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December 06, 2019 - Image 8

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The Michigan Daily

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8 — Friday, December 6, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Nick Blankenburg maintains connection to late grandfather

There’s a railing on the left
side of the second floor at Yost
Ice Arena, overlooking the ice.
It’s in the corner, tucked away
just off the staircase and next
to the stands on the short side.
It’s where Nick Blankenburg
stands before every practice
and every home game.
Every
single
one
of
Michigan’s
players
has
a
particular spot for his pregame
routine,
whether
it’s
Jack
Summers — who wears No. 6 —
sitting on the sixth seat in the
stands or Jake Slaker laying in
the back hallway by the locker
room with his legs up the wall.
But for Blankenburg, this
railing is his spot.
When
the
sophomore
defenseman played his first
game at Yost last October,
he wasn’t sure where he was
going to stand to stretch and
visualize before the game. He
gravitated toward the left side
of the building, and he found
the railing over there.
And then he looked down
and realized his grandfather —
Richard Orkisz, better known
as Pops — had the seats just
below the railing, in the corner,
on the glass.
Blankenburg
could
wave
hello or send a wink down to his
grandfather before each game.
He knew then that he’d found
his place.
For as long as Blankenburg’s
mom, Karin — Orkisz’s daughter
— can remember, her dad was
the definition of a rink rat.
Any
time
one
of
his
grandchildren had a hockey
game or even a practice, they
could count on Pops to be there.
As Blankenburg got older and
progressed from AAA hockey
to high school hockey, his
grandfather was a constant
presence at the rink. Romeo
High School was only about five
minutes from Orkisz’s house.
Sometimes, he’d get to the

games even before Blankenburg
did. When Blankenburg would
pull into the parking lot, he’d
see Orkisz’s car parked in
the handicapped spot. Both
Blankenburg and Karin are
quick to clarify that Orkisz
wasn’t
handicapped
in
the
traditional sense, but his heart
wasn’t the best and walking
long distances was difficult for
him.
“My dad would just be sitting
at a table eating a hot dog and a
bag of chips and a pop,” Karin
said. “Waiting for Nick.”
When Blankenburg moved
from playing for metro Detroit-
based Victory Honda to playing
for
the
Okotoks
Oilers
in
Alberta, Canada, Orkisz could
no longer attend every practice
and every game.
But that didn’t stop him from
keeping up with his grandson
every time he stepped onto the
ice.
Orkisz kept Oilers’ 2017-
18
schedule
at
his
house,
painstakingly filled out after
every game with the score and
whether Blankenburg got any
points in the game. Finding
that schedule showed Karin
everything she needed to know
about her dad’s relationship
with her son.
“I don’t think I had anyone
that was a bigger fan than him,”
Blankenburg said.
When
Blankenburg
came
to Ann Arbor on a visit, Karin
decided to tell her dad the
secret that they weren’t sharing
with many people — that Nick
was visiting Michigan and may
play hockey for the Wolverines.
Orkisz’s jaw dropped.
No one in the family ever
expected Blankenburg to end
up at Michigan, and it was a
dream come true for the whole
family when it happened —
especially Orkisz.
“He
couldn’t
get
tickets
fast
enough,”
Karin
said.
“And he was, I don’t want to
say handicapped, but he was
older, so it was harder for him

to get up and down the stairs.
So, when those glass seats
were
available,
considered
handicapped seats, that was
perfect because we dropped
him off right by the door, he got
his hot dog, used the bathroom
and then was cozy in his seat
for the next three hours.”
And
when
Blankenburg
realized his grandfather sat
right below the railing on the
left side, he decided to stand
there before each game and
give Orkisz a wink or say hi.
When Karin came to her
first Michigan game, a few
weeks into the season, her dad
couldn’t wait to tell her all
about their pregame moments.
And
in
warmups,
Blankenburg
always
made
eye contact with his biggest
fan — a brief shared moment
for grandfather and grandson
among the chaos before a game.
Blankenburg
was
at
the
Mall of America on a Thursday
morning in March when he
got a call from his mother. He
instantly knew it was about his

