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The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I October 24,2011
N. MICHIGAN 5, MICHIGAN 3
MICHIGAN 3, N. MICHIGAN 3 (SO)
CORY GENOVESE/Northern Michigan Athletic Department
Fifth-yearsenior goalie Shawn Hunwick was ejected in the second period of Friday's game after punching Wildcat forward Andrew Cherniwchnr.
i
'M' salvages series
in shootout victory
By ZACH HELFAND attempts during the shootout to became the fourth player eject-
Daily Sports Editor secure the victory. On Friday, ed in the series when he picked
Hunwick earned an ejection for up the penalty for a blindside
MARQUETTE - Junior for- a contact-to-the-head penalty hit to freshman forward Travis
ward A.J. Treais said he hadn't after punching Wildcat forward Lynch.
scored a shootout goal "since Andrew Cherniwchan during a On Saturday, Hunwick didn't
mini-mites." brawl. perform at his best - Jones's
That's OK: the No. 1 Michi- "We had a chip on our shoul- tying goal came after a deke that
gan hockey team hadn't won a der tonight," Treais said. "We lured Hunwick out of position
shootout in its history. really didn't want to lose that - but he made stops in big situa-
A shootout, though, was the one. A lot of emotions were fly- tions in front of a hostile crowd.
only fitting ending to the Wol- ing (Friday) night so we just With nine minutes remaining in
verines' wild two-game series really wanted to get this win the third period, he made a save
with No. 17 Northern Michigan (Saturday night)." on a shot that was good enough
(1-0-1 CCHA, 4-1-1 overall). The Wolverines (0-1-1, 4-1- to trick the goal judge.
Treais - who said he found out 1) led for most of the game on A Wildcat player fired in a
he'd be Michigan's final shooter Saturday, but a Wildcat goal by one-timer from close range
just 40 seconds before he took freshman defenseman Mitch that headed toward the corner
the ice - fired a shot into the Jones tied the game just a of the net. The lamp lit up, but
top corner of the net to win the minute into the third period. the puck sat in Hunwick's glove.
shootout victory in a series filled Michigan couldn't convert on The referees reviewed the play
with punches, ejections and a five-minute major penalty and ruled it a save.
late-game drama. that extended from the end of "He's our goalie, he's our
Fifth-year senior goalie the third period into overtime. go-to guy," Treais said of Hun-
Shawn Hunwick denied all three Sophomore forward Reed Seckel See NORTHERN, Page 3B
MARQUETTE -
hawn Hunwick is a great
goalie because of his
unrivaled passion and
intensity. On game days, the
diminutive
senior net-
minder is EVERETT
in the zone COOK
hours before On Ice Hockey
the puck
drops, to the
point where everyone knows
not to mess with him.
He is great because he is an
unbelievable competitor who
will do anything in his power to
win. That's why his teammates
love him - they know the man
behind them wants nothing
more than to protect them.
But the thingthat makes
Shawn Hunwick great is the
thing that got him in trouble on
Friday night in the team's con-
ference opener.
Ten minutes into the second
period, Northern Michigan's
Andrew Cherniwchan ran into
Hunwick after a missed break-
away shot, sending Hunwick
flying through the air and onto
his back. He rolled around the
ice for a couple seconds, then
got up and promptly jabbed his
stick into Cherniwchan.
It was a little reminder that
no one goes in his zone. Goal-
ies do not like to be touched, let
alone knocked over. Fine, no
big deal.
Still not satisfied, Hunwick
shoved Cherniwchan. Retali-
ation ensued, and a skirmish
broke out. Shoving matches
happen routinely in hockey,
especially in tough, physical
games. Fine, no big deal.
But then Hunwick cocked
his arm and delivered a whop-
per of a punch to the chin of
Cherniwchan, sending him on
his back. This was not a little
sock - Hunwick didn't hold
anything back.
Hunwick was subsequently
ejected from the game, putting
the incredibly raw sophomore
Adam Janecyk in the net. Not
fine - and a very big deal.
Less than five minutes later,
the Michigan shutout was gone.
It was the first of four goals that
Janecyk would allow en route
to a 5-3 Northern Michigan
victory.
It's hard to blame Janecyk.
He played more minutes on
Friday than in the rest of his
Michigan career combined,
and he was on the road in front
of a brutal Northern Michigan
crowd. He was not put into a
position to succeed. And that
See HUNWICK, Page 3B
Hunwick can't let emotions
get the best ofhim
Treais's oal wins shootout Sparks continues hot streak in NMU split
By MATT SLOVIN The most recent lamplighter period, he was feeling par-
DottylSports_ Wr-te f_. r .Spakst cme n Stra' tiu.tarty genrou ..omclos
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Writer
MARQUETTE - Until Satur-
day night, the Michigan hockey
team had only been in three
shootouts since the CCHA first
implemented the concept in
2008 to settle tied games. And
in those three years, the Wol-
verines had never won one.
That's why Michigan coach
Red Berenson has him team
go through a shootout simula-
tion in its last practice of every
week. More important than
making the team feel comfort-
able should the situation arise, it
gives Berenson a chance to eval-
uate who would take the shots.
The Wolverines entered its
weekend series against North-
ern Michigan (1-0-1, 4-1-1) with
plenty of goals behind their belt,
but still no go-to scorer. So when
the situation actually arose
after Saturday night's scoreless
overtime against the Wildcats,
Berenson still had no clue who
he wanted to take the shots. And
he had to come up with names
- fast.
"We weren't even thinking
about going into a shootout,"
Berenson said. "I want to use
players that have confidence,
that are playing well and scor-
ing."
That's how he settled on two
of his shooters - junior for-
wards Lindsay Sparks and A.J.
See TREAIS, Page 3B
Daily Sports Writer
MARQUETTE - Junior
forward Lindsay Sparks's fin-
est moment of a stellar season
so far came
this week- NOTEBOOK
end when his
team needed it most.
With his team-leading five
tallies, Sparks has emerged as
an anchor of Michigan coach
Red Berenson's third line,
which has been a pleasant
surprise entering CCHA play.
for Sparks came in Saturday's
shootout win over Northern
Michigan, when his power play
score extended his team's lead.
"I just try to play honest
hockey," Sparks said Saturday
after the game. "(Everything's)
starting to click a little for me
and we're trying to run with it
now."
In addition to his scoring,
Sparks has proven equally
adept at finding the tape of
his teammates' sticks. As time
wound down in the second
ticularly generous. From close
range, Sparks sailed a beau-
tifully crafted pass right to
junior forward Kevin Lynch,
who knocked it in for his first
point of the season.
HIGHLIGHT FOR HYMAN:
Like Sparks, another Wolver-
ine forward had his strongest
showing of the season this
weekend. Freshman forward
Zach Hyman posted his first
career goal in Friday night's
5-3 loss to the Wildcats.
See NOTEBOOK, Page 38
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Playing with Rich Rod's players, Hoke
and Co. will turn Michigan around. But
they'll need some time. Page 2B
TWO FOR NOTHING
Michigan was shut out twice over the
weekend, blanked by Penn State
and Ohio State. Page 4B