The Michigan Daily I michigandaily com I December12, 2011
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PAUL SHERMAN/DAILY
Senior forward David Wohlberg emerged from a one-month point slump to tally four points in Michigan's win and tie against Michigan State. Michigan coach Red Berenson predicted the breakout weekend for his alternate captain Wohlberg.
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - One of the
biggest issues for the Michigan
hockey team this season has been
a lack of scoring production from
its veteran players. The Wolver-
ines have been relying on rook-
ies and unheralded players to
score, leaving the offense mired in
inconsistency and question marks.
But against Michigan State this
weekend, upperclassmen stepped
up and delivered Michigan's best
hockey of the year.
The Wolverines won on Friday,
4-3, and tied, 3-3, before losing in
a shootout on Saturday. Michigan
played a home-and-home - so Fri-
day's game was at Yost Ice Arena
and Saturday's game was in East.
Lansing.
The biggest veteran catalyst for
the four-out-of-six-point week-
end? Senior forward David Wohl-
berg.
The alternate captain went
almost a month without a point,
but a switch from wing to center
two weeks ago has had a revital-
izing effect. He also switched to a
line with junior Chris Brown and
freshman sensation Alex Gup-
till on what Michigan coach Red
Berenson has called his "power
line."
Before this weekend, Berenson
said Michigan fans would see the
"real David Wohlberg" against the
Spartans, and his hunch was spot
on.
Wohlberg scored the first goal
of the game for the Wolverines
on Friday, wristing a beauty of a
shot into the top right shelf to give
Michigan (5-6-3 CCHA, 9-8-3
overall) the early lead.
"I think the guys we needed to
stepup tonightsteppedup,"Wohl-
berg said Friday. "We knew what
needed to be done."
Wohlberg wasn't the only
upperclassman to step up on Fri-
day, though. After junior forward
Chris Brown left the box follow-
ing his team-leading 13th penalty,
he bolted up the left side of the
ice and gave Michigan a lead it
wouldn't relinquish.
Brown used his size and lower-
body strength to box out a Michi-
gan State defender in front of
the net, then slid the puck right
between the legs of netminder
Will Yanakeff to take a 2-1llead.
Even junior forward Kevin
Lynch, somewhat of a forgotten
comrade, got in on the action.
Lynch had had just three points
entering the weekend but had two
on Friday, including a goal that
turned out to be the deciding tally.
That power line - whose aver-
age height is 6-foot-2 - has not
only helped the two veterans, but
also the youngster. Guptill scored
his team-leading ninth goal on
Friday, and that line has sparked
the inconsistent Michigan offense.
"You never know what two or
three guys are going to play well
together," Berenson said. "From
See MSU, Page 3B
ICE HOCKEY
Michigan icers have been
' missing hunger, dri
EAST LANSING -
Judging by the faces of the
Michigan hockey team's
players and coaches fol-
lowing Saturday night's thriller
against Michigan State, you
would've thought the Wolverines
had justbeen swept.
Senior defenseman Greg
Pateryn dejectedly iced his shoul-
der, wincing when asked to recall
the waning moments of regula-
tion when Michigan surrendered
its late 3-2 advantage.
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said "it's too
bad" a shoot-
out had to
determine the
game, which
along with
Friday night's
contest in
Ann Arbor MATT
resembled, SLOVIN
the rivalry's
hard-hitting of yore.
Referees igno -: eir whistles
and, for the mo rt, allowed
the teams to Ot out without
interruption
But despite the long faces and
bruised egos that darkened the
visitors' locker room at Munn Ice
Arena, it wasn't all bad for the
Wolverines. In fact, they won the
series.
Michigan clinched the series
See HUNGER, Page 3B
MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Junior quarterback Denard Robinson wore a wrap on his right arm in a 58-0 win over Minnesota this season.
Robinson reveals he played through
staph infection during 2011 season
MEN'S BASKETBALL
'M' pulls away late at the Palace
By TIM ROHAN hand.
Daily Sports Editor When Robinson wore a wrap
on his right forearm before
Evidently, a "boo-boo" is Michigan's game against Min-
another term for staph infec- nesota in October, Hoke and
tion. Robinson dismissed it asa "boo-
Michigan coach Brady Hoke boo." In reality, it was a staph
revealed Friday - while defend- infection that lingered for two
ing Denard Robinson's up-and- to three weeks.
down season - that his starting "Turns out you didn't have
quarterbackhad battled through a boo-boo," a reporter asked
a midseason staph infection in Robinson on Friday. "You had a
addition to an abdominal injury staph infection?"
and issues with his elbow and Robinson threw his head back
and laughed.
"It was a deal," Robinson
said, repeating another popular
Hoke-speak phrase.
"I was a little sick - had a
staph infection. But I went out
there and still played. I did it for
my team."
Then the details started
to emerge. It was diagnosed
sometime soon after the season
opener, possibly after the Notre
Dame game. Robinson and Hoke
See ROBINSON, Page 3B
By BEN ESTES
Daily Sports Editor
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -
Having lost his balance after
getting bumped by a defender,
freshman point guard Trey Burke
went hur-
tling to the MICHIGAN 90
ground OAKLAND 80
underneath
Oakland's basket, chucking the
ball in desperation toward the left
corner.
But Burke's pass managed to
find a wide-open Tim Hardaway
Jr. And his shot found the net.
Hardaway Jr.'s 3-pointer with
3:40 left in the game extended the
Michigan men's basketball team's
lead back to double digits, and
an emphatic fast-break dunk by
senior guard Stu Douglass after
a Golden Grizzly turnover on the
next possession effectively iced it.
The Wolverines rode it out the rest
of the way en route to a 90-80 win
over Oakland (6-4) at the Palace
Auburn Hills.
"(Douglass) has pretty go<
lift, (and) I think he's had acour-
(dunks) in his career here, but jt
score the two points," joked Mic
igan coach John Beilein. "I'm jt
happy we scored the two points.
Douglass came alive in ti
game's final minutes. Shooti
just 27.8 percent from long ran.
coming into Saturday, the co-ca
tain followed his breakaway jam
See OAKLAND, Page 1
EAGLE ATTACK
U For the second time in two seasons,
Easte ri Midhigan upset the Wolverines,
* this time paced by Tavelyn James's 38
points. Page 4B
HEISMAN HOPEFUL
E If Denard Robinson is going to boost
himself into the 2012 Heisman Trophy
race, he'd be smart to take lessons from
dual-threat RGIII. Page 2B