Weekly Release #14
1/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
#4 Michigan (18-6-0, 13-4-0 CCHA) vs.
Ohio State (7-13-2, 3-10-1 CCHA)
Friday, Jan. 21, 7:05 p.m., Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Tickets
Tickets for Friday's game are available through the Ohio State Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-BUCKS.
On Television
Friday's game will be televised live FOX Sports Net Detroit.
On the Radio
All Michigan hockey games are broadcast over the radio on WTKA (1050 AM). Al Randall covers the play-by-play, while Jim Hunt provides color commentary. Home games are also broadcast on WCBN Student Radio (88.3 FM).
Coach Berenson
Red Berenson is in his 16th year as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Coach Berenson owns a career record of 412-203-36 and is tied with Charles Holt (Colby, New Hampshire) as the 15th winningest coach in NCAA history. He became the 16th coach in NCAA history to reach 400 career wins when the Wolverines defeated Yale 3-2 on Oct. 30 in Ann Arbor. Berenson has 730 games associated with Michigan hockey (651 as a coach, 79 as a student-athlete).
Michigan vs. Ohio State
Friday's game will be the 76th game between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes. Michigan owns a record of 46-21-8 (.667) vs. Ohio State. In the last 10 games, Michigan owns a record of 6-3-1 against the Buckeyes. In Columbus, the Wolverines are 22-10-3. At the Value City Arena, Michigan is 1-1-1 against Ohio State.
Coach Berenson vs. the Buckeyes
Michigan head coach Red Berenson owns a record of 40-15-8 (.698) against the Buckeyes. Berenson holds a record of 13-3-3 against Ohio State's head coach, John Markell.
The Last Meeting
Michigan scored three short-handed goals, including a pair by Scott Matzka (Port Huron, Mich.) and one by Bob Gassoff (St. Louis, Mo.), in an 8-4 win over the Buckeyes on Nov. 6 in Columbus. Goaltenders Kevin O'Malley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and L.J. Scarpace (Dearborn, Mich.) combined for 17 saves, with O'Malley earning the win.
Last Weekend
Michigan swept Miami (Ohio) in a pair of games at Yost Ice Arena. In Friday's game (Jan. 14), the Wolverines scored the first three goals on their way to a 5-2 decision. Mike Cammalleri (Richmond Hill, Ontario) netted a pair of goals, including his first career short-handed goal. Saturday night (Jan. 15), the fourth line was the focus in a 5-1 victory as Craig Murray (Penticton, B.C.) notched his first career goal to open the scoring and then added a second in the third period. Krikor Arman (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) scored his first goal of the season, and J.J. Swistak (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) added his first assist. Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) recorded both wins to go 5-0-0 on the season.
Comrie Earns CCHA Honors for Third Time
Mike Comrie scored a goal and an assist in each game this past weekend and was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season (Oct. 11 and Nov. 8). Comrie scored the first goal of the two-game series on Friday (Jan. 14) and netted the final goal on Saturday (Jan. 15). His second goal was the only Michigan power-play tally of the weekend. Comrie was on the ice for four Michigan goals (three even-strength goals and one power-play goal) to increase his plus/minus to +14 on the season. Comrie is the youngest player among the top five national scoring leaders, and with 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points, remains the nation's third leading scorer.
An Evening of Firsts for the Fourth Line
Center Craig Murray scored the first two goals of his career in Saturday's game (Jan. 15) against Miami. Also in the game, left winger Krikor Arman netted the first goal of his career and the first since his collegiate debut at Notre Dame on Jan. 30, 1998. To round out the firsts, right winger J.J. Swistak picked up his first career assist on the game's first goal.
Even-Strength Stops
Josh Blackburn has not allowed an even-strength goal since his return three games ago. He shut out Michigan State (Jan. 7) and allowed just three power-play goals against Miami (Jan. 14-15).
A New Career Mark
The 37 saves against Miami on Friday (Jan. 14) was a new career high in saves for Josh Blackburn.
