5 March 1994, Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor MI
Ferris State Univ 6 UNIV OF MICHIGAN 2
 
UNOFFICIAL
Ferris    1  2  3 -- 6         5   9  12 -- 26
Mich      1  1  0 -- 2        15  10  10 -- 35
 
 3:11 F Duff 10 (unassisted) ppg
14:47 M Wiseman 14 (Botterill,Hogan)
25:52 F Hunt 2 (Parrish,Sturock)
35:33 F Roach 4 (Paine)
39:11 M Wiseman 15 (Botterill,Knuble) ppg
47:22 F Crimin 12 (Kitching,Parrish)
48:02 F Kolenda 8 (Roach,Paine)
      M Gordon replaces Shields
48:38 F Kitching 4 (Sergott)
53:31 M empty space replaces Gordon
59:17 M Denzin makes debut
 
Goaltenders: FSU Lisko UM Shields & Gordon
 
Three Stars: 1 FSU Craig Lisko [W & 33 sv]
             2 UM Brian Wiseman [2-0--2]
             3 FSU Dwight Parrish [0-2--2]
 
PRE-GAME
Michigan honored six seniors playing their final regular season
game at Yost -- Anton Fedorov, Chris Gordon, David Oliver, Steve
Shields, Mike Stone and Brian Wiseman.  Fedorov is in his third an
final season after joining the team from the Soviet Jr Red Army.
Cam Stewart [Boston Bruins organization], Aaron Ward [Detroit Red
Wings organization] and David Wright [academic difficulties] were
also members of the 1990-91 freshman class.  The class of 1994 has
more victories than any other in UM history with a record of 125-
32-10 entering the CCHA tournament.
 
Hats off to the Ferris State players for lining up at the blue line
and acknowledging the Michigan seniors during the festivities.
 
FIRST PERIOD
On what must have been his first shift of the game, Bulldog senior
captain John Gruden was ran hard into the boards by Michigan's Ryan
Sittler and did not return to action.  Gruden has my vote for All-
CCHA and it was terrible to see him leave like that in his final
Ann Arbor appearance.
 
UM outshot FSU 15-5, but could only manage a 1-1 deadlock thanks to
stellar netminding from Ferris' Craig Lisko.  The lone Wolverine
goal came on a beautiful Brian Wiseman cross-ice tip that Lisko had
no chance of stopping.
 
SECOND PERIOD
UM applied a decent amount of pressure, but it was FSU lighting the
lamp in the 6th and 16th minutes.  Steve Shields looked lethargic
in goal, and the whole team broke down defensively on the third
marker.  Greg Paine followed a Michigan defenseman behind the UM
net, blew past Tim Hogan's half-hearted attempt at running
interference, stole the puck and pushed it into the slot where Andy
Roach pounced on it and beat an unobstructed Shields from the top
of the circle.  At least, it looked that bad from my seat.
 
The Wolverines closed the gap with a Brian Wiseman power play goal
in the final minute.
 
THIRD PERIOD
Michigan killed 1:52 remaining in a late second period penalty then
went in search of the tying goal.  It seemed like only a matter of
time before the Wolverines would take over when a 76 second bolt of
lighting burst the UM bubble.  First Crimin then Kolenda and
Shields was yanked following a weak five goal performance.  Chris
Gordon, a mere casual observer at the time, entered the game and
surrendered a typical soft goal within 36 seconds.  It was a
fitting synopsis of Gordon's career.  A) OK Chris, here's your
chance.  Make the best of it.  B) BANG!  C) Uh, Chris.  Take a
seat.  Don't call us, we'll call you.  [Gordon not only leaves as
one of my all-time favorite players and personalities, but he heads
the "What Might Have Been" list.]
 
Gordon remained in the game until a faceoff in the Ferris zone with
6:29 remaining.  Michigan went with a sixth attacker for the rest
of the contest.  You remember the once vaunted Wolverine power
play?  Well, it peppered Craig Lisko for 6:29 to no avail.
Granted, it's tougher to score 6-on-5 than 5-on-4, but...
 
Once, Lisko foiled Brian Wiseman's bid for a hat trick with a save
that would prompt felony charges in many Western states.
 
If nothing else, the Wolverine's explored two goaltending options
for next season.  The first is to leave the net empty.  They were
able to control the play for 6:29, why not 20:00?  The second is
the emergence of Mike Knuble.  Mike jumped into the crease and
thwarted Ferris' lone serious scoring opportunity.  This brought
chants of "GOALIE! SIEVE! GOALIE! SIEVE!" from the student section.
So much for timeliness. :-)
 
Hey, at 6'3", 210+, Knuble would have no problem fitting into
Shields' equipment. :-)
 
Michigan sophomore and Ann Arbor Pioneer graduate Drew Denzin made
his collegiate debut with :43 remaining in the game.  I've heard
that Drew will not be returning to the team next season.  If so,
this likely represents his UM career.  Nonetheless, he can always
say he played Division I hockey for Michigan.  Hats off to Coach
Berenson for allowing Drew to get into the books.
 
And, for the first time this season, my sign board had some
disparaging remarks for the officials.  Steve Piotrowski was, in a
word, intolerable.  Thankfully, the zebras didn't decide the game
[the margin was four goals], but the third period resembled "tackle
your neighbor", not ice hockey.
 
POST GAME
After the game I was able to locate Hockey-Ler Jim Smith, father of
FSU forward Doug Smith.  This continues the trend of Michigan
losing whenever I'm meeting another Hockey-Ler for the first time
this season.  If anyone is making the trip from Kent to Ann Arbor,
I don't want to know about it. :-)
 
The word on Gruden was a shoulder separation, and he is
questionable for CCHA first round playoffs.
 
 
  John H
  U Mich [29-6-1]
  GO aMAIZing BLUE!