Weekly Release #9
11/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
This Week in Michigan Hockey
#6 Michigan (11-4-0, 7-3-0 CCHA) vs.
Bowling Green State (4-9-0, 4-7-0 CCHA)
Friday, Dec. 3, 7:35 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, Ohio
Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:05 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Tickets
Tickets for Saturday's home game are available through the University of Michigan Ticket Office at 734-764-0247.
On Television
This Saturday's home game will be televised live on WOLV-TV.
On the Radio
All Michigan hockey games are broadcast on WTKA (1050 AM). Al Randall covers play-by-play, while Jim Hunt provides color commentary. WTKA's broadcast is also available via RealAudio on the Internet at mgoblue.com, the official web site of Michigan Athletics. Home games are also 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 405-201-36 and is the 16th 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 721 games associated with Michigan hockey (642 as a coach, 79 as a student-athlete).
Michigan vs. Bowling Green
The Wolverines and the Falcons are meeting for the 83rd time on Friday. Michigan owns a record of 53-27-2 (.646) vs. Bowling Green. On the road, the Wolverines are 19-15-2 (.528) against BGSU, but at home Michigan is 30-12-0 (.714) against the Falcons. Heading into the weekend, Michigan has a streak of 10 consecutive wins against Bowling Green.
Coach Berenson vs. the Falcons
Michigan head coach Red Berenson owns a record of 40-19-2 (.656) against the Falcons. Berenson owns a 16-1-1 record against Bowling Green head coach Buddy Powers.
The Last Meeting
The Wolverines defeated Bowling Green 9-3 to sweep the first-round series of the 1999 CCHA Tournament and advance to the tournament semifinals. Mike Comrie (Edmonton, Alberta) scored four points (1-3-4), while Josh Langfeld (Coon Rapids, Minn.) added two goals and an assist in the game. Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) made 21 saves for the win, and teammate Kevin O'Malley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) played the final minutes and made a pair of saves. It was the fifth consecutive win over the Falcons in the 1998-99 season.
Weekend Recap
Michigan finished the 1999 College Hockey Showcase presented by Ameritech with a 1-1 record after falling to Minnesota 6-1 on Friday (Nov. 26) and defeating third-ranked Wisconsin 4-1 on Saturday (Nov. 27). In the Minnesota game, the Gophers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first nine minutes of the game and went on to build a six-goal lead before Andy Hilbert (Howell, Mich.) prevented the shutout with his fifth goal of the season. Kevin O'Malley suffered the loss. On Saturday, the Wolverines fell behind, but Jay Vancik (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) scored his second goal of the season, the first of four unanswered goals for Michigan. Junior transfer L.J. Scarpace (Dearborn, Mich.) earned his first win as a Wolverine in the 4-1 victory.
Happy to See the Falcons
Michigan has a record of 12-0-1 in the last 13 meetings with the Falcons. The last time Bowling Green beat Michigan was Jan. 27, 1996, in a 6-5 decision at Bowling Green. The last time Bowling Green won a game at Yost Ice Arena was Feb. 8, 1992, in a 4-3 win over the Wolverines. That BGSU win was the second of a two-game weekend sweep by Bowling Green. It was also the last time Michigan and Bowling Green played a home-and-home series on consecutive nights and the last time the teams met on back-to-back nights in the regular season. (Michigan and Bowling Green played a two-game series in the first round of the CCHA Tournament on March 12-13, 1999.)
Happy to See the Falcons II
No one on Michigan's roster has lost to the Falcons. The senior class owns a record of 11-0-1 against Bowling Green. Andrew Merrick (Syosset, N.Y.) has played in 11 of the 12 games against BGSU in the last three seasons, the most of any current player.
A Long Strange Trip
The last time Michigan played at Bowling Green (Dec. 5, 1998) was an interesting adventure. The Wolverines won 5-2 in a game that lasted two hours and 55 minutes. It was longer than seven of eight games that went into overtime last season, with only the overtime loss to New Hampshire (three hours) lasting longer. In addition to the length of the game, the temperature in BGSU Ice Arena was so warm that fog was forming at ice level in the first week of December.
Solid After Two
Michigan owns a 111-0-4 record in the last 115 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.
In the CCHA ...
Michigan's offense continues to lead the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in both overall and conference scoring average. The Wolverines are scoring 4.10 goals per game in conference play (0.10 more than Northern Michigan) and 4.13 goals per game overall (0.19 more than Northern Michigan).
