[Hello, out there?]
The Michigan Wolverines advanced to the quarterfinals and a date with Boston
University by defeating Cornell in the first round last weekend, but they
had a much more difficult time than was expected, as the series went the
whole three games. Results from Ann Arbor:
Friday, 3/15:
Cornell 5, Michigan 4 (OT)
Saturday, 3/16:
Michigan 6, Cornell 4
Sunday, 3/17:
Michigan 9, Cornell 3
Before I bore you with a lot of details on these games, I want to add a few
notes on Clarkson's first-round victory over Wisconsin. Badger coach Jeff
Sauer was not exactly the most gracious loser in the world; he was quoted in
_The Post-Standard_ as predicting that the Golden Knights "[are] not going
any farther than next weekend. It's going to be very difficult for them.
Lake Superior has better depth than we do." He also had some unsavory words
for the officiating during the series: "If the referees weren't here this
weekend, they don't beat us. They were calls that had tremendous bearing on
the game. I thought five-on-five we were a better hockey team than they
were." Sounds like sour grapes to me. I certainly don't know a great deal
about coaching, but it seems to me that if your team is better five-on-five,
it might benefit you to STAY five-on-five instead of taking a lot of dumb
penalties, which is what the Badgers did. Grow up, Jeff; Clarkson was the
better team, at least last weekend.
Now, on to some more notes on the weekend's action at Yost Arena:
Cornell 5, Michigan 4 (OT)
Hockey games don't get much more dramatic than this one, as the Big Red
tied it all up with just two seconds left in regulation before winning
it early in overtime. Kent Manderville had a terrific game, perhaps
his best in a Cornell uniform, as he notched two big goals (including
the game-tying one) and was able to do more or less whatever he wanted
out on the ice. The infamous Frank Cole was the referee for this
series (the linesmen were Gorman and Shermack (sp. on those two?) out
of the WCHA), and despite letting a lot of things away from the puck
go, he did an OK job in this game. He did make one head-shaker of a
call in the third period that cost Cornell a goal, but more on that
later.
Most of the prognosticators were forecasting a Michigan walkover in
this series, and it certainly looked like that was going to happen
early in the first period, as the Wolverines were out-hitting a disor-
ganized Big Red team. Michigan took the lead just 1:59 into the
contest, after an intentional off-sides on Cornell set up a faceoff in
their own zone. The Wolverines won it, and Brian Wiseman found Dan
Stiver wide open in front of the Cornell goal. Michigan had a few
other good opportunities in the period, but goaltender Jim Crozier was
able to keep the Wolverines off the scoreboard. Cornell also had some
chances, especially on their first power play, but they could not
figure out Michigan goalie Steve Shields until the 18:47 mark of the
first. Manderville carried the puck into the Michigan zone, ran into
some defensive pressure, and left it for Bruce Frauley, who threw the
puck in front of the Wolverine net. It bounced off a defender's skate,
then off Shields' skate and rolled across the goal line.
Seventeen seconds into the second period, Crozier made a great save on
a Denny Felsner shot; while he was on his back, he reached out and
grabbed the puck just before it hit the goal line. Cornell took its
first lead of the game at the 7:56 mark of the second, and the goal
came courtesy of the HAD line. Off a giveaway, Ryan Hughes fed Doug
Derraugh who was racing to the net, and Derraugh, with a defender
hanging all over him, slid the puck between Shields' legs. The lead
lasted all of ten seconds, however, as a misplay by a Cornell defender
set up Mike Helber and Patrick Neaton on a 2-on-1 break. Neaton sent a
pass over to Helber right in front of the net, and Helber one-timed it
past a helpless Crozier.
The game started getting a little chippy after that, as Michigan
stepped up its forechecking, and Cole was letting both teams get away
with the occasional hold, trip, or crosscheck -- he called only three
penalties in the second period. The Wolverines had the only power play
opportunity of the period, skating four on three, but it was Mander-
ville coming away with the short-handed goal at the 15:41 mark. Karl
Williams cleared the puck out of the Big Red zone, and Manderville
tracked it down at center ice, skating in on a breakaway and back-
handing a shot toward the Michigan net. The puck bounced between
Shields' legs and trickled across the goal line. It looked like the
lead would stand for the rest of the period, but the Big Red got a
little sloppy in their own end, and Michigan tied the score with 12
seconds left. Aaron Ward one-timed a blast from the point through a
crowd in front of the net and past Crozier. Some Cornell players
shoved Michigan's Chris Tamer after the light went on, claiming that he
had been holding, rather than screening, Crozier, but the goal stood.
