The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 28, 2002 - 3B FRIDAY'S GAME Alaska-Fairbanks 2 Michigan 5 SATURDAY'S GAME Alaska-Fairbanks 2 Michigan 6 FRIDAY'S GAME Michgan65, AlaskaFairbanks 2 Merrimack 1 1 0 -2 Michigan 1 1 3 -5 First period- 1, MICH, Brandon Kaleniecki 3 (David Moss, Jed Ortmeyer) 7:01; 1, UAF Ryan Campbell 2 (Aaron Voros, Cam Keith) 12:36. Penaltes - Kelly Czuy, UAF (obstruction-hooking) 4:54; Kelly Czuy, UAF (checking from behind) 19:47. Second period - 2, UAF, Tom Herman 1(Cory Rask) 5:47; 2, MICH, Nick Martens 1 (Jed Ortmeyer, Andrew Ebbett) 15:32. Penalties - Ryan Lang, UAF (delaying the game) 12:11; Nick Martens, MICH (delaying the game) 12:11; Jeff Tambellini, MICH (tripping) 16:29. Third period -3, MICH, Dwight Helminen 2 (Al Mon- toya) 5:12; 4, MICH, Brandon Kaleniecki 4 (David Moss, Michael Woodford) 8:59 (pp); 5, MICH, Jeff Tambellini 5 (Dwight Helminen) 10:55. Penaltes - Cramer Hickey, UAF (hooking) 7:24; Milan Gajic, MICH (cross-checking) 13:49; Eric Werner, MICH (elbowing) 14:58; Aaron Voros, UAF (boarding) 19:36. Shots ongoal: UAF 8-13-829; MICH 15-15-17 47. Power plays: UAF 0 of 3; MICH 1 of 4. Saves - UAF, Mayes -8, McKay 1-2-0 - 34; MICH, Montoya 4-1-0 - 27. At: Yost Ice Arena. Attendance: 6,409 SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 6, AlaskaFairbanks 2 Merrimack 101-2 Michigan 033-6 First peod - 1, UAF, Aaron Voros 1(Cam Keith) 9:12. Penaltes - Nick Martens, MICH (cross-check- ing) 2:36; Jared Sylvestre, UAF (high sticking) 15:40. Second period - 1, MICH, Jeff Tambellini 6 (Dwight Helminen, Eric Nystrom) 3:43; 2, MICH,.Jed Ortmeyer 1(Michael Woodford) 5:49 (sh); 3, MICH, David Moss 2 (Michael Woodford, Danny Richmond) 17:55. Penalties - Reilly Olson, MICH (slashing) 5:00; Aaron Voros, UAF (slashing) 8:35; Cramer Hickey, UAF (holding) 12:36; Mike Roemensky, MICH (obstruction-holding) 19:58. Third period - 2, UAF, Russell Spence 1(Jared Sylvestre) 1:52 (pp); 4, MICH, David Moss 3 (Bran- don Kaleniecki) 3:40; 5, MICH, Dwight Helminen 3 (Eric Werner) 4:16; 6, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer 2 (unas- sited) 15:48. Penalties - Danny Richmond, MICH (roughing) 17:03. Shots on gal -UAF4-6-14 24; MICH 7-15-12 34. Power Plays - UAF 1 of 4; MICH 0 of 3. Saves - UAF, McKay 1-3-0 -28; MICH, Montoya 5-1-0 - 22. At: Yost Ice Arena. Attendance: 6,591. HOW THEY FARED No.1 New Hamshre(2-0-2) tied Northeast- em 2-2. No. 2 Denver (5.1-0) def. Alabama- Huntsville 7-2, def. Alabama-Huntsville 7-0 No. 3 Minnesota (2-1-2) def. Michigan Tech 5-4, tied Michigan Tech 3-3 No. 4 Boston College (500) def. Wiscon- sin 4-2, def. Mass:Lowell 4-3 No. 5 Michigan (510) def. Alaska-Fair- banks 5-2, def. Alaska-Fairbanks&2 No.6 Boston Universty (2-1-2) lost to Mer- rimack 5-3, def. Nebraska-Omaha 64 No. 7 North Dakota (4-0-0) def. Niagara 6-4, def. Niagara 5-3 No. 8 Cornell (0-0-0) did not play No.9 Maine (3-1-0) def. Western Michi- gan 4-0. No. 10 Colorado College (4-1-1) tied Min- nesota-Dulluth 4-4, def. Minnesota-Dul- luth 4-3 No. 31 Providence (5-00) def. Massa- chussets-Lowel 65. No. 12 Michigan State (4-2-0) def. Lake Superior 7-0, def. Lake Superior 3-2 No. 13 St. Cloud (040) def. MSU-Mankato 6-5, tied Minnesota State-Mankato 1-1 No.14 Harvard (0-0-0) def. Guelph 6-2 (exhibition). No. 15 Northern Michigan (2-4-1) lost to Miami 7-1, lost to Miami 6-3 CCHA ROUNDUP Michigan State 7, Lake Superior 0 Friday's ae:- MICHIGAN STATE 3, Lake Superior 2 BowuNG GREEN 4, Findlay 3 Ferris State 5, NOTRE DAME 2 M aA5, AlaskaFabanks 2 BoSTON UNIVERSITY 6, Nebraska Omaha 4 MIAMI 7, Northern Michigan 1 OHIO STATE 4, Clarkson 2 iatura+'s ms: MAINE 4, Western Michigan 0 MIaCA 6, Alaska Falbanks 2 Ferris State 4, NOTRE DAME 1 MIAMI 6, Northern Michigan 3 Yestea's gam: Nebraska Omaha 3, MASSACHUSETTS 2 OHIO STATE 4, Clarksonl 3 Western Michigan 4, MAINE 4 , /"TIT A -.