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2B - The Michigan Daily - FACEOFF 2000 - Thursday, October 5, 2000

The Michigan Daily - FACEOFF 2000.-

The main event

The Michigan Daily hockey writers

A run Gopal
Jon Schwartz
Editor in Chief .... ... ....... Mike Spahn

Ryan C. Moloney
Joe Smith
Business Staff

i.U41 q .. Y 1 V ....... . ......
Managing Editor........David
Sports Editors............
MarkI
Ge
Ste
Cover Photo.............
Photos by..............
Special Thanks.........Mark F
Ja

Business Manager......Mark J. Thomford
Den Herder Jeanine Mouilleseau... Sections Manager
Chris Duprey Sarah Estella.....Display Sales Manager
Francescutti Brent Traidman.........Assoc. Display Manager
Matt Andrews, Ayalla Barkai, Bradley Davies,
off Gagnon Jacob Fenton, Jennifer Fratarcangeli, Jared
phanie Offen Halajian, Jen Houtzer, Simon Hui, Kellie
Kinney, Jennifer Lamping, Julie Lepsetz, Vinh
LOUIS Brown Nguyen, Pranisa Pothpan, Glenn Powlas,
Louis Brown Jennifer Roosa, Jaimie Rose, Nicole Siegel,
Jeff Horvitz Julie St. Clair,
George Vavaroutsos.........Display Staff
Francescutti Dana Linnane......Advertising Production Mgr.
son Gerdorn Vinh Nguyen.............................Head Designer
John Lowe Joy Szilagy......................Production Assistant
Proof reader.................................Nisha Sachd
Craig Wotta Lauren Aposhian, Anne Fix, Tyler Nordstrom,
Melinda Trombley.......................Display Staff


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PAGE 11
JOE SMITH CHATS WITH
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ALL THIS, PLU$ RYAN C. MOLONEY'S
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PAGE I16

KOCHR
Continued from Page 12
opened up a lot of those scoring
opportunities, by winning those bat-
tles in the corners for loose pucks
and taking the punishment in front of
opponent's net.
"I've always respected him. He
really embodies what Red (Berenson)
is trying to get through to his play-
ers," Ferris State coach Bob Daniels
said. "He's a talented offensive play-
er, but over the years he's really
become a good defensive player. He
has a lot of facets in his game that
often don't show up on the score-
sheet."
MR. CLUTCH
While Koch doesn't score 30 goals
a year, he seems to have the knack to
come through when the game is on
the line.
Last season he notched three
game-winning goals, including the
one that kept the Wolverinesseason
alive.
After pulling ahead 3-0 in their
NCAA Regional first-round game
against Colgate, the Wolverines gave
up three unanswered scores-
including the tving tally with 48 sec-
onds left in regulation.
The Wolverines had already lost a
valuable defenseman in Huntzicker
with a sprained knee on his first shift
of the game. Add that to an already
depleted blucline and a tired gro upof
Wolverines, and Michigan was star-
ing adversity in the eve.
But with about seven minutes
remaining in the first overtime, Koch
deflected a Mike Comrie shot past
Colgate netminder Shep Harder to
clinch the victory and keep the
Wolverines' title hopes alive.
When the game is on the line
Koch "doesn't change his game,"
Berenson said. "When the going gets
tough, he continues to play well.
Though he doesn't put up big num-
bers every night, when it gets to
crunch time. Geoff Koch always
shows up.
Koch's ability to be at his best late
in the game tracks back to his high
school days at Phillips Exeter
Academy in New Hampshire - aca-
demically one of the top prep schools
in the nation. In his first and last
game for the academy, he scored the
ganle-winning goal
"Every time we played good teams,
baby,e wanted to play " Exeter
Academy coach Dana Barbin said.
Koch's debut at Exeter 'was an
overtime thriller, and he foreshad-
owed great things to come by win-
ning the game with a backhand shot
- the best weapon in Koch's arsenal.
"It's a shot that I practiced a lot
when I was younger, but since I've
been at Michigan I've been working
on my slapper and all the other kinds
of shots," Koch said. "But my back-
hand is definitely my best shot."
"I don't ever remember Koch tak-
ing a slapshot in three years at
Exeter," Barbin said. "He scored 79
goals, but not one off a slapshot."
Apparently, the "best player to ever
play at Exeter" didn't need to use the
conventional shot to rack up 177
points in three years and found that
the backhand was more useful in his

usual post in front of the net.
"It's a great shot because the goalie
doesn't know where it's going," Koch
said.
Just as he has at Michigan, Koch
had a huge impact on the Exeter
hockey program - leading his squad
to its first playoff berths, and his
legacy lives on.
Barbin said that some players came
to Exeter because Koch went there.
His reputation traveled far and fast
- not bad for a kid who played in a
town with a population of about
1,500.
Koch's linemates and fellow cap-
tains at Exeter, Russell Bartlett (St.
Lawrence) and Colin Sheen (Boston
University), both play for Division I
hockey programs on the East Coast
- where Koch easily could have
attended school.
Koch's father and uncle both were
skilled offensive players at Vermont,
and perennial NCAA powerhouse
New Hampshire was merely 15 miles
from Koch's house in Exeter.
But an early recruiting visit to Ann
Arbor instantly made Koch's decision
very easy.
"He came to me after he visited

Miclgan and told t1_e,'Coach, I he.
to go there. It's unbelievable,''"
Barbin said. "But why wouldn't a kid
want to play there? It's second to
none."
Koch said that the combination of
a great coaching staff, the Michigan
players he met and his overall experi-
ence in his recruiting trip made him
fall in love with Michigan immedi-
ately.
And since then, neither has disap-
pointed the other.

Former 'M' cdptains
Brendan Morrison -(1992-:1996) The Hobey Bal
ent is the Wolverines.all-time leading scorer and
NCAA career scoring list. He scored the overtime
tally in 1996 national title game - giving Michig
al championship in 32 years. Morrison is now wit
Canucks in the NHL.
Brian Wiseman - (1990-1994) This center poste
record for assists (164) before Morrison broke it
His professional career was cut short due to con(
season, Wiseman has joined the Wolverines as at
assistant.


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