Michigan and Notre Dame opened the season Saturday night with a non- conference game at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. I had the pleasure of chatting with Hockey-L's Keith Instone before the game and Ric Schafer (UND Head Coach) after the game. My overall impression was that UND was a step slower than the Wolverines, but the Irish will definitely improve this season -- playing tough CCHA opponents week after week. To the best of my ability (Yost's improved sound system is far from improved), here is the summary: Scoring: Notre Dame 0 0 1 -- 1 Michigan 2 2 2 -- 6 Shots: Notre Dame 10 1 9 -- 20 Michigan 13 12 7 -- 32 2:28 ND Gregoire (slashing) 3:38 ND Janicke (charging) 8:00 ND Gruber (interference) 9:11 UM Stewart (Wiseman,Tamer) PPG 1-0 12:04 UM Tamer (roughing) 14:35 ND Rushin (roughing) UM Stewart (roughing) 17:12 UM Hogan (interference) 18:50 ND Black (slashing) 19:52 UM Oliver (Wiseman,Roberts) PPG 2-0 21:51 ND Morshead (hooking) 25:00 UM Willis (charging) 26:58 UM Oliver (unassisted) SHG 3-0 30:09 UM Oliver (unassisted) 4-0 NATURAL HAT TRICK 32:56 ND Black (roughing) UM Arnold (roughing) 33:25 UM Sinclair (high sticking) 37:18 ND Coe (charging) 40:54 UM Oliver (Wiseman) 5-0 OLIVER'S 4TH CONSECUTIVE 42:54 UM Sinclair (roughing) 44:12 UM Ward (high sticking) Lothrop in, Louder out in ND goal 46:36 UM Tamer (charging) 55:59 UM Willis (cross checking) 56:11 UM Tamer (roughing) 56:26 ND Ling (Osiecki,Bruininks) 5-on-3 PPG 1-5 57:23 ND Morshead (charging) 58:08 ND Hasselman (holding) 58:33 UM Wiseman (Sittler,Roberts) 5-on-3 PPG 6-1 Stars: 1-UM, Oliver (4-0--4) 2-UM, Stewart (1-0--1) 3-UM, Wiseman (1-3--4) Attendance - 5139. Officials - Laduke(R),Shegos(R),Lulich. Steve Shields was in goal for Michigan for periods 1 and 2. Chris Gordon played the 3rd, allowing the 5-on-3 goal (nothing he could do about it). At 32:56 (see box), Notre Dame's Rushin left the bench to join the on-ice altercation, for which I thought he should have been ejected. However, because it was "roughing", not "fighting", nothing came of it. This team (Michigan) will go a long way if David Oliver produces 4 goals per game. :-) This weekend: I abandon the Maize and Blue (at Ferris) to see my first game ever involving a Hockey East team. I'll be in Kalamazoo watching Merrimack and Western Michigan. See you there, Mike. John H U Mich