__. Montoya shines in CCHA debut By Bob Hunt STEVE JACKSON Down 2-1 early in the second peri- od of Friday night's game, things were looking frightingly similar for the Wolverines. Shaping up to be a repeat of last year's first CCHA home series, when Northern Michigan swept Michigan, the Wolverines found themselves down to an upstart team (Northern Michigan) and playing without a full lineup. The Wildcats swept that series, but this time around the Wolverines got a big boost from Al Montoya. Their freshman goaltender held strong after giving up early goals on both nights. These performances kept the Wolver- ines in the contest and gave them a chance to light up the scoreboard in the third period. "From the start I've said I wasn't worried about'our goalkeeping,". Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "And Al hasn't given me anything to worry about. Like any goalie, he is going to give up some goals he doesn't like. But I like the kid, I like the way he's playing, and he's definitely got the team's confidence." In Friday's first period, Montoya was beat cold when Alaska-Fairbanks cen- ter Ryan Campbell got the puck on a breakaway and stuck it past Montoya's left pad. And then five minutes into second period, Nanooks' right winger Tom Herman hit the top shelf of the net when he got a feed right in front of the net from behind. But when the Wolverines were down a goal in the second period, Montoya held strong. The Nanooks unleashed their best offensive pressure of the weekend when they fired 13 shots on net that period. "He was a difference," Michigan goalies coach Stan Matwijiw said. "If he doesn't come up with a couple big saves, it's a different hockey game." After the Wolverines went into Fri- day's second intermission tied at two, Montoya took advantage of his superi- or puckhandling skills and started the play that turned the tide of the game. While both teams were on a line Your guide to randomly obscure sports knowledge M1; TONY DING/Daily Dwight Helminen received a pass from Al Montoya during a line change in the second period of Friday night's game which lead to the game-trying goal. change, Montoya found Dwight Helminenv all alone on the right side of the blue line. Montoya then made a great pass as Helminen flew down the ice to break the tie. "I like to catch the teams off the line change," Montoya said. "Usually our team notices when I chip the puck and they know they have a lane. So that's all I did. I gave (Helminen) a little nudge and he knew right away." In Saturday's game Montoya gave up an early goal off a rebound, but then put together some more big saves allowing the Wolverines again to turn things around in the third period. "I think he was a little nervous, but then the kid's a hell of a goaltender," sophomore Michael Woodford said. "He might let in.a goal here or there, but we have full confidence back there that,when the third period comes around he'll make some big saves." Considering this weekend was the first time Montoya was called upon to make some big saves, everyone was pleased with the development of the goalie who could have been a senior at Ann Arbor Huron High School this year. "The thing that's stood out the most to me is that every game he's getting better at everything," Matwijiw said. "The little things that I'm seeing up in the stands and the corrections that after a game I sit down and I talk to him, he's made the adjustment. He's gotten better every game by doing the little things well, and that's what's going to make him a great goalie." You call yourself a sports fan. You watch SportsCenter reli- giously, and you never shy away from a discussion of any sports-related topic. Maybe you've even entered into the world of sports gambling or fantasy sports. Good for you. But if you want to go to the next level of random, funny and obscure sports knowledge, you have to expand your palate beyond ESPN and michigandaily.com. As a public service, to the University communi- ty, here is my list of the best unknown sports sites on the web. COLLEGEBCS.COM - The Bowl Championship Series is one popular college topic that most sports fans don't fully understand, but this site can turn any half-witted schmuck into an instant BCS Einstein with its Few thing comprehensive expla- greater p1 nation of the entire ranking system. telling the For that alone, the BCS curr site's owner, Jerry Michigan S Palm, deserves our love and respect. But Indiana and BCS 101 is just the Sti beginning. The site also expands the BCS formula to rank all 117 Division I-A teams. Few things give