S S S S _ Juk r Admk + i 0 0 0 2C - Faceoff 2008 - Thursday, October 9, 2008 Thursday, October 9, 2008 - Faceoff 2008 - 7C FACEOFF 2008 Have questions about Michigan hockey? Goalies, offense, coaching and more, the answers are here. A tale of opposites: senior captain Mark Mitera and junior alternate captain forgo ,, Kthe pros to lead Michigan. Breakdown of the CCHA. Which teams are on the rise and which might fail to meet high expecta- tions. Who will win it all this season? The hockey beat reporters makes their best predictions about the CCHA and the Frozen Four. 2008-2009 _SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Site 10/10 St. Lawrence 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 10/11 St. Lawrence 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 10/17 Northern Michigan 7:35 p.m. Marquette, Mich. 10/18 Northern Michigan 7:35 p.m. Marquette, Mich. 10/23 Niagara 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 10/25 Boston University 7:05 p.m. Boston, Mass. 10/31 Ohio State 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 11/1 Ohio State 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 11/7 Alaska 7:05 AST Fairbanks, Alaska 11/8 Alaska 7:05 AST Fairbanks, Alaska 11/14 Western Michigan 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 11/15 Western Michigan 7:35 p.m. Kalamazoo, Mich. 11/21 Miami (Ohio) 7:35 p.m. Oxford, Ohio 11/22 Miami (Ohio) 7:35 p.m. Oxford, Ohio 11/28 Minnesota 7:05 CST Minneapolis, Minn. 11/29 Wisconsin 7:05 CST Madison, Wis. 12/5 Michigan State 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 12/6 Michigan State 7:05 p.m. East Lansing, Mich. 12/27 Michigan Tech 3:05 p.m. Detroit, Mich. 12/28 MSU/North Dakota 3:00/6:00 Detroit, Mich. 1/9 Miami (Ohio) 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 1/10 Miami (Ohio) 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 1/16 Bowling Green 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 1/17 Bowling Green 7:35 p.m. Bowling Green, Ohio 1/23 Michigan State 7:35 p.m. Detroit, Mich. 1/24 Michigan State 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 1/30 Notre Dame 8:05 p.m. South Bend, Ind. 1/31 Notre Dame 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 2/6 Lake Superior State 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 2/7 Lake Superior State 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 2/13 Nebraska-Omaha 7:35 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 2/14 Nebraska-Omaha 8:05 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 2/20 Ohio State 7:05 p.m. Columbus, Ohio 2/21 Ohio State 8:05 p.m. Columbus, Ohio 2/27 Ferris State 7:05 p.m. Big Rapids, Mich. 2/28 Ferris State 8:05 p.m. Ann Arbor, Mich. 3/13 CCHA Quarterfinal TBA Campus Sites 3/20 CCHA Final TBA Detroit, Mich. 3/27 NCAA Regional TBA TBA 4/9 Frozen Four TBA Washington, D.C. Last year, the Mavericks featured the best power play in the NCAA, converting at a 23.9-percent clip. Will Nebraska-Omaha's special teams keep up that pace this year? Don't bet on it. Nebraska-Omaha lost all three forwards from their first-team power play. Although they return the entire second unit, the Mavericks will be hard-pressed to live up to last season's production. The status of the Maverick goaltending is a big concern. Fans will remember the 10-1 shellacking Michigan gave Nebraska-Omaha during last year's CCHA playoffs, in which the Mavericks used three goalies. If they hope to improve, their goalies will have to step up. If the Mavericks exceed expectations and continue their rapid-fire success on the man- advantage, they could finish higher than predicted in the CCHA standings. WESTERN MICHIGAN Things can't get much worse for the Broncos. Last season's conference doormat was outscored nearly two-to-one en route to an eight-win season and a last place finish in the CCHA. The only player to tally double-digit goals last year, junior Cam Watson, returns along with Patrick Galivan and Max Campbell, who combined for 53 points last season. Those three are among the few forwards who are guaranteed a lot of playing time. Coach Jim Culhane has brought in seven forwards in this year's recruiting class and wants them all to compete for minutes. The Broncos suffered 10 one-goal losses last season. Cuihane believes improving puck-handling and main- taining possessions can reverse those results. Cuihane also may split time between junior and sophomore goaltenders Riley Gill and Jerry Kuhn. Both had dismal records last season, overshadowing their .900-plus save percentages. NEBRASKA OMAHA # spps f k: i. ; , y . 'i ,r " ' ^ «> ' 7 LAKE SUPERIOR STATE I IM School of lnforma*t'ion'- Connect with SI An event for prospective master's and Ph.D. students A graduate degree from the Our master's degree graduates Incentive designer are hired for such careers as: U Computational linguist School of Information prepares U Archivist Natural language engineer Librarian Policy advisor you for an exciting array of Research analyst Cultural resource manager * Web marketing manager Community organizer Information Age careers. Find out Multimedia consultant E-marketing associate Data analyst Online community manager our flexible multidis ina Usability engineer Our Ph.D. program prepares you: how ur lexble mulidicipinay Human factors engineer hownfHuman actegineer For teaching and research peInformation architect in academia and corporate program will benefit you! Auction designer/manager carhlc -1 The Lakers finished last year with a disappointing ninth-place finish in the CCHA. Like many teams in the conference, Lake Superior State simply couldn't compete with the upper-echelon teams, going 2-12-2 against .500-or-better opponents. Lake Superior State lost just three seniors and return leading goal scorer Nathan Perk- ovich, who had 17 goals last season. Lake Superior State's biggest weakness is their goal- tending. Both junior Pat Inglis and sophomore Brian Mahoney-Wilson, who split time last season, finished with sub-.900 save percentages. If the Lakers want to have a successful season, they will need to win early. Lake Superior State's schedule is back-loaded, with Michigan, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Miami and Northern Michigan. That's tough for even the best teams in the league. MODEL NOW OPEN Located at 4 Eleven Lofts Leasing Center 400 E. Washington (@ Division) I I S I I I I I I I I I i I I I i I L ALASKA 11 Junior forward Dion Knelson is the only double-digit scorer returning to a Nanooks squad that averaged an anemic 2.3 goals per game in 2007-08. For Alaska to improve upon last year's 9-21-5 record, new head coach Dallas Ferguson, an Alaska hockey alum, will need to be pleasantly surprised by many of the Nanooks' 12 freshmen. Alaska returns five seniors, and it will be critical for them to take control of the locker room. One of those seniors, projected starting goalie Chad Johnson may hold the key to the entire season. Johnson went 0-6-0 last year, with a 3.36 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. If he exceeds expectations, he can buy the Nanook forwards some time to develop early in the season. If his stats mirror his career numbers, Alaska could suffer a lot of bad losses and find itself buried at the bottom of the conference by Christmas.