4B - November 30, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com *I

4B - November 30, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom *

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SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Junior goaltender Bryan Hogan pokes away a puck from Wisconsin in the second period of Saturday's 3-2 win over Wisconsin. Hogan played a big role in the defense's efforts on the weekend, notching 63 saves in two games of work. With Hogan turning in a
strong performance, the Michigan defense was able to focus more on offense. This weekend, the Wolverine blue liners tallied seven points (one goal and six assists). Defenseman Brandon Brlon scored the goal for Michigan.

OffCSHOWCASE
Ofensive spark coiimes Fo

from beyond the blue
line in weekend sweep

By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
For 12 games, the Michigan
hockey team's defensive corps was
downright offensive in the oppos-
ing zone - but not in the way the
Wolverines had hoped for at the
beginning of the season.
Michigan fell below .500. The
defense had just two goals and
was averaging under two points a
game.
For one of the most offensively
talented defensive units Michigan
coach Red Berenson has had in
years, it wasn't supposed to be that
way. The defense was expected to
fill the void left from the lack of a
true playmaker at forward.
But after a sweep of Minne-
sota and No. 15 Wisconsin in the
College Hockey Showcase, the
defense and the rest of the Wol-
verines are finally living up to
expectations.
This weekend, the blue liners
found the score sheet seven times,
with one goal and six assists. The
goal came during Friday's game
on the power play, when sopho-
more Brandon Burlon took a pass
at the top of the left circle and
rifled a slap shot that beat Gopher
goalie Alex Kangas on the blocker
side.
"It's good for our team," Beren-
son said. "We're fighting to score

goals and all the pressure is on our
forwards. When the 'D' can step
in and help generate offense with
a good play or a good shot, that's
huge."
The defensive unit as a whole
elevated its game - five of the
seven members recorded points.
The only players not to pad their
stats were pure defender Tristin
Llewellyn and senior Chris Sum-
mers, who came in tied for the
defenseman team lead in points.
The difference for the defense
this weekend had much to do with
the emergence of Michigan's for-
wards. The forwards have had
trouble scoring this season, but
they scored eight of the team's
nine goals in almost every way
imaginable, from breakaways to
putting it in off of a defenseman's
skate.
"I think it's just having more
trust in the forwards," Summers
said. "The forwards were coming
back a lot more this weekend, alot
more with a purpose, and I think
that makes a difference. We're
allowed to step up, make some
plays, gain a little bit of confidence
on the blue line. That could be
another turning point - that could
be a new aspect to our team."
The team effort clearly had a
leader on the weekend - senior
Steve Kampfer. After fracturing
his skull in an off-ice incident

early last season, Kampfer was
relegated to watching his Wolver-
ines lose to Wisconsin in the last
year's Showcase.
This year, he made his pres-
ence felt early. On the power play,
Kampfer hit junior Carl Hagelin in
the slot and Hagelin found junior
Matt Rust walking out of the cor-
ner for the first goal of the game.
The assist was one of Kampfer's
three on the weekend as he dou-
bled his output from the season's
first 12 games.
Kampfer didn't lose sight of his
primary responsibilities, either.
He finished the weekend with
a plus-four rating and played a
prominent role late in Saturday's
third period with Michigan up
2-1. After laying a huge hit on a
Wisconsin forward, he made a
diving clear to negate the Wiscon-
sin attack.
"We have to play solid defen-
sively first," Kampfer said. "As
soon as we get our defensive game
under us, I think that's when the
offense starts kicking in. I thought
that happened this weekend."
If the Wolverines (3-5-0 CCHA,
7-7-0 overall) want to move up
from 11th in the conference, they
will need to carry this weekend's
momentum into CCHA play. For
success to continue, the defense
will need to be "offensive" in the
truest sense of the word.

epitomized the team's playagainst
Minitesota and Wisconsin. Seven
minutes into the final frame, on
the penalty kill, junior Matt Rust
blocked a Gopher defenseman's
shot.
Rust then grabbed the loose
puck near the Wolverines' bench
HOCKEY
From page 1B
straight weekend sweeps.
Before the College Hockey
Showcase last season, captain
Chris Summers knew how impor-
tant the matchup was for the
Wolverines to turn around after a
slow start.
"It's going to be a huge test for
us," Summers said in Nov. 2008.
"I think we're goingto define our-
selves asa team this weekend."
The victory against then-No.
1 Minnesota sparked Michigan's
second-half run, finally giving
them-a winning mentality.
Although the competition might
not have been as highly ranked as

and dished it to a streaking Hage-
lin, who beat the Minnesota (5-8-
1) defense down the ice.
He then threw a backhand
five-hole on netminder Alex
Kangas.
While Rust's play didn't nec-
essarily show up as a substantial
statistic at the end of the game, it
was reflective of the Wolverines'
commitment to the defensive side
of the red line.
Forwards backchecking with
it was in past seasons, the Wolver-
ines' sweep of the College Hockey
Showcase should do exactly what
Summers said it would do one year
ago, define this team.
"It's a good turning point for
our team, but by no means are we
fully there yet," Summers said.
Berenson knew this team's con-
fidence had hit rock bottom. And
with his astounding track record,
the coach has shown again that he
knows how to turn a team around.
"It's another step in the right
direction," he said after Michi-
gan's 3-2 victory over Wisconsin.
"It gives us some confidence our
defense is playing better, our
goalie is playing better and the
forwards are really chipping in."
Two wins against underrated