me greater pleasure than telling the world that the BCS cur- rently ranks Michigan State behind Indiana and New Mexico State. That's random information that you just can't find anywhere else. Palm's site also gets the word out early. Yesterday afternoon I already knew where Michigan was ranked in the BCS. While all the other sheep in America wait for ESPN to tell themdif Notre Dame's win over Florida State was enough to pass Miami (Fla.), I've got the scoop thanks to collegebcs.com. As if that weren't enough, the site also includes a historical account of how the BCS would have ranked teams each and every week dating back several years. When football season is over, Palm runs a similar site for men's and women's college basketball - collegerpi.com. Dave Caldwell of the Dallas Morning News called Palm a God, and that isn't that much of a stretch. The site has just recently started to require members to pay, but I'm hooked; I wouldn't know how to live without it. BADJOCKS.COM - Another one- man show, badjocks.com is where Cops meets SportsCenter. Bob Reno's site provides the largest online collec- tion of stupid athletic activities that the world has ever seen. In addition to an almost daily diet of high school coaching sex scan- dals, hazings and domestic violence accounts, Reno's site also features ig ea wo ren Sty I tat the top 10 blood-alcohol levels of drunk-driving athletes (Charles Woodson is No. 5). In addition to breaking news, there are also links to classic stories like the infamous penis bitings (yes more than one) that took place in European soccer games last year. If that summary wasn't enough for you, the site also provides pictures and accounts. Just when you think that you have heard everything, badjocks.com tells you the story about a rugby player that got shot in the butt dur- ing a game - and continued play- ing through the pain. Stories like these are too numer- ous to mention here, and new tales are being written every day. Make a point to check out this site, then you will always have a S give me few randomly funny asure than stories to impress orld that the your friends with. NEWS.GOOGLE.COM ntly ranks - Most of you prob- tate behind ably know about google.com, one of New Mexico the web's most popu- te. lar search engines. But its latest "news" feature is a fantasy sports fan's goldmine. Instead of paying for ESPN Insid- er or any number of other fantasy updates, simply type the name of your favorite athlete into the search field, and you will have every online story written about him delivered directly to your screen. With several updates every hour, you can't find a quicker or more thorough way to get injury updates and analysis on specific players. BASEBALL-REFERENCE.COM - No sport has more ,statistics than base- ball, and baseball-reference.com has more or less compiled all of them in one place. They even made up a few stats of their own just for fun, including one that attempts to meas- ure a player's odds at making the Hall of Fame and another that finds the player who is most similar to another at a given age. I'm a stats dork, but this site blows my mind. You can find absolutely anything on baseball-reference.com. Say you want to find out how many Ann Arbor-born athletes have pitched in the major leagues ... five minutes later you'll find the answer is two (former Michigan quarter- back Rick Leach and Shannon With- em). Meanwhile, my hometown of Harbor Beach (pop. -1,800), has a stud hurler, Dick Lange, that tossed 272 more innings than the Ann Arbor combo. Score one for rural America. Steve Jackson can be reached at sjjackso@umich.edu. M' her instinct on penalties By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Writer Apparently, four penalty-killing opportunities just weren't enough for Michigan Saturday night, so it decided to give Alaska-Fairbanks an unofficial powerplay halfway through the second period. Although they were supposed to be HOCKEY at even strength, the Wolverines had Notebook only four skaters on the ice while play was in their zone. They quickly recognized the mistake and Brandon Kaleniecki jumped over the boards and sprinted to join his linemates. But Michigan has played so well short-handed