SI~ors~j,,iesC
0
l Tuesday, January 16, 2007
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
MICHIGAN 53
PUR- DOM INATED
michigandaily.com
Landmark
win or Blue
legend
S ometimes you just can't help it. In this stat-
obsessed sports world, it's far too easy to fall
victim to a little milestone overkill.
A player moves up to 23rd on
the list of career games with the
Toronto Raptors? Good for him
A coach wins his 20th road
game against all opponents from
the state of Mississippi? How
amazing.
A player scores a goal, making
him the top-scoring leftwinger AMBER
whose last name starts with H of COLVIN
all time? Name a street after him.
It can get pretty ridiculous. In A Touch
all the hullabaloo of streaks and of Dutch
career bests, it's hard to know
which numbers are actually noteworthy, and which
are just public relations fodder.
But there are the milestones that we should stop
for a moment and celebrate.
Fans at Yost Ice Arena Friday night got to wit-
ness one firsthand, as Michigan coach Red Berenson
notched his 600th career victory as an NCAA coach.
Berenson, always classy and never flashy, down-
played the achievement.
He slid off the ice quickly and quietly after the
final buzzer, even though the Yost crowd roared his
name and the scoreboard flashed a congratulatory
message.
At the press conference he walked in and set the
game puck on the table.
"What's that?" a reporter asked, hoping for an
answer about what the game meant to the coach, how
the win felt or at least something resembling reflec-
tion and nostalgia.
"That's the puck," Berenson said.
After an awkward silence and then some prod-
ding, Berenson opened up a bit about his achievement
- but only for a little more than 30 seconds.
"Anyway, that's over" he said, and then dove right
into game analysis, breaking down the scoring and
players' performances.
But even though the esteemed leader didn't quite
live it up following the game doesn't mean the rest of
us should let it pass by silently.
Reaching the 600-mark helps cement Berenson's
status - he is eighth on the all-time wins list - as an
NCAA coaching great. What's scary about that is that
Berenson got into the coaching game late, following
a successful NHL playing career. He still describes
himself asa hockey player who happens to coach.
Most of the guys sitting near Berenson on the list
had been coaching for years by the time Berenson
returned to his alma mater for his NCAA coaching
debut at age 44.
Now, with Berenson midway through his 23rd sea-
son as Michigan's bench boss, people question how
much longer he'll go.
I get asked all the time if Berenson is ready to join
his retired friends in Florida (who call him and ask
the same thing, says Berenson). Perhaps even more
importantly, I get asked if this guy in his late 60s is
See COLVIN, Page 4B
BY THE NUMBERS
Oo0 Wins for Red Berenson as Mihgan's
hockey coach.
Games Red Berenson has spent behind
9 5 0 the bench with the Wolverines.
2 3 Seasons Red Berenson has been
Michigan's head coach.
Number of NCAA Championships
Michigan has won under Berenson.
5EN SI MON/Dily
Freshman DeShawn Sims is quickly pounced on by two Purdue defenders on Saturday night. The Boilermakers defeated Michigan 67-53 in West Lafayette.
M cant come Loss makes things
u i on roa
By DANIEL LEVY
Daily Sports Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE - After the
final buzzer sounded, the entire Pur-
due team gathered in front of the stu-
dent section to acknowledge the crowd.
Carl Landry went to the fans, first the
students, and then a few others and
slapped high-five with anyone who was
willing to extend a hand.
Why not?
The-6-foot-7 senior did pretty much
everything else, scoring 22 points and.
grabbing seven rebounds, in a 67-53
win in front of a raucous Mackey Arena
crowd Saturday night.
Landry did one more thing to Michi-
gan - the Purdue center dealt a seri-
ous blow to the Wolverines' NCAA
Tournament hopes. Michigan needs an
impressive showing in conference play
along with a quality win on the road to
tack on their resum6 for March.
"We're very disappointed," Michi-
gan center Courtney Sims said. "This
was a big game for us. We could have
been 3-0 in the Big Ten."
Whenever the Boilermakers need-
ed a play, Landry provided it with his
moves in the lane and his hustle on the
glass. Michigan had no answer.
It didn't matter who was assigned to
defend Landry or what defense the Wol-
verines played. Landry forced Courtney
Sims out of the game with two early
fouls and then overpowered Brent
Petway. And he outmaneuvered Ekpe
Udoh and DeShawn Sims for offensive
rebounds and extended possessions.
"He gets the ballbasically everytime
down the floor," Courtney Sims said.
"He's bound to score buckets no matter
how good the defense is. It's tough to
guard him all the time."