Pops.
Orkisz’s health had begun
to decline in January after
heart
surgery
and
ensuing
complications, and the family
knew the end was coming — but
Blankenburg didn’t expect to
get the call so soon.
Orkisz had been suffering
from the flu and Karin took
him to the hospital. It looked as
though things were trending in
a positive direction, and Karin
was preparing to quit her job
and move in with her dad to
take care of him as he regained
his strength.
“The day that he died, I saw
him,” Karin said. “I was there
from like — I went there after
work. I stayed with him from
like three to five, I brought him
some soup, and then I just went
home. I had something to do.
“And like two hours after I
got home, my phone rang, and
it was the hospital. I thought
like, ‘Oh! They’re releasing
him.’ … They told me that he
was in cardiac arrest for like 45
minutes and they were trying

to revive him and what did they
want me to do.”
Both Nick and his older
brother
Alex

then
a
goaltender for the University
of Nebraska-Omaha — were on
the road with their respective
teams. After Orkisz passed on
the Wednesday night, Karin
didn’t want to call her sons and
distract them. But then their
oldest sister found out, and
Karin knew she had to tell them
before someone else did.
So, standing in the middle
of Nordstrom with four of
his teammates, Blankenburg
answered the phone and heard
Karin at the other end of the
connection. He told her he was
at the Mall of America, hanging
out with his friends.
“Yeah, don’t really have good
news for you,” Karin said.
“What?
Is
it
Pops?”
Blankenburg
replied,
and
his mom told him what had
happened.
“Pops
would
have
never
wanted you to come home
or stop playing hockey or

whatever,” Karin said. “Just
stay where you’re at. Pops
would want you to play.”
The Great Lakes Invitational
Tournament
last
December
was the last time Orkisz saw
Blankenburg play hockey in
person.
When
Michigan’s
first
home
series
rolled
around
last
January,
Blankenburg
looked down at the spot his
grandfather always occupied
and found it empty. His health
wasn’t good enough for him to
travel to see his grandson play.
But Blankenburg stood at
the railing anyway, just as he
always had.
And when he took the ice
for warmups, he looked again
at that seat in the left corner.
Instead of making eye contact
or throwing Orkisz a wink, he
skated over and touched his
knuckles to the glass in front of
where his grandfather always
sat.
When he returned to Yost
this fall for the first game
of this season, Blankenburg
continued his usual routine
at the railing. It’s a part of his
pregame preparation now, and
he has no intention of changing
it just because his Pops doesn’t
sit underneath it anymore.
“I feel like it was nice
knowing that he was up in
heaven with my grandma and
they were both looking down
on me, watching over me,”
Blankenburg said. “I was happy
to know that he was in a better
place, and he had the best seat
in the house.”
Blankenburg
still
gives
Orkisz a knuckle touch through
the glass before every game. It’s
his way of remaining connected
to the man that was always
his biggest fan and strongest
supporter.
Orkisz was at every game,
every practice, everything he
could be for Blankenburg’s
entire hockey career.
And Blankenburg knows he’s
still there every day.

Out of the blue

Michigan stages comeback late in fourth quarter, tops Syracuse in overtime, 84-76, for first power-conference win

Michigan’s
players
looked
up. Two minutes remained in
overtime. They led Syracuse by
five. They could have dug in their
heels, played drop-back defense
and waited for the clock to bleed
down.
But there would be no waiting
in this game.
Senior
guard
Akienreh
Johnson jumped on a bad pass
by guard Teisha Hyman, broke to
the basket and picked up an and-
one.
The Wolverines didn’t look
back on their way to an 84-76 win
over Syracuse.
Even getting to overtime took
a near miracle from Michigan.
Midway
through
the
fourth
quarter, the Orange held a nine-
point
lead,
and
Michigan’s
offense was reeling. It had only
hit one field goal in the quarter.
In
desperate
times,
the
Wolverines needed a spark, and
it was their defense that provided
it. Coach Kim Barnes Arico dialed
up a full-court press in hopes
of forcing turnovers, and it paid
dividends.
Starting with a quick bucket
after a steal from sophomore
forward Naz Hillmon, Michigan
scored eight of the next 10 points
— all of which came off Syracuse
turnovers.
“It was Naz at the front of that
press, and (sophomore guard)
Amy (Dilk) and (Johnson) right
behind her,” Barnes Arico said.
“They’re so long and disruptive,
and they were so tough.
From
the
beginning,
it
was clear the game would be
a nailbiter, with both teams
reaching double digits before the
first TV timeout. Junior forward
Hailey Brown set the tone right
away, driving past the Orange
defense and drawing a foul less
than 15 seconds in. She sunk both
free throws.
Every time one team made a
big play that felt like a turning
point, the other side would come
right back with a quick bucket
of its own. Much of this came

from
Syracuse’s
high-volume
performance from beyond the
arc, especially early on. In the
first quarter alone, it buried 5-of-
10 triples, three of which came
from Hyman, who had previously
made just two 3-pointers all
season.
But
the
Wolverines’
adjustments on defense — and
Hyman sitting out with foul
trouble

meant
Syracuse
couldn’t quite maintain that
same pace from downtown later
in the game. Michigan’s press
continued to fluster the Orange’s
shooters, forcing poor passes and
hurried shots. They made just five
3-pointers in the second half.
“We tried to keep switching
defenses on them,” Barnes Arico
said. “We tried not to stay in the
same thing so they couldn’t get
comfortable.”
Offensively, senior forward
Kayla Robbins was the biggest
difference-maker
for
the