a purpose, defensemen clearing
out loose rebounds in front of
junior goaltender Bryan Hogan
and players sacrificing their bod-
ies are all telltale signs of a defen-
sive-minded team.
"We're very close (to playing
Michigan hockey)," Glendening
said.
"We're headed in the right
direction. We just need to keep
building and not become compla-
cent."
non-conference teams maynot do
much for the Wolverines' record.
But this sweep is more important
than the team's other five wins.
The struggling power play,
ranked near the bottom of the
NCAA scored three goals. The
Wolverines' most prolific scorer
from last season, Louie Caporus-
so, notched two goals and added
an assist. And goaltender Bryan
Hogan, who boasted a mediocre
.887 save percentage, made 63
saves intwo games this weekend
and earned his first shutout of
the season against Minnesota on
Friday.
The Wolverines may not be
"back" just yet. But Berenson
sure has them playing"Michigan
hockey" once again.

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Woodson gives large donation to
help Mott's Children's Hospital

THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL
The Michigan Daily Top 10 returns for its ninth installment this season. Each week, Daily
Sports staffers will fill out ballots, with first place votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes
receiving nine, and so on. The results are published with first-place votes in parentheses.

1. Florida (6): Did you expect
anything less in Tebow's final
game in the Swamp? They'll
sure miss him next year.
2. Texas (4): One thing stands
between Colt McCoy and a
Heisman and a championship.
Its name? Ndamukong Suh.
3. Alabama:'Bama may have
won the Iron Bowl, but we
don't see Mark Ingram with
fia Heisman any time soon.
4. Cincinnati (1): With a lone
No. 1 vote, it's clear this team
is for real. But is Brian Kelly
already thinking of South Bend?
5. TCU: We won't lie. We're
hoping for the Horned Frogs
in the'Ship. They'll be
Husker fans this weekend.

6. Boise State: Kellen
Moore for Heisman? Not
when your best game
comes against Idaho.
7. Oregon: Who else would
sell their kidney to see
the Civil War in Autzen
Stadium this week? Just us?
8. Ohio State: That loss to USC
doesn't look so good anymore.
Neither does Purdue. But hey,
maybe we're just jealous.
9. Penn State: Daryll Clark
maybe gone next year,
but the Blue Royster Cult
will still be in full effect.
10. Iowa: It seems like a long
time ago when the Hawkeyes
had Rose Bowl hopes. Hey, at
least they're going bowling.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -
Charles Woodson wants to be
known as more than a football
player.
Donating $2 million to the new
University of Michigan Mott Chil-
dren's Hospital and Women's Hos-
pital gives him a chance to do that.
The school announced Wood-
son'sgift on Thanksgiving before
he played for the Green Bay Fack-
ers against the Detroit Lions.
Then, he intercepted two pass-
es - returning one for a score -
forced a fumble, recovered it and
had a sack.
"It was a good day," Woodson
said after Green Bay's 34-12 win in
Detroit.
His donation will support pedi-
atric research by The Charles
Woodson Clinical Research Fund
in the $754-million, 1.1-million
square foot hospital scheduled to
open in 2012.
"He's really studied and tried to
understand what the issues are in
doing research in pediatrics," Dr.
valerie Castle said. "What most
people don't know is that less than
10 percent of the National Insti-
tute of Health budget goes toward
research in pediatric disease.
"When you study those patients,
you often times get clues to adult
diseases."
Woodson hopes to attract the
world's best researchers who want
to help children with cancer, heart
disease, kidney disorders and
autism.
"I want to be part of that symbol
of hope," Woodson said. "So that
they can say,'I know I can beatthis
thing and there's people out there

APPHOTO
Former Wolverine Charles Woodson visits a young patient at Mott Hospital.

who will help me beat it.'
Woodson said during a visit
to Ann Arbor earlier this month
that becoming a father in January
motivated him to make the gift,
altering his outlook on life.
"It can change a lot," he said.
Lloyd Carr, his coach at Michi-
gan, hopes Woodson's gift pushes
his peers to also give back.
"I think it's going to have a sig-
nificant influence across the ath-
letic world that he decided to do
this," Carr said.
Woodson acknowledged feeling
awkward about allowing a Fox TV
reporter and crew to follow him as
he visited patients on a day off in
November, but said it was part of
his mission.
"Half of the battle is about
awareness," Woodson said. "When
I signed on board to be a part of

this team, that was going to be part
of the deal. Part of making it work
is me being a face or spokesman.
"I guess what bigger days can
we do it to bring awareness to the
cause when everybody is watching
a Thanksgiving Day game?"
The native of Fremont, Ohio,
helped Michigan win the national
championship in 1997. He won the
Heisman Trophy as a cornerback
who also played wide receiver and
returned punts.
His memories from college on
and off the field led to him giving
back financially.
"It was probably best three
years of my life that I can remem-
ber, other than having my son,"
Woodson said. "When people still
see me, even though I have been in
Green Bay and Oakland, they still
talk about Michigan."

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