For the Wolverines, it was tough
to guard Landry any time. His moves
around the basket made Michigan's
defenders look like they had their feet
stuck in mud. Which was fitting, since
Purdue's David Teague rained on the
Wolverines from downtown in the first
half.
See WILDCATS, Page SB
WEST LAFAYETTE -
f I could have one person at
a funeral, it would be Michi-
gan coach-
Tommy Amaker.
No matter how
devastating the
situation might
be, he'd always
find something
positive to say.
Granted, the if JOSE
Michigan las-
ketball season
hasn't been as
depressing as The Bosch
a funeral, but Watch
there have been
some moments that have left fans
crying - namely the key road losses.
But despite these moments of
sadness, Amaker has put a positive
spin on his team's performance.
After the North Carolina State
loss: "Our kids really battled. I told
them how we were disappointed
(with) how we got in that position.
But I was equally as impressed and
proud of how we battled back."
After the UCLA loss: "(The team
was) just trying to dig it out and
trying to do more to help us out.
Sometimes when you try to do that
it becomes a little bit like quicksand.
The harder you try at certain situa-
tions, the more it feels like you are
sinking down."
But following Saturday's loss
to Purdue, Amaker looked like a
defeated man. His face was marked
with a somber countenance. His
shoulders slumped in his chair. In
un-Amaker-like fashion, he deliv-
ered his answers quietly and with-
out a hint of optimism.
"We'll find something (positive),
we always try to," Amaker said.
"Sometimes it's not there, but we're
going to be very honest with them.
... So when we get a chance to evalu-
ate it and grade it, we'll try to look
for things that we'll be able to uti-
lize in the future to become a better
basketball team."
If you can't think of something
See BOSCH, Page SB
Offense stagnates on Saturday
By JAMES V. DOWD
Daily Sports Writer
With the game puck in hand following
his 600th career
victory, Michi- N. MICHIGAN 2
gan coach Red MICHIGAN 1
Berenson left MICHIGAN
no doubt about
his expectations for his team after a 5-2
victory over Northern Michigan Friday
night.
"I don't know if they have pucks like
this in St. Louis," Berenson said. "But it
would be nice to have one."
Just 24 hours later, the Michigan
hockey team showed it has a long way to
go if it wishes to fulfill Berenson's vision
of a Frozen Four victory at St. Louis's
Scottrade Center. After dominating the
visiting Wildcats Friday, the Wolverines
dropped a 2-1 decision on their home ice
Saturday night to split another weekend
series - the latest episode of a season-
long epidemic of inconsistency.
Northern Michigan set a defensive
tone in Saturday's game from the outset.
Even though they failed to notch a shot on
goal in the first nine minutes, the Wild-
cats utilized a high-pressure forecheck to
prevent the Wolverines from establishing
the offensive rhythm that kept them roll-
ing on Friday night.
On Friday, Michigan jumped out to a
4-0 lead before coasting to a 5-2 victory,
giving Berenson his 600th career win.
The series opener continued Michi-
gan's new trend of third and fourth line
scoring - those two lines produced three
of the team's goals.
During Saturday's game, sophomore
Andrew Cogliano played on one of the
Wolverines' power play units, both of
which struggled greatly - failing to
convert any of its seven chances during
Northern Michigan's victory - under the
increased pressure.
"We had a tough time getting it in the
zone," Cogliano said. "When we getto the
blue line, we're dumping it in, but every-
one is standing still, so we're not really
getting any pressure in the zone."
Northern Michigan took control of the
game after drawing first blood late in the
first period. Junior Mike Santorelli, the
Wildcats' leading scorer, took advantage
when Michigan's neutral zone transition
fumbled a puck near center ice. Northern
Michigan's Tim Hartung picked up the
puck and dished it off to Santorelli, who
skated around Michigan captain ,Matt
Hunwick before neatly slotting it past
goaltender Billy Sauer's glove side.
The Wildcats' pressure paid off for
them again in the second period. After
Northern Michigan's Alan Dorich passed
the puck up ice to Hartung. After gain-
ing the offensive zone, Hartung drew the
Wolverines defense away from the slot
and dropped the puck back to Santorelli.
Sitting alone, Santorelli knocked it past
Sauer for his league-leading 20th goal of
the season with just fewer than nine min-
utes remaining in the period.
See WILDCATS, Page 4B
TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily
Sophomore AndrewCogliano scored Michigan's lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Northern Michigan on Saturday.
Colgiano's goal came with just six seconds to go in the game, saving Michigan from a home shutout.
Penn State fights
its way past
Cagers for revenge
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 3B
Herman:
What happened
to the big days?
ST COLUMN 2B