On Fri, 27 Oct 1995, J. Michael Jackson wrote:
 
>   That game was very clean, though.  What I find distressingis the change
> of play out of that team over the last several years.  I grew up in Ann
> Arbor, and had season tickets with my father back in the early and
> mid-eighties when they really were not a good team.  So, even thuogh I'm a
> huge Gopher fan, I was really excited that they had become a top program.
>   Lately though, they seem to be playing a game that I hated when State
> came to town a decade ago.  They seem to do their best to physically
> intimidate their opponents.  Every time play stops, they seem to be giving
> an extra shove after the whistle.
 
Like you said Michigan has improved a lot
since the mid-eighties.  With that improvement has come an increase in
team speed.  In order to slow Michigan down some teams have resorted to
a more physical style of hockey.  Michigan in turn has tried to show
that they're not just going to stand around and take it.  Another
change is that when Steve Shields was in net he was the biggest guy on
the ice for Michigan and didn't need much help(remember the MSU/UM brawl
at the Joe in '91).  Turco can stand his own
but it's nice to see he has some of the bigger guys standing up for him.
 
>Last night, I didn't see Turco pop
> anyone like he has in the past, but his defensemen were more than willing
> to do it for him.
>
Turco did pop one of the Maine players Thurs. night picking up his second
penalty of the year for hitting  someone who tried to jab the puck away
from him.
 
Brad Carlson
University of Michigan '94 '96
University of Michigan Hockey Band
 
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