The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday- February 11,1991 - Page 5 Matt Rennie First-year left winger Mike Stone takes control of a loose puck but is unable to put in in the net during Saturday night's 3-2 victory over Western Michigan. This weekend's sweep of the Broncos brings the Wolverines winning streak to 14, continuing a school record which was set last weekend. Injuries dampen by Matt Rennie Daily Hockey Writer What should have been a night of celebration turned into an evening of despair for the Michigan hockey team. On the evening that the 1990-91 Wolverine icers cemented their his- torical place by winning a school- record thirteenth game in a row, starters Denny Felsner and David Roberts went down with injuries. After Friday's game, there were rumors that Roberts was lost for the season with either a separated shoul- der or a broken collarbone. However, further examination revealed the in- jury to be a a mild AC separation, and the prognosis is much more op- timistic. "Right now, Roberts is day-to- day," Michigan trainer Kim Hart said. "It's not as bad as we first an- ticipated. He could be on the ice as soon as Monday with some protec- tion. My goal is to have him ready for the first round of the (CCHA) playoffs." Hart further reported that Felsner suffered a mild knee sprain. While Hart conceded that Felsner's injury was more serious than Roberts', he said that the return of the CCHA's leading scorer for the playoffs was "a very realistic goal." "He won't be skating for a while," Hart said. "(The knee) is just sore. I'm not taking any chances with it." The injuries were particularly stinging for the Wolverines, because they were left without their top two scorers. Both are potential all- Americans, and Felsner is a leading candidate for the Hobey Baker award, given to the year's top collegiate Wolverirn hockey player. Michigan coach Red Berenson remained cautiously optimistic about the health of his two stars. "They're both day-to-day right now," Berenson said. "We'll have a better idea in a couple days." Michigan had entered the Western Michigan series a little thin up front, with rookie forwards David Oliver and David Wright both nurs- ing injuries. With Felsner and Roberts both sidelined, the Wolverines had to scramble to fill the holes Saturday. "Injuries are like goals and wins," Berenson said, "they come in bunches. We had been literally in- jury-free to this point in the year." Berenson dressed five defensemen, including Paul Sancimino, who did not see action. Senior Mark Sorenson and junior Doug Evans, ie spirits who both usually play defense, skated as forwards for part of the game. Meanwhile, sophomore Mark Ouimet, who usually skates with Roberts on his left and Felsner on his right, must have felt like an or- phan without his usual partners. Ted Kramer and Mike Helber filled in to act as Ouimet's foster linemates. Meanwhile with the top two scorers out of the lineup, Michigan's No. 3 player stepped to the forefront. Rookie Brian Wiseman scored two goals in each game, including the game-winner Saturday. "I knew he was capable of that," Berenson said. "I said from day one that he would lead this team in scor- ing some day." Given the Wolverines' current predicament, Wiseman's day may have already arrived. Blood is thicker than ice in brutal CCHA They say it's lonely at the top, but the Michigan hockey team is finding a lack of companionship to be the least of its worries. Since their vault to the elite of the college hockey world, the Wolverines have found that success often means an elbow in the face. Or a stick to the gut. Or a slash on the back. For the last three weeks, Michigan has played middle-of-the-pack teams from the CCHA, and each week the Wolverines have been abused. The abuse has not been evident on the scoreboard, where Michigan has won 14 straight, but rather in the lockerroom, which looks more like an infirmary. Michigan's outmatched opponents have made the acute observation that they cannot skate with the Wolverines. So rather than try, these teams have attempted to slow the pace of the game by playing what's known in hockey circles as "chippy" hockey. Loosely translated, it means dirty. It means cheap shots. It means fights and penalties. It means games that last as long as most television mini-series. And in the end, it means injured players. Michigan certainly has their share. This weekend, the CCHA's top two scorers, Denny Felsner and David Roberts, joined teammates David Oliver and David Wright on the injured list. Mr. Harlock is the only