Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, March 13, 2015 — 7
Rivalry to determine title
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan hockey team’s
weekend series against Michigan
State is kind of a big deal.
With a Big Ten championship,
rivalry
bragging
rights,
tournament seeding and senior
pride on the line, the 19th-ranked
Wolverines have plenty to play
for
in
their
regular-season
finale.
“I’ve heard
it from many
different guys
— this is why
you come to
Michigan,”
said sophomore
forward
JT
Compher.
“It’s
almost
storybook, two
games against
your rival for a
championship.
All of our goals
can
still
be
accomplished.
You have no
reason not to be excited.”
That excitement begins Friday
evening, when Michigan (11-7 Big
Ten, 19-13 overall) travels to East
Lansing to battle the Spartans
(10-6-2, 16-14-2) before returning
to Ann Arbor for the senior class’
final game at Yost Ice Arena.
Both games will be of equal
importance, as the Big Ten
regular-season title hinges on
this weekend’s results. Michigan
State (34 points) and Michigan
(33) can clinch with sweeps,
or they can relegate control to
Minnesota (33) or Penn State
(31), who play head to head in
Minneapolis.
Adding to the intrigue are
the
contrasting
strengths
between the rivals. As strong and
dominant as Michigan’s offense
— No. 1 nationally — has been
this season, Michigan State’s
defense has looked even more
potent as of late. The Spartans
posted consecutive shutouts last
weekend, and they have allowed
16 fewer goals than any other
team in conference play.
With
netminder
Jake
Hildebrand garnering national
attention for his recent play in
goal, the Wolverines have their
work cut out for them.
“He’s the best goalie in our
league,” said junior forward
Andrew Copp. “He’s going to stop
what he can see, so we need to
get bodies in front and traffic in
front and then bang in rebounds
and do what we can to disrupt his
rhythm and flow to the game.”
Added Michigan coach Red
Berenson: “We’ve got a lot of
respect for their team defense
and their goalie. Their team is
playing their best hockey in a
couple years, and good for them.
It was a matter of time, so now
we’ve got to play our best hockey.”
Though
Michigan
State’s
aggressive defense has been
known
to
shake
up
team’s
rhythms, Michigan feels that, at
this point in the season, the talent
is there. Now, it’s time to put it
together and execute.
“We need to play our game and
play up to our potential,” Copp
said. “Obviously we need to know
their system and how to beat it,
but if we play up to our potential
and do what we’re supposed to
do, that’s all we need.”
Due to bad losses in the second
half of Big Ten play, Michigan
likely won’t be able to clinch
an at-large bid to the NCAA
Tournament
this
weekend,
instead relying on next weekend’s
Big Ten Tournament to punch its
ticket.
But as the storied rivals battle
in search of a storybook ending,
the Wolverines know they can
write their own script.
“We know all the things that
are at stake, but our number one
goal is to play our best on Friday,”
Berenson said. “We’ve got to go in
and start better, execute better,
compete better, and then we’ll
worry about the outcome. If we
don’t play well, we’ll get what we
deserve.
“We’re in a good spot, and now
we’ve got to live up to it.”
MSU vs.
Michigan
Matchup:
MSU 16-14-2;
Michigan 19-13
When: Friday
7:05 P.M.;
Saturday
5:05 p.m.
Where: Friday
at Munn
Ice Arena;
Saturday at
Yost Ice Arena
TV/Radio:
Fox Sports
Detroit
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Red Berenson’s team has a Big Ten title on the line against Michigan State.
Harbaugh’s first spring
marked by competition
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
After the Michigan football
team’s practice Thursday, fifth-
year senior cornerback Blake
Countess recounted a story
Baltimore Ravens coach John
Harbaugh told the Wolverines.
The brother of Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh is in Ann Arbor
to
speak
at
a
high-school
coaches clinic Friday but took a
few minutes Thursday to speak
to his sibling’s team.
According
to
Countess’
version of John’s tale, wrestling
was a regular occurrence in the
Harbaugh household when the
brothers were growing up. The
wrestling matches were of a
cyclical nature. John is exactly
15 months older than Jim, so
he tended to hit growth spurts
first and win the brotherly
battles. But then Jim would
grow and defeat his brother,
ending his temporary reign.
The process always seemed to
repeat itself.
John might have thought
the fighting ended when the
brothers grew up, but that
wasn’t the case in his brother’s
mind. When Jim played in the
National Football League and
John was in the earlier stages
of his coaching career, Jim took
the entire family on vacation
to Amelia Island, Florida. Jim,
known
for
his
competitive
nature, used the beach as a
chance to get the last word, to
right the perceived wrongs of
his youth.
The brothers wrestled in the
sand and Jim won the match,
dunking John into the sand.
“That was just crazy to me,
that they were fighting as grown
men,” Countess said.
Jim
Harbaugh
has
been
working this spring to apply
that fighter’s mentality to his
football team. At the end of
every practice, a winner and
loser are declared between
the offense and defense. The
way Harbaugh “rewards” the
winning group adds to the
drama.
The winning unit, not the
losing one, is tasked with
running
gassers
for
about
10 minutes after the day’s
activities. It’s not meant as a
punishment.
In
Harbaugh’s
world, only the winners deserve
the opportunity to get better.
The losing side sits down to
watch the winners run.
Junior running back De’Veon
Smith was one of the many
players who originally thought
running was a punishment
for not succeeding in practice.
It took fewer than five spring
practices to reverse Smith’s
mentality. The offense’s losses
weigh
on
Smith
when
he
watches his teammates run.
He had never previously
entertained the idea that he
would have a desire to run
gassers.
“No, not at all,” Smith said.
“There’s not a chance, ever.
Last summer, we had a gasser
test and that was the worst
thing, I hated gassers. Seeing
your teammates run the gassers
instead of you because you lost
is kind of frustrating.”
The competition is even more
magnified on special teams.
Each rep is viewed as a one-on-
one battle between two players,
resulting in the declaration
of a winner and loser. Like
on offense and defense, the
winners of many drills run.
The coaches make sure the
final results are distinct. Middle
ground is nonexistent.
“We know who won and we
know who lost,” said redshirt
junior
wide
receiver
Jehu
Chesson.
But
winning
the
spring
practice battles may become a
bit more difficult for Michigan’s
offense after Thursday’s news
that fifth-year senior offensive
lineman
Jack
Miller
won’t
return for his fifth season.
Miller started all 12 of the
team’s games at center last
season, carving out a role as a
team leader.
In a letter posted to his
Twitter account, Miller cited
a desire to start a new chapter
of his life, stating that he had
already accomplished all of
his football-related goals at
Michigan. He told ESPN that
his decision had nothing to do
with the team’s new coaching
staff.
According to players made
available to the media after
practice Thursday, fifth-year
senior Graham Glasgow has
taken over many of Miller’s
reps. Glasgow started 11 of the
Wolverines’ games last season
at guard. In 2013, Glasgow
started nine games at center.
Glasgow will have plenty of
time before the season opener
on Sept. 3 to readjust to the
position, if he ends up being the
one charged with filling Miller’s
position.
His offensive teammates can
only hope that the adjustment
doesn’t take too long. A delay
would mean more days of
watching the defense run its
victory gassers.
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