CCHA Run
Michigan has used six consecutive wins in conference play to move into sole possession of first place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In the first 10 conference games, Michigan was 7-3-0. Since that time, the Wolverines are 6-1-0 in the last seven CCHA contests.
Bounced Back
After going winless in four games (0-3-1) with the Buckeyes from Mar. 20, 1998, to Feb. 6, 1999, Michigan has won the last three meetings. In the three consecutive wins, Michigan has outscored the Bucks 17-7.
Berenson Moves Up Again
Coach Red Berenson won his 412th game with Saturday's 5-1 victory. He is now in a tie for 15th with Charles Holt (Colby, New Hampshire) on the all-time wins list for collegiate coaches.
Get the Special Teams Ready
In the last four games with the Buckeyes, Michigan has scored 10 power-play goals in 27 chances (37.0 percent). In the same span, OSU is 5-for-30 (16.7 percent).
Fire Away
In games in which the Wolverines take fewer than 29 shots they are undefeated with a record of 7-0-0. When taking 30 or more shots, Michigan is 11-6-0.
Offense Leads to Wins
When scoring two or fewer goals, Michigan holds a record of 1-6-0. However, Michigan is 17-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.
Defense Leads to Wins
When allowing two or fewer goals, the Wolverines are a perfect 14-0-0 this season. When they allow three or fewer, they are 15-2-0.
Comrie with a Point
Mike Comrie is third in the nation in scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points. He has been held scoreless in just four games this season and has not been held scoreless in consecutive games. In the 19 games in which Comrie has scored at least one point, the team has posted a record 16-3-0. (The only Michigan win in which he was held scoreless was the 4-2 victory over the Miami RedHawks at the Firstar Center in Cincinnati on Nov. 12, and Comrie did not play in the win over Lake Superior State at the GLI on Dec. 29.)
Comrie with Two Points
Mike Comrie leads the team with nine multi-point games this season. Michigan's record in those games is a perfect 9-0-0.
Among the Nation's Leaders
Mike Comrie, the first player in the nation to reach double digits in both goals and assists this season, is third in national scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points. (Steve Reinprecht of Wisconsin leads with 13-27-40). In goals, Comrie is tied for ninth. In assists, he is tied for fourth best in the nation.
Among the Nation's Leaders II
Jeff Jillson (N. Smithfield, R.I.), Mark Kosick (Victoria, B.C.) and Mike Cammalleri are also among the nation's top scorers. Jillson is tied for 23rd with 6-20-26. His 20 assists are good for a ninth-place tie in the national standings. Kosick is tied for ninth in the country with 14 goals. In power-play goals, Kosick is tied for sixth with six and Cammalleri is tied for 22nd with five. Between the pipes, L.J. Scarpace (Dearborn, Mich.) is the fourth leading goalkeeper in the nation with a 1.85 goals-against average.
When It Rains, It Pours
When Geoff Koch (Exeter, N.H.) scores a point, look for a second one close behind. Out of the eight games he has recorded a point this season, four of those games have been multi-point games.
Vancik in the Plus/Minus Lead
Sophomore Jay Vancik (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) leads the team in plus/minus at +19 on the season. Vancik has been on the ice for 20 even-strength goals forced and just five even-strength goals allowed. In addition, he has been on the ice for four of Michigan's eight short-handed goals forced, while giving up no short-handed goals.
On the List for Being in the Box
Senior captain Sean Peach (Langley, B.C.) moved into the top 25 in both career penalties and career penalty minutes. Peach has 104 penalties and is 21st on the all-time list. In penalty minutes, he is also 21st all-time with 244 PIM. Chris Tamer leads both categories with 218 penalties for 515 penalty minutes.
Chemistry
The line of Mark Kosick, Scott Matzka and Josh Langfeld (Coon Rapids, Minn.) combined to score nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points, an average of 3.5 points per game, in six games from Nebraska-Omaha (Dec. 10) to Miami (Jan. 14).