Wolverines. She led the team
with 23 points, including a layup
with just over a minute left that
gave Michigan a one-point lead.
Once overtime started, it was
all Wolverines. They outscored
Syracuse, 13-5, in the extra period,
making almost no mistakes and
sinking a number of crucial free
throws to seal the victory.
Going in, Michigan knew that
Syracuse’s zone defense could
cause problems — especially
with the turnover woes that the
Wolverines have endured this
year. But they took care of the
ball, found holes in the zone and
picked up a signature win along
the way.
“We focused on worrying
about ourselves, because as much
as we focused in on their defense
and their offense, they have to
also worry about us,” Hillmon
said. “So we just played our game.
We knew that something would
come to us.”

Down
by
10
with
eight
minutes left, Syracuse had all
the momentum. Two straight
3-pointers
appeared
to
put
daggers in Michigan’s hopes as
the game slipped out of reach.
Then a shooting foul gave
freshman guard Michelle Sidor a
chance at the line. She sank both
of them. A scramble for the ball
30 seconds later in the backcourt
gave sophomore forward Naz
Hillmon an easy layup to bring
the game within seven.
“When we got down 10, we
knew we were gonna have to turn
it up,” said Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico after a game her
team came back to win, 84-76,
over Syracuse in overtime. “I
think you just saw the spark in
Hillmon, and Hillmon coming
alive in the front of the press.
Nobody wants to face that. Her

(6-foot-7) wingspan, and that’s
really what she has, was really
tough for their point guard.”
Never mind that, the Orange
would do what they did every
time the Wolverines attempted
to claw themselves back into the
game — hit threes.
Instead, a trap from sophomore
guard Amy Dilk on the far side
of the court gave Michigan the
ball back. Senior forward Kayla
Robbins, playing with four fouls,
forced a turnover and put up a
layup. It was a five-point game.
Syracuse made it halfway up
the court before senior guard
Akienreh
Johnson
forced
a
turnover,
found
Robbins
streaking down the court for
an easy layup — the deficit now
three.
The Orange scored again.
They turned the ball over again,
the Wolverines scored again.
For once, Michigan wasn’t
the team giving up possessions.

There was no room for Syracuse
to breathe as the Wolverines
executed a nasty press. The
Orange
committed
seven
turnovers in the fourth quarter
and five in overtime. They gave
up 31 points off turnovers — 21 in
the fourth quarter and overtime.
“It’s all with the top line,”
Robbins said. “When you have
(Hillmon’s) length up top, with
her length in the press when
we’re down, she’s done it plenty
of times before — no one can
stop it. No one can get through
our first-line defense when we’re
down.”
Added Hillmon: “But it doesn’t
work without the second line
being there with the traps, so
that’s another thing of everybody
working together, knowing what
spots they’re supposed to be in
and even when it did break down
a couple times we didn’t put our
head down, we got right back
into it and still tried to get those
stops.”
For a minute, the game looked
to sit back into the normal
rhythm. Like it did in the third
quarter when the Wolverines
forced an abundance of turnovers
to bring the game within three,
only to lose it just as soon as it
began.
There
were
two
minutes
where Michigan dominated the
glass, gained rebounds, forced
turnovers, only to miss its shot.
But Syracuse was impotent and
turned the ball over again. The
Wolverines worked their way
into a one-point lead off a Robbins
layup with just a minute left.
Michigan
calmed
down,
and when it was unable to trap
the Orange in the backcourt, it
swarmed the arc — Hillmon and
junior forward Hailey Brown a
brick wall in the paint.
To start overtime, Syracuse
committed a turnover. And then
another. The Wolverines were
up by four in a flash while the
Orange were drowning.
Up by 10 with a minute left in
overtime, the momentum was
all with Michigan. Two free
throws put a dagger in the heart
of Syracuse.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

COURTESY OF KARIN BLANKENBURG
Nick Blankenburg started standing over a second-floor railing at Yost because his grandfather would sit below.

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer

KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer

OLIVIA CELL/Daily
Senior forward Kayla Robbins led Michigan with 23 points against Syracuse in the Wolverines’ 84-76 win on Thursday.

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