David on the roster who hasn't visited the X-ray room recently. This appears to be the price a team pays for being good. Teams feel so overmatched against the Wolverines that they turn to cheap shots as their last alternative. "It's tough," Michigan defenseman Patrick Neaton said. "The elbows and the sticks get worse every game. We've certainly got guys who can really fly, but these days, guys like Felsner can't go two strides without someone putting a stick on him." Today, Felsner can't go two strides without crutches. Don't kid yourself. Michigan doesn't back away from any confrontations. The Wolverines can hold their own and then some whenever the play gets physical. The thing to remember is that it's not to their advantage to play at such a slow tempo, so it is unlikely that Michigan would initiate such tactics. On Saturday, the Wolverines proved they could turn the other cheek when they had to. Don't be deceived by the lower amount of penalty minutes. This was a case of unilateral disarmament. Western's style didn't change; Michigan just didn't retaliate. "It definitely was not a cleaner-played game," Michigan co-captain Don Stone said. "If anything, there was more stuff going on. We just knew with 19 players, we couldn't be sitting in the penalty box all night." While this shows the confrontations can be avoided, one has to wonder about a game in which the favored team is expected to take abuse in order to maintain the peace. The onus for preventing fights should not lie with either team, but rather with the officials, who are clearly not doing their job. Often, these referees appear lost on the ice, perhaps because their leader dogs can't skate. For the last six games, the Wolverines have opened the contest by trying to play hockey. By the end, they were just trying to survive. "Sooner or later, someone's going to have to crack down," Neaton said. "There's just so much going on out on the ice." The only way to prevent teams from taking dangerous cheap shots is by penalizing them swiftly and harshly. Not once in a while. Every time. Last Saturday against Ohio State, the officials handed out forty minor penalties, yet not a single major. A ten-minute major early in the contest could have sent the message that cheap shots would not be tolerated. Unfortunately, it never came, and the game turned into a bloodbath. The CCHA is widely recognized as the premier college hockey league in the country. The conference confirmed this status by negotiating a television contract with PASS, which gives the league unsurpassed exposure. Maybe the league should reconsider this contract. If the recent trend is allowed to continue, the televised games may turn from showcases to embarrassments. , f ifi " 1 HOCKEY NOTEBOOK . I . I 'Angry Berenson takes action against Kramer by Jeni Durst Daily Hockey Writer Recently, many injured Michigan hockey players have been forced to watch the games from the sidelines, but it was not an injury that kept rightwinger Ted Kramer in the lockerroom during the third period of Friday's contest. After already visiting the penalty box earlier in the second stanza for highsticking and roughing infractions, Kramer was issued another roughing call and a 10-minute misconduct for an after-the-whistle altercation with a Western opponent at 19:33. Though the penalty only called for a 10-minute sentence, rather than a game misconduct, Kramer was missing from the Wolverine lineup for the duration of the game. Michigan coach Red Berenson and the rest of the coaching staff made the decision to keep Kramer out of the rest of the game, issuing him their own disqualification. "I didn't like his penalties," Berenson said. "I thought his penalties were selfish, individual penalties that you can't take in the heat of the game. He was out of control. A player has to be able to take some heat and not retaliate at certain times in the best interest of the team." BACK IN ACTION: First-year goaltender Chris Gordon tallied his first win since the last time Western Michigan and the Wolverines met and improved his overall record to 3-2. Gordon started the December 7th game in Kalamazoo when Michigan overcame the Broncos 6-2. Saturday night the rookie made 29 saves in the 3-2 Michigan victory. Steve Shields, the Wolverines' usual netminder, sat out the game due to a couple slightly aggravated injuries that hindered him in Friday night's contest. Shields had been riding a 18-game unbeaten streak (16- 0-2). STILL STREAKIN': With the sweep of Western, Michigan set a new school record for consecutive victories (14). The Wolverines have not lost since a 4-3 defeat at the hands of CCHA leader Lake Superior. The previous streak had been twelve, set by both the 1976-77 and the 1963- 64 Michigan squads. In those seasons, Michigan went to at least the NCAA final four, with a National Championship, the Wolverines last national title, coming in '63-64. CC M Through Feb. 11, 1991 Men's Hockey Standings Conference Games TEAM W I T PTS. Lake Superior 24 2 4 52 :.;. . 