The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 15, 2001- 9A iUrgency' ineffect for Blue Ryan C. Moloney iy Sports Writer A decidedly more jovial Michigan hockey team took the ice for practice this week. Fresh off of two convincing victories against Ferris State this past -weekend, a little more jump in the j$ates is natural. The Wolverines played their best hockey in over a month against the hapless Bulldogs, but it wasn't acci- ental. The buzz word amongst the team - urgency. The sense of duty that seems to creep into every player's approach when the reality of a one-game season replaces the security of after-loss clich6s like "there's always next week- 'It was a mentality more than any- thing else," assistant coach Billy Powers said. "You saw a hungry team alizing that one goal against can end your season - that sense of urgency has to continue." The desperation of Michigan's hockey trickled down to some areas of recent concern: 1. Powerplay. The Wolverines con- nerted 30 percent of their extra-man chances this weekend, as opposed to about half that percentage in their pre- vious two games. The percentage improvement only accentuates the ange on the ice. 'Michigan puckhandled and passed with fluidity against Ferris State. The goal total on the power- play might stand at eight instead of four had goalie Phil Osaer not made several up-close saves - most notably in the second game when Mark Kosick and Josh Langfeld were both stumped at the doorstep. "We want to keep their penalty lling unit going and keep them on their toes," Powers said. "You do that by moving the puck." The move of Mike Cammalleri from the point to down-low created several in-close opportunities. Both Cammalleri and the coaching staff are happy with the change. Are you looking for Cinderella? By Steve Jackson Daily Sports Writer Kent State (23-9) - West Region No. 13 Sorry folks. This isn't the Toledo or Central. Michigan team you expected to pick for your upset this year. But they did what no one else in the MAC could do - beat the defending champions, Miami (Ohio). The Golden Flashes open against Indiana, a team which, under Bobby Knight, often fell pray to the Cinderella bug. Hofstra (26-4) - East Region No. have won 18 in a row. The Pride may have changed their mascot (from the Flying Dutchmen) but they haven't changed their title as American East Champions. Their first round opponent, UCLA, lost three first-round games in the 1990's to 12 and 13 seeds. Utah State (27-5) - East Region No. 12 The Aggies repeated as Big West Mountain West Conference's only team in the tour- ney. Look for the Cougars' matchup with Cincinnati to be a high-scoring affair. And keep an eye out for Mekeli Wesley - a 6-9 230-pound power for- ward who averages 17 points. He can also hit the three, shooting 42-percent. Hawaii (17-13) - Midwest Region No. 12 The Warriors have have won seven Championships - something no one has done since the glory days of UNLV (89-91). The strength of this team, and the a'? < , of their last eight No. 9 seed Fresno State. Hawaii is poised to squeeze another game out against Syracuse, espe- including two over 13 Who boasts the nation's longest winning streak? That's right, the boys from Hofstra Y ; x ; '; ; '? '" .. : key for its first-round matchup with Ohio State, is defense. This year, Utah State has held its opponents to 38-per- cent shooting and just 56.8 points per game. BYU (23-8) -West Region No. 12 Just four seasons ago, BYU won just a single game. Now, they are the cially with Preston Shumpert's shooting eye a little blurred. The Orangemen's best player suffered a corneal abrasion of his right eye Friday in a BigEast semifinal loss to Pittsburgh. U U THIS WEEKEND IN Presented by BRAD QUINN/Daily Jay Vancik and the rest of the Wolverines are now playing with their backs against the wall, as one loss could mean the end of the season. MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ..rhr "I think he can play both - as you saw, he's dangerous in both situations, but with a couple of shorthanded goals coming against us in recent weeks, we decided to put just defensemen back there," Berenson said. 2. Intensity. The "parity in the CCHA" is no longer a convenient cop- out for Michigan - it's a legitimate concern. Bowling Green, the lowest seed ever to crack the semifinals of the CCHA tournament after knocking off Miami and Northern Michigan, is this year's Cinderella and proof of the league's growing strength. Just the same, the Wolverines played down to the level of many lesser teams this season, but showed a flicker of the intangibles against Ferris State, which could launch them into April. "The guys are realizing that we have a great team and we don't want to regret something down the road, and say 'we could have done this, we could have done that,"' senior forward Bill Trainor said. "We realize that this is the playoffs." The extra mustard on shots and the extra attention to detail on defense isn't lost on the coaching staff. "There's a bit more urgency, like 'hey if we don't get this going we'll be in trouble,"' Powers said. Injury Update: Cammalleri has missed practice the past two days, while Kosick did not dress yesterday. Both are battling sickness. "Cammalleri looked like a ghost today, Berenson said. The availability of both players for Friday will likely be determined by Whether or not they practice today, Berenson noted. Defenseman Dave Huntzicker - who left Friday night's game and sat out Saturday night with an injury to his right shoulder - has reported no ill effects in practice this week and should be ready to play against Nebraska-Omaha. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL . .. vs. Virgina Cavaliers NCAA TOURNAMENT VS. WEST VIRGINIA SATURDAY, MARCH 17TH 7PM CRISLER ARENA - SENIOR NIGHT *FREE 2001 TRADING CARDS TO THE FIRST 1000 FANSI! ESPN Sat. March South Bend, 17th, 11am IN A "FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT, vs. MICHIGAN STATE Friday, March 16th 7pm CRISLER ARENA - Senior Night -Prizes & Giveaways throughout the meet!! g., f rd " C(oaches support Ellerbe By Chris Burke y Sports Writer The announcement on Tuesday that Brian Ellerbe would no longer be head coach of the Michigan basketball came as little surprise. )%,3ut that did not soften the difficulty involved with Ellerbe losing his posi- tjon. That was evident by the sympathies t ressed by other Michigan coaches. I feel bad for 'everybody involved a1i I feel bad for any coach who does best and it doesn't work out," said IlaIgan hockey coach Red Berenson, w.o was removed from his coaching piition with the St. Louis Blues of the NAIL earlier in his career. "I hope it Wirks out for the best in the interest of Ociigan and for Brian." :-Nany of Michigan's other coaches said th they were involved with their own tens, thereby limiting personal opinion i 1he basketball team's situation. p spite of that, they were aware that Eperbe was put into a tough situation atihat his dismissal was hard for him. °4think that Brian was in a very diffi- ctsvot' Michigan women's gymnastics c(*1h Bev Plocki said. "He had to try and run his team under the whole Ed Martin spotlight and that was a difficult task." Un addition to feeling for Ellerbe, coaies expressed sympathies for Michigan athletic director Bill Martin's task. -Ie's a class guy," said Berenson of Martin. "I'm sure that this is the hardest thing he's faced since he's come to Mishgan. He's well thought of by the coaches and he's off to a good start, but thilhas got to be a difficult thing for him,' Martin has beefnon the job at the Uriversity for just Aver a year, and the coclies that were willing to speak about the"Elerbe matter all agreed that the sit- n was most likely taken care of as w as it could have been. 'I'm sure that it was well handled," Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urblanchek said. "Michigan had to move on under different leadership." xespite the positive feelings expressed towards Ellerbe and towards . .. 4W Nei-tker did 1 ou~4t o4P ever~ Depo-Provera is 99.7% effective. Depo-Provera is not only one of the most effective forms of birth control available, it's also one of the most convenient because you only have to think about it 4 times a year. 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