Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Icers rebound, beat USNTDP Future Wolverines
LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan hockey team
had one more ; get-out-of-jail-
free card - just one exhibition
game stood between it and the
start of its regular season.
One more game where it
could make as many mistakes
as it needed without any conse-
quences.
But if Monday night's match-
up against the US National Team
Develop-
ment Pro- USNTDP . 1
gram had MICHIGAN 3
counted,
the Wolverines wouldn't have
anything to be ashamed about.
The Wolverines flew past the
USNTDP, 3-1, in a game that
showcased a team completely
transformed from its exhibition
loss against Ontario Institute of
Technology on Saturday.
The USNTDP took an early.
lead six minutes in with a goal
by forward Nicolas Kerdiles,
assisted by Michigan commit
Jacob Trouba.
And for a while, the game was
an even matchup between the
young high school players and
the more experienced Wolver-
ines.
But Michigan quickly dashed
any hopes of an upset when
junior forward Lindsay Sparks
capitalized on a scrum around
the net eight minutes later. After
that, the Wolverines refused to
give up possession.
Michigan kept the puck in
the USNTDP's attack zone for
nearly the rest of the game -
sophomore forward Luke Mof-
fatt tipped the puck into the
net on a Michigan power play
in the second period and fresh-
man forward Phil Di Guiseppe
rounded out Michigan's scoring
more than two minutes into the
third period.
By then, it was clear that the
USNTDP wasn't able to keep
up physically with the Michi-
gan players who were up to four
JED MOCH/Daily
Sophomore forward Luke Moffatt scored one of Michigan's three goals, a power play tally in the second period last night.
shine in Yost debut
MATT SLOVIN scrimmage presented a chance
Daily Sports Writer to see just what he would be
getting when the two defenders
In his 28 years at the helm, come under his tutelage. And
Michigan hockey head coach althoughthecoachwasunableto
Red Berenson has seen a lot comment on his incoming class
of talent come through the US due to NCAA regulations, one
National Team Development would assume that the USNTDP
Program. The group that hung standouts' ability to clean up
tough with his Wolverines Mon- the ice consistently pleased the
day night, however, caught his 28-year veteran, even though his
eye as especially high-caliber. team was facing them. Junior
Even a 3-1 victory couldn't stop forward A.J. Treais seemed
Berenson from singing the anxious to call them teammates,
youth's praises. instead of counterparts.
"Thatteam,theyareall 17-year "I was very impressed with
olds," Berenson said. "But they them," Treais said. "I thought
look like pros. They are all going they handled themselves very
to be top college players." well for their first college game,
For a pair of USNTDP defen- and especially here at Yost."
semen, Monday night's exhi- Trouba and Carrick cited
bition against the Michigan their tendencies to play smash-
hockey team was a homecom- mouth hockey as what attracted
log of sorts, despite the fact that them to the program, as the
it was their first time on the Wolverines are known to fea-
Yost Ice Arena rink. Both Jacob ture that brand of hard-hitting
Trouba and Connor Carrick defense. Berenson likes his fair
have verbally committed to call share of tough defensemen and
Yost home next season. fast, offensively-minded versa-
"It was a lot of fun," Trouba tile ones too.
said of the opportunity. "There "They play fast and physical,"
was a lot of energy." Trouba said. "They play on the
For now, though, Michigan edge. That's how Ilike to play."
was the enemy. But Carrick noted there was
"It was pretty nerve-racking also enough room for a defense-
at.first," Carrick said. "You try man like himself.
to settle yourself down and play "I like to play that same style
the game. I'm looking forward to - their defensemen are offense-
having (the crowd) on my side men and I'm very excited to add
for the next four years." to a very good hockey team,"
Trouba, in particular, was Carrick said.
impressive. About six minutes When asked for his take on the
into the first period, he scanned future Wolverines'first showings
the ice after receiving a pass atYost, sophomore forward Luke
from teammate Kyle Osterberg, Moffatt - a former USNTDP
then he slipped the puck to Nico- player himself - was nostalgic.
las Kerdiles, who put it in the "It's definitely a little nerve-
back of the net. His quick find of racking coming in and playing
Kerdiles was more than enough the team you're going to play
to create the scoring chance for for next year," Moffatt said. "I
the USNTDP and put the home remember (Treais and I) had
crowd on edge, with the Wol- the opportunity to play against
verines trailing a team of high- Michigan. It's a fun experience
schoolers. For Berenson, the for those guys."
years older than them. on Monday with the addition of
"(The USNTDP is) a good sophomore defenseman Kevin
team," Moffatt said. Clare to the line after giving the
"(There are) a lot of good freshmen a chance to play on
players on that team. They gave Saturday.
us a pretty good game in the "(The defense) was playing
first (period), but we wore them more simple and not trying to do
out in the second and third and too much," said Michigan coach
Red Berenson. "The other night
they were trying to beat guys
one-on-one and causing turn-
"They gave us overs and problems.