this season that teams can rarely take advan- tage of powerplays - even bonus ones. Michigan killed six of seven penalties in two games against the Nanooks this weekend, often controlling play despite being a man down. The Wolverines so frustrated the Nanooks that coach Guy Gadowski was left wondering if Michigan was at a disadvantage at all on the penalty kill. "What penalty kill?" Gadowski asked. "They had two powerplays. They had a 5-on-4 powerplay and they had a 4-on-5 powerplay. It was embarrassing. I think I can count up the number of times we were able to even set up for the powerplay. They had as many chances on their penalty kill as we had on our powerplay altogether." Michigan converted one of those chances into a short- handed goal early in the second period. Captain Jed Ort- meyer beat Alaska-Fairbanks goalie Preston McKay to give Michigan a 2-1 lead. The Nanooks did finally solve Michigan's penalty kill at 1:52 of the third period Saturday, and Michigan coach Red Berenson pointed out that Alaska-Fairbanks has struggled on the powerplay all year (it has capitalized on just 2-of-28 opportunities). Still, when Russell Spence put the puck past Montoya, it was the first time Michigan surrendered a powerplay goal NANOOKS4 Continued from Page 1B since- facing North Dakota on Oct. 12. The Wolverines' penalty kill was ranked fourth in the nation going into Sat- urday's game, and they have now killed 29 of 31 penalties. One reason for that success is that Michigan doesn't sit back while playing shorthanded. "We want to be aggressive," Ortmeyer said. "We want to try and get down on them right away so they don't have time to set it up." Orfmeyer's short-handed tally was Michigan's second of the season, and he doesn't think it will be the last. "I think with the speed that we have on our team, and that we have for penalty killers, we're going to have a lot of opportunities this year to get some short-handed goals if we're aggressive," he said. LESSON LEARNED: Miehigan broke open both games with a three-goal barrage in the third period. On Saturday, Alas- ka-Fairbanks pulled to within one in the opening minutes of the period, but David Moss, Dwight Helminen and Ort- meyer all responded for Michigan. Friday's game was tied 2-2 until Helminen put the Wolverines ahead at 5:12 of the third, freshmen Kaleniecki and Jeff Tambellini put the game out of reach for the Nanooks. Sophomore Michael Woodford said Michigan learned the hard way that the third period can be crucial. "I think we learned our lesson from North Dakota," he said. We were "up two goals going into the third period and they came back to beat us. So as much as that was a tough loss, it gave the new guys their first taste of how important the third period is." GONE AGAIN: Sophomore Jason Ryznar's return from an injured right shoulder didn't last long. Two shifts into Fri- day's game -- his first since Oct. 11 - Ryznar separated his left shoulder. He's expected to be out a couple weeks. The Wolverines double-shifted Friday night, and on Satur- day Mark Mink took Ryznar's spot next to Ortmeyer and freshman Andrew Ebbett. response to Alaska's third-period goal. "You know, we came out, we had some big shifts, and then (Moss) had a big goal and we were well on our way." Moss' strong game was no sur- prise considering the way he's played this season. The sophomore already has three goals and nine points in six games. In his fresh- man campaign, he had just five goals and 20 points. "I feel a little bit more confident this year," Moss said. "But I think our line is just playing really well right now as a unit. So I've got to give as much credit to them as I'm getting." As a group, Moss, Kaleniecki and Woodford have 21 points this season - one more than the fast-skating grouping of Eric Nystrom, Tambelli- ni, and Dwight Helminen. After the game, Alaska coach Guy Gadowsky was impressed with Wolverines' effort. "I mean you have to give Michi- gan a lot of credit because they're TOM FELDKAMP/Daily Michigan celebrates after it strikes first in the first period of friday night's game. Michigan swept Alaska-Fairbanks this weekend. Da you Have Acne? W IDEW ORLD S PORTS CENTER WINTER I ~ INDOOtR ISNOCCER R LEAG LIeE