4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 11, 2002
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Slap shouts
"Who is kidding whohere? We're
not supposed to be up 4-0."
- Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone
after the Lakers jumped out to a four-goal
lead in Friday's game en route to a 4-3 win.
FRIDAY'S GAME
Lake Superior 4
Michigan 3
SATURDAY'S GAME
Lake Superior 1
Michigan 4
SUNDAY'S GAME
4r Lake Superior 1
Michigan 4
Key play
Sunday, 40.8 seconds left
in the first
With the series' deciding game scoreless,
junior Mike Cammalleri gave Michigan a
lead they wouldn't lose on a spectacular
play during a 5-on-3 powerplay.
0
THE DAILY'S STARS
The Michigan Daily hockey writers'
picks for Michigan's three stars of the
weekend.
Mike Camnimalleri
Center
Michigan's alternate captain notched a
hat trick on Saturday night as part of a
five-goal, two-assist weekend.
Eric Nystrom
Forward
The freshman assisted on Cammalleri's
game-winning goal and scored one of
his own in yesterday's win.
Michael Woodford
Forward
Woodford scored a powerplay goal in
Friday's loss and then lit the lamp with
the all-important first goal in Saturday's
must-win for the Wolverines.
M' SCHEDULE
CCHA Tournament - First Round
This week:
Saturday - CCHA Semifinal
Joe Louis Arena, 2:05 p.m.
Sunday - CCHA Championship
Joe Louis Arena, 3:05 p.m.
With a win in both of next weekend's
game, the Wolverines will capture thier
fourth CCHA Championship. It would be
Michigan's first CCHA Tournament
Championship since 1998-99. With the
top seed in the tournament, Michigan
will face the lowest remaining seeded
team from the play-in games.
How THE Top 10 FARED
No. 1 New Hampshire (25-6-3) def. Merri-
mack 6-2, def. Merrimack 5-4
No. 2 Denver (28-7-1) def. Michigan Tech 5-
1, def. Michigan Tech 8-1
No. 3 Minnesota (26-7-4) def. North Dakota
7-2, North Dakota 4-3
No. 4 St. Cloud (278-2) def. Minnesota-
Duluth 6-3, Minnesota-Duluth 5-4
No. 5 Michigan State (2475) def. Bowling
Green 4-2, def. Bowling Green 4-3
No. 6 Michigan (22-9.5) lost to Lake Superior
4-3, def. Lake Superior 4-2, not finishedpyet
No. 7 Maine (20-9-7) def. Boston College 7-3,
def. Boston College 4-2
No. 8 Boston University (23-8-5) def. Provi-
dence 3-2, Providence 4-2
No. 9 Cornell (21-6-2) def. Yale 2-1, def.
Yale 4-2
No.10 Colorado College (20-11-3) def. Alas-
ka-Anchorage 6-1, Alaska-Anchorage 1-0
FRIDAY'S GAME
Lake Superior 4, Michigan 3
Western Michigan 3 1 0 -4
Michigan 0 2 1. -3
Ristpedlod - ILSSJ, Bahusz4(unasssted), 0:36 (sh); 2.
LSSU, McNanara 10 (Peterson), 2:32;3. LSSU, Bachusz 5
(Davis, Nightingale), 14:07.Penaies- LSSU, McNanara
(checking from behind), 0:23; LSSU, Bachusz(holding), 7:34.
Secondpedod-4. LSSU, McNamara 11(Bchusz), 5:44;5.
UM, Werner 4 (Swistak, Moss), 7:09; 6. UM, Woodford 7
(Moss, Komisarek), 7:56 (pp). Penaties- LSSU, Bahusz
(crosscohecking, 747; UM, Moss (goalender interee),
10:25; UM Woodford (inerence), 1709.
Thkd pedod- 7. UM, rteyer12(Cammlleri,Gajic)
1811Penes- UM, Gjic (roghing), 0:32 LSSU,
Thomipson (ro ghig) 032; LSSU, Dalen (hdig) 10:20.
