Michigan State 4 LAKE SUPERIOR 3 (Friday-JLA)
The Spartans showed Laker-like poise and character in coming
back from a two-goal deficit. Chad Alban played a little better in
the MSU net than Jon Grahame did in LSSU's, and that may
ultimately have been the difference. The Laker defense was also
minus top stud Keith Aldridge and it showed, particularly in the
second period.
I was decked in my Laker garb, which got me into the Laker post-
game party. Hockey-Ler Chuck Cliff vouched for my non-anchor-
wearing friends. Thanks, Chuck...we'll see you in the Soo this
weekend.
MICHIGAN 8 Michigan State 1 (Saturday-JLA)
Everything has been covered already, I think. The game was
much closer than the score...3-1 with about 17:00 remaining and
MSU on the power play...but it doesn't detract from the sweetness
of whomping on the Spartans. With it, Michigan maintains control
of their own destiny. The Wolverines have four remaining games,
all tough...LSSU, LSSU, MSU and BGSU. Michigan wins the CCHA
title by going 4-0-0 or 3-1-0, provided that the loss isn't to MSU.
RE: UM junior right wing Warren Luhning
Brian Morris relates that the New York Islander's, who maintain
rights to Luhning, consider him their third best prospect and that
he may leave school following this year. Hmmm. At the end of
last season, Luhning was Michigan's best NHL prospect among
the underclassmen...which includes Hobey candidates Jason
Botterill and Brendan Morrison. But, as much as I love him, I have
to say that Warren has had a somewhat disappointing junior
season to date. He hasn't been the power forward of old. I
expected Luhnning to be Michigan's next great RW, following
David Oliver and Mike Knuble. A 30-goal season seemed very
reasonable. However, Luhning has yet to hit 20, although four
other Wolverines (Botterill, John Madden, Morrison and Bill
Muckalt) have. Hopefully Luhning will come on strong from here
on out, because Michigan needs the big guy in top form if they
are to make an NCAA run. This weekend at LSSU could be the
tonic he needs. Luhning has always played well versus the Lakers.
RE: Prime switching games
Following up Arthur Berman's question, Nathan Boyle wrote:
>I would suspect that prime still suffers from "Name-branditis." They
>think a couple of brand name teams will get better ratings than an
>intense game between two top teams. It is sad really. MU-vs.-ND had far
>less possible impact, than the LSSU-MSU match-up.
I totally disagree. The game was switched long ago. I *believe*
that the home team (LSSU) didn't want it televised due to the
potential loss at the gate. A wise decision, IMO. LSSU-MSU is
a sell-out in East Lansing or Sault Ste Marie, regardless of TV,
but I can see many people choosing to watch it in the comfort of
their living room rather than drive to JLA in Detroit. So, the TV
game became Notre Dame at Michigan, which was scheduled
for Ann Arbor at the time. I don't know if it played a part in the
decision, but I imagine that it's convenient for PASS to telecast
games from Yost (UM) because PASS is an Ann Arbor/Detroit
based company. However, the braintrust at the Palace got a wild
hair up their butt and decided to change the date of the UM-UND
game. My guess it that they wanted to go head-to-head with the
Joe. So, two UM-UND games were swapped on the schedule and
all of a sudden, February 16 became Michigan at Notre Dame at
the Palace. PASS/Prime (presumably with permission of UND,
I don't know) decided to stay with the game despite the location
change.
I also disagree with Nathan that UM-UND had far less impact than
LSSU-MSU. Michigan is fighting for the CCHA title and UND is
fighting for the final CCHA playoff spot. Just because it didn't
feature two top-four teams doesn't mean it had less impact. I
personally went to see LSSU-MSU for several reasons:
* I assumed it would be a tighter game
(which doesn't imply less impact)
* I already had tickets for it (part of the JLA college season ticket)
* I think the Palace sucks. JLA is a much more familiar environment,
for me. It's easier to get to. It's more eye-appealing. And, the
concessions are MUCH better...which counts if you enjoy having
a meal at the game.
As it turned out, both games were very captivating. Michigan
didn't shake UND until an empty-netter late in the third sealed
the win. It wasn't a boring game to see on TV. IMO, it's too bad
that the Palace didn't choke on the game, though. UM-UND
officially drew 11,193. LSSU-MSU drew 10,087. Both respectable,
but they would have been higher if not played head-to-head.
I'm sick of the battle between JLA and the Palace, and, as far as
where college hockey is to be played, I'd prefer to see JLA come
out on top. (Btw...the Palace attendance surely benefitted some
by all of the free tickets that were being given away.)
RE: Hockey as art, not as sport
In a recent Hockey-L post, Ron Correia credited me with a
comment along these lines. Trust me, it wasn't me. :-)
John H ([log in to unmask])
To my green-n-white pal GM Finniss: Where were you!? I can't
believe that *I* was at "Spartan Weekend" and *you* weren't.
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