Wolverines Sign Six Skaters to National Letters of Intent

Comments from Coach Red Berenson

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University Michigan ice hockey head coach Red Berenson announced today (Monday, Nov. 22) the signing of six student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to play for the Maize and Blue beginning in the 2005-06 campaign. The group includes four forwards -- Jason Bailey (Nepean, Ontario), Andrew Cogliano (Vaughn, Ontario), Zac MacVoy (Livonia, Mich.) and Tim Miller (Davisburg, Mich.) -- and two defensemen -- Jack Johnson (Faribault, Minn.) and Mark Mitera (Livonia, Mich.).

Bailey, MacVoy, Johnson and Mitera are all teammates on the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team. Cogliano skates for the St. Michael's Buzzers in the Ontario Provincial Junior "A" Hockey League, and Miller plays with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League.

The National Hockey League's Central Scouting Service rated Bailey, Cogliano, Johnson and MacVoy as 'A' players in its preliminary ranking for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Miller was listed as a 'B' player. Mitera is not eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft due to the age cutoff.

Bailey, a 5-11, 206-pound forward, has played in all 20 games for the U.S. Under-18 Team. A high-energy winger, he has contributed four goals and five assists while accumulating 78 penalty minutes. On Nov. 12, he won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Compuware Four Nations Cup. Last winter, Bailey garnered a gold medal for his efforts while competing with Team Ontario at the 2004 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Cogliano, listed at 5-10, 185 pounds, is a highly skilled center who, through 25 games with St. Michael's this season, has accumulated 14 goals, including two game-winners, and 32 assists for 46 points. He also has eight penalty minutes. He leads the team in scoring and was named the OPJAHL-South player of the month in October. In 2003-04 he also skated with St. Michael's and racked up 73 points on 26 goals and 47 assists. He had four game-winning goals and 14 penalty minutes. His numbers put him second on the team in scoring for the season and earned him the 2004 OPJAHL-South Rookie of the Year honor.

Internationally, Cogliano has earned two gold medals. At the 2004 Under-18 Junior World Cup he played for Team Canada and led the tournament in scoring with a 4-5-9 line in five games. As a teammate of Bailey at the 2004 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, he was second at the tournament in scoring with five goals and seven assists for 12 points in six games.

MacVoy, at 6-1, 214 pounds, plays a physical style on the wing and has skated in all 20 games for the U.S. Under-18 Team this season. He has four goals, including one on the power play, and three assists for seven points. He has 20 penalty minutes. He earned a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Compuware Four Nations Cup on Nov. 12. MacVoy also skated with Johnson and Mitera on the U.S. Under-17 Team in 2003-04. In 63 games played last season he earned eight goals and 14 assists while accumulating 85 penalty minutes.

Miller, a 6-1, 180-pound forward, plays a solid two-way game. In 18 games for Omaha this season he has seven goals, including one power-play marker, and nine assists for 16 points. He also has a plus/minus rating of +12 and has racked up 52 penalty minutes. In 58 games for Omaha in 2003-04 Miller had seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points. He was assessed 95 penalty minutes.

Johnson, at 6-1, 200 pounds, contributes both offensively and defensively from his spot on the blue line. Through 14 games with the U.S. Under-18 Team, he has three goals and 12 assists for 15 points to lead the team's defensemen. He also has 47 penalty minutes. On Nov. 12, he won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Compuware Four Nations Cup. In 2003-04 Johnson split time between the U.S. Under-17 and Under-18 teams. Altogether, he posted 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points in 60 games. He also had seven power-play goals, two game-winners and 171 penalty minutes. With Team USA at the 2004 IIHF Under-18 Championships, Johnson earned a silver medal with current Wolverines Kevin Porter (Northville, Mich.) and Chad Kolarik (Abington, Pa.).

Mitera checks in at 6-3, 197 pounds. In 16 games for the U.S. U-18 Team this year he has four goals and eight assists for 12 points, second among the team's defensemen to Johnson. He has added a power-play goal and a game-winner while also taking 42 penalty minutes. He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Compuware Four Nations Cup two weeks ago. In 2003-04 Mitera played in 66 games with the U.S. Under-17 Team. He had four goals, two on the power play, and 21 assists for 25 points. He also had 101 PIM.

Michigan will lose 10 players to graduation at the end of the 2004-05 season: forward Milan Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.), forward Charlie Henderson (East Lansing, Mich.), defenseman Nick Martens (Ann Arbor, Mich.), forward David Moss (Livonia, Mich.), forward Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.), defenseman Reilly Olson (Grande Prairie, Alberta), defenseman Brandon Rogers (Rochester, N.H.), forward Jason Ryznar (Anchorage, Alaska), defenseman Eric Werner (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and forward Michael Woodford Jr. (Westford, Mass.).

N O T E S

Michigan has signed at least one alumnus of the U.S. NTDP in each of the past seven seasons. Through the 2004-05 season, 12 U.S. NTDP alumni have skated for U-M.

Michigan will host the U.S. NTDP U-18 Team at Yost Ice Arena for an exhibition contest on Feb. 26, 2005.

Sophomore defensemen Jason Dest (Fraser, Mich.) and Tim Cook (Montclair, N.J.) each played for the Lancer organization (then called the River City Lancers) for two seasons from 2001-03.

Bailey and Cogliano will be the first Canada natives to join U-M since the 2002-03 season when current juniors Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C.) and Jeff Tambellini (Port Moody, B.C.) began their careers for the Maize and Blue.

Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423