The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
October 8, 2007 - 3B
Blue offense excels against Sauer
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
The glass-half-empty folks
might be worried about goalten-
der Billy Sauer surrenderiog six
goals (two within 40 seconds on
arunningclock)
in the Michigan NOTEBOOK
hockey team's
Blue-White scrimmage Saturday
in a near-empty Yost Ice Arena.
But for the glass-half-full
crowd, an unexpected line
showed a fluidity rarely seen so
early in a season.
Granted, Sauer's team, the
offensively weighted White
squad, had a weaker defense than
the defensively strong Blue team.
And at times there were defen-
sive players out of position cou-
pled with good Blue shots. But
it's impossible to ignore the weak
goals the junior goaltender - and
last year's starter - surrendered
in the Blue squad's 6-3 win.
"I'm sure Billy would tell you I
didn't like all the goals - not that
you ever like any goals against,
but there's some that he would've
saved, has to save (and) should've
saved," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said.
Luckily, an intra-squad match-
up is just like a ying-yang.
If Sauer was the ying Saturday,
than the Blue team's top offen-
sive line (junior Travis Turnbull,
and freshmen Carl Hagelin and
Louie Caporusso) was the yang.
Turnbull notched a hat trick and
an assist in what Berenson called
a "confidence-building game,"
while Caporusso (game-leading
16-of-18 on faceoffs) and Hagelin
each boasted three assists.
"You could see they had some
chemistry going," Berenson said.
"They had confidence. They
worked hard.
"That's why you have these
games, just to see the lines that
might gel, might have a leg up
early in the year."
KILLER PENALTY KILL: In yester-
day exhibition against Western
Ontario (a 5-1 Wolverine win),
the Michigan penalty kill faced
its toughest battle: a three-on-
five.
With a little more than five
minutes remaining in the second
period, Chad Langlais was called
for interference. Once the puck
dropped in the ensuing faceoff,
Danny Fardig fell to the ground
and took out the opposing Mus-
tang for a tripping penalty.
And in just three seconds,
Michigan suffered its fifth and
sixth penalties (of seven) on the
game. With just the penalty-kill-
ing experience from earlier in the
game under their belts, the Wol-
verines stifled Western Ontario.
The tiring Mustangs didn't get
off a single shot.
"I give our guys credit and
their power play probably hasn't
OPENER
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of the net and dumped the puck
between Western Ontario goalie
Keyvan Hunt's leg and the left post.
"I think we had a lot of chances
all game, but in the third, we started
finding the back of the net," senior
captain Kevin Porter said. "I don't
know what happened - if (West-
ern Ontario) started to get more
fatigued and their goalie let up a
bit (because) he was tired from so
many shots."
Before breaking the game open
in the third period, the Wolverines
showcased defense and hard-hitting,
physical play. Duringthe firstperiod,
Turnbull was tripped behind the
Western Ontario goal, with the play
drawing boos from the crowd. Fresh-
man defenseman Tristin Llewellyn
chased after Turnbull's agitator and
exchanged words near the Western
Ontario bench.
When Michigan was on the power
play during the second, a struggle for
the puck against the boards ended in
a heated argument the referees had
to break up. Later, a hit on junior
Danny Fardig sent him flying in the
air and spinning almost parallel to
the ice before falling to the ground.
"We thought it was physical but
pretty clean," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said. "I thought their team
kept their heads, and I thought our
i
team kept our heads. There were
some good hits at the ice levebut nost
stupid hits. That's what we want."
Michigan's aggressive play peaked
in the second period, when a Chad
Langlais interference penalty was
followed three seconds later by a
tripping call on Fardig off the faceoff.
Despite having a two-man advan-
tage for almost two full minutes, the
Western Ontario offense couldn't
manage a single shot on goal. The
Mustangs' sloppy passing and pas-
sive offense on the power play caused
Michigan to be successful in its first
big penalty-killing test.
Both yesterday's exhibition con-
test and Saturday's intrasquad game
gave the team and its 12 freshmen
an opportunity to get competitive
ice time under its belt before next
weekend's Ice Breaker Invitational
in St. Paul.
Porter said facing Western Ontar-
io this weekend isn't comparable to
the level of play the Wolverines will
face Friday against No. 2 Boston Col-
lege. But in Michigan's first weekend
of game action, a physical game and
strong offensive contribution from a
freshman were encouraging signs.
"I thought our team really was
focused during the game, playing
hard in its own zone and back check-
ing," Berenson said. "It didn't feel
like an exhibition game on the bench
and at the ice level. ... You're trying to
get some real game experience, and I
think we got that."
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Junior goaltender Billy Sauer allowed six goals in the Blue-White scrimmage.
had enough to time to get togeth-
er either, but that was a good con-
fidence builder," Berenson said.
FRESHMAN FEEDING FRENZY: The
dozen first-years weren't just
there to enjoy the atmosphere.
They made their fair share of
contributions, too.
Of the 14 Wolverine points,
freshmen tallied nine.
Hagelin led the way with a hat
trick after notching a goal and
three assists in Saturday's scrim-
mage.
"This is probably my second
hat trick in my life, soit was pret-
ty fun," the Sweden native said.
Aaron Palushaj notched a goal
and an assist of his own, and Rust
had two assists.
"(The freshmen) are really
excited," captain Kevin Porter
said. "They're all ready to go;
they were all excited to put the
jersey on tonight. It was only
an exhibition game, but they all
looked great, they played hard,
and I think they're going to be
even more excited next week-
end."
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