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 mm" r HEALTHY, MEDICATION-FREE VOLUNTEERS, AGES 18-45, ARE NEEDED FOR A RESEARCH STUDY INVOLVING VISITS TO THE IOSPITAL AND BLOOD DRAWS. COMPENSATION MAY BE UP TO $200. FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL AMY AT 647-8354. "Don't let your H A I R get ahead of you DASCOLA 5ARB rS TA'BLIliEEd f1939 304 1/2 S. STATE ST. 2ND FLOOR ANN ARBOR, MI 48104 668 9329 W WW.DASCOLA BA R BERS.COM BY APPOINTMENT 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.