Three minutes into the third period, Cornell appeared to jump in front
again, but Cole waved the goal off. He had blown the whistle to issue
a delayed call on Tamer, but the problem was, Cornell had control of
the puck -- in fact, no Michigan player had touched it before the
"goal" was scored. Anyway, the score stayed tied at 3-3 until the 8:49
mark, when Cam Stewart put the Wolverines ahead eight seconds into a
power play. Off the faceoff, Stewart came out of the right corner,
faked a shot which got Crozier going the other way, then fired the puck
home. Cornell was able to put a lot of pressure on Shields (they
outshot Michigan 14-3 in the third period), and Hughes came within
inches of tying the game a few minutes later, as his 25-foot blast hit
the left post. The Wolverines went into a stall in the last five
minutes, trying to play keep-away and prevent the Big Red from setting
anything up, and it came close to working. Crozier was pulled with 17
seconds left, and Cornell won a faceoff in the Wolverine zone as the
jubilant Michigan fans counted down the clock... FIVE... FOUR...
THREE... TWO...
The fans reached ONE, but the clock did not. Dan Ratushny slipped
trying to control the puck at the right point, and three Michigan
players went after him, which left the whole left side open for the Big
Red. Derraugh got to the puck first and rifled it around the boards to
Joe Dragon, who spotted Manderville alone in front of the net. Mander-
ville one-timed Dragon's pass into the top left corner to send the game
into OT. The extra session didn't last long, as a high-flying Cornell
team stormed out and controlled the puck from the opening faceoff.
With Michigan scrambling around trying to switch from the stall game to
its normal offense, Trent Andison was left untouched in front of the
net, and he backhanded a rebound past Shields at the 21-second mark for
Cornell's first overtime win in over two years. The goal was also
Andison's 15th career game-winner, tying the Cornell record held by
Brock Tredway. Crozier made only 14 saves, while Shields finished with
28.
Michigan 6, Cornell 4
This game was even more physical than the previous night's contest
(which, by the way, saw Michigan's Jeff Ballantine go down with a
lacerated liver), and Frank Cole, who again was letting a lot of
"extracurricular" activity go, seemed on the verge of losing control of
the action a few times. To their credit, the Wolverines were able to
regroup after Friday's stunning loss, and they came out with an
aggressive forecheck that rattled the Cornell team. After a scoreless
(but hard-hitting) first period, the Wolverines served notice that
their offense was about to explode early in the second. During a
Cornell power play, Michigan's Hobey Baker finalist Denny Felsner twice
came within inches of a short-handed goal, banging a shot off the left
post and later shooting the puck into the side of the net.
The Wolverines continued to play aggressively, beginning to clutch and
grab a little, and a disorganized Big Red squad finally cracked later
in the second period, allowing three Michigan goals in under four
minutes. After Cornell's Stephane Gauvin misplayed a clearing pass,
Cam Stewart tipped a Doug Evans blast from the blue line past goal-
tender Jim Crozier at the 7:34 mark. Fifty seconds later, Patrick
Neaton made it 2-0, trailing the play and ramming home Mike Helber's
centering feed. Then at 11:02, Helber wrestled the puck away from Paul
Dukovac along the boards and fired a pass to a streaking Chris Tamer,
who shovelled the puck behind Crozier.
After Michigan's third goal, Corrie D'Alessio replaced Jim Crozier
between the pipes for Cornell, and the move apparently got the Big Red
going. Dan Ratushny intercepted a sloppy Michigan clearing pass and
sent the puck over to Doug Derraugh, who beat Wolverine goalie Steve
Shields with a low shot from the slot at the 12:11 mark. Crozier went
back in after that goal (D'Alessio never warmed up), and 49 seconds
later, Derraugh struck again to make it 3-2. Ratushny, whose wrist
still seemed to bother him a little, took a shot which bounced off the
top of Shields' pad, and Derraugh was there to poke home the rebound.