Shosongol-UM,17-1312-42; LSU, 592-16.
Power Plays-UM,1 of 4; LSSU, of2.
Saves- UM, Blackbum-(58:37,12416); UM, Enpty net-
(1:23, 00); LSSU, Violin -(60:00, 3942).
Reree-Steve Mcnchk
unemen - Kevin Largseth, John Philo
At Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor Attendnice:6,608.
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4, Lake Supedor 1
Michigan no longer has room for error
By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Writer
The top-seeded Michigan hockey team finally
disposed of No. 12 seed Lake Superior yester-
day in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
But while the playoff motto for most teams
probably falls along the lines of "Survive and
advance," the Wolverines
were not supposed to have HOCKEY
to put that cliche into use.
Michigan entered the Commentary
t1best-of-three series as one
of college hockey's hottest teams, having won
nine of its last 10 games. The Lakers, mean-
while, were floundering all alone in last place in
; the conference and were riding a 10-gameTwin-
less streak into Ann Arbor for the weekend.
On paper, this didn't have the looks of an epic
series.
Things changed after Lake Superior scored
4 F the first four goals of Friday night's opening
game, and it became clear that the Wolverines
weren't going to cruise into the CCHA semifi-
nals.
"When you think you're a first-place team and
TOM FELDKAMP/Daily you're playing what you think is a last-place
The Wolverines rejoice after a Mike Cammalleri goal. The team, you don't always play your best," Michi-
junior scored five goals in three games over the weekend. gan coach Red Berenson said.
Anzalone ays Violn Ro
First R
Lake Superior was in last place, and it was
there for several reasons. It doesn't have much
of an offense, or that much talent, or even a clear
No.1 goaltender before this weekend.
But what the Lakers did have was a solid
enough game plan to give Michigan a quick les-
son in Playoffs 101.
Lake Superior utilized a defensive trapping
system to the best of its ability. The Lakers were
clearly inferior physically and talent-wise, but
their defensive-minded system kept them in the
series for the entire weekend.
They didn't have a chance of matching up
with the Wolverines man-for-man so they, as
Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone described
it, did the best with what they had.
It almost turned out to be good enough.
Statistically, it's hard to say that Michigan
didn't play well in Friday's 4-3 loss - they out-
shot Lake Superior 42-15 and dominated the
tempo for much of the game.
But Lake Superior had four legitimate scoring
opportunities during the game - off of blocked
shots, bad bounces and poor defense - and it
capitalized on all four of them. That's why the
Lakers had the Wolverines facing elimination on
Saturday and yesterday.
From here on out in the CCHA playoffs and
the NCAA tournament, Michigan won't have
backup days to recover from the mistakes it
makes early on. It's one and done in the postsea-
son now. And when that's the case, it's the teams
that do what Lake Superior did and take advan-
tage of their chances that continue to advance.
There also has to be some concern amongst
the Wolverines about how successful Lake
Superior was in its ability to execute its suffocat-
ing game plan.
If the outmatched Lakers were able to play
Michigan as closely as they did for three games,
what will the Wolverines do to counter the
defensive-minded strategies of teams loaded
with talent -like Michigan State?
Looking back, Lake Superior's onslaught in
the first 25 minutes of Friday's game might turn
out to be the best thing that could have happened
to the Wolverines.
They had been hitting on all cylinders at the
close of the CCHA season and looked unstop-
pable.
All of a sudden on Friday night, the Wolver-
ines were human enough to make the worst
team in the CCHA look like world-beaters.
Thankfully for the Wolverines, they had
enough to take out the Lakers in three games.
Now, and for the rest of the postseason, they
need to show what they can do to the opposition
when there's only one opportunity.
al
id to the Joe
oundlh
I
in hopes of
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer
What was supposed to be a thrashing at
Yost Ice Arena turned into one of the toughest
weekends of the season for the Michigan
hockey team. The Wolverines welcomed last-
place Lake Superior to Ann Arbor for a first-
round CCHA Tournament series, and the
Lakers responded by embarrassing them in
Friday night's game.
