeks, teams have met with Michigan
knowing that the first step to stopping the Wolverines is
keeping Mike Cammalleri and Andy Hilbert quiet.
St. Lawrence sure couldn't this
past weekend.. HOCKEY
Cammalleri had another impres-
sive performance, notching one goal Notebook
and two assists on the weekend, but
the Saints really couldn't quelch the fire in Hilbert's eves.
In his last regular-season game before heading to
Moscow for his third trip to the World Junior
Championships, Hilbert sent the Yost Ice Arena faithful
home with happy memories to hold onto until CCHA play
resumes on Jan. 5 against Lake Superior.
The sophomore from Howell tallied four goals and an
assist on the weekend, the last three goals coming on
Saturday night - his first career hat trick.
"It's a great feeling, especially at home when you get it,"
Hilbert said. "The puck just seemed to be going in tonight."
Hilbert has eight goals and three assists in the last five
games, bringing his totals to 14-21 on the year.
It was Michigan's first hat trick since Oct. 8 of last year,
when Mike Comrie sent three past Notre Dame.
"Andy's put the puck in the net," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said. "He's shooting the puck well. You've got to
take advantage of it when you've got that kind of momen-
tum going."
EVEN FLOW: Entering this weekend's games. Michigan's
special teams had accounted for 46 percent of the team's
goals this season - 27 on the powerplay and four short-
handed.
The games with St. Lawrence saw a shift, as all II of
Michigan's goals came in five-on-five situations.
"It's good to get a full-strength goal," Berenson said.
"You want to be a good team five-on-five. You can't rely on
special teams to make the difference every day."
Michigan also found impressive balance as at least one
goal was tallied on both nights by each of the team's four
lines.
"It's good to see, because you need four lines to win big
games," senior Josh Langfeld said.
AriCK OF THE PRANKSTERS: Mike Cammalleri, this
past week's CCI IA Player of the Week, found out that as he
played on Friday night, teammate J.J. Swistak, a healthy
scratch, played a prank on him.
Swistak found out that the WOLV-TV commentators
were soliciting e-mail questions from the viewing audience,
so he signed onto Cammalleri's e-mail account between
periods and wrote them an e-mail using Cammalleri's iden-
tity.
A fired-up Cammalleri recounted the incident as he
heard it:
"He e-mails them saying that, I'm Mike Cammalleri, I
know you talk about me all the time, so I just wanted to tell
you guys I love you guys."'
The commentators proceeded to respond that they loved
Cammalleri, too, while also joking that his CCHA Player of
the Week award might have gotten to his head.
Disappointed about being nailed in public, Cammalleri
laughingly counterattacked by tracking down reporters
from The Michigan Daily and saying that "J.J. Swistak is
short."
"I'm taller than he is," the 5-foot-8 Swistak responded,
indicating a small space between his thumb and forefinger.
"Just this much, but I'm taller than he is."
It was more than just a goal to three
seniors.
Senior center Mark Kosick threaded
the needle with a pass to a streaking Scott
Matzka, who utilized his speed to get
around a St. Lawrence defender and put a
wrist shot stick-side, top-shelf-- giving
the Wolverines a 2-0 lead in Saturday's 6-
2 victory over St. Lawrence.
Matzka then pointed at Kosick and
embraced him in an emotional celebra-
tion along with linemate Josh Langfeld.
The trio have been struggling of late,
and have been lined together once again
in hopes that they could duplicate the
same chemistry and offensive production
that brought them success one year ago.
Just 17 games into last season,
Berenson decided to make a change. He
put the three struggling juniors -
Kosick, Langfeld and Matzka -- on the
same line to see if he could light a fire
inside them.
After Berenson put them together, they
tallied 10 points in their first weekend
together against Nebraska-Omaha. The
trio then went on a roll, combining for 26
points for the next month and a half
before being split up again due to injuries
to Kosick and Langfeld. Matzka ended
the year on a tear, tallying four postsea-
son goals.~
This season, Berenson must have felt
that some ddjn vu was in order. He put the
three together 17 games into this season
with hopes of the same results.
For Langfeld and Kosick, the recent
weeks have been frustrating. The same
two who combined for 70 points a year
ago have mustered just one goal and five
total points in the past II games.
"We've been having chances the
whole year," said Kosick, who's finished
second in team scoring the past three sea-
sons. "They just haven't been going in.
