The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday- February 18, 1991 - Page 5
JOSE JUAREZ/Daily
Wolverine leftwinger Cam Stewart watches as his linemate, fellow rookie Brian Wiseman, score his second goal of the evening in Michigan's 6-5
victory over Michigan State Friday night. The Wolverines split the series at Joe Louis Arena, losing to the Spartans on Saturday.
Rowdy rivals rumble
r; ,.by Matt Rennie
Daily Hockey Writer
DETROIT - All that was miss-
ing from Joe Louis Arena Saturday
night was Don King. Despite the
absence of the well-groomed box-
ing promoter, all the other aspects
of a championship fight were pre-
: sent.
Unfortunately, the scheduled
event was a hockey game, not a
boxing match. But, after the first
period ended, it was quite difficult
to tell the difference.
As the Spartans and the
Wolverines skated onto the ice to
congratulate their respective
} goalies, words were exchanged
and a full-scale brawl ensued.
The Spartans were apparently
seething over a roughing,. penalty
by Ted Kramer at the end of the
period. After a few pushes and
shoves, several individual con-
frontations exploded in various ar-
eas on the ice.
"I guess (Michigan State)
didn't like the Kramer thing,"
rookie defenseman Aaron Ward
said. "Personally, I liked the hit.
Anyway, we go out there to con-
gratulate our goalies, and the next
thing I know, there's a scrum going
at center ice."
The first real punches were pre-
cipitated by the actions of Spartan
goaltender Jason Muzzatti. Muz-
zatti, who was not playing in the
game, skated toward the Michigan
end of the ice and confronted start-
ing Michigan goaltender Steve
Shields.
While this was going on, many
other players were picking their
opponents for the battle royale. At
this point, the fights were too nu-
merous for the officials to control.
In the end, five Spartans and
six Wolverines were handed game
misconducts. For Michigan, the
guilty parties were Ward, Shields,
Kent Brothers, Chris Tamer, Doug
Evans, and Cam Stewart. Mean-
while. Muzzatti, Jim Cummins,
in ruckus
penalties gave Michigan State a
pair of power plays to open the
second stanza. The Spartans took
full advantage of the extra skater
to score two quick goal to take a
3-0 lead.
"I'm not sure about the penal-
ties," Tamer said. "It looked like
everything was pretty even out
there to me."
Several factors may have con-
tributed to the belligerent attitudes.
The rivalry between the two
schools has always been fierce.
Furthermore, neither team has an
- important series scheduled next
weekend, so the one-game suspen-
sion that automatically accompa-
yan Smolinski, nies a game misconduct might not
at out the final have been as strong a deterrent as
usual.
CCHA needs to
control fights, refs
by Jeni Durst
Daily Hockey Writer
DETROIT - It wasn't Caesar's Palace. Evander Holyfield wasn't in
sight. Neither was Mike Tyson. There weren't any ropes, nor a ring. In-
stead there was ice, and it was Joe Louis Arena. But there was a title
fight, or more precisely, fights. There was also a man in a black and
white striped shirt in the middle of it all, though there might as well
not have been.
What should have been a classic hockey matchup between two in-
trastate and CCHA rivals, Michigan and Michigan State, in the playdff
setting of the JLA, was marred by an entire team brawl Saturday night.
It began at the end of the first period. State's reserve goalie for the
night, Jason Muzzatti, reacted to some Wolverine infraction and
charged out onto the ice. Moments later he and Wolverine netminder
Steve Shields sparred next to the Michigan bench. The rest of the
players amassed on the ice after the buzzer sounded and preceded to
pair off for the dance.
More altercations broke out before the smoke finally cleared and
when it was all over, twelve game disqualifications were handed out,
six for each team, two going to Muzzatti.
Michigan coach Red Berenson summed it up when he said that the
whole incident was a "blemish on the league and a blemish on college
hockey."
And the biggest pimple on the face of the CCHA is its level of offi-
ciating. Saturday, neither the ref nor the linesmen had any control over
the happenings at the end of the period. They skated around aimlessly
trying to decide what to do first as new fights broke out and old scuffles
escalated.
Referee Matt Shegos stood watching Muzzatti and Shields maul
each other for minutes before the linesmen worked to break them up.
After the goalies were finally carted to their separate benches, Muz-
zatti, who had initiated the fight, skated back onto the ice. No attempt
was made by Shegos or the linesmen to send him back to the bench, or
better yet, to the lockerroom.
Spartan Michael Stewart, who had pinned Michigan defender Aaron
Ward to the ice for the duration of the incident, was not even issued a
penalty. It's obvious the referee tried to distribute the ensuing penalties
equally, but what is not so obvious is how he decided who got what.
Ward was given a five-minute major for attempting to injure the
referee when the official pushed him onto the bench and momentum
carried the ref with him.
Yet when State's Walt Bartels checked Michigan's Mike Stone
from behind later in the second period, driving the rookie's head into
the boards, Bartels was issued only a two-minute minor.
Earlier this season, after Mike Helber was injured by a check from
behind against Lake Superior, Michigan requested that the CCHA in-
crease the penalty to a ten-minute major. The rule was enforced for one
weekend of action until the NCAA overturned it. The CCHA referees
now have the authority to decide if a check from behind is deliberate
or not, and assigning a 10 or two-minute penalty. Their judgement has
been questionable.
