8.- Friday, February 7, 2014
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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8 - Friday, February 7, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
with Daily Collegian hockey writer Darian Somers
ByGREGGARNO
Daily Sports Editor
The No. 10 Michigan hockey team will travel to State College and the
recently opened Pegula Ice Arena for the first time in program history
this weekend. In its first year as a varsity program, Penn State hasn't
managed a conference win, but will aim to take advantage of two sold-
out crowds againstcthe Wolverines.
The Daily caught up with Daily Collegian sophomore hockey beat
writer Darian Somers to talk about goaltending, the atmosphere in State
College and the winner of a fightbetween Michigan coach Red Berenson
and Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky. The Daily Collegian's answers can
be found here.
Michigan will ride the hot hand of goaltender Zach
Nagelvoort into Pegula this weekend. How can Penn
State's offense find a way to beat one of the nation's best?
That's kind of been the question all season long. "How can
Penn State score?" The Nittany Lions are No. 1 in the nation
in shots per game at 35.55, but rank second-to-last in goals
per shots on goal. They need to just keep firing them, but they1
need to crash the net as well. They haven't had too many gar-
bage goals from in close this year. They need to jam one in.
Michigan's defense doesn't have a great deal of depth.
Who are some of the Nittany Lions on the third and
fourth lines who could capitalize on that?
There are two guys on this roster that could make an impact and seem
like they are on the cusp of doing that - Zach Saar, a big power forward,
and (forward) Ricky DeRosa, your typical Mark Rec-
chi-style player. Saar is a physical force. Off the ice,
he's a shy guy, but when he steps on the ice, I've actu-
ally seen people move out of the way of his shot. He's
also a little bit annoying in front of the net because
of that size. Guy Gadowsky has been using him for
that exact reason on the power play, and he's bound
to have a big game sometime soon. Then you've got
Ricky DeRosa. This guy doesn't do flashy things, but
he gets the job done and he gets it done well. When
he's on, he plays some of the best, unnoticed hockey
in the nation. He's not fast, and he's not the shiftiest,
but he's solid all around. He really takes pride in his
game.2
But Michigan does have depth at the forward position in guys
like JT Compher and Andrew Copp. Who has to step up to prevent
an onslaught?
This may sound like a generic answer, but it's going
to take everyone on Penn State's bench. They were
able to slow down Boston College's Johnny Gaudreau
and Kevin Hayes, plus they were able to shut down
Hudson Fashing and Kyle Rau from Minnesota. The
issue, though, is those teams are so deep they have
guys equally as good spread throughout their rosters.
If Penn State can shut down Copp and Compher, they
need to not forget about the rest of the Wolverines.
Does Penn State have the goaltending to bail out
its defense or special teams?
If you asked me this question the week before
last weekend's games with Ohio State, I would have
happily said yes, but I don't know anymore. Both
Matt Skoff and Eamon McAdam struggled. We've
seen them play some great hockey this year, espe-
cially McAdam of late, but this might have been
a big setback after losing both to a beatable Ohio
State team. McAdam has played really strong at
home as of late and he's probably going to see one
start this weekend. Both Skoff and McAdam give4
Penn State a chance to win and keep the Lions in
the game, but the offensive production doesn't always return the favor. If
the goalies can keep Penn State in the game and the offense is working,
Michigan could be in for a rough trip to Happy Valley. But that hasn't
happened often.... Wait, am I allowed to say Ohio State
to a Michigan man?
Has Pegula Arena played a role in home games
before this weekend and will it make a difference
this weekend againat a team that has never been to
State College?
It has some weekends and it hasn't others. When
Pegula is packed, especially the Roar Zone, the student
section, you can tell teams are rattled by it. I've never
been in an indoor building that loud. (Beaver Stadium
is the loudest place I've ever been to.) It's like a sound
wave that hits you right in the chest. When it's not
packed, you can tell Penn State plays
with less energy. It doesn't have an atmosphere and it's
like a completely different building. A lot of it depends
on the weather this weekend.
Who wins in a bare fist fight? Red Berenson
(mind you, he's 74 years old) or (Penn State coach)
Guy Gadowsky?
