A
U The Michigan Daily I michigandailycom I March 17,2008
2008 CCHA PLAYOFFS QUARTERFINALS
MICHIGAN 10, NEBRASKA-OMAHA 1 MICHIGAN 2, NEBRASKA-OMAHAI
-1,
WELCOME ACK
Kolarik's energy will
spark playoff run
here was no way Chad
Kolarik could have ended
his career at Yost Ice
Arena with a sickening spill
against a team like Lake Superior
State.
After the injury was diagnosed,
coach Red
Berenson said
he thought the
senior forward
had played his
final game at
home.
But instead,
Kolarik deliv-
ered his encore COURTNEY
during the RATKOWIAK
most exciting
weekend of the
season.
And spurred by his emotional
leadership, the Wolverines proved
this weekend they are a playoff
team.
It only took 10 minutes for the
energy that had been behind the
bench for the past three weeks to
finally become visible to the Yost
crowd. Kolarik let loose a gor-
geous, high shot that hit the back
corner of the net. He raised both
his arms and skated right into the
boards in front of the student sec-
tion, his mouth guard dangling
as he disappeared into the mob of
celebratory teammates.
"'Til I got that puck, and the
guy fumbled it, I wasn't really
into it," Kolarik said. "I was lost,
I was winded, and then I got a
lucky bounce and it went in. And
you know, I'm an emotional kid,
so once I get one, then more are
coming."
Michigan was 0-2 in the games
when he sat in the stands, watch-
ing the action from afar - and 2-0
when he motivated his teammates
while standing next to the Michi-
gan coaches in dress clothes.
Once he completed his hat trick
Friday, it was obvious the Wolver-
ines would win this weekend.
After Kolarik's third goal, the
hats flew onto the ice. So did the
penguin suit and the Frankenber-
ry head, staples of the Yost crowd
attire all season.
The passion Kolarik pumped
into Yost transferred to Satur-
day's game, even when he wasn't
on the ice.
After the high of a nine-goal
thrashing, the Wolverines' secopd
See RATKOWIAK, Page 4B
Michigan's depth
demolishes UNO
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
Seniors Kevin Porter and Chad
Kolarik have carried the Michigan
hockey team all season, so they
weren't surprised when Nebras-
ka-Omaha keyed on them in the
CCHA quarterfinals.
The Mavericks found no suc-
cess stopping the duo Friday night,
when Kolarik lit up the red-and-
white clad defense for a hat trick
in his first game back from a ham-
string injury. Porter also netted
one in the 10-1 Michigan win.
But on Saturday, the seniors
were held off the score sheet.
That didn't stop the rest of the
Wolverines from picking up the
slack. Junior Brandon Naurato and
freshman Carl Hagelin each had
a goal in Michigan's 2-1, series-
clinching win Saturday night.
The series victory earned Mich-
igan its 19th straight trip to the
CCHA's final weekend at Joe Louis
Arena, where it will face Northern
Michigan in a semifinal matchup
Friday.
"They've done a great job this
year scoring goals, important
goals, too," Hagelin said of Porter
and Kolarik. "But we can't rely on
two guys, everyone needs to be
contributing."
Hagelin has now scored a goal in
three straight games, and his tal-
lies were the most electrifying of
the weekend. On Friday, Hagelin
wowed the Yost Ice Arena crowd
with a shorthanded goal that
showed off his blazing speed and
precision shot.
Hagelin caught a Maverick
defenseman off guard at center ice,
then picked up the puck and blew
into the offensive zone. After curl-
ing behind the net, he hesitated
before firinga laser over Nebraska-
Omaha goalie Jerad Kaufmann's
glove.
On Saturday, Hagelin put on
another one-man show, skating
into the zone and cutting across the
slot before backhanding the puck
through Kaufmann's five-hole.
"That was the goal of the game,
really," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said. "I thought that put
them on their heels and was just a
really good individual effort on a
backhand."
See MAVERICKS, Page 2B
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
Senior Chad Kolarik (left) celebrates after tallying the first of three goals in his return from a hamstringinjury Friday night. The hat trick was his third of the season.
Long season ends in
record-setting fashion
New offense troubles Blue
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
INDIANAPOLIS - Sitting on the
bench, his season just seconds away from
ending, freshman Kelvin Grady didn't
want to think about the troubles that have
plagued his team all season.
Hedidn'twant
to think about MICHIGAN 34
the Michigan WISCONSIN 51
men's basketball
team's having another poor shooting game
- 10-for-50, leading to 34 points, which
set a Big Ten Tournament record for few-
est points in a game and was Michigan's
lowest output since scoring 32 at Michigan
State in 1951.
He didn't want to think about how the
Wolverines reverted back to their sloppy
old habits, turning the ball over 14 times.
And he didn't want to think about how
Michigan (5-13 Big Ten, 10-22 overall)
broke the program record for losses in a
season with a 51-34 loss to No. 8 Wiscon-
sin (16-2, 27-4) in the Big Ten Tournament
quarterfinals.
So the point guard turned to redshirt
freshman Anthony Wright, who was sit-
ting next to him, and said, "We'll be right
back nextyear."
"You don't want it to sink in that you
lost," Grady said. "You want to have the
thought in your mind on your way back
that we'll be back. Why not havea positive
thought instead of a negative thought?"
And there were plenty of negatives -
like the fact that Wright was the only Wol-
verine to makea basket in the second half.
But when he hita 3-pointer after a time-
out midway through the second frame,
Beilein found a positive in the shipwreck
of a game. He turned to his bench and, like
he often does during a game, explained
what he saw on the court.
See BADGERS, Page 3B
ByDAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez
had totake extra Tylenol before Saturday's
practice, the first of the spring. And before
he addressed the media
afterward, a media rela- NOTEBOOK
tions official asked him if
he wanted any juice. He declined, asking
instead for water and more Tylenol.
Rodriguez, in his first official practice in
Ann Arbor, began the slow and often pain-
ful process of teaching the spread option to
players who were recruited to run a pro-
style offense.
The practice in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse,
during which players donned shorts and
helmets but no pads, went longer than
Rodriguez would've liked because the team
had to repeat drills until they were done
properly.
"It was ugly at times," Rodriguez said. "I
was encouraged at times. It was a typical
first practice."
Losing seven offensive starters won't
make installing the new system any easier.
Quarterback Chad Henne, running back
Mike Hart, wide receivers Mario Manning-
ham and Adrian Arrington, left tackle Jake
Long and left guard Adam Kraus were all
multiple-year starters. Their replacements
are short on experience.
"I'm having a hard enough time sleeping
now at night," Rodriguez said. "You want
me to think about that?"
SCHEMING ABOUT DEFENSE: When
Rodriguez was hired, fifth-year senior
defensive tackle Will Johnson assumed
Michigan's base defense would be the same
3-3-5 system West Virginia ran.
But new defensive coordinator Scott Sha-
fer is bringing his 4-3 base from Stanford.
Rodriguez said the Wolverines would also
incorporate some of the odd sets he used
with the Mountaineers.
"I don't know how good the 3-3-5
would've been in the Big Ten because it's a
big run-dominated conference," said John-
See SPRING PRACTICE, Page 3B
Freshman Kelvin Grady went scoreless as part
of Michigan's record low 34 point total Friday.