4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 27, 2006

HITTING AFTER THE WHISTLE

ICE HOCKEY


PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jordan Parise
North Dakota
Parise made 34 saves in the Fighting Sioux's,
5-1, victory over Michigan. The Wolverines
came on strong in the second period, but
Parise stood on his head. In Saturday's game
against Holy Cross, Parise made just 17 saves,
but helped his team into the Frozen Four.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"(Kaleniecki), Ebbett and (Ruden) are the
greatest teammates I've ever had.... They're
just great guys. Guys you'd want in your wed-
ding, (and) guys you're going to keep in touch
with the rest of your life."
- Sophomore Chad Kolarik on what he thinks of
Michigan's departing seniors.
BY THE NUMBERS

It's over
Michigan's three seniors will always be remembered

11

The number of consecutive years
Michigan won a Tournament game
before losing Friday's game.

SATURDAY'S SCORING SUMMARY
Michigan 1, North Dakota 5
Michigan ............................................... 0 1 0 - 2
North Dakota .......................2 2 1 -5
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring- 1. UND Ryan Duncan 15 (Jonathan Toews, Kyle Radke)
5:01. 2. UND T.J. Oshie 24 (Rastislav Spirko, Brian Lee) 7:28.
Penalties - Mark Mitera, MICH (holding) 3:23; Matt Smaby, UND
(cross-checking) 5:13; Andrew Cogliano, MICH (holding) 5:52; Ryan
Duncan, UND (interference) 8:52; Andrew Kozek, UND (tripping)
14:31;
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring -3. UND Drew Stafford 24 (Travis Zajac) 4:08. 4. MICH
Chad Kolarik 12 (Brandon Kaleniecki, Matt Hunwick) 4:30. 5. UND
Jonathan Toews 20 (Ryan Duncan) 14:39. Penalties - Brandon
Kaleniecki, MICH (roughing) 0:08; Matt Smaby, UND (roughing) 0:08;
Zach Jones, UND (interference) 2:56; Danny Fardig, MICH (charging)
9:26; Chris Porter, UND (interference) 12:20; Andrew Cogliano, MICH
(goaltender interference) 16:15.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring -6. UND Travis Zajac 16 (Ryan Duncan, T.J. Oshie) 14:42.
Penalties-Taylor Chorney, UND (tripping) 3:20; Mike Prpich, UND
(hooking) 10:58; Travis Turnbull, MICH (roughing) 10:58; Jack
Johnson, MICH (roughing) 16:58; Zach Jones, UND (cross-checking)
16:58.
Shots on goal: MICH 9-15-11-35; UND 5-14-14-33. Power plays: NMU 2-of-4; MICH
1-of-6. Saves - MICH Noah Ruden (3-12-13) - 28; UND Jordan Parise
(9-14-11) - 34. Referee: Dave Hansen. Attendance: 11,153
'M' STATS

By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Writer
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Captain Andrew Ebbett
still wore his jersey as he walked into the press con-
ference room following Michigan's first-round defeat at
the hands of North Dakota.
The Vernon, B.C. native was avoiding the inevitable -
taking off his jersey for the final time.
Three players in all - Ebbett, alternate captain Bran-
don Kaleniecki and goaltender Noah Ruden - played
their final games for the Wolverines last Friday.
On paper, none of them contributed
much in the Wolverines' loss to North
Dakota (Kaleniecki notched a point
with an assist on Michigan's only
goal). But the seniors have instilled a
work ethic that, unfortunately, could
not be matched by their younger team-
mates throughout the season.
"I think if our young guys can learn anything from
this season, it's just watching Ebbett and Kaleniecki,
in particular, and Noah Ruden since Christmas, is how
they really led this team by example," Berenson said.
"Day after day and game after game, and you couldn't
ask for anything more from those guys."
The senior leadership has carried the Wolverines
numerous times, especially epitomized on Feb. 11.
After Michigan suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to Lake
Superior State the night before, Kaleniecki and Ebbett
combined for six points, and Ruden notched 18 saves
to lead the team to a 4-2 win the next night. The night
became a showcase for what Ebbett believes to be the
legacy for himself and his fellow seniors.
"I hope (people) just see three guys who gave it their
all for all three years," Ebbett said.
Despite what has arguably been the worst season in
Michigan hockey over the past 15 years, the seniors'
leadership never wavered. The trio provided the 11
freshmen - and the rest of the team - with a shining
example of what it means to play hockey for Michigan.
The emotion of the night was apparent when Ebbett
and sophomore Chad Kolarik appeared for their press
conference. Both held back tears as it hit them that the
season had come to a close.
Even though Ebbett, Kaleniecki and Ruden never
torched the stat sheet, the three teammates provided
something that don't show up in a box score.
"(Kaleniecki), Ebbett and (Ruden) are the greatest
teammates I've ever had," Kolarik said. "And the great-
est captain and assistant captains. I could go on and on.