"Tonight we were making the
a pretty good simple play and that's what we
have to do."
game ... but we The Wolverines were also
better prepared to capitalize on
wore them out." offensive opportunities. Michi-
gan had a host of breakaway
chances during the course of the
game.
were able to capitalize on some And this time, the offense
chances." didn't waste the opportunities,
The Michigan forwards have turning every dash to the puck
their defensemen to thank for into a full-out battle for posses-
those chances. ,The defensive sion.
corps, which was visibly shaky Berenson knows when there
over the weekend, clicked better are that many players compet-
ing for possession, goals will
soon follow.
With its last exhibition game
under its belt, Michigan has a
better understanding of its team
dynamics and what it can expect
from each line in future match-
ups.
"I think the lines will be a
work in progress," Berenson
said.'
"I think they are gettingsome
chemistry and a little confi-
dence."
Michigan plays the second
of back-to-back games Tuesday
against University of Niagara-in
its season opener, but the play-
ers know the only thing they
have to be worried about is
themselves.
"It's the first game of the real
season that's going to count
towards our record," said junior
forward A.J. Treais.
"It's on us now nd it really
doesn't matter what the other
team is doing."
FOOTBALLA
Two-quarterback package
paying dividends for Blue
MICHAELFLOREK
Daily Sports Editor
Junior running back Vincent
Smith says the Michigan foot-
ball team calls the formation
'Two,' for the two quarterbacks
involved. The
Wolverines can NOTEBOOK
call it whatever
they want - opposing defensive
coordinators will likely just call
it scary.
The formation consists of
sophomore quarterback Devin
Gardner lined up under center
with junior quarterback Denard
Robinson lined up a few yards
back, off center. Two running
backs fill in the rest of the back-
field to make a diamond.
The 12th-ranked Wolver-
ines used the formation spar-
ingly throughout the game, but
to great effect. Once, Robinson
tookahandoffand ranthe option.
Anothertime, Robinsoncuttothe
right, while redshirt sophomore
Fitz Toussaint took a pitch to the
left. Perhaps the most interesting
play came when Gardner hand-
ed off to Robinson, who threw
the ball back to Gardner behind
the line of scrimmage. Gardner
looked to throw down field but
couldn't find anybody open, so he
scrambled.
"I wouldn't know what to do
with that," said fifth-year senior
defensive tackle Ryan Van Ber-
gen. "It looked like the Mad
Magicians (Michigan's 1947
national championship team), it
was ridiculous. I hadn't seen any
of those plays either.
"I know they were repping
them with the scout team but
they never showed them to us as
ones. We were excited when they
showed us the formation, we just
didn't know what was coming."
Obviously, the coaches did.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke said
use of the package depends on the
flow of the game, and even though
the formation was unveiled on
the second play Saturday, there
already "was good flow." Maybe
that flow started in the hotel
before the game. Senior tight end
Kevin Koger said the coaching
staff told the offense what the
first three plays of the game were
going to be.
Unveiling the package gives
teams time to prepare for the
counter plays, double passes and
option runs that Michigan (1-0
Big Ten, 5-0 overall) showed
against Minnesota. But defens-
es can't prepare for what they
haven't seen.
"We haven't done anything
with that yet," Robinson said.
"It's going to be kind of fun when
we do."
YOU (ROAD) TRIPPIN': When
the Michigan football team plays
Northwestern in Evanston on
Saturday, Hoke won't exactly be
on the road again. Nearly half-
way through his first year as head
coach, Hoke hasn't taken the
Wolverines on the road yet. And
even though the team stays at the
Campus Inn in Ann Arbor the
night before home games, this
will be a little different.
For a team that has answered
See PACKAGE, Page 8
MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Michigan coach Brady Hoke has the Wolverines ranked 12th in the country after starting the season 5-0.
