FRIDAY, 19 NOVEMBER 1993, YOST ICE ARENA, ANN ARBOR MI
MICHIGAN 4 Ohio State 3
 
12:47 M Botterill (Wiseman,Oliver)
22:22 O Power (DuFour,Guilbeaut)
31:10 O Sellers (Richards)
39:39 O White (Winter,Richards) pp
40:51 M Sittler (Knuble,Oliver) pp
47:23 M Willis (Luhning,Schock)
58:08 M Sittler (Hogan,Hilton) pp
 
Goaltenders: OSU Askey, UM Gordon
 
This is NOT the Ohio State team that I've grown accustomed to seeing.  The
Buckeyes threw a major scare into the Wolverines and it took three 3rd
period goals to escape with 2 points.  Freshman Jason Botterill picked up
his 9th in 9 games and Sophomore Ryan Sittler, in his first game back from a
shoulder injury,  notched two power play tallies in the final stanza.  Askey
was impressive in the OSU net and the Buckeyes were the better team for 40
minutes.  The entire third period was played in the Michigan offensive zone.
 Hopefully this can be chalked up as a good team winning a tough game on and
off night.
 
Chris Gordon was again in net for the Blue, spelling the injured Steve
Shields.  Anyone that knows me knows that if I were building a team I'd take
Gordon over Shields, but unfortunately Chris contributed to his reputation
of being inconsistent from shot to shot.  He's fairly solid from game to
game...he's not likely to shut you out nor is he likely to get blown
out...he's actually inconsistent from shot to shot.  Last season their
numbers were very similar...Shields (2.22, .909), Gordon (2.19, .917).
 However, Gordon will make spectacular saves (usually with the glove) that
Shields wouldn't dream of making...but two minutes later he may give up a
soft goal that Shields wouldn't give up.  Hence, mathematically the two are
similar even though their play is completely different.  I can only imagine
how the coaches feel, because as a fan and friend it's frustrating to see
Chris rob the opposition blind then get beat by a weak shot.  Regardless, I
still love him.
 
Sorry for babbling.
 
 
SATURDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 1993, YOST ICE ARENA, ANN ARBOR MI
MICHIGAN 5 Ohio State 1
 
  :09 M Sittler (Morrison,Sloan)
23:29 M Oliver (Morrison,Sittler) pp
35:25 M Botterill (Stone,Schock)
47:41 M Willis (Luhning,Fedorov)
48:29 M Stone (Oliver,Hogan)
55:19 O Power (White,Green) pp
 
Goaltenders: OSU Askey 48:28 Brown 11:32 UM Shields
 
Attendance: 6840
 
Three Stars: 1 Shields 2 Stone 3 Oliver
 
Notable: Shields' 88th victory gives him a share of the NC$$
Division I career record.
 
Notable II: Michigan junior Anton Fiodorov has changed the spelling of his
name to Fedorov, because everyone was mispronouncing it.
 
Notable III: Michigan captain Brian Wiseman sat the game out with a twisted
knee he suffered on Friday.  He is expected to be available for the
CCHA-WCHA Challenge next weekend.
 
The game: Sittler scored 9 seconds in and for a moment it appeared that the
Earth's orbit had returned to normal and the Wolverines would once again
pulverize the Buckeyes to the tune of 9-1 or 10-1.  Not so.  Michigan was
the better team all night, but only managed leads of 1-0 and 3-0 after the
first two periods.  Two goals midway through the third sealed the victory
and it then became a question as to whether Michigan could complete "Shutout
Saturday" against OSU.  It wasn't to be as Power (yes, Power) scored on the
power play from Green and White (two guys that should have attended Michigan
State :-).  In fact, OSU had Green, White and Brown on the ice at the same
time.  No one can accuse the Bucks of not being a colorful team.
 
Shields tied the NC$$ victory mark, but missed in his quest to tie the CCHA
mark for career shutouts.
 
Jason Botterill scored goal number 10 in game number 10.
 
Lastly, I have to comment on OSU sophomore defenseman Craig Paterson.  Last
season, he led the CCHA and NC$$ in penalty minutes and was nothing but a
cement head.  I still think he's a cement head, but he is playing some
quality minutes for OSU, spending more time on the ice and less in the box.
 He isn't among the CCHA elite at the blueline, but it's encouraging to see
his improvement over last season.  It once looked as if Jerry Welsh had
landed someone who would give him 750-800 career penalty minutes and nothing
else, but that no longer appears to be the case.
 
 
  John H
  U Mich
  P.S.  For all of my Wisconsin friends who know how much I loathe UW
hockey...I actually briefly joined in on a chorus of "On Wisconsin" Saturday
afternoon, sung by the Michigan football fans as the OSU supporters began to
exit the stadium near the end of the third quarter.  :-)