Captain Andrew Ebbett was one of three Michigan seniors skating for the final time on Friday night.

They're just great guys. Guys you'd want in your wed-
ding, (and) guys you're going to keep in touch with the
rest of your life."
WELCOME BACK: Despite sitting out for the entire
WCHA Conference Tournament (four games), North
Dakota forward Drew Stafford returned to the starting
lineup for Friday night's game against the Wolverines.
The first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres (13th over-
all) in the 2004 NHL entry draft, Stafford was the team's
leading goal scorer (22) and point scorer (44) during the
season. But, in the opening game of the WCHA playoffs,
Stafford suffered a lower body injury against Minnesota
State, forcing him to watch from the bench.
Stafford recovered in time for the NCAA Tourna-
ment. He even tallied a goal in his first game back. He
also notched two assists in the Fighting Sioux's 5-2 win

over Holy Cross in the regional final.
"For me to be back and help the guys out - that's all
I want to try and do," Stafford said. "(I) just try and play
out there and be strong."
MAYBE IT SHOULD BE RENAMED THE BIG TEN: Friday
wasn't just a bad day for Michigan. The CCHA as a
conference had a rough outing in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament. Nebraska-Omaha suffered a 9-2
thrashing against Boston University in the Northeast
Regional semis, and CCHA regular-season champion
Miami fell to Boston College, 5-0, in the other North-
east Regional semi. The lone bright spot of the first
round belonged to Michigan State, who shut out New
Hampshire 1-0 in Albany, in the East Regional.
But the Spartans failed to advance to the Frozen Four yes-
terday with its 5-4 loss to Maine in the east regional final.

0
0

Player

GP

G

A

Pts

+/-

PIM

Sht

Hensick 41 17 35 52 +1 44 128
Ebbett 41 14 28 42 +16 25 98
Porter 39 17 21 38 +1 30 96
Kolarik 41 12 26 38 +12 30 115
Johnson 38 10 22 32 +11 149 104
Hunwick 41 11 19 30 +15 70 91
Kaleniecki 36 17 12 29 +9 47 102
Cogliano 39 12 16 28 -11 38 109
Turnbull 41 9 9 18 +1 67 74
Miller 41 4 11 15 +6 54 50
Rohlfs 40 2 10 12 +5 43 65
Naurato 31 7 3 10 -3 8 54
Mitera 39 0 10 10 +5 59 39
Dest 41 2 7 9 -2 37 35
Bailey 27 5 2 7 -2 55 26
Fardig 38 4 3 7 0 32 45
Swystun 36 2 2 4 -12 12 35
Cook 40 1 2 3 -2 37 22
Dunlap 3 0 0 0 0 2 2
Fragner 2 0 0 0 0 15 0
Montville 20 0 0 0 +2 0 1

2006 NCAA TOURNAMENT

First Round
1 Wisconsin

Regional Final

Semifinal
1 Wisconsin

Championship

Semifinal
2 North Dakota

Regional Final

First Round

1 Minnesota

1 Wisconsin

4 Holy Cross

4 Bemidji State

2 Cornell

j Midwest Regional
Green Bay, Wisc.
March 26, 2006
5 p.m.
2 Cornell

West Regional L
Grand Forks, N.D.
March 25, 2006
9 p.m.
2 North Dakota

4 Holy Cross
2 North Dakota

6

3 Colorado College

2 Harvard

3 Maine

National Semifinal
Milwaukee, Wisc.
April 6, 2006
3 or 8 p.m.
3 Maine

National Championship
Milwaukee, Wisc.
April 8, 2006
7 p.m.

National Semifinal
Milwaukee, Wisc.
April 6, 2006
3 or 8 p.m.
3 Boston College

2 Miami (OH)

3 Michigan

3 Boston College

3 Maine
4 New Hampshire

East Regional
Albany
March 26, 2006
2 p.m.
1 Michigan State

Northeast Regional
Worcester, Mass.
March 25, 2006
6 p.m.