But even though Michigan fought back like
it was supposed to and will move on to the
Super 6 at Joe Louis Arena this weekend,
Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone was by
no means upset with his team. Not only did
the Lakers' win over top-seeded Michigan
Friday night give them a major confidence
boost for the future, it was an indication that
their program is begi niug to, move in the
right direction. This long-term vision is what
concerns Anzalone at the moment, and after
this weekend, this vision seems to be taking
shape.
Anzalone, who returned to Lake Superior
this season to rejuvenate a program that he
personally built up in the 1980s, knew who
the better team was coming in this weekend.
He admitted that if his team lost this series, it
would not surprise him at all.
But his team's effort in each of the three
games proved that the Lakers have progressed
since he took over.
"This is not about winning the series,"
Anzalone said after his team won Friday night.
"This is about having something to cling to for
the future. I hate to say this, but if Michigan
wins in three, and we competed in all of the
games, I can say that we've taken a baby step.
"Right now, we are a 12th-place program
just trying to get into the middle of the pack.
We are doing the best we can with what we've
got."
rebuildi*ng
A big reason why Lake Superior contended
with Michigan this weekend, and quite possi-
bly its greatest hope for escaping from the
CCHA cellar next season, is freshman goalie
Matt.Violin. Violin started all three games
against Michigan this weekend, stopping 92
of Michigan's 101 shots.
"The guys played really well in front of me
and they're giving me a lot of support in the
lockerroom," Violin said.
Despite Violin's success this season (.908
save percentage), Anzalone was wary of play-
ing his young goalie too much. Violin played
in just 21 games, while backup goaltenders
Terry Denike and Scott Murray played in 16
and 11, respectively.
"Matt is a freshman," Anzalone said. "He is
not that strong yet. He is a goalie that is just
starting to learn how to lift weights"
But even though Violin might not be the
go-to guy yet, he made a strong case for him-
self this weekend. Anzalone needs a goal-
tender to build his program around, and
Violin is the perfect candidate.
The freshman was recruited by Anzalone
prior to this season, and Violin said that he
wanted to come to Lake Superior because he
liked the small-school atmosphere. He also
said there was a lot of support from the Sault
Ste. Marie community.
Violin has been pleased with what Anza-
lone has done this season. Even though the
Lakers were the worst team in the CCHA
with only four regular season conference
wins, the team is in position to improve.
"At the beginning of the year, guys were
running all over the place on the ice at prac-
tice," Violin said. "I think he's really turned
that around. The skill and discipline has
improved.
"It's always good to have a coach who is up
front with you and tells you what you need to
improve."
Best-of-three series
Mar. 8-10
No. 1 Michigan
No. 12 Lake Superior
No. 4 Alaska-Fairbanks
No. 9 Ferris State
No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha
No. 8 Notre Dame
No. 6 Western Michigan
No. 7 Ohio State
No. 3 Northern Michigan
No. 10 Miami (Ohio)
Play-in round
March 15
Semifinals
March 16
Northern Michigan
Notre Dame
Michigan
lowest remaining seed
Michigan State
highest remaining seed
championship game
March 17
Ohio State
Alaska-Fairbanks
No. 11 Bowling Green
No. 2 Michigan State
Under the new CCHA Tournament format, the six teams that advance
from the first round are re-seeded for the Super 6 Championship at
Joe Louis Arena next weekend. The team with the highest original
seed coming out of the first round will be re-seeded as one, the next'
highest team will be two, and so on. The top two re-seeded teams
will get a bye in the play-in round, and play the winners of that round
in the semifinals.
Dwight
Helminen
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TOM FELOKAMP/Daily
Cammallen takes over series
Things get personal as sparse crowd sees Williams bid adieu
By J. Brady McCollough
Daily Sports Writer
Lake Superior
Michigan
0 1 0 -1
2 0 2 -4
Rrst peiod - 1. UM, Woodford 8 (Gjic, Henderson), 5:03; 2.