Shields was starting to look a little shaky in net, but the Big Red was
unable to get the equalizer, and Michigan's top line of Felsner, Mark
Ouimet, and David Roberts finally broke out of a three-game slump with
a goal at the 18:16 mark. The line had been held without a single
point in the previous night's game, but Roberts stole a loose puck,
skated around the left side, and fired a shot at the Cornell net.
Crozier came up with a great save, but the rebound lay loose for a few
seconds until Felsner skated in and stuffed it home. The Big Red
closed to within 4-3 with their third straight power play goal at 6:02
of the third period. With the teams skating 4-on-3, Trent Andison
camped out on the edge of the crease and poked home a beautiful Der-
raugh pass from the bottom of the left circle. Just 1:16 later, and
just three seconds into their own power play, the Wolverines re-
established their two-goal lead. Felsner grabbed the puck off the
faceoff and unleashed a quick wrist shot inside the left post.
In the last five minutes of the game, Cole showed a little reluctance
in using his whistle. In one particular instance, he allowed the
Michigan players to freeze the puck along the boards, letting about 25
seconds run off the clock, until one of the Wolverines SAT on the puck,
at which point he signalled for the faceoff. That's supposed to be a
delay-of-game penalty, although you practically never see it called --
certainly not in the playoffs. Cole also waved off an apparent Cornell
goal at 16:05 of the third for some reason (the net may have moved).
However, he did call a few penalties later on that set the Big Red up
in a 4-on-3 situation, and once again, Andison converted, coming from
behind the net to tap in a Derraugh feed at 17:23. Cornell was back to
within one, at 5-4.
But there would be no miracle finish for the Big Red on this night.
Mark Ouimet was left alone in the Cornell zone, and he iced the game
for Michigan with 53 seconds left, faking a couple of shots and then
drilling the puck high into the corner of the net. The Big Red did go
on the power play again with 32 seconds left, but were unable to manage
even a shot on net. Shields stopped 22 shots, while his counterpart,
Crozier, made 20 saves. D'Alessio did not face a shot in his short
stint.
Michigan 9, Cornell 3
After two tough, physical games, the Michigan free-wheeling offense
showed up and blew a tired Cornell team off the ice with a four-goal
outburst in the second period, to the delight of the raucous Yost Arena
crowd. It looked like the game was going to be an ugly one, as there
were several "incidents" during the warmups. Among other things,
Michigan's Chris Tamer butt-ended Stephane Gauvin and a Michigan player
fired a puck at Jim Crozier's back as the two teams were leaving the
ice. Cole called 28 minors in the game, and his pattern seemed to be
to let a lot of things go away from the puck and make questionable
calls on both teams when the puck was involved. Still, Michigan was
pretty successful at agitating Cornell into taking some dumb retalia-
tory penalties.
In a bit of a surprising move, Michigan coach Red Berenson elected to
start Chris Gordon, who had seen action in only 14 games this season,
in goal instead of Steve Shields. Berenson later said he made the
change because Shields was not playing well and apparently was having
trouble handling the pressure of the playoffs. Anyway, at 2:52 of the
first period, the Big Red power play struck for the fifth time in its
last seven opportunities. Trent Andison tried to run a give-and-go
with Dan Ratushny, but Ratushny fanned on the return pass. However,
Doug Derraugh was there to poke the loose puck past Gordon. It was a
great play, and there was no indication at the time that that would be
about the last we would hear from the Cornell offense.
Michigan tied the score with a power-play goal of its own, after a
breakdown by Cornell. The Big Red got control of the puck and rushed
up the ice, but no one stayed back to pick up the Michigan players.
This enabled Denny Felsner to hit David Roberts, who was breaking in
from the left side, and Roberts whacked the puck past Cornell goalie
Jim Crozier at the 7:53 mark. The Wolverines made it 2-1 about ten
minutes later, as Cole missed a Michigan hold on Bruce Frauley,
allowing Ted Kramer to pick up the loose puck, come in on a breakaway,
deke Crozier, and fire the puck inside the post.
The Wolverines quickly put the game out of reach early in the second.
