It's nice to even the series at 2-2-0, but I'd trade Michigan's two
wins for Maine's. :-)
 
GOALTENDING
Marty Turco was sharper than Blair Allison.  Must have been
the helmet.  (Marty wore a white mask last weekend while his
was being painted.  He donned the traditional Michigan "winged"
mask last night for the first time this season.)
 
DEFENSE
Michigan's streak of goals by defensemen reached five as
Steven Halko and Harold Schock scored the first two Wolverine
goals.  Schock and Blake Sloan(2) accounted for all of the
goals in Michigan's 3-2 win over Western Mich last Saturday.
 
THE TIP-IN
I'm looking forward to seeing the tape, but there was a great
deal of discussion among those around me whether Jason
Botterill actually got a piece of Steven Halko's shot, which
resulted in the fourth Michigan goal.  It was credited to Botterill,
but 2 of the 5 people in our discussion argued that it was not
touched.  (From the overhead reply, I'll stick with Botterill getting
the marker.)
 
ESPN2
I'm also looking forward to seeing the tape and checking out
the coverage.  Garrett mentioned that Michigan's Brendan
Morrison was on the air for a few minutes and did an excellent
job.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Michigan State's Anson
Carter gave an outstanding interview between periods of the
Maine-MSU game on Prime a couple of weeks ago.  Carter
was as well versed and articulate as any player I've seen in
years.  As for Darren Pang being the color commentator...if
you've ever wondered what Pang would look like in a Western
Michigan uniform, check out Bronco freshman Matt Barnes. :-)
 
We did catch some of the ESPN2 stuff on the overhead screen.
I noticed that one of "college hockey's rules" was that play is
never lower than 4-on-4?  Huh?  What?  First of all, as we hockey
fans understand it, play can certainly be 3-on-3 or 4-on-3.  Let's
assume for a moment that ESPN2 was including the goaltenders,
then their 4-on-4 is correct.  But why point that out?  What level
of ice hockey allows less than three skaters?
 
WHO HAD KARIYA?
Many of you remember the 1993 Maine-Mich NCAA semifinal,
with the game tied 3-3 late in the 3rd, Paul Kariya split the Michigan
defense, dropped to one knee, kept the puck in front of him,
got back to his feet and still got a shot on Steve Shields.  Well,
last night Michigan freshman defenseman Bubba Berenzweig
rushed through center ice, dropped to one knee, kept the puck
in front of him, got back to his feet and still made the play...I
believe resulting in his first collegiate point (an assist).  Shades
of Kariya.  The only difference was that Bubba didn't have any
defense to split...he got tangled up crossing one of the lines. :-)
(Couldn't resist!)  Btw...Bubba was 0-2--2 in the game, adding
to the quickly rising point total of the Michigan defense.
 
THE PALACE
The best thing about the Palace is that it's nice and roomy.
Everyone in attendance had five seats to themselves.  I wonder
if "you're part of the largest crowd to be watching a college hockey
game this evening" was announced at Munn in East Lansing last
night. :-)
 
Seriously, there was NOBODY at the Maine-Michigan game.
The crowd was reminiscent of Michigan's Blue-White scrimmage,
with a little more press.
 
And, for crying out loud, it would have been nice if they'd have
given us an LSSU-MSU score at some point during the evening.
Two thumbs down for keeping us in the dark.
 
WHERE WAS REG?
I'm not sure if ESPN2 mentioned it, but there was a brief
ceremony during the first intermission to honor Henry Boucha,
the first Native American inducted into the US Hockey Hall
of Fame.  (A) Is Taffy Abel in the US HoF?  I was under the
impression (perhaps misguided) that Taffy Abel was Native
American.  I could check this in my media guides at home,
but I'll offer my ignorance for anyone who can give me a
quicker answer.  (B) Regardless of (A), why wasn't Maine
forward Reg Cardinal involved in the ceremony?  Yes, Reg
is Canadian (so the US HoF may not mean much to him),
but he's Native American.  Did he decline to participate or
didn't anyone see this opportunity?
 
 
John H - U Mich (3-1-0,1-1-0 CCHA)
 
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