urs idtigan ailg SPORTS michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu MONDAY JULY 29, 2002 L3 A disturbing trend Loss of Cammalleri hurts 'M' more than ever before DAVID KATZ/Daily Former Michigan forward Mike Cammalieri scored 23 goals last season, leading the team despite missing 15 games. Cammalleri, Komisarek si NHL deals By Charles Paradis Thursday, Komisarek and Cammalleri, the best four years of our lives" Daily Sports Editor respectively, chose to forego their This is not the first time Berenson remaining eligibility and signed pro has had to deal with players leaving With the losses of Mike Cammalleri contracts. The decisions came as a sur- early. In fact, including Komisarek and and Mike Komisarek in the same prise to the coaching staff, which Cammalleri, Michigan has lost six week, the Michigan hockey team suf- expected both players to return next players in the last four years. Despite fered two tremendous blows to its season. the recent stampede of college players chance of winning a national champi- "We've provided them with a great making the jump to pro hockey early, onship. opportunity here at Michigan and it is still not something Berenson sees "It's a tough week," coach Red helped them to develop," Berenson as a positive thing. Berenson said. "I'm disappointed in said. "You feel somewhat abandoned "It still disappoints me, as much as what those players are going to miss. I when they turn their back on you it's happened to me more in the last hope they do well in their careers, but I before they've fulfilled their obligation, few years," Berenson said. "Each time can't tell you how disappointed I am "And maybe they don't sign a four- it happens I'm not pleased. I want to that they chose to leave now." year contract and we're not able to see the kids do well in their future, but Both players told the Michigan offer them a four-year contract, but it I sense sometimes that things like coaching staff that they intended to goes without saying that we all come greed and selfishness take over from return next season, but on Tuesday and here to finish up school and to have See DEPARTURES, Page 16 Going to higher places ... or are they? While some of the Michigan hockey program's finest players have decided to leave school early to start their professional careers, not all the Wolverines who have left Ann Arbor have been successful at the next level. Of the four players who have r forgone the remainder of their eligibility over the past three summers, only Mike Comrie - who was 17th in the NHL in goals with the Edmonton Oilers last season MEXICAN CAFE - has made a real impact. Here is how these ex-Wolverines have fared: Ann EHuon - ine t Mike Van Ryn: The defenseman left after his sophomore season in 1999 but did * n not make the NHL until this year when he played 48 games with the St. Louis Blues. He had two goals and eight assists. Mike Comrie: It took the center just half a season in the WHL after leaving in 2000 before he broke in with the Edmonton Oilers and had 33 goals and 27 Mexican ReStaUVant assists this past season. M ps Jeff Jillson: The 14th overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft left last summer r and played half of the 2001-02 season on the San Jose Sharks' blue line, picking up five goals and 13 assists. Andy Hilbert: Hilbert announced he was leaving two months after Jillson and 761-6650 scored a goal. He also picked up an assist in his NHL debut with the Boston Bru- ins last December but played just five games with no points following his debut. By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Editor Here we go again. Last Tuesday, Michigan defenseman Mike Komisarek signed a pro contract with the Montreal Canadiens, forego- ing his final two years of eligibility. Thursday, forward Mike Cammalleri made the same decision, choosing the Los Angeles Kings' money over a final season at Michi- _ gan and a chance HOCKEY at a national title. But this isn't a Commentary new thing for the program. It happens every summer now. The Michigan coaching staff prob- ably has it marked down on its 2003 calendar -"At the end of July, at least one of our top prospects will forego his final year (or two) of eligibility." So why is the latest flight of Wolver- ines to the pros any different than the past two groups? Because Mike Van Ryn (1999), Mike Conrie (2000), Andy Hilbert and Jeff Jillson (2001), who left Michigan early during the past three summers, were not Michigan hockey captains like Cammalleri, who was an alternate captain last season. You can bet that Cammalleri's depar- ture was the most shocking for Michi- gan coach Red Berenson, because when he chooses to put the "A" or "C" on a player's sweater, he does it with the feeling that the player embodies what Michigan hockey is all about. And Berenson's program is not charac- terized by "greed and selfishness," but by loyalty and the quest for excellence in the classroom and on the ice. By leaving for the Kings, Cammalleri broke a trust with his coach. Wearing the "A" on his maize-and-blue jersey couldn't overcome the chance for fame and fortune in the NHL, every kid's. dream growing up. But make no mistake: Berenson bnade a good decision to name Cam- malleri a captain. The All-American was more than a premier goal scorer. He was an irreplaceable leader - a guy who would speak up and not accept mediocrity from himself or his team- mates. When the Wolverines stumbled out of the gate last season, it was Cam- malleri who took a stand in the post- game press conference and said that his team's performance was unacceptable. Cammalleri was supposed to be a four-year guy - the kind of kid Beren- son expected to be an example to his younger top prospects. Cammalleri staying in school would theoretically override the example set in past sum- mers. No one ever thought that money or any other factor would lure him away from Yost before his Senior Night arrived. He even insisted after Michi- gan's loss to Minnesota in the Frozen Four last season that he wanted to return for his senior season. And that's why this loss not only hurts, but pierces the Michigan pro- gram. The fact that a program with the tradition that Michigan offers could not keep at least one out of the two Mikes makes you wonder about the newcli- mate in college hockey. What hap- pened to guys like Brendan Morrison and Bill Muckalt who were talented enough to go pro but wanted some- thing more from their college experi- ence than a launch pad to the NHL. Morrison, who won the Hobey Baker Award in 1996 along with a national championship, still decided to stay for his senior season in 1997. Komisarek also told Michigan coaches earlier this summer that he wanted to return for his junior season. Yes, he may have wanted to, but was See COMMENTARY, Page 14 7 y kk t...L . ,. - -- ~'i- - Te 00 -aar ~upem ~ u. o ~ A Of : u a ~A ? ~ .