I 3 Boston College
4 Nebraska-Omaha

Ward

3

0

0

0

-1

0

0

1 Boston University

THE 'RED' LINE
In a system named for legendary coach Red Beren-
son, the Daily hockey writers grade the Wolverines on
their performance in each of four areas.
(Graded out of 4 pucks)
OFFENSE
The offense wasn't as bad
as the one-goal output
would suggest. Michigan
got plenty of opportunities,
it just couldn't put any of
them in the net. In the end,
Mark Giannotto it wasn't enough to win
against a quality opponent.
DEFENSE
The defense left Noah Ruden
out to dry a few times but I
couldn't blame them. North
Dakota's top two lines fea-
tured five first-round draft
picks. The defense could've
James V. Dowd really stepped up, but instead
it was the same story as it
has been all season.
GOALTENDING
Allowing five goals in the first
round of the NCAA Tourna-
ment isn't exactly Hasek-
esque. But North Dakota
wasn't a pee-wee hockey
team either. Noah Ruden
H. Jose Bosch played well considering the
circumstances, but I can only
give a ouck and a half. 1h

1 Michigan State

1 Boston University

PARISE
Continued from page 1B
"I thought tonight he did the job ... that
he's done for us the entire year," North Dakota
coach Dave Hakstol said. "He's been rock solid
back there. He's been very good over the course
of his career here at North Dakota."
Coming into Friday's matchup with the Fight-
ing Sioux, the Wolverines knew they would
have to combat a hostile road environment, a
team with equal, talent, if not more, and a good
starting goalie. All three delivered, but Parise's
performance stuck out above the rest.
"He played well," Kolarik said. "He stood on
his head. We outshot them, and at times out-
played them ... He definitely played an unbe-
lievable game."
Sioux
Continued from page 11B
slot that sailed over Ruden's left shoulder for
a 2-0 lead.
The hot start by the Fighting Sioux proved
to be too much to overcome. Michigan never
cut the lead to one, and familiar problems on
the power play continued to haunt the team. It
went 1-for-6 with the man-advantage.
North Dakota's short-handed goal proved to

SEASON IN REVIEW

Date

Opponent

Result

Date

Opponent

Result

EUGENE ROBERTSON/Daily
Parise was dominating in Friday night's game.
ing. The Fighting Sioux tacked on a goal late
in the second period. And another late in the
third to ice the game.
"Against (Michigan), with the weapons that
they have, you never really feel comfortable,'
North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said. "I don't
think we felt comfortable with the lead until late
in the game when we scored our fifth goal."
Unlike in past games during the season
where the effort of the team could have been
questioned in puzzling losses to lesser teams,
the Wolverines came to play on Friday night,

10/7 Quinnipiac W, 3-2
10/8 Quinnipiac W, 5-3
10/14 Boston College W, 3-2
10/1f Merrimack W, 9-2
10/22 Michigan State T, 3-3
10/28 at Alaska-Fairbanks L, 2-4
10/29 at Alaska- Fairbanks W, 4-0
11/4 at Notre Dame W, 8-5
11/5 Notre Dame W, 4-2
11/11 at Northern Michigan W, 3-1
11/12 at Northern Michigan W, 4-3
11/25 Minnesota L, 3-6
11/26 Wisconsin L, 2-3
12/2 at Miami(OH) L, 2-4
12/3 at Miami(OH) L, 3-4
12/9 Nebraska-Omaha W, 4-2
12/10 Nebraska-Omaha W, 7-3
12/29 Colorado college L, 1-6
12/30 Michigan Tech W, 5-3
1/6 Alaska-Fairbanks W, 4-0
1/7 Alaska-Fairbanks L, 2-4
LEADERS
Points T.J. Hensick 52

1/17 at Michigan State L, 0-2
1/20 Bowling Green W, 6-1
1/21 at Bowling Green L, 2-5
1/27 at Michigan State T, 1-1
1/28 Michigan State T, 5-5
1/31 Western Michigan W, 7-3
2/3 Ohio State L, 5-7
2/4 Ohio State W, 3-2
2/7 at Western Michigan W, 4-1
2/10 Lake Superior State L, 2-3
2/11 Lake Superior State W, 4-2
2/17 at Nebraska-Omaha L, 3-4
2/18 at Nebraska-Omaha T, 4-4
2/24 at Ferris State T, 3-3
2/25 Ferris State L, 3-4
3/10 Ferris State W, 6-4
3/11 Ferris State W, 3-2
3/17 Michigan State L, 1-4
3/18 Northern Michigan W, 3-2
3/24 North Dakota L, 1-5
BREAKDOWN
Overall Record 21-15-5