Dan Stiver fired a quick shot which Dan Ratushny blocked, but the
rebound rolled over to Brian Wiseman, who poked it between Crozier's
legs. Cornell coach Brian McCutcheon decided at that point to pull
Crozier in favor of Corrie D'Alessio, a tactic that had helped to put
the Big Red back into the second game the night before. This time,
however, it failed miserably, as Stiver gave Michigan a 4-1 lead just
19 seconds later, firing a shot over D'Alessio's left shoulder off a
2-on-1 break. Cornell called timeout and Crozier went back in, but the
Wolverines were rolling and the Big Red couldn't do much to stop them.
Stiver struck again at the 8:44 mark, as the Michigan players were able
to beat a fatigued Cornell team to a loose puck. Wiseman corralled it
near the left side of the net and passed to Stiver in front, who tapped
it home.
Cornell had to endure a couple of cheap penalties after that, including
one on Geoff Bumstead for checking Gordon in the privileged area. What
happened was that Bumstead was trying to go around the net and Gordon
stepped right in front of them. Of course, the Big Red weren't helping
themselves on offense either, as they did not get a shot on goal in the
second period until there were three minutes left. During a pair of
power plays later in the second, the Big Red was content to pass the
puck around the perimeter as usual, looking for the perfect shot. When
you're DOWN BY FOUR?!? Well, Wiseman gave the Wolverines a 6-1 lead
with 1:27 left in the period, as he skated untouched through the
Cornell penalty-killers and sent a blast through Crozier's pads.
As expected, D'Alessio replaced Crozier for good at the beginning of
the third, but it made little difference to the Wolverines. Don Stone
greeted the new goalie at 2:41, firing home a rebound after the
officials had missed an offsides call on Michigan. Four minutes later,
Cornell finally scored its second goal, when Bruce Frauley beat Gordon
on a give-and-go with Ryan Hughes. Doug Derraugh scored at 12:49 of
the third to bring Cornell within four, but that's as close as the Big
Red would get. Perhaps remembering the dreadful failure of their stall
tactics near the end of game one of the series, the Wolverines kept
pouring it on. Felsner intercepted a clearing pass and dished in front
to Roberts in front, who spun around and fired the puck past D'Alessio
at the 14:46 mark. After the goal, Roberts indulged in a bit of show-
boating, waving his stick around in a Chi Chi Rodriguez-like samurai
move. By this time, the Michigan fans were chanting "Boston, Boston"
in anticipation of their next opponent (BU). Kramer got his second
goal of the game with 28 seconds left on a move very much like
Roberts': he picked up a loose puck that Cornell's Jim McPhee had
knocked down, spun, and fired a shot through a crowd of players and
past a screened D'Alessio.
Gordon had a pretty good game between the pipes for the Wolverines, as
he finished with 20 saves. Crozier stopped 18 shots in his two periods
of work, while D'Alessio stopped six in the third.
In closing the book on what was both a disappointing and successful season,
I'll mention a couple of players who deserve some special recognition: Doug
Derraugh and Corrie D'Alessio. Derraugh's goal in the third period of game
three was his 30th of the season, making him only the fifth Cornell player
ever to reach that plateau, the first senior ever, and the first player to
do it since Brock Tredway in 1978-79. His total of 66 points this season is
the seventh-best in Cornell history, and his career total of 153 is the Big
Red's ninth-best ever. Also, he scored 66 goals in his Cornell career,
placing him tenth all-time. And this guy didn't get a Hobey bid? Oh yes,
he and Tim Vanini each played in 119 career games (all consecutively), a new
Cornell record.
As for D'Alessio, he saw hardly any action during the Cornell post-season,
but the six saves he picked up in game three enabled him to set a new
Cornell record for saves, with 2,228, breaking Brian Hayward's mark by
three. This goes along with the records for games and minutes played by a
Cornell goalie that he set earlier in the season. In addition, his career
3.24 GAA in 94 appearances puts him ninth all-time (Crozier, with a 2.85 GAA
in 39 games, is tied for fifth). Cornell is going to lose six or seven
players to graduation after this year, and the Big Red will probably miss
these two most of all.
Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines, though. I think BU may be in
for a hell of a series.
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
"Some parents will film the birth of their child -- my wife and I filmed the
conception."
-- Dennis Wolfberg
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