"Ward got a five-minute major for attempting to injure the official,
yet when a guy gets hit from behind, that's a real attempt to injure. It
was out of control," a livid Red Berenson said.
The weekend brawl highlights what has plagued the league all year.
The referees have to remain more consistent in their calls and need to
assert more control over their games. And the CCHA needs to assert
more control over its officials. Until this is done, the blemish will con-
tinue to grow and disfigure the real beauty of college hockey.
CCH1i Through Feb. 21, 1991
Men's Hockey Standings
.:::..............-..........................................-.....:.-".. "r":>-t i
Conference Games
TEAM W L T PTS.
Lake Superior 24 2 4 52
Michigan 24 5 3 51
W. Michigan 16 12 2 34
Ferris State 14 11 5 33
Michigan St. 13 12 5 31
Bowling Green 12 16 2 26
Ohio State 8 18 4 20
:Ilinois-Chicago 8 20 2 18
Miami (Ohio) 2 25 3 7
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Muzzatti
Joby Messier, Bry
and Kelly Harper s
t in d~i~ fn tha
two perios sor the Spartans.
In addition, Wolverine de-
fenseman David Harlock received
two minutes for hooking while
Kramer picked up another two
minutes for roughing. Those two
"It was just one of those situa-
tions that can happen in a hockey
game," Brothers said. "I'm sure
they hate us as much as we hate
them."
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HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
'M' State fans set new
CCHA record at JLA
by Jeni Durst
Daily Hockey Writer
DETROIT - For the past several seasons,
Michigan State has upended the Wolverines in
the squads' hockey matchups. At least as far
as fan attendance was concerned.
In an effort to deter the problem this year
and also give the teams an early taste of
playoff surroundings, the second home-and-
home series between the rivals was moved to
the confines of Joe Louis Arena.
In the process, the opponents set a new
CCHA record for attendance at a regular-
season game Saturday night, with 15,684 fans
packing the stands. The previous mark of
,15,348 was set almost exactly 17 years ago in
February of 1974 when Ohio State traveled to
Missouri for a game with St. Louis.
Helping to establish the new mark were the
5-plus buses rented from Michigan to carry
various Wolverine groups and clubs to Detroit
to witness the festivities, including several
fraternities and sororities.
THE END OF THE STREAK: Michigan's 6-
2 loss to Michigan State Saturday night finally
ended the Wolverines record winning streak.
Michigan had not lost a regular or league con-
test since Lake Superior upended the squad in
their meeting on December 15. With the
victory over State on Friday, the record streak
increased to 15 before getting cut short by the
Spartans.
THE END OF THE STREAK, PART 2:
Though it is not as historic or monumental as
the winning streak of his team, rookie center
Brian Wiseman had been busy setting a streak
of his own - and it also ended with the lost to
State. Beginning with the Wolverines first
game with Western last weekend, Wiseman
has scored two goals in each Michigan game
up until Saturday.
Wiseman leads all CCHA rookies in
scoring, tallying nine goals and 16 assists on
the season. His recent scoring flury came at a
needed time for Michigan, during a period of
injuries, when leading scorers David Roberts
and Denny Felsner were both sitting out.
SHORT-HANDED: Due to Saturday night's
fisticuffs between Michigan and Michigan
State, the Wolverines, who were limited to
just 18 skaters going into the weekend because
of injuries, will be limited to even less this
Friday.
Six Michigan players were issued game
disqualifications that will keep them out of the
upcoming matchup with Kent State. The
Wolverines will be forced to perform with 13
skaters, including only three defensemen, and
one goalie.
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Continued from page 1
board late in the second period
and scored again midway into the
third stanza. But, before and after
the fight, the game belonged to
the Spartans.
The disqualifications mean
that 11 players will also be absent
from playing this Friday. For-
Michigan State, that means five
players will be out of a home se-
ries against eighth-place Illinois,
Chicago. The Wolverines will
have to deal with six fewer play.-
ers for a home game with non-
conference Kent State.
"When it's all. said and done,
it's going to affect us more than
Michigan," Mason said. "They're
playing two exhibition games
next week and we're playing
league games."
Friday's contest was much
more balanced. Michigan shot off
to a 4-1 lead, but Michigan State
hung in the game and eventually
tied it late in the third period.
Michigan forward Mike Helber
scored the winning goal with less
than five minutes remaining in
the game, quieting the over-
whelmingly Spartan crowd.
In the last minute of the third
period, the Spartans surged but
were unable to score. Two Spar-
tan shots ricocheted off the pipes
but did not go in the net. With fif-
teen seconds left, Michigan for-
ward Denny Felsner missed an
open-net goal, but the Spartans
did not have enough time to get
the puck down the ice for a final
attempt.
"We let them back into the
game and they took it to us,"
Berenson said. "Luckily, we got
the win."
Michigan forward Brian Wise-
man continued his scoring ways
for the third consecutive, game by
getting two goals and adding an
assist. Rightwinger Dan Stiver,
who didn't even dress for part of
the season, proved his value by
chipping in three assists.
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