Hoke says his, teamis 'overrated
STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Editor
On Oct. 4, 2010, the Michigan
football team was 5-0 and drasti-
cally over-ranked at No. 18 in the
nation. Today, the Wolverines
are 5-0 at No. 12 in the Associ-
ated Press poll and No. 11 in the
coaches' poll. One voter, Michi-
gan coach Brady Hoke, thinks
they're overrated.
"We're not playing well
enough," Hoke said Monday, two
days after Michigan steamrolled
Minnesota, 58-0. "We're not fin-
ishing well enough."
The No. 12 rank is Michigan's
highest since the fifth-ranked
Wolverines were felled by Appa-
lachian State on Sept. 1,2007.
Hoke admitted, for the first
time this year, that he ranked
Michigan in the coaches' poll.
Howhigh?
"Somewhere in the top-25
teams."
Rest assured he didn't vote
for, No. 11, on the doorstep of the
nation's top-10.
While the team's expectations
have been sky-high since Hoke
arrived in January, players aren't
buying into Michigan's bloated
position inthe polls.
"As far as the ranking goes,
my opinion hasn't changed, the
team's opinion hasn't changed
- ranking doesn't mean any-
thing to us," said fifth-year
senior defensive tackle Ryan
See HOKE, Page 8
MEN'S GYMNASTICS
Michigan community honors legendary coach Newt Loken
CARLY BODDY the Loken family was joined by
Daily Sports Writer friends, family, alumni and ath-
letes at the Jack Roth Stadium
He didn't miss a home meet for Club to celebrate Loken's life and
more than 60 years. The practice accomplishments.
facility is named after him. Loken left a legacy that
Newt Loken coached the stretches well beyond the ath-
Michigan men's gymnastics letes and friends he touched in
team for 40 years, winning his 35 years as head coach. Not
two NCAA championships and only was he a coach, but he was
coaching 69 conference cham- a teachgr at the University as
pions. At Minnesota, he won an well. Indeed, many of those in
NCAA all-around championship attendance were Loken's former
himself as a gymnast, and was students and colleagues, all of
featured on the cover of LIFE whom remembered him fondly.
magazine: "Newt Loken: All- "I experienced him first when
Around Gym Champion." I was studying physical educa-
Loken passed away on June tion, then later, as a coach." said
28 at the age of 92. Last Friday, Don Hearst, a former student
and gynast of Loken's. "He was
the same no matter where he
was, always upbeat and enthusi-
astic."
His teaching colleagues
thought of him highly, too. For-
mer Michigan Kinesiology pro-
fessor Rod Grambeau spoke
of his time working alongside
Loken in the Kinesiology depart-
ment.
"He was always very encour-
aging, no matter what you did,"
Grambeau said. "He was always
positive. He never said a negative
word about anyone in all the days
that I knew him."
On the eve of the Michigan-
Minnesota football game, alum-
ni of Loken's alma mater were in
town with his Michigan friends.
They all gathered at the sta-
dium club, high above an empty
Michigan Stadium, where just a
day later the two teams would
face off for the right to claim the
Little Brown Jug.
Those in attendance took
turns sharing memories, sto-
ries and anecdotes not about
Newt Loken the coach, but Newt
Loken the man.
Former Athletic Director Jack
Weidenbach, current Athletic
Director Dave Brandon, former
football coach Gary Moeller and
dozens of others were in atten-
dance.
He will be further honored
during the football game against
Purdue.
The entire women's and men's
gymnastics teams attended to pay
their respects to a man who built
the program they work for every
day.
Minnesota men's gymnastics
coach Mike Burns spoke of the
legacy Newt left behind in his
time as an athlete in Minneapo-
lis. During his time at Michigan,
Newt also coached the cheer-
leading team, and his former
Minnesota teammates helped to
establish the Newt Loken Cheer-
leader's Scholarship, which is
now annually awarded to a Uni-
versityof Michigan cheerleader.
"Newt would never boo any-
thing." Hearst said. "Never cheer
a penalty. Always cheer for, never
against."
In his 36 years as head coach,
Loken led his teams to 12 Big Ten
Championships.
Even after retiring in 1983, his
work was not done. He continued
to play an active role in a program
that he worked so hard to create.
He never missed a home meet,
and even for away meets he was
there, supporting Michigan gym-
nastics throughout his whole life.
His coaching didn't end when
his career did, and neither has his
legacy.
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