It's new for me, I'm used to scoring on
more of my chances. But I'm really
happy to be playing with those two guys
and I hope I can keep playing with them."
In addition to their mixture of size,
speed and finesse, their close off-the-ice
friendships further influenced their past
successes as linemates.
They've been through it all, and their
ability to relate to each other in rough
times makes them even stronger match
es.
"I think we all stick up for each other,'
Langfeld said. "We're pretty close off th
ice and we're really good friends outsid
the rink. I think that just helps out nor
when you're playing together."
Together again this past weekend, the
three seniors seemed to have a little mor
jump in their skates - like they ha
something to prove. Although they onl
tallied three points collectively, the thing
they did that didn't show up on the score
sheet made the difference.
The trio set the tone in Friday's game
bringing an inspired level of intensity in
hopes that it would funnel down to th
rest of the lines.
And it did.
This past weekend, all four lines added
a goal in both games, creating the bal
ance that the Wolverines had been lack-
ing.
"That's an indication of how (the
seniors) can play' Berenson said. "They
really played with a lot of emotion, they
played hard, they played together, they
played smart. they played good defense
and they finished their checks.
"They were a force every time they
were on the ice.
Matzka scored two goals over the
weekend - his first tallies in seven
games - and emphasized the impor-
tance of the contribution by the three
seniors.
"We're seniors and we're expected to
do a lot more than we're doing," Matzka
said. "We each took it upon ourselves to
go out there and hit more, play harder and
contribute more."
Berenson said he notices the potenti
of the line, and iptends on keeping them
together for the Great Lakes Invitational
on Dec. 29-30. Emphasizing that the
seniors are realizing the finality of this
season, he envisions an inspired group
after the break.
"When you're a senior, you realize that
your career is coming to an end, whether
you like it or not," Berenson said. "Y
can get a sense of urgency."
"They realize that this is nearly over,
and that 'I better get it together, this is my
last shot to make a difference and be a
leader' and all those things. I look for our
seniors to come back after Christmas and
really be motivated to do it."
Everyone got involved in Michigan's
sweep of St. Lawrence this weekend.
All four offensive lines contributed to
the scoring, something that coach Red
Berenson has been hoping for since the
beginning of the year.
Here's a breakdown of the scoring by
line:
First Line:
Geof Koch, Mike Cammrd, Andy H # et
Five goals (Hilbert 4, Cammalleri)
Six assists (Koch 3, Cammalleri 2, Hilbert)
Second Line:
Scott MatkA, Mark Kosick, Josh Lanteld
Two goals (Matzka 2)
One assist (Kosick)
SAINTS
Continued from Page 18
along the boards to the right of Coakley
and skated through - the slot. As he
passed through the slot, Mink turned
and fired a shot that appeared to surprise
a screened Coakley, beating him low to
the stick side.
The flurry was capped off by Hilbert's
second goal of the night at 11:47. Mike
Cammalleri fed Bill Trainor with a pass
at the St. Lawrence blueline, igniting a
two-on-one with Trainor and Hilbert.
Trainor slid the puck across to Hilbert,
who uncorked a wrist shot that eluded a
sliding Coakley.
"To be honest,
well at the time,"1
we weren't playing
Berenson said. "We
were on our heels, St. Lawrence was
taking it to us, and then we got a couple
of breaks, and that changed the whole
game."
Friday night's game started off well
for St. Lawrence. The Saints' top-ranked
powerplay got the night's first goal at the
6:48 mark of the first. Standing alone in
the slot, Alan Fyfe took a pass from
Russ Bartlett and released a shot which
deflected off Josh Blackburn's glove and
into the net.
But that was the lone highlight for the
Saints. Michigan responded with five
consecutive goals (Cammalleri, Matzka,
John Shouneyia, Hilbert, Craig
Murray).
The Wolverines also throttled St.
Lawrence's vaunted powerplay - after
scoring the first goal, the Saints generat-
ed 11 more powerplays over the two
games but failed to score again.
"We're coming into probably one of
the toughest buildings in the country to
play in," St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh
said. "We could see how little margin of
error there is. Against a team like
Michigan, the mistakes we made found
their way to the back of our net."
BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
Seniors Mark Kosick and Josh Langfeld celebrate as Scott Matzka falls over St.
Lawrence netminder Sean Coakley. The trio reunited to notch three points this weekend.
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