Monday
August 9,2004
sports.michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily.com
SPORTS-
14'
Blue liner
continues
career in
theLAHL
By Ryan Sosin
Daily Sports Editor
Former captain Andy Burnes
ended his collegiate hockey career
on a Michigan team with 10 players
who already had an NHL team
awaiting their services. With the
market for a small stay-at-home
defenseman in pro hockey far from
booming, Burnes' future in hockey
was unclear.
"I think (Andy is) one of those
kids coming out of school that you
never know what'sgoing happen to
him," Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "He's been a good player at
Michigan, he's been a leader, he has
been a heart-and-soul player."
A week after his final season came
to a close, Burnes received an offer to
take a vacation away from Ann Arbor.
But he wasn't headed home or to some
spring break hotspot in Mexico -
Burnes was off to Albany, New York.
The American Hockey League's
Albany River Rats gave Burnes a try-
out contract to join the team for its
final three games. He suited up for
two games, finishing with no points
and a plus-minus rating of minus-3.
But his week in Albany wasn't as
much about stats as it was a sneak
peek into what next season could
hold for the Battle Creek native.
"Even just those three games, you
kind of get a taste of what profes-
sional hockey is like," Burnes said.
"It's a whole different lifestyle and a
whole different kind of hockey.
"I think it was a great experience
for me," he added.
Burnes will head back to Albany
for training camp this fall a little
NHL Lockout threatens
former Wolverine Icers
By Seth Gordon
Daily Sports Editor
Yost Ice Arena and hundreds of
fans welcomed a slew of current
NHL players and recent graduates
back to Michigan for the Hockey
Summer Showcase, and no one was
disappointed.
The game was a chance to get
back on the ice with former team-
mates and share Michigan memo-
ries. But with a lockout in the NHL
looming, it might have been the last
chance for the fans and players to
see that much NHL talent on the ice
for the foreseeable future. And that
had everyone disappointed.
"Right now it doesn't look too
positive," Hobey Baker Award-win-
ner Brendan Morrison said. "Both
sides are talking, but I think they're
at an impasse. A resolution is there,
we just have to get together and get
it done because there is too much at
stake here."
For established NHL players like
Mike Knuble and Morrison - who
is also the player representative to
the NHL Players association for the
Vancouver Canucks - the lockout
is a threat to the livelihood that they
have worked so hard to build. Both
have signed contracts to play in
Sweden should the lockout end part
or all of the upcoming season, but
for Morrison the process is still
unnerving.
"It's the uncertainty of the situa-
tion (that is frustrating)," Morrison
said. "Everybody would like this
settled, but from our perspective it's
the owner's stance - that they
won't move off of a salary cap -
while we feel like there are ways
around that. We made a pretty sig-
nificant offer to those guys like a
luxury tax or an escalating luxury
tax, but they didn't want to have
anything to do with it. It's disap-
pointing from our side, but hopeful-
ly we can get something done."
But for recent Michigan graduates
who have just broken through into
the NHL, the lockout is aggravating
because they have yet make a name
for themselves at the game's highest
level. One of Knuble's teammates in
Boston is former Wolverine Andy
Hilbert, who saw his first big chunk
of ice time with the Bruins last year.
"I'm definitely just getting my
foot in the door, just biding my
time," Hilbert said. "Guys like us
are just hoping that there is going to
be a season. Then we can keep
working hard and continue to move
up the ladder."
In contrast to Knuble and Morri-
son, former Michigan defenseman
Mike Van Ryn isn't interested in
playing in Europe.
"I don't have any (plans). I'm
kind of counting on them getting it
done," Van Ryn said. "I'm a little bit
of an optimist. I think it might come
down to the last minute, and they
might get it done. For my team, it's
awful because we're all young guys
and we all need to play. A lot of
guys are going over to Europe, but I
don't see why. To risk it, to go over
there and lose an eye or something
like that, I just don't understand
why guys are going to do it."
Former winger Josh Langfeld -
who scored the winning goal in the
1998 national championship game
- is in a similar situation to
Hilbert, having come of his first
season of significant action in the
NHL, but feels like he has to stay on
the ice. Langfeld was called up to
the Ottawa Senators for the second
half of last season where he scored
seven goals and 10 assists in 38
games.
"I finally just broke into the
league and finally made my mark.
And now I can't play. I'm locked
out," Langfeld said. "I'm not one of
those guys pushing the salary cap
way up, so it's a lose-lose situation
See LOCKOUT, Page 15
TONY DING/Daily
Former Michigan captain Andy Burnes played in his first Alumni game last Friday. A
finalists for the CCHA's Best Defensive Defenseman, Burnes will go to camp In Albany.
wiser. He knows he needs to add size
and muscle to play with the larger
players in professional hockey.
"You've got to get bigger and
stronger and you've got to mature a
little bit in the offseason," Burnes
said. "That's what I've been doing.
I've been back (in Ann Arbor) and
working hard. We will see where it
takes me in the fall."
Adding to the already difficult
challenge of finding a permanent pro
contract is the NHL labor strife.
Should NHL owners call a lockout,
players on the New Jersey Devils -
the River Rats parent club - with
minor league options on their contract
could limit the spots available to
aspiring players like Burnes.
"(Guys like Burnes have) to add
something special. It's either size, it
might be offense, it might be
defense, it might be physical pres-
ence." Berenson said. "A player like
Andy Burnes - and some other
players we've had - are good play-
ers, but are they as good (as a player
See BURNES, Page 15
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101
TONY DII
Brenden Morrison, Josh Langford (21) and Andy Hilbert (18) relax during the
portion of Friday's Summer Hockey Showcase. All three face an NHL lockout.