The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, January 28, 2011 - 5

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycomFriday, January 28, 2011 - 5

Berenson wants Blue
to improve defensively

New diving coaches give
M' a chance for success

By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Editor
During the Michigan hock-
ey team's rollercoaster sea-
son last year
- winning six
straight games Michigan
to advance to . vs.Michi-
its 20th-con-
secutive NCAA gan State
Tournament - Matchup:
the Wolverines Michigan
experienced 17-6-4;
episodes of "no Michigan
confidence," State 10-13-4
according to When: Satur-
forward Matt day 8:05 P.M.
Rust. Where: Joe
But with No. Louis Arena
6 Michigan cur- TV/Radio:
rently riding a FS Detroit
five-game win
streak and sit-
ting atop the CCHA standings,
the senior alternate captain
said that the Wolverines have
all the confidence in the world
heading into its Saturday night
matchup with Michigan State at
Joe Louis Arena.
"We're not even talking
about that," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said of the win-
ning streak. "We're talking
about how we can play bet-
ter. No disrespect to the win-
ning streak, but we were lucky
(against Alaska). We played
hard at times, we didn't play
well defensively and we got
lucky. That's all I can say."
Berenson commented that
the team has to "get back into
good habits," especially in the
defensive zone. Rust reiterated
that the Wolverines (14-4-1-0
CCHA, 17-6-4 overall) need to
do a better job back-checking
and pickingup opponents in the
defensive zone.
"Little things people don't
recognize when they're watch-
ing our game really do niake
a difference, giving a second
effort on battles in the corners
and things like that," Rust said.
Junior defenseman Bran-
don Burlon added that having
heightened awareness on the
ice could certainly be a contrib-
uting factor to playing better
defensively against the Spar-
tans (6-11-2-0,10-13-4).
So far, Michigan and
Michigan State are having
polar-opposite seasons - the

By ANDREW BAUSCHELT
For the Daily
Al Morrison knows diving.
So when Michigan diving
coach KZ Li came to him about
the open volunteer coaching
position, Morrison jumped at
the opportunity.
"I dove at Wisconsin (from
2007 to 2010), but I'm from
Michigan and trained here over
the summer," Morrison said.
"I really am enthusiastic about
the sport of diving ... and have
always had a little passion for
coaching. So when (Li) gave me
the opportunity to coach, I took
it."
For Morrison, though, being
from Michigan isn't the only
personal connection he has
with the program. His younger
brother Chris, a junior diver, is
the only diver on the squad who
isn't a freshman.
"It's kind of neat, having com-
peted against each other for two
years, to now being on the same
side of the pool," Morrison said.
"Sometimes it's probably tough
for him to listen to his older
brother, but it's a unique oppor-
tunity for both of us."
Chris's initial skepticism of
his brother coaching him quick-
ly dissipated as he saw how
his sibling interacted with his
teammates and the advantages
that came along with having
him on the staff.
"When he first came in,
things went better than I had
expected," Chris said. "He's
been in our shoes before and can
relate to you and give you some-
thing that you haven't really
thought about before."
However, Chris has had to
adjust to competing against his

brother just a year ago to having
him as his coach.
There has also been a full
transition in coaching styles,
after the resignation of former
coach Chris Bergere and the hir-
ing of Li before the start of the
season.
"For the most part, I feel like
the transition has gone pretty
smoothly,".Chris said. "You get
more comfortable as the season
goes along, and while (Li) has a
different coaching style than I
had been used to, the new things
that he's implementing are
starting to work.".
This isn't Li's first head
coaching job. He has previously
coached at Minnesota, Flori-
da International, and George
Washington. Li said Michigan's
tradition is a reason whythis job
is special, but it's also challeng-
ing to live up to past successes.
"I think (Li) brings a new way
of looking at diving to Michi-
gan," Al said. "With having a
lot of freshmen, you sometimes
have to go back and teach a
lot of techniques over again
and they've been making huge
strides since the start of his time
here."
With six of the seven fresh-
men divers this season, Li can
relate to the feeling that the new
divers are going through, as he
himself is a "freshman" coach at
Michigan.
"Since I'm one of the newer
coaches here, I sometimes feel
a little bit like a freshman," Li
said. "You learn a lot of stuff,
have to make a lot of adjust-
ments and every school is dif-
ferent."
With the coaching transition
and surplus of freshmen div-
ers, the younger Morrison has

become the leader of the div-
ing team - a role he is learning
more and more as each week
passes.
"With all the freshmen on our
team, I have kind of taken on
the leadership position," Chris
said. "It's weird going from just
another member on the team
last year to being the team lead-
er this year, but I'm trying to
give these guys a good example
and model for when their fresh-
man classes come in."
Chris can tell that he can still
improve in his leadership role
and Li notes that he has seen
that as well.
In Chris's eyes, Michigan div-
ing has been in the shadows of
the swimming team after a cou-
ple years of poor performances,
and his goal is to bring the div-
ing team back to the forefront,
along with the swimmers.
"The past few years I felt like
we were winning competitions
and advancing mostly because
of the swimming team and not
so much the diving team," Chris
said. "I feel like I really didn't
perform my best in the Big Ten's
and NCAA's in the last two
years, but I'm looking to per-
form better both individually
and as ateam."
For Li and the Morrison
brothers, the goal is simple:
Bring Michigan diving back to
where it once was.
"I think if we can get some
good performances and scores
at Big Ten's then I would say this
season is a success," Chris said.
"With how everything has
gone so far and (Li) bringing in
his own recruits over the next
couple years, I can definitely
see Michigan diving succeeding
right along with swimming."

JAKE FROMM/Daily
Junior defenseman Brandon Burlon has been a consistent member of the
Wolverines' blue line this season, paired with sophomore Lee Moffie.

Wolverines are vying for a regu-
lar-season conference title and
the Spartans are in second-to-
last place in the CCHA. Beren-
son said that with any game
against its in-state rival, you
could throw out records, past
games and historical trends.
On Tuesday, the 27-year-coach
called Michigan State a "better
team" than its positioning indi-
cates.
"We've had our ups and
downs with them and vice
versa," Berenson said. "The
program has been - no matter
how bad or good either teamis,
.it seems like the games are still
close."
A significant reason why
the Wolverines and Spartans
always had competitive match-
ups over the years is because
of the two coaches manning
the programs - Berenson and
Michigan State coach Rick
Comley. This weekend could
potentially be the last time the
two legendary coaches share a
post-game handshake, as ear-
lier this week Comley surpris-
ingly announced his retirement

at the end of the season.
Saturday's contest will place
two of college hockey's all-time
winningest coaches against
each other - Comley is fourth
on the list while Berenson is
behind at fifth. Even though
the Michigan-Michigan State
rivalry will lose one of its key
pieces at the end of the season,
Comley's lasting impact at the
Division-I level is apparent -
just look at his 768 career wins
and NCAA title in 2007 as evi-
dence of his collegiate success.
"When he got the job at
Michigan State then we saw,
him a lot more," Berenson said.
"He's had his ups and downs
there but that national cham-
pionship is pretty neat. We
haven't been close to a national
championship in a number of
years now, so good for him. But
I am surprised (about his retire-
ment).
"I don't know what the sce-
nario is or what prompted that.
Maybe he thought it was time.
He's been a respected coach,
when you look at the longevity,
38 years, and the wins."

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