Weekly Release #5
11/3/1998 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
The Michigan Wolverines (5-2-0, 4-1-0 CCHA) have a week off and return to action Friday, Nov. 13, when the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks visit to Yost for a 7 p.m. game. The Wolverines then hit the road for a game at Notre Dame the following day (Oct. 14) at 7 p.m.
Coach Berenson
Red Berenson is in his 15th year as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Coach Berenson owns a career record of 373-188-30 and is currently the 23rd winningest coach in NCAA history. Coach Berenson is nine games shy of his 600th career game coached and 27 wins away from his 400th coaching victory. Berenson has 670 games associated with Michigan hockey (591 as a coach, 79 as a student-athlete), 30 short of 700.
Michigan vs. Alaska-Fairbanks
Michigan leads the all-time series with the Nanooks 17-0-0. Earlier this season, the Wolverines defeated UAF 6-1 and 2-1 in back-to-back games in Fairbanks on October 23 and 24. In the set of games, Michigan outshot the Nanooks 61-39 and finished the series 4-for-18 on the power play. Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) earned both wins. Coach Berenson has been behind the bench for each of Michigan's wins over UAF.
Michigan vs. Notre Dame
The Wolverines have a 49-33-2 advantage in the series against the Fighting Irish. Michigan has won 29 of the last 31 meetings, losing only on March 14, 1998 at Yost and February 25, 1995 at Notre Dame during that strech. Coach Berenson holds a 27-2-0 record against the Irish.
CCHA Standings (through 11/1/98)
|----CONFERENCE----| |----OVERALL----| W- L- T Pts GF GA W- L- T GF GA 1. Notre Dame 5- 1- 0 10 24 11 6- 1- 0 26 12 2. Michigan 4- 1- 0 8 16 10 5- 2- 0 23 17 Ferris State 4- 2- 0 8 24 15 4- 2- 0 24 15 4. Michigan St. 2- 0- 2 6 15 7 3- 0- 2 18 8 Northern Mich. 3- 1- 0 6 15 8 7- 1- 0 35 17 6. Bowling Green 2- 2- 1 5 14 20 3- 3- 1 21 27 7. Miami (Ohio) 1- 3- 2 4 21 24 2- 4- 2 27 31 Western Michigan 1- 3- 2 4 12 22 1- 3- 2 12 22 9. Ohio State 1- 2- 1 3 10 12 1- 5- 1 19 26 10. Alaska Fairbanks 0- 4- 0 0 7 21 1- 5- 0 13 28 Lake Superior St. 0- 4- 0 0 6 14 0- 6- 0 10 26
Last Weekend
Michigan split a pair of games last weekend at Yost, defeating Bowling Green 5-2 on Friday (Oct. 30) and falling to Northern Michigan 6-1 on Saturday (Oct. 31).
Against Bowling Green, Josh Blackburn made 15 saves in the first period to keep the Wolverines in the contest until Mike Van Ryn (London, Ontario) scored at the 3:02 mark of the second to open the scoring. Mike Comrie (Edmonton, Alberta) netted two goals, including an empty-net goal, and added an assist for three points in the game. Seniors Dale Rominski (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Bubba Berenzweig (Arlington Heights, Ill.) added the Wolverines other goals. Blackburn earned the win, improving his record to 5-0-0.
It was a different story on Saturday as Michigan fell to the Wildcats of Northern Michigan. Josh Langfeld (Coon Rapids, Minn.) scored on Michigan's only shot of the first period, but Northern Michigan rattled off six unanswered goals, including four in the second period to take the game. Josh Blackburn and Kevin O'Malley (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) split the goaltending duties, with Blackburn (5-1-0) taking the loss.
Michigan in the Polls
The Wolverines entered the season ranked No. 2 in the nation in the US College Hockey Online preseason poll (Oct. 5), but fell to No. 6 on October 19. Following the loss last Saturday, Michigan fell to No. 9 in this week's poll (Nov. 2) while Boston College remained in the No. 1 spot for the fourth consecutive poll.
Rank, School W-L-T Pts Last 1. Boston College (23) 4-0-0 291 1 2. North Dakota (7) 2-0-0 271 2 3. Colorado College 4-0-0 215 4 4. Maine 3-0-0 210 3 5. Michigan State 3-0-2 161 5 6. Northern Michigan 7-1-0 144 7 7. New Hampshire 4-0-0 113 8 8. Notre Dame 6-1-0 91 9 9. MICHIGAN 5-2-0 59 6 10. St. Lawrence 4-1-0 30 10
In the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll released November 2, Michigan was ranked ninth. Boston College held the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive week.