The real question is who wins in a bare fist fight: Red
Berenson or Chuck Norris. I'd bet Floyd Mayweather-
money on Red.
Who Wins?
Michigan and Michigan. Other than Minnesota, I don't think there is a
team hotter in the Big Ten right now.
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Freshman goaltenderZach Nagelvoort (LEFT) and Michigan coach Red Berenson (RIGHT) look forward to facing ne Bige q fqe PeniSta It IoIll
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ichigan looks to this weekend:ho
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Michigan does k
) State College the Nittany Lions
Ten, 4-17-1 overall
By GREG GARNO a win in the Big Te
Daily Sports Editor this year and they
perate than ever t
e Michigan hockey team "I think for
ever faced off against Penn desperate," said ju
. In fact, most of the Wol- Zach Hyman. "A
.es have never even been to plays Michigan v
College.
me are unaware of its loca-
on a map of Pennsylvania Michigan at
'thers aren't sure what rink Penn State
11 be playing at.
:ere's also no general con- Matchup:
as as to what the Nittany 13-6-3;Penn
s do well and where they State 4-17-1
e exploited on the ice. After W
lichigan just watched film Whoa: Ftiday
e Nittany Lions for the first Saturday
Wednesday afternoon. at 5 P.M.
think (State College) is in Where' Pegula
middle of the state," said Ice Arena
r forward Luke Moffatt.
Ided Michigan coach Red TV:
nson: "They're the new kid ESPNU (Sat)
w the ice feels Draft compared to the 12 that
skates, what Michigan boasts.
will look like The Wolverines (5-2-1-1,
le the crowd 13-6-3) are also the winner
re's one thing of four straight games and sit
now, it's that alone at second place in the Big
(0-8-0-0 Big Ten standings.
) are without And Michigan's lines have
-n Conference clicked as of late, averaging just
"re more des- over three goals a game dur-
o change that. ing its four-game win streak.
sure, they're The Nittany Lions, on the other
nior forward hand, have averaged just over
ny team that one goal in its last four confer-
'ants to win. ence games.
They're To be specific, Penn State is
going to put scoring 2.18 goals per game this
their best season while the Wolverines are
foot for- allowing 2.23 goals per game.
ward and Considering that the Nittany
we can't Lions allow 3.91 goals per game,
take any- the weekend could be remem-
thing for bered more for the Subway and
granted. Auntie Anne's pretzels served
"We're in the concession stands than
just taking the game itself.
it one game But what the stats don't show
at a time, is how close Penn State's recent
focusing games have been. The Nittany
on what we Lions played top-5 teams Min-
need to do nesota and Boston College close
and not so enough to lose by only one goal.
much what "I think they're going to be
." the real deal," Berenson said.
oks like alop- "They really work hard. We
per. The Wol- know we're going to get every-
h a long and thing they've got. I told our
y, including team we've got to be better
es, 11 confer- this weekend than we were last
ips, and two weekend."
ard winners. What's more, Penn State will
ne of that. It have to figure out how to beat
yers selected a goaltender that held one of
ockey League the nation's top-10 offenses in
Wisconsin to just three goals
last weekend, making three big
saves ina shootout on Saturday.
The momentum has never
been hotter for Nagelvoort,
despite not being named the
starter by Berenson. That deci-
sion willbe made Thursday eve-
ning.
But there's one thing the Nit-
tany Lions can boast that Michi-
gan cannot: Pegula Ice Arena.
Thanks to an $88 million dona-
tion, Penn State's newly-coined
"Hockey Valley" has attracted
crowds of more than 6,000 on
average in its first year as a var-
sity program.
In contrast, the Michigan
hockey team played in front
of close to a hundred fans in
its first years before moving to
Yost Field House - which cost
just $563,168 to build. Nearly 20
years ago, Berenson had to give
away tickets to students on Fri-
day evenings in the Diag to get
them to come to games.
But Penn State is the reason
the Big Ten, and this weekend's
matchup, even exists because
when it became the sixth Big
Ten school with a hockey pro-
gram, it gave the conference
enough members to start the
sport.
