Michigan held its annual Blue-White game last Friday, and the White
skated off with a 2-1 victory.  Needless to say, the ?explosive? Wolverine
attack was not in high gear after only one week of practice.  The passing
game just wasn't sharp, and many of the players looked fatigued (granted
that their ice time was greater because of the limited bench).  Each of
our three goalies played 40 minutes and allowed one goal (Al Loges was
traded during the second period from the Blue to the White for a pizza to
be named later).  The line-ups were:
 
          WHITE
 G: Shields / Shields / Loges
 D: Tamer-Hogan
    Sakala-Ward
 F: Stone-Roberts-Knuble
    Willis-Hilton-Arnold
    Fiodorov-Sacka-Denzin
 
          BLUE
 G: Loges / Gordon / Gordon
 D: Harlock-Halko
    Sinclair-Neaton
 F: Sittler-Wiseman-Oliver
    Stewart-Ouimet-Stiver
    Wakabayashi-T Helber-M Helber
 
BLUE     1    0    0  --  1
WHITE    1    0    1  --  2
 
WHITE - Stone (Hogan) 1-0
BLUE - Stewart (Stiver) 1-1
WHITE - Knuble (Roberts, Willis) 2-1 (5-on-3)
 
The Blue's defensive pairs were shuffled, otherwise the line-up stayed
intact for the most part.  Several different combinations were used
during special teams play.  For the record, Tim Helber was the only alumnus
appearing in the game.  Chris Wakabayashi is a true walk-on freshman who,
unfortunately, probably made his one and only appearance as a Wolverine.
Matt Helber and Drew Denzin are freshman, both from Ann Arbor, and will
probably remain on the roster but not dress for games.  (All my opinions,
nothing official.)
 
The biggest disappointment (for me) was the officiating.  I realize that
it was only a scrimmage, but these guys should have done a better job.
(Note: CCHA officials were used)  I think that they did a tremendous
disservice to Michigan by not calling things that will get flagged during
the regular season.  They continuously let offsides go, allowed defensive
players to push oncoming opponents offsides and didn't call a fair amount
of stick holding.  They did make a few calls (there was a tremendous
volume of hitting for an intrasquad scrimmage), but they were too few and
too erratic.
 
They whistled the Blue team for a phantom illegal substitution as they
pulled the goaltender in the last minute.  Moments later, the White team
gained control of the puck outside of their blueline and sent an errant
shot towards the empty net as time expired.  The play was unquestionably
icing, and should have resulted in a faceoff to the right of the White
net with :02 remaining, but nothing was called.  I hope that the officials
get there act together before the regular season begins this weekend.
 
The highlights of the evening included meeting some of the players from
Michigan's 1951-52 national championship team, and holding the door open
for NHL Hall-of-Famer Darryl Sittler at a local pizzeria following the
game.  :-)
 
 
John H