Rank, School W-L-T Pts Last 1. Boston College (8) 4-0-0 98 1 2. North Dakota (2) 2-0-0 89 2 3. Colorado College 5-0-0 73 3 4. Maine 3-0-0 73 4 5. Michigan State 3-0-2 57 5 6. Northern Michigan 7-1-0 40 8 7. Notre Dame 6-1-0 37 7 8. New Hampshire 4-0-0 32 9 9. MICHIGAN 5-2-0 23 6 10. St. Lawrence 4-1-0 10 NR
League Leaders
Among CCHA teams, Comrie is tied for second (11 pts.) in overall scoring with Notre Dame's Ben Simon. In league games, Comrie is tied for fifth with seven points. In goaltending, Josh Blackburn is third in league games with a 1.76 GAA. Northern Michigan's Dan Ragusett leads the league with 1.50 GAA.
Be Like Mike
Freshman Mike Comrie leads the team in points (11), goals (5), assists (6), power-play goals (3) and shots (31). He is tied with Scott Matzka and Dave Huntzicker (Ann Arbor, Mich.) for the lead in plus/minus with +5.
The 14th Letter is Key
The letter "M" has been good to the Wolverines. Mike Comrie leads in the team in the categories listed in the previous note. Along those lines, Mike Van Ryn is tied for second in points (6) with Mark Kosick (Victoria, B.C.). Van Ryn is also tied for second in goals (4), second in power-play goals (2), tied for the lead in game-winning goals (2) and fourth on the team in shots (20). As mentioned above, Matzka and Mike Comrie are also tied for the team lead in plus/minus with plus-5.
The 15th is Not, At Least at Yost
Both losses have come on Saturday home games to teams whose name begins with the letter "N," begging the question as to what will happen when Michigan faces Notre Dame on the road on Saturday, November 14.
Lack of Power Play Hurts
In each loss this season, the Wolverines have managed just one goal and finished 0-for-11 on the power play. In games with no power-play goals, Michigan is 1-2-0. The lone win was against Lake Superior State when Michigan went 0-for-13 with a man advantage.
Penality Kill is Helping
After five conference games, Michigan is second in the league on the penalty kill at 91.4% (3-35). Ferris State leads the CCHA at 91.9% (3-37).
Opponent Shots are Up
In the first five games of the season, Michigan outshot its opponent in each game, allowing a game high of 21 to Alaska-Fairbanks on Oct. 23. This past weekend, the Wolverines allowed Bowling Green and Northern Michigan 34 and 24 shots, respectively, and were outshot in both games.
Severity of Loss
The 6-1 loss to Northern Michigan was the worst loss at home since a 7-1 loss to Lake Superior State on January 7, 1989. The last time Michigan allowed four goals in a period, as they did against Northern last Saturday, was October 20, 1995 in a 7-2 loss to Western Michigan at Yost.
Shot-to-Goal Ratio
In an odd weekend for shot-to-goal ratio, Mike Comrie had two shots saved in the first period by Bowling Green's Mike Savard, but then scored on each of his lone shots in the second and third periods of the game to give him two goals on four shots. Saturday night, Michigan scored on its only shot of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. The goal was Langfeld's only shot on goal of the night.
Halloween Curse
In even-numbered years, Michigan owns a record of 0-4 on October 31. In odd-numbered years, the Wolverines are 4-0 on Halloween.
Short-Handed Goal
Sophomore Scott Matzka (Port Huron, Mich.) scored the first and only short-handed goal of the season so far at the 17:38 mark of the second period against Alaska-Fairbanks on October 23.
Holding the Lead
Saturday was the first loss in four games when the Wolverines have entered the first intermission with the lead. However, the team remains a perfect 4-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Out in Front
Michigan has not trailed at the end of the first period in any game this season. In fact, they have allowed just one goal in the first period while scoring five times.
Mark It On Your Calendar
The 25th Anniversary of the first ice hockey game at Yost Ice Arena was Monday, November 2. The first game was against Waterloo Lutheran in 1973. Michigan won the game 6-2.