UM Cammaileri 17 (unassisted), 10:32. Penalties-UM,
Komisarek (hooking), 10:56; UM, Ortmeyer (slashing), 16:56;
LSSU,Nightingale(obstruction-hookirg),19:38.
Second peod-3. LSSU, Cheesman 5(Magnuson, Peter-
son), 12:40. Penltes-LSSU,Thompson(tripping), 8:18;
UM, Gajic (slashing), 9:08.
Third peiod - 4. UM Cammalleri 18 (Komisarek, Shouneyia),
15:16 (pp); 5. UM, Camialleri19 (Vancik) 17:50 (empty
net). Penltie- UM, Burnes (checking from behind), 1:02;
LSSU, McNamaa(holding), 14:34; LSSU, Pochmaa(high
sticking), 18:29; UM, Woodford (high sticking), 19:35; LSSU
Mushaluk (slashing), 19:35.
Shosongod-UM,17-910-36; LSSU, 745-16.
PowrPas- UM, lof4; WMU,0of 4.
Sas-UM, Backburn-(:00, 15-16); LSSU, Denike -
(3:51,1-1); LSSU, Violin - (55:16, 31-34); Empty net -
(0:5310).
Reeree-Steve Mclnchak
Lkenm- Kevin Largseth, John Philo
At Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor Attendance: 6,634.
SUNDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4, Lake Superior 1
Lake Superior 0 0 1 -
Michigan 1 1 2 -4
Fkst pedod- 1. UM, Cammalleri 20 (Komisarek, Shouneyia),
19:19; 2. Penltes- UM, Mink (interference), 4:30; UM,
Swistak (obstructiorn-ooking), 11:35; LSSU, Pochmara (high
sticking), 14:19; UM, Gaic (crosschecking), 14:19; LSSU,
Dahlen (obstructionhioking),17:26; LSSU, Reid (hooking),
18:33; UM, Ortmeyer (highsticking), 19:51.
S Uond perod -2. UM, camiallen 21( 'strom, Ortmeyer),
4:32. Penalties- LSSU, Thompson (minor penalty), 9:43;
UM, Moss (obstructionliooking),10:44.
id pemod - 3. LSSU, Bachusz 6 (Davis, Mushaluk), 2:00;
4. UM, Nystrom (carrnalleri, Ortmeyer), 8:46; 5. UM,
Shouneyia 10 (unassisted), 18:53. Penalties- UM, Gajic
(obstructionhooking), 1:15; UM, Roemensky (interference),
9:50; UM, Rogers (holding), 13:14.
Shoson goa-UM, 7-118-26; LSSU,463-13.
PowerPlays-UM,1of2; LSSU,1of 7.
Sa22s- UM, Bakbum- (60:00,12-13); LSSU, Violin -
(57:04, 22-25). LSSU, Empty net (2:56,041)
Referee - Steve Mclnchak
Liesmen- Kevin Lagseth, John Philo
At Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor Attenndance: 5.879.
Friday night, the Michigan hockey team dug itself a
hole. In the next two games, forward Mike Cammalleri
put on his working gloves and dug his teammates out
of it - almost single-handedly.
In the deciding game of the Wolverines' best-of-
three, first-round CCHA playoff series against Lake
Superior last night, Michigan held a 5-on-3 advantage
with less than one minute remain-_
ing in the first period and the score HOCKEY
tied at zero.
As junior John Shouneyia and Notebook
sophomore Mike Komisarek
passed the puck back and forth near the left side of the
blueline, Cammalleri snuck to the right circle and
received a pass from Komisarek. He found himself in a
one-on-one situation with seemingly unbreakable goal-
tender Matt Violin. Cammalleri skated in and as Violin
came out of the crease, he proceeded to play him like a
fiddle, faking left then quickly moving to his right for
an easy flip-in.
