5B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 25, 2002 Ryan Miller, Michigan State Miller saved 27-of-29 shots in Michigan State's 2-0 loss to Colorado College this weekend at the West Regional in Ann Arbor Darren Haydar, New Hampshire Haydar had two assists in the second round of the East Regional against Cornell. New Hampshire won 4-3, and will now face Maine in the semifinals of the Frozen Four. Hobey watch Here are the Daily's candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which is given to the nation's best college hockey player at the end of each season. Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller won the award last year. Jordan Leopold, Minnesota Leopold did not record a point in Minnesota's 4-2 win over Colorado College, but he will get a chance to play in front of his home crowd in two weeks at the Frozen Four Wade Dublelewicz, Denver The Denver junior stopped 33 shots against Michigan and made several outstanding saves, but he still allowed four goals to give Michigan the win. Mason's career ends quietly, Comley takes over By Chris Burke Daily Sports Writer Michigan State coach Ron Mason was looking for career win No. 925 to start his last NCAA Tournament run, but his team was unable to record goal No. 1 against Colorado College goalie Jeff Sanger. So instead of going out with a bang and capturing a national title, Mason - the winningest coach in college hockey history - finished with a whimper. Mason, who announced his retire- ment in order to become Michigan State's athletic directoron Jan. 28, failed to lead his third-seeded Spartans past No. 6 seed Colorado College, falling 2-0 in his coaching finale. "I think that in this position, you're always wondering what you could have done better - I guess that's the way I look at it,' Mason said. "One thing I'll never look back on is the competition part of it. I've always loved that." The Tigers outshot the Spartans 15- 6 in the first period and jumped on top when Trent Clark beat Michigan State goalie and 2001 Hobey Baker winner Ryan Miller 10:05 into the first period. Colorado College for- ward Alex Kim added a goal with 14:17 left in the third period to up the lead to two and put the nail in the Spartans' coffin. "Unless you win the national championship, you lose your last game," Mason said. "I felt we deserved at least one goal - if we would have gotten that goal it would have meant a lot. "Fortunately for me, I have been to the top of the mountain and haven't been down very often. I thought our kids played hard and didn't give up and battled right to the end." The loss also left Mason wondering whether he should have waited until the end of his 23rd season as Michigan State's coach and 36th overall to make his retirement announcement. The Spartans went 7-4-2 after Mason's decision was made official. "I really didn't want the announce- ment until the season was over," Mason said. "With a leader, a coach, in up a little bit. Obviously, it did have an effect - all you have to do is look at our record." Michigan State forward and captain Adam Hall disagreed with Mason's thinking. "It wasn't a distraction at all, this team has been focused all year long," Hall said. "Once the announcement was made, there was no changing it. We were going to continue to play strongly." Mason finished his career with a record of 924-380-83, including a 635- 270-69 mark while at Michigan State. He is scheduled to take over the athlet- ic director spot on July 1. The last season for Mason behind the Michigan State bench ended up being one of his most disappointing, as the preseason No. 1 Spartans lost both the CCHA regular season and tourna- ment titles to Michigan, and then dropped out of the NCAA tournament on the first day. Regardless, Mason's impact on the sport of college hockey and the Michi- gan State program is hard to ignore. "Coach is a great inspiration," Miller said. "He knows the game so well - he is always prepared and gets us prepared. "The players appreciate him as a coach - he's made Michigan State a great place to play." COMLEY NAMED SUCCESSOR: Michi- gan State announced last night that former Northern Michigan coach Rick Comley would take over for Ron Mason as coach of Michigan State. The 55-year-old Comley has been the coach at Northern Michigan for the last 26 years, and is the only head coach in the history of the Wildcats' program. He spent three years leading the Lake Superior hockey team prior to that. Comley currently holds a 597-475- 71 career record, including a 538-429- 68 mark while at Northern Michigan. He captured a national title with the Wildcats in 1991 in an 8-7 triple-over- time victory over Boston University. He is one of only two coaches to have won regular season titles in both the WCHA and the CCHA, and he is cur- rently seventh all-time in NCAA hock- ey wins. U ,. AP PHOTO Michigan State coach Ron Mason coached his final game at Yost ice Arena, a 2-0 loss to Colorado College. Northern Michigan's Rick Comley will take over. a fine-tuned machine,i it just shakes it NCAA Championship bracket East Regional March 23-24 Semifinals April 4 Finals April 6 No. 1 New Hampshire No. 4 Cornell -I~~ No. 4 Cornell No. 5 Quinnipiac 56f 1K icers survive regional despite'marginal' calls Wolverines' penalty kill struggles against WCHA teams No. 1 New Hampshire No. 3 Maine No. 3 Maine No. 6 Harvard No. 3 Maine No. 2 Boston University Champion West Regional March 