First Timer
Junior transfer L.J. Scarpace made his second start as a Wolverine on Saturday night (Nov. 27) against Wisconsin and earned his first win at Michigan. Scarpace is 1-1-0 as a Wolverine and has a goals-against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of .918 in seven games played.
Comrie With A Point
Mike Comrie added an assist against Wisconsin to give him 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in just 15 games this season. He has been held scoreless in just three games and has not been held scoreless in consecutive games. In the remaining 12 games in which Comrie has scored at least one point, the team has posted a record 10-2-0. (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.)
Comrie With a Plus
In 12 of 15 games this season, Mike Comrie has been plus or even. His season high is a plus-four at Notre Dame on Oct. 8. In the other three games, Comrie was never more than minus-one.
Potent Against the Falcons
In last season's five games against Bowling Green, Mike Comrie has scored five goals and six assists for 11 points against the Falcons. That is tied with Josh Langfeld (5-6-11) for the lead among active players.
Multi-Point Games
Last season against the Falcons, 12 players recored at least one multi-point game in the five-game series. Leading the way was Mike Comrie with four multi-point games, including a three-point game (2-1-3 on Oct. 30, 1998) and a four-point game (1-3-4 on Mar. 13, 1999). Second on the team with three multi-point games against BGSU was Dave Huntzicker (Ann Arbor, Mich.) with two points in each of the last three games of last season's series.
Vancik in the Plus/Minus Lead
Sophomore Jay Vancik (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) leads the team in plus/minus at +10 on the season. Vancik has been on the ice for 11 even-strength goals forced and just four even-strength goals allowed. In addition, he has been on the ice for three of Michigan's five short-handed goals forced, while giving up no short-handed goals.
Strong on the Power Play
Mark Kosick (Victoria, B.C.) leads the team with five power-play goals. Among CCHA players, he is tied for second with Michigan State's Adam Hall. Western Michigan's Michael Bishai leads the conference with seven power-play goals. Nationally, Kosick is tied for fourth with five other players around the country. Bishai and Niagara's Kyle Martin lead the country with seven.
On the Horizon ...
-- Mark Kosick needs just seven more points to be the 64th Michigan hockey player to reach the 100-point plateau in a career. He has scored 33 goals and 60 assists for 93 points.
-- Kosick's 60 career assists are just 15 away from putting him among the top 50 all-time in career assists at Michigan.
-- In goals, Josh Langfeld needs just seven more goals to reach 50 in his career, which puts him among the top 50 all-time for goals in a career at Michigan.
-- Sean Peach (Langley, B.C.) needs just two more penalty minutes to reach 23rd all-time in penalty minutes in a career. With 25 more penalty minutes, he will enter the top 20 in career penalty minutes.
-- Junior Geoff Koch (Exeter, N.H.) (97) and Scott Matzka (Port Huron, Mich.) (95) are both closing in on 100 career games played.
CCHA Standings (Through 11/28/99)
|----CONFERENCE----| |----OVERALL----| W- L- T Pts GF GA W- L- T GF GA 1. Michigan State 10- 2- 0 20 44 15 11- 4- 0 52 26 2. Northern Mich. 8- 1- 1 17 40 21 12- 3- 1 63 30 3. MICHIGAN 7- 3- 0 14 41 26 11- 4- 0 62 37 4. Lake Superior St. 6- 3- 0 12 30 27 6- 6- 0 36 36 Ferris State 6- 6- 0 12 31 33 10- 6- 0 50 38 Western Mich. 5- 5- 2 12 39 36 6- 6- 2 49 43 6. Miami (Ohio) 4- 3- 2 10 28 22 7- 4- 2 44 35 8. Bowling Green 4- 7- 0 8 33 42 4- 9- 0 36 51 Notre Dame 3- 5- 2 8 23 32 5- 7- 2 34 37 Nebraska Omaha 2- 4- 4 8 26 34 2- 4- 4 26 34 11. Ohio State 2- 9- 1 5 22 49 3-11- 1 31 55 12. Alaska Fairbanks 2-10- 0 4 27 47 3-11- 0 31 51
U.S. College Hockey Online Poll (11/29/99)
Team (1st-Place Votes) Record Pts Last 1. Maine (39) 9-0-2 399 1 2. North Dakota (1) 9-2-1 336 2 3. Wisconsin 11-3-0 297 3 4. New Hampshire 10-2-1 254 8 5. Michigan State 11-4-0 231 4 6. MICHIGAN 11-4-0 179 6 7. Colgate 9-2-0 146 9 8. Rensselaer 9-3-0 142 5 9. Northern Michigan 12-3-1 76 NR 10. Boston University 9-3-2 74 NR
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