The Hot Streak
Since not playing against Wisconsin on Nov. 27, Mark Kosick has been on a tear. In the following eight games from Bowling Green (Dec. 4) to Miami (Jan. 14), Kosick led the team in scoring with 7-4-11, including a five-game scoring streak. During the stretch, he recorded at least one point in seven of the eight games.
The Home Run
The freshman class has made its impact. In 24 games this season, the group has scored 33 goals, 34.4 percent of the team's goals.
The Sac Fly
The junior class leads the team with 52 assists. That total represents 35.7 percent of the team's total assists so far this season, the most of any class.
The More the Merrier
The Wolverines own a record of 17-0-0 when they score three or more goals and a record of 1-6-0 when they score two or fewer. The win over Michigan State on Jan. 7 is the only time this season the Wolverines has been victorious when scoring two or fewer goals in a game.
High-Powered Offense
Michigan's offense continues to lead the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in both overall and conference scoring average. The Wolverines are scoring 4.12 goals per game in conference play (0.68 more than Northern Michigan) and 4.00 goals per game overall (0.54 more than Northern Michigan).
Solid After Two
Michigan owns a 117-0-4 record in the last 121 games when leading after two periods. The streak dates back to Feb. 11, 1995, when Michigan led the University of Illinois-Chicago 4-3 after two periods before falling 5-4 in overtime.
Streaks
Andy Hilbert (Howell, Mich.) leads the team with a five-game scoring streak. Since scoring 2-1-3 against Nebraska Omaha on Dec. 10, Hilbert has tallied 5-2-7 in five games. (Hilbert did miss two games due to the World Junior Championships in the middle of his current streak.)
Mike Comrie has scored 2-3-5 in the last three games.
Jeff Jillson and Jed Ortmeyer (Omaha, Neb.) have each scored one assist in the last two games.
On the Horizon
Mark Kosick's 64 career assists are just 11 away from putting him among the top 50 all-time in career assists at Michigan.
In goals, Josh Langfeld needs just five more goals to reach 50 in his career, which will place him among the top 50 all-time for goals in a career at Michigan.
CCHA Standings (Through 1/16/00)
|----CONFERENCE----| |----OVERALL----| W- L- T Pts GF GA W- L- T GF GA 1. MICHIGAN 13- 4- 0 26 70 37 18- 6- 0 96 54 2. Michigan State 12- 5- 0 24 54 24 16- 7- 0 76 39 Northern Mich. 11- 3- 2 24 55 35 16- 6- 2 83 50 4. Lake Superior St. 9- 6- 1 19 44 38 10-11- 1 61 61 5. Ferris State 8- 8- 0 16 46 43 15- 9- 0 77 57 Western Mich. 7- 7- 2 16 51 50 8-10- 2 65 64 7. Miami (Ohio) 6- 6- 2 14 41 38 9- 9- 2 62 60 Nebraska-Omaha 5- 7- 4 14 43 57 7-11- 4 61 80 Notre Dame 5- 7- 4 14 30 46 8-13- 5 59 74 10. Bowling Green 6-10- 0 12 44 55 7-13- 0 54 71 11. Ohio State 4-11- 1 9 30 59 8-14- 2 54 77 12. Alaska-Fairbanks 3-15- 0 6 41 67 4-16- 0 45 71
U.S. College Hockey Online Poll (1/17/00)
Team (1st-Place Votes) Record Pts Last 1. New Hampshire (37) 18-3-1 397 1 2. Wisconsin (3) 18-5-1 362 4 3. North Dakota 15-5-2 288 2 4. MICHIGAN 18-6-0 266 5 5. Maine 15-4-4 247 3 6. Boston University 13-6-4 209 7 7. Michigan State 16-7-0 144 6 8. Northern Michigan 16-6-2 106 8 9. Boston College 13-6-1 74 NR 10. Rensselaer 13-6-1 41 9
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