22-23 No. 2 Minnesota No. 6 Colorado College No. 3 Michigan State i No. 6 Colorado College No. 4 Michigan No. 2 Minnesota No. 4 Michigan No. 5 St. Cloud 1 No. 4 Michigan No.1 Denver By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Writer Yost Ice Arena seemed more like a maxi- mum-security prison than a hockey rink this weekend. Referee Scott Hanson took on the roll of sheriff, as the penalty box stayed packed all weekend long - except for Sat- urday's third period. Entering the final stanza, the Wolverines trailed the top-seeded Pioneers 3-2. But with the freedom to play without the fear of being booked and sent to the box, Michigan outscored Denver 3-0 in the period and earned a trip to the Frozen Four. After calling everything in sight for the first two periods of Saturday's game and all of Friday's game against St. Cloud, Hanson and his crime patrol wouldn't even call bla- tant penalties on either team in Saturday's third period. With 11:38 remaining in the contest, Michigan defenseman Eric Werner was punched in the face by Denver forward Matt Weber, and the referee - watching the whole thing unfold - swallowed his whistle. "I think the referees had to let the teams decide the game," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Neither of the teams were taking advantage of the rule book, and some of the penalties that were called were probably marginal at best and weren't fair to the teams that were being punished." Whether the referees made "marginal" calls or not, it was the timing of Michigan's penalties in the second period Saturday that couldn't have been any worse. Less than two minutes after Michigan took the lead on forward Eric Nystrom's goal, Michigan defenseman Brandon Rogers was called for a hold. On the ensu- ing powerplay, Denver forward Chris Par- adise tied the game at one. Once again, after Michigan defenseman Mike Komisarek scored a powerplay goal to give his team a 2-1 lead and all the momen- tum, Michigan captain Jed Ortmeyer was called for interference, putting Denver on the powerplay again. To make things worse, Komisarek was called for a rare "throwing the puck" penalty moments later to put his team down two men. Denver's Kevin Doell tied the game just as Ortmeyer's penalty expired. "(The penalties) were huge turning points," Berenson said. "Every penalty was a potential game-winning turning point, and so I was glad when he finally put the whis- tle away." Michigan knew that staying out of the box would be a key to its success this weekend - especially against St. Cloud, which boasted the No. 1 powerplay in the country. But it was more of the same from the Wolverines on Friday. Less than one minute after forward Jason Ryznar scored early in the first period to give Michigan the lead, forward Michael Woodford committed a blatant cross-checking penalty. Thirty sec- onds later, St. Cloud's Jeff Finger tied the game. With Michigan leading 3-1 in the third period, Hanson's crew came out with a heavy hand. Michigan center Dwight Helminen was booked for hooking, and 1:30 later, defenseman Jay Vancik was hit with a cross-checking violation. Simultane- ously as St. Cloud's 5-on-.3 advantage ended, Huskies' forward Jon Cullen scored to bring his team within one goal and put Michigan on the ropes. "Their powerplay definitely became a factor in the game," Berenson said. "The second period they got a little confidence, a little momentum, and with five consecutive penalties in the third period, their power- play took over the game. Frankly, we were fortunate to win this game." "We got called for a couple of penalties, and they had a 5-on3," Michigan freshman forward Milan Gajic said. "All the guys who were out there did an unbelievable job. "I thought we were going to get through it, because we (had 65 straight penalty kills) during the season. I knew they were going to get the job done." The Michigan penalty killing unit may have gotten the job done, as it killed off just enough penalties to keep the Wolverines on top in each contest. But Denver and St. Cloud converted four out of their 12 oppor- tunities nonetheless. "During all that penalty killing in the, third period, that's tough," Berenson said. "That's physically and mentally tough. I thought we came through it even though they scored." The Wolverines' penalty kill has been a strength of the team all season and was a major "source of pride" during their run to the CCHA regular season title. Michigan's 65 straight penalty kills spanned from Dec. 29 to Feb. 23. The Wolverines' penalty kill has relied on scrappy performances from players like junior J. J. Swistak, who along with Helmi- nen became a professional shot blocker in CCHA play. But against Denver and St. Cloud this weekend, Michigan's forwards had trouble getting in front of shots and seemed to be on their heels throughout each game. With Minnesota - another explosive WCHA opponent with a superior powerplay - awaiting Michigan in the Frozen Four, the Wolverines' ability to stay out of the box and kill penalties will be a major factor in whether or not they can keep the Gophers' attack grounded. Michigan'st DAVID KATZ/Daily Dwight Helminen and the Michigan penalty kill unit struggled against St. Cloud and Denver, allowing four powerplay goals on the weekend. The Frozen Four - St. Paul, Minn. - Xcel Energy Center New Hampshire Wildcats > . - Maine Black Bears Minnesota Golden Gophers Michigan Wolverines. . . (ftC-IA I