aJI e Ild Jt ij g
SPORTS

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MONDAY
JUNE 17, 2002 Li


leers' trio
Wating to
learn of
NHL fate
By J. Brady McCollough
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan sophomores Eric Nys-
trom, Jason Ryznar and Dwight
Helminen have taken every step in
unison during the past two years.
This weekend, the three forwards
will watch their futures unfold at
the 2002 NHL Entry Draft at the
Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
In the NHL Central Scouting Ser-
vice's final rankings for North
American players, Nystrom finished
No. 13 after beginning his freshman
season ranked No. 11. Helminen
began as No. 60 and finds himself
at No. 41 entering the draft. Ryznar
moved up from No. 39 to his cur-
rent rating of No. 32. Michigan jun-
ior defenseman Mike Komisarek
was the first North American taken
in last year's draft, as the Montreal
Canadiens took him with the sev-
enth overall pick.
Among American college players,
Nystrom is No. 4, Ryznar is No. 10
and Helminen rounds out the top
15. Fourteen players from the
CCHA made the list, which was the
most of any other conference in the
country.
The threesome came to Michigan
from the U.S. National Team Devel-
opment Program Under-18 team,
which is based in Ann Arbor and
became the leaders of their 1-
member freshman class.
Nystrom's roots in hockey star-
dom go back to his father, Bobby,
who played for the New York
Islanders and won four consecutive
Stanley Cups in the early 1980s.
Eric joined with linemates Jed Ort-
meyer and Mike Cammalleri to
form a unit that was nearly impossi-
ble for opponents to stop. Nystrom
was first among freshmen in scor-
ing and fourth on the team, tallying
18 goals and 13 assists in 40 games.
The forward was also selected to
the United States' World Junior
Championship team along with
Helminen and Komisarek.
Helminen emerged as one of the
Wolverines' top penalty killers
while manning the third-line center
spot for most of the season. The
speedy Brighton native posted 10
goals and eight assists in 40 games.
Ryznar's big frame was a key for
Michigan in battles down low. The
second-line winger scored nine
goals and six assists on the season.

POWDERPUFF
NO MORE
Competition was the name of the game ,
Saturday for 625 women at the Big House
By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Writer

Michigan's new quarterback
coach Scot Loeffler's
debut ended with high
praises, defensive backs Cato June
and Jeremy LeSueur were seen in
Michigan Stadium's endzones
numerous times celebrating defen-
sive touchdowns and running backs
were breaking tackles left-and-
right en-route to six-point scores.
But there was something differ-
ent about this Football Saturday
and something different about the
players on the field.
Loeffler's starting quarterbacks
were not John Navarre or Spencer
Brinton, June and LeSueur were
cheering their pupils' touchdowns
and the running backs breaking
tackles were not wearing pads.
These players were participants
in Coach (Lloyd) Carr's Cancer
Fund Fourth-Annual Women's
Football Academy.
The academy helps support the
Michigan Comprehensive Cancer
Center, which uses its funds for

programs like Strength for Caring
- a program designed to educate
and assist those cancer patients
who receive at-home treatment.
Saturday, 625 women, Michigan
coaches and Michigan players-
turned-coaches entered Michigan
Stadium to show off what had been
learned and taught at Oosterbaan
Field House in the morning hours
preceding the scrimmaging.
"It was very eye-opening
because before we got to Michigan
Stadium, we had break-up groups
with each of the various offensive
and defensive coaches," said Anita
Jursek, whose brother played for
Michigan in 1977. "So they put us
through the stances and the various
plays they did, and it was fascinat-
ing how complicated a lot of the
plays were. So it was fun to go in
there and try them out."
Jursek's coach was Loeffler, and
as an offensive guard and fullback,
she was more than pleased with
what the new coach designed.

D0NNY MOLOSOK~/Daily
Michigan coach Uoyd Carr took a break from his usual spring grind to teach
women the in-depth strategy football Saturday in the Big House

Fun for all
The women who took part in the Coach Carr's Cancer Fund Fourth-Annu~
al Women's Football Academy weren't the only ones participating.
Michigan coaches and players also took part and contributed to some
memorable moments.
Ringer: Michigan quarterback John Navarre, a coach for the women, entered the
game as a ringer for one play. Under an intense pass rush, Navarre - who is in a
battle for the starting position in the fall - underthrew a receiver running down
the field to finish 4-1 on the day.
Delay of game: Carr almost penalized running backs coach Fred Jackson for
delay of game after Jackson held a long sideline huddle. Carr yelled to his coach
to hurry up, because the goal of the event was to get in as many repetitions as
possible for the women

"(Loeffler) was fabulous," Jursek
said. "He was full of energy and
had some great tips for us on how
to defeat the defense that we were
up against.(He was) an excellent
play-caller. We did a flea-flicker,
we did a reverse, we did a burger-
right -- whatever that is."
Although there was bad weather
in Saturday's forecast, it didn't
these women, who became as
tough as the players who coached
them as the day went on.
"We were coming into the stadi-
um rain or shine, because all of
these ladies come from all over the
country to come here, and we
weren't going to disappoint them,
because I think the thing they look
most forward to is coming into the
stadium," Carr said.
As the day developed, so did the
women's aggression. In scrim-

mages designed around two-hand
touch to stop plays, the running
backs began not to stop when they
heard whistles and continued into
the endzone. The defensive players
didn't take too kindly to the con-
stant scoring and began to tackle
their counterparts instead of mere-
ly tagging them.
"Women are no different than
men from the standpoint that
they're competitive," Carr said.
"And the more you play, the more
you know what you're doing and
you want to stop them from scoring
a touchdown or you want to score a
touchdown. My only worry is that I
didn't want anybody to get hurt. I
saw some pretty good tackling out
there even though they were not
supposed to tackle."
As the tackling got better, the
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