Monday. July 97. 1998 - The Michiaan Daily -13
IT twl11AMJ1 JMIJ 41 1 1 7 /L - I III, IV 1 14 1 116 01 1 Wally 1V
I
Van Ryn, Canadians
find gold in California
By Maraet Myers
Daly S Repore
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Something
might seem out of place for a Michigan
hockey player finding himself skating
around without rowdy fans clad in maize
and blue insulting the opposing team's
goalie.
It may seem even more out of place if
the old maize and blue are replaced with
red and white, and the insults are
replaced with "0 Canada." And if there
isn't even ice, then maybe this isn't even
hockey at all.
But it is hockey, it's just on in-line
skates. And for Michigan sophomore
defenseman Mike Van Ryn, winning a
gold medal for his country in the 1998
International In-Line Hockey Federation
World Championship is second only to
winning an NCAA championship,
which he helped the Wolverines do ear-
lier this year.
in the locker room smoking victory cig-
ars and calling relatives back home.
This is nothing new to Van Ryn after
Michgan's national title. But a gold
medal for Canada ranks a close second
for Van Ryn.
"It's tough to compare, Van Ryn
said,. "Because this is for my country.
We live for hockey. But Michigan's vic-
tory was something we worked for the
whole year. We were a family."
Although Van Ryn has been playing
in-line hockey for four years, he was
asked to join the men's national team by
coach Doug McCarthy just two months
ago.
Van Ryn said the unusual in-line rules
still help him play on ice - his first
love.
"It's more one-on-one,"Van Ryn said,
"It helps your hands. It's a game of
patience. You come in and you set up for
your shot."
Mike Van Ryn
won a gold medal
with Team
Canada at the
international
- In-line Hockey
W Federation cham-
pionships this
week in Anaheim,
Calif.
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
"It's really an undescribable feeling,
representing your country," Van Ryn "f
said Saturday night after Team Canada t pr1n tu n
won its first-evergold medal in this tour- P,.. 4u
nament. "Only certain people have expe-
rienced this, and I'm just glad to be one 4" ,
of them.'t
No. 2-seeded Team Canada defeated '::.
top-seeded Team USA, 6-2, at
Arrowhead Pond in a contest that wasn't
even that close. Team USA scored its "{ n
second goal in the final seconds of the ,I
? %7 * *E <:f .
game when Van Ryn and his teammates
were already on their feet, eager to storm >- . K' 7
the playing surface.
In the tournament's first two years, A
Team USA defeated Team Canada each >..
time for the gold.
But the third time must be a charm,
and Team Canada came back for 401 E. Huron St. (walking distance
revenge. By10 p.m. the Canadianswere romampcampus):*769-0560
Former icers to drop
pucks at Yost Friday
From staff reports
The Michigan hockey program's
past and present will descend on Yost
Ice Arena on Friday.
Well, not all 77 years of the pro-
gram's past will come barging
through the doors. But five current
NHL-ers, a handful of recent grads
and current coach and former player
Red Berenson will all play in one of
two old-timer's games scheduled for
Friday night.
The over-35 game faces off at 6:00
p.m. while the 35-and-under game
starts at approximately 7:30. Also
planned for the evening: a skills
competition - Mike Legg is the
favorite in the lacrosse-style goal
competition, but look for Brendan
Morrison to lead the pack in the
Hobey Baker Award polishing con-
test.
Most of the Michigan alums still
playing in the NHL will play in the
under-35 game.
But notable members of the over-
35 roster, along with Berenson,
include Dave Shand, Rob Palmer and
Ted Speers, currently an executive
with the Detroit Red Wings. Speers
scored 172 points during his
Michigan career.
But the nightcap should prove to
be the game the kids come to see.
In addition to recent grads
Morrison, Legg and NCAA all-time
victories leader Marty Turco, Mike
Knuble of the Red Wings and Steve
Shields of the San Jose Sharks will
be there, along with all-time
Michigan penalty minutes leader
Chris Tamer. Current Ottawa Senator
David Oliver will be there, too, as
will Brian Wiseman, currently no. 3
on the all-time Michigan scoring list.
Tickets, available at Yost this week
and at the door Friday night, are $5
for adults and $2 for children.
Players will be available for auto-
graphs.