1A h Z A ICERS Continued from page 5 available to fill the void between the pipes. "It was an excellent team effort tonight and it started with Chris Gordon," Berenson said. "He hadn't played in awhile and this was a tough, tough game to put him in, but he came up big. He showed the team and he showed us that he can help this team." The absence of Shields was not the only difference out on the ice Saturday. The shoulder injury to Roberts and a sprained knee for Felsner, the CCHA's leading point holder, made lineup changes inevitable. The Wolverines played First-year center Brian Wiseman celebrates his second-period goal during Michigan's 3-2 victory over Western Michigan Saturday night. NEATON Continued from page 1 may have been off the ice, in terms of boosting team morale and getting everyone ready to play." Wolverine coach Red Berenson has nothing but praise for the Red- ford, MI native as well. "I think the key for him was to be able to come in and play safe hockey alongside David Harlock," Berenson said. "It's very rare for two freshmen to play together and play well. And they did it. "He's his own worst critic. He wants to do well, on and off the ice. If there was a profile of what a Michigan hockey player should be, Pat Neaton would fit to a tee." One would never find any of this out from talking to Pat, though. Ask him about his personal "Pat has this young-kid mental- ity," Neaton's roommate Chris Tamer said. "He loves to get out on the ice and mess around. He just loves to play hockey." The more one talks to Neaton, the more Tamer's assessment rings true. "It's always been fun for me," Neaton said. "I mean, the highlight of my day is at three o'clock com- ing down to the rink and seeing all the guys. It's great." But Neaton has not limited his scope to athletics. "Hockey has always been my top priority," he said, "but nothing lasts forever. There's going to come a time to hang up the skates." Using this rationale, Neaton ig- nored the temptation of jumping to the Junior A leagues out of high Although Neaton is still unde- cided about his major, he is lean- ing toward economics. "I'm trying to figure out what I like and what I don't like," he said. "I don't want to explore for four years, but I also don't want to rush into anything I won't like in two years." So, all seemed to be right with the world for Patrick Neaton. He was a star athlete at a big univer- sity. He was getting a good educa- tion, while at the same time mak- ing quite a name for himself on the ice. And the best part of all was that his family lived only a half- hour away and could attend all his games. It seemed too good to be true. It was. Reality has a harsh way of making its presence felt. For Pat, the reality hit just as the Wolver- with only four defensemen as Evans and Mark Sorenson moved up to the wing position, while juniors Helber and Ted Kramer manned the frontline spots. Roberts and Felsner join the already sidelined David Oliver and David Wright, leaving center Mark Ouimet as the sole remainder of the previously potent Wolverine front line scoring combination. "Injuries are like goals, and wins, or losses, they come in bunches," Berenson explained. "We were literally injury-free all year. It's something I hope we can recover from by playoff time. But I like the way our team responded to the fact that Shields wasn't playing and Felsner and Roberts were not in the lineup." Tamer said. "I give him a lot of credit for dealing with that." While Pete spent his days on a hospital bed, Pat excelled at the tournament. After Pat returned from Saskatchewan, Pete under- went a successful quadruple by- pass. Just weeks later, he was back in the Yost Arena bleachers, cheering the Wolverines to another victory. Pete's recovery was likely ex- pedited by not wanting to miss too many more games. The roles had reversed. After depending on his father to nurture him through the embryonic stage of his career, Pat was now providing his father with a reasonto fight back against his health problems. "I really look forward to watch- ing him play," Pete said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,