25 January 1994, Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor MI
MICHIGAN 2 Bowling Green 1
 
BGSU      1  0  0 -- 1        13  10  14 -- 37
Mich      0  1  1 -- 2        11  13   5 -- 29
 
13:50 B Herman 5 (Pronger,Holzinger) ppg
22:06 M Morrison 14 (Wiseman) ppg
44:45 M Stone 9 (Knuble,Sakala)
 
Goaltenders: BGSU Clarke UM Shields
 
Attendance: 5656
 
Three Stars: 1 - Mich Steve Shields (36 svs)
             2 - BGSU Will Clarke (27 svs)
             3 - Mich Mike Stone (GWG)
 
Just when I'm leaning toward MSU's Mike Buzak as the All-CCHA
goaltender, Steve Shields strings together back-to-back one goal
victories.  As usual, he wasn't very stylish, but he managed to
keep 36 of 37 out of the net.  I sat there shaking my head,
wondering if Shields had any clue as to what he was doing at times,
and Keith Instone commented that Shields has a way of making some
stops appear more difficult than they really are (he looks a little
like Aquaman out there, diving all around, flopping and swimming on
the ice making saves), but he did the job on the scoreboard which
is what really matters in the end.
 
And Will Clarke was outstanding in net for BGSU, particularly in
the first two periods.  Freshman Bob Petrie, the Falcons #1
netminder, is injured and didn't dress for the game.  The way
Clarke was playing, I would have rather seen Petrie make his Ann
Arbor debut.  Of course, Keith was quick to point out that Clarke
surrendered 12 goals in his previous Yost outing.
 
As for the game, what more could you ask for?  It wasn't decided
until the final buzzer.  BGSU pulled Clarke with about a minute to
play, and the Falcons stalked the UM net for the final 60 seconds
looking for the equalizer.  Not only did Michigan not get a crack
at the empty net, they didn't even clear the zone in the final
minute.  Referees Shegos and Shell were playing see no evil, blow
no whistle as very few penalties were called.  Hard to say which
team benefitted the most from this, as both were guilty of holding
and interference that seemed to continually be ignored.  And the
third period was between 20:20-20:30 in length.  The clock stopped
less than five minutes into the period, but none of the officials
(on or off-ice) seemed to notice.  Play continued for about 20-30
seconds before a whistle.  No adjustment was made to the time, and
the clock resumed with the ensuing faceoff.
 
This was my first look at BGSU this season, and I was impressed.
I selected the Falcons fourth in the pre-season, which is where
they currently stand :-), but my pick included All-CCHA and
potentially All-America seasons from Brian Holzinger and Sean
Pronger.  Both have been disappointing.  However, that's probably
a positive sign for BGSU.  Even with a freshman goaltender and
their inconsistent play overall, they have remained in the CCHA
race without big production from any one line.  Three months ago,
Holzinger was being mentioned as a leading Hobey Baker candidate.
If he were to catch fire, the Falcons could do some serious damage
in the post-season.  I also have to mention Jeff Wells, who is
leading BGSU in scoring and should be an All-CCHA/All-America
selection at the blueline.
 
Turning to the Wolverines, I was surprised to see most of the
skaters still in the rotation late in the game.  Coach Berenson
often shortens the bench to ten or eleven forwards and four
defensemen during the third period.  Maybe it was the weariness of
playing on Tuesday following a tough weekend series, but Michigan's
third defensive pair of Mark Sakala and Peter Bourke were still
taking what seemed to be a regular shift in the final two minutes
of the game.  After Sakala's first ten collegiate games last
season, I was wearing a big smile and a friend of mine was saying
future Captain, potential All-American.  Now, I fear every time
Sakala touches the ice.  Hopefully this game will boost his
confidence and elevate his play.
 
To continue with the Michigan defense, the Wolverines have eight
blueliners on the roster, all of whom were seeing significant play
in the first half of the season.  The foursome of Steven Halko,
Blake Sloan, Harold Schock and Tim Hogan have been in night after
night, but Sakala and Bourke have recently been a fixture as the
third pair.  The six above have played at least the last three
games, which is the longest stretch Berenson has gone with the same
line-up.  Sitting in the wings are Al Sinclair and Chris Frescoln.
They are the two biggest and most physical D's among the eight.  If
I were coaching, Sinclair would be in the line-up every night.  (Of
course, if I were coaching Chris Gordon would be in goal so I
wouldn't be as concerned with the defense. :-)  None of the
regulars can hit like Sinclair or Frescoln, and Sinclair generally
plays a steady defensive game.  Sloan and Schock can hit, but are
both too short and stocky to be the BIG presence in the defensive
zone.  Halko is a taller, rangier defenseman who has increased his
physical play, but isn't really broad enough to be an intimidator.
Hogan has the biggest body of the regulars, but he gets more use
out of it pulling people down who have skated around him than he
does standing them up at the blueline.
 
The win moves Michigan to 23-2-1 overall, 18-1-1 in the CCHA.
Interestingly, the Wolverines are 21-0-1 when scoring four goals or
more and 2-2-0 when scoring three goals or less.  The last three
games (3-6, 3-1, 2-1) have fallen into the latter category.
Hopefully the scoring drought will end this weekend.  Michigan has
Ohio State in Columbus on Friday and Notre Dame at the Palace on
Saturday.  More of that scary travel stuff. :-)
 
And, unless an assist was added to the Morrison goal, David
Oliver's scoring streak ends at 27 games.  I spoke with him
following the game and he was looking forward to beginning a new
streak rather than looking back, which put a smile on my face.
Taking nothing away from Brian Wiseman, Oliver has really stepped
up to help lead this team.  His attitude leads me to believe he
will continue to do so.  (I was really pulling for Oliver to be on
the ice late for a shot at the empty net, but he had a physically
demanding shift with just over a minute remaining and didn't
return.)
 
Lastly, along with Keith, it was good to see Hockey-L'ers Steve
Phillips, Jim Leonard and Diane Hatfield at the game.
 
 
  John H
  U Mich '89,'90
 
Btw, I've been real calm the last couple of games at Yost.  There was
nothing to get too excited about against MSU (I yelled at Buzak a little,
but he didn't crack), and I enjoyed the BG game with Keith fairly silently.
 So, after last night's game I was approached by a member of the arena
staff.  He told me that if I don't make some more noise that he's going to
investigate a "re-shuffling" of the season tickets and have me seated with
the other "older" alumni next season.  Jeez.  :-)