"I just tried to have some patience, and I was able to
get it around him," Cammalleri said. "It was good for
our team to get the first one in."
"(Cammalleri is) a difference maker," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "He thrives in big games.
We've been getting a lot of shots but not a lot of goals.
He's a goal scorer."
Cammalleri added another goal and an assist in
Michigan's 4-1 victory over the Lakers last night,
which upped his scoring numbers for the weekend to 5-
2-7.
In Saturday night's game, with his team facing elimi-
nation, the junior scored the Wolverines' last three
goals in their 4-1 win, earning him his first hat trick of
the season.
Saturday, on a similar play to his first goal last night,
Cammalleri received the puck from Komisarek in the
right circle. But this time, he fired a one-timer that gave
Michigan a 3-1 lead late in the third period. It was just
another clutch goal from Michigan's leading goal scor-
er (21).
The Wolverines' played without Cammalleri from
Jan. 19 to Feb. 23, rolling off a 7-2-1 record without
their star, who was sidelined with mononucleosis. In
his second full series back in the lineup, all signs point-
ed to full recovery as he was the most dominating play-
er on the ice all weekend.
"After today, having played three (games) in three
(nights) like that, I don't feel tired right now," Cammal-
leri said.
EXTRA-CURRICUIAR ACTIVITY: As the first period of last
night's game came to a close with Michigan leading 1-
0, a verbal war began between Michigan freshman Eric
Nystrom and Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone.
The two adversaries yelled from bench to bench, but it
was nothing too serious.
"(Nystrom) is a competitor," Anzalone said. "It was
just competitive chitter-chatter. It was nothing more
than 'You jerk, you bum.' It was all about Michigan
trying to defend its turf, and us trying to invade it. He
just stood up for his team."
When Nystrom scored Michigan's third goal on a
pass from Cammalleri, Komisarek was in the Michigan
zone taking care of some personal business with Lake
Superior forward Chris McNamara. The players were
tied up against the boards and McNanara grabbed
Komisarek's head and pulled his helmet off. Komisarek
retaliated by punching McNamara in the back of the
head just as Nystrom's backhand found the net. When
the defenseman saw his teammate had scored, he skat-
ed away from McNamara - who was being held down
by the referee - with his arms in the air and a price-
less grin.
No, THANK YoU: Yost Ice Arena public address
announcer Glen Williams is known for contributing
many traditions to the Michigan hockey experience,
especially his "you're welcome" - or lack their of -
in the last minute of each contest.
Last night, in what could have been Williams' last
game announcing for the Wolverines after 33 years, he
mixed up his routine just a bit. When the students
thanked him for notifying them of the time left in regu-
lation, he responded with a heart-felt "No, thank you."
UNDER 6,000: Last night's game - one that could
have ended Michigan's season with a loss - produced
the lowest attendance (5,879) since the Blue-White
exhibition game on Sep. 28.
UN-FAIRwISE?: By virtue of its loss to Lake Superior
Friday night, Michigan dropped from No. 4 in the Pair-
wise Rankings (which mirror the NCAA Tournament
selection process) to No. 10.
9
TOM FELDKAMP/Daily
Lake Superior goalie Matt Violin was often in the right place at the right time as he kept the
Lakers within striking distance of a stunning upset over Michigan this weekend.
LAKERS aways in a two-minute span, both of which
K ebeat Blackburn cleanly through his five-hole.
ContinuedLfrom Page B nrirddedtw rea
L.Jtt ake Su ero add d V to more oa LI
i
than a minute into the game, Lake Superior's
Chris McNamara got a breakaway from his
own blue line and slid the puck through
Blackburn's legs for a shorthanded goal. It
was the first of two Lake Superior break-
before Michigan was able to get on the
board. A late Jed Ortmeyer goal would pull
Michigan to within 4-3, but it was not able to
force overtime as Lake Superior held on for
the upset.
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