"Wedon'twanttobethatteam,"
said senior defenseman Mac Ben-
nett. "But at the same time, that
doesn't mean we aren't taking it
seriously. This is a big weekend for
us - there's six points available.
When we leave there, we want to
makesure wehaveallofthem."
on the block. Their rink is new.
Their players are new. We've
never seen their uniforms. I've
never been to Penn State."
"I've seen a lot of pictures
of this rink," said freshman
goaltender Zach Nagelvoort.
"I don't even know how to pro-
nounce it."
There are a lot of unknowns
for the 10th-ranked Wolver-
ines as they travel to Penn State
they're going to do
The weekend lo
sided affair on pal
verines enter wit
successful histor
nine national titl
ence Championsh
Hobey Baker Aw
Penn State has no
has just two pla
in the National He
Michigan rolls into Iowa
The Wolverines
eye season sweep
over Hawkeyes in
Iowa City
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Two and a half weeks ago,
the Michigan men's basket-
ball team took care of Iowa at
home - its second consecutive
win as part of a three-game
sweep of top-10 teams, which
included Wisconsin and Mich-
igan State.
Saturday, the Wolverines
will head to Iowa City for
the rematch against the 17th-
ranked Hawkeyes in hopes of
securing a conference-best 10th
win.
Michigan (9-1 Big Ten, 17-5
overall) is coming off a 29-point
clobbering of Nebraska, bounc-
ing back from its first Big Ten
loss to Indiana earlier in the
week. Saturday's matchup fea-
tures a more talented Wolver-
ine team against a Hawkeye
team that has been dominant
at home. Iowa (6-4, 17-6) has
dropped just two games at Carv-
er-Hawkeye Arena this season
- an overtime loss to Michigan
State and aseven-point defeat to
Ohio State on Tuesday.
When Michigan and Iowa
met earlier this season, for-
wards Aaron White and Mel-
sahn Basabe kept the Hawkeyes
in the game, each contributing
17 points. The two average 13.3
and 7.8 points per game, respec-
tively, to complement an aver-
age of more than six rebounds
apiece.
But Iowa's biggest offensive
threat this year has been guard
Roy Devyn Marble. The 6-foot-
6 senior is averaging 16 points
per game this season on 41-per-
cent shooting from the field. At
Crisler Center though, he was
held to just 13 points. Sopho-
more guard Caris LeVert played
tough defense on him, forcing
him to shoot just 3-for-9 from
the field.
"Iowa's one of the top teams
in our league," LeVert said. "To
go in there and get a road win
would be huge for us."
The Wolverines will count
doesn't just shoot - he's also
been able to get points in the
paint, something he didn't do
with consistency a season ago.
Wednesday night he showed he
could contribute in other ways.
The 6-foot-6 guard dished a
career-best eight assists, setting
up teammates while he opted
out of shooting, attempting
just three shots. On Saturday
though, Stauskas will likely be
a bigger part of the scoring in
what should be a much more
competitive game.
And Michigan coach John
Beilein knows it will be a tough
matchup. Despite coming off of
a big win, Beilein knows there's
no such thing as an easy game in
the Big Ten.
"Where are the games on
the schedule where you can
say 'W'?" Beilein said. "Where
are they? I don't see them. I see
there's another game that we're
gonna have to compete like
crazy."
Michigan
at Iowa
Matchup:
Michigan 17-5;
Iowa 17-6
When:
Saturday
2 P.M.
Where:
Carver-
Hawkeye
Arena
TV/RADIO:
ESPN/950
AM
on their
sharp
shoot-
ing from
Wednes-
day
night's
win over
Nebras-
ka to
carry
over
against
the
Hawk-
eyes.
Michi-
gan shot
46.6 per-
The Center for World Performance Studies
is delighted to present
OfNDO A H C IEEI '.AI4L
AND PANDIT SAMIR CHATTEREE (TABLAI
cent in their previous contest
against Iowa, including eight
3-pointers.
Sophomore guard Nik
Stauskas led the charge in the
first matchup. Stauskas tied a
career-high with 26 points
taking advantage of extra
space to shoot when Hawk-
eye defenders laid off, and
attacking the rim when they
overplayed him.
This season, Stauskas has
been touted as a player that