Hockey on Grass
The team will be recognized for their 1998 National Championship at the Michigan-Penn State football game Saturday, November 7. The date is also the 30th anniversary of coach Berenson's six-goal game against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1968.
Random Notes ...
Josh Blackburn made a season-high 32 saves in the game against Bowling Green on Friday, including 15 in the first period ... Bubba Berenzweig and Mike Van Ryn each had three-game scoring streaks snapped in the loss to Northern Michigan.
Milestones Ahead ...
Situational Records
Overall Home Road Neut Michigan's current record 5-2-0 3-2-0 2-0-0 --- Michigan's record in its last: 5 games 3-2-0 1-2-0 2-0-0 --- 10 games 5-2-0 3-2-0 2-0-0 --- Michigan's record when: Leading after 1 period 3-1-0 1-1-0 2-0-0 --- Trailing after 1 period --- --- --- --- Tied after 1 period 2-1-0 2-1-0 --- --- Leading after 2 periods 4-0-0 2-0-0 2-0-0 --- Trailing after 2 periods 1-1-0 1-1-0 --- --- Tied after 2 periods 0-1-0 0-1-0 --- --- In overtime 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- Michigan scores first 4-2-0 2-2-0 2-0-0 --- Opponent scores first 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- Michigan outshoots opponent 4-1-0 2-1-0 2-0-0 --- Opponent outshoots Michigan 1-1-0 1-1-0 --- --- Michigan's record in games decided by: 0 goals (tie) --- --- --- --- 1 goal 2-1-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 --- 2 goals 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 3 goals 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 4 goals --- --- --- --- 5 goals 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 --- 6 or more goals --- --- --- --- Michigan's record when it scores: 0 goals --- --- --- --- 1 goal 0-2-0 0-2-0 --- --- 2 goals 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- 3 goals --- --- --- --- 4 goals --- --- --- --- 5 goals 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 6 or more goals 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- Michigan's record when opponent scores: 0 goals 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 1 goal 2-0-0 --- 2-0-0 --- 2 goals 1-1-0 1-1-0 --- --- 3 goals --- --- --- --- 4 goals --- --- --- --- 5 goals 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 6 or more goals 0-1-0 0-1-0 --- --- Michigan's record when it scores: 0 power-play goals 1-2-0 1-2-0 --- --- 1 power-play goal 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 2 power-play goals 3-0-0 1-0-0 2-0-0 --- 3 or more power-play goals --- --- --- --- 1 shorthanded goal 1-0-0 --- 1-0-0 --- 2 or more shorthanded goals --- --- --- --- Michigan's record with: 0-19 shots on goal 0-1-0 0-1-0 --- --- 20-29 shots on goal 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- 30-39 shots on goal 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 --- 40-49 shots on goal 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 50 or more shots on goal 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- Michigan's record when allowing: 0-19 shots on goal 3-1-0 2-1-0 1-0-0 --- 20-29 shots on goal 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 --- 30-39 shots on goal 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- 40-49 shots on goal --- --- --- --- 50 or more shots on goal --- --- --- --- Michigan's record in the month of: October 5-2-0 3-2-0 2-0-0 --- November --- --- --- --- Michigan's record on: Thursday --- --- --- --- Friday 3-0-0 2-0-0 1-0-0 --- Saturday 1-2-0 0-2-0 1-0-0 --- Sunday 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- Michigan's record when wearing: Maize 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- Blue 2-0-0 --- 2-0-0 --- White 2-2-0 2-2-0 --- --- Michigan's record in front of: 0-2,999 fans --- --- --- --- 3,000-5,999 fans 2-0-0 --- 2-0-0 --- 6,000-9,999 fans 3-2-0 3-2-0 --- --- 10,000 or more fans --- --- --- --- Michigan's record when: Comrie scores a goal 3-0-0 3-0-0 --- --- Kosick scores a goal 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- Langfeld scores a goal 1-1-0 1-1-0 --- --- Rominski scores a goal 4-0-0 2-0-0 2-0-0 --- Hayes scores a goal 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- --- Van Ryn scores a goal 4-0-0 2-0-0 2-0-0 --- Berenzweig scores a goal 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 --- Michigan's record in games lasting: 2:15 - 2:29 2-1-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 --- 2:30 - 2:44 1-1-0 1-1-0 --- --- 2:45 or longer 2-0-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 ---
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
