LAKE SUPERIOR 7 Bowling Green 0 (JLA Friday) A beautiful "send a message" game. I annoyed basically everyone in my vicinity by cheering for the Lakers. I even annoyed the Laker fans, because I thought that both would- be Laker goals that referee Matt Shegos waved off were good calls. (1) The net was dislodged, as shown by four or five different reply angles. A tough one for the Lakers, because Savard (BGSU goaltender) was going to get beat with or without the net behind him, but the net was off. (2) The whistle had sounded before Marchant (?) knocked it loose from Savard and into the net. Both calls came when the game was 1-0, so they looked bigger at the time than what they eventually were. Savard had an interesting game. He made a few nice saves, but looked clueless on most of the goals. Look down! Look down! :-) The best non-goal of the weekend was Bates Battaglia completely undressing Savard at the left dot and walking around him toward the empty BGSU net. Battaglia took himself over the goal line though when he went around Savard and by the time he gathered the puck and prepared for a backhand into the open net, BGSU's Curtis Fry had belly-flopped and had an outstretched stick on the ice defending the Falcon net. Battaglia obliged by slamming the puck into Fry's stick. After the game I told LSSU AAD/SID Scott Monaghan that he's welcome to send Bates down to Ann Arbor during the summer and I'll teach him how to lift a backhand two inches. (Seriously, that's all he needed. If he needed more than that, he'd have to see a more qualified instructor, but drop a stick on the ice and I can keep a point blank backhand between two inches and four feet most of the time. Of course, I'm not trying to do it in the CCHA playoffs, either. :-) MICHIGAN 6 Michigan State 2 (JLA Friday) Great comments already made by Steve Bartley and J Michael Jackson, some of which I'll reiterate (sorry). The first goal was a wild scramble in front of Chad Alban in the MSU net. UM's Kevin Hilton located the puck, but not a lane to shoot through. Hilton had the patience and presence of mind to move into an opening before roofing it over Alban...who immediately left for the lockeroom. Down one goal and one goaltender (freshman Mike Brusseau replaced Alban) five minutes into the game, the Spartans began to hit, and hit, and hit. MSU landed several solid checks and Richard Keyes (argh!) scored a beautiful goal on a two-on-one rush during a four-on-four. All of a sudden the game was tied and MSU had the momentum. Then Alban returned. About two minutes later Michigan fans saw shades of Denny Felsner and Mike Knuble as Jason Botterill came up the right side and muscled his way around Jeff Kozakowski (who goes 200+ lbs) to the net where he beat Alban. The shot wasn't as picturesque as Keyes', but the overall individual effort on the play was. UM up, 2-1. A couple of blinks later, State had a power play opportunity. Unfortunately for them, the puck wound up at the end of John Madden's stick. A few seconds later (it seemed like several minutes) the puck was behind Alban in the MSU net. During those few seconds the puck went from Madden to Bobby Hayes and back to Madden as Hayes shaked-and- baked one Spartan at the blue line before being mugged by another as Madden cruised in on Alban. For people who didn't see this goal (live or via TV), my words cannot do it justice. Pure highlight material. In my dream world, each conference would capture these moments on video and have an action-packed 30-60 minute tape for each season. Then, I could sit down with fans from all over the country and enjoy the great stars and the great plays. I could see the Bonins, Pandolfos, Perrins, etc and their fans could say, "When you read about so-and-so on Hockey-L, this is what we are seeing." And, they could see Aldridge, Madden, Morrison and Co and I could say, "When you read about Madden's shorthanded prowess on Hockey-L, THIS is what I see." Unreal. It was Madden's ninth shorthander of the season and it put one big nail in the MSU coffin. Michigan closed out the period with a nifty give-and-go between Bill Muckalt and Mike Legg. Muckalt got the PP goal and the first period broke at 4-1. Ron Mason was interviewed during the intermission. He said that Alban lost an edge and had to get his skates re-sharpened. He said that the bad skate cost Alban the first goal and leaving the game distracted his concentration, which cost him two more. Hmmm? So, three Michigan goals can be indirectly blamed on MSU's skate sharpener I guess. The three "penalty" incidents in the second period have all been mentioned here, but are worthy of being repeated. (1) With UM up 5-1 midway through, Alban made a play on the puck behind the goal line. Morrison got to Alban and tried to steal the puck, making contact with Alban in the process. Alban did manage to play the puck a few feet up the boards. Morrison went to chase the puck (there was already a scramble in the corner for it) and Alban turned around and tried to break Morrison's ankle with a vicious slash with his goalie stick. Should have been five, easy. Kudos to Mason for immediately taking Alban out of the game. (2) UM's Bubba Berenzweig pops Anson Carter going into the corner. Anson pops him back. Bubba again. Anson again. You get the picture. What happens? Bubba goes for four and Anson goes for two. Yeah, right. Quite a way to get the first two penalties of your college career though, mixing it up with Anson Carter. As for the call, two and two or four and four. Their were two reasons for the four and two. First, Anson Carter is a star and Bubba Berenzweig isn't (yet). Replay the same incident and substitute Morrison for Michigan and Tyler Harlton for Michigan State. What happens? Morrison goes for two and Harlton for four. Secondly, it was a scoreboard call. If the game isn't 5-1, MSU doesn't need and may not get the power play. (3) On the ensuing power play, Bobby Hayes fulfilled many a CCHA players dream. He attempted to decapitate Richard Keyes and only got two minutes for it. Another easy five call, IMO. It gave MSU a 5-on-3 which they converted. As for the hit, it was a cross check squarely to the neck/side of the head. In this case, I think the circumstances helped the two minute call for UM. First of all, referee Mark Shegos had already received an earful for going four and two on the previous call. Secondly, the target was Richard Keyes. If it was Carter, Hayes would have been gone. But, other than being a dangerous offensive player, Keyes is known for being just as likely to deliver that kind of cheap shot as receive it. Kind of like taking out Ulf Samuelsson, only Hayes isn't Tie Domi. UM added a late goal for a 6-2 win. Other than for obvious reasons, I was happy to see MSU eliminated because they haven't worn a CCHA patch on their jerseys for at least two years running, so why should they be allowed a shot at the CCHA title...regular or post-season. Michigan 4 LAKE SUPERIOR 3 (JLA Saturday) What a great game. Madden sprung Warren Luhning up the middle for the opening goal midway through the first. Matt Alvey responded with an effort that Steve Bartley has already described. Put that goal on the CCHA highlight tape. As a UM fan, I enjoyed the efforts by Madden and Hayes more, but from a pure hockey fan view I'm not sure that Alvey's goal was topped. Hopefully, that's the defensive zone faceoff breakdown that seems to jump up and bite Michigan every March. (See Maine's third goal in 1993, fourth goal in 1995.) Did someone order lightening? Madden delivered it when he slipped past Keith Aldridge at the far blue line and cruised 120 feet before beating John Grahame for his tenth (!!!!!!!!!!) shorthander of the season. Steve Bartley told me about counting Madden's SH shots on goal at Yost. Unbelievable. Most of his goals are the result of breakaways, but Madden has also been know to finish a forechecking shift with a shot on net as well. He must have 30-40 shorthanded shots on goal this season. Add a Jason Botterill goal and a Laker 5-on-3 tally (I didn't see the second UM penalty, but the first should have been coincidental. Aldridge mugged Morrison and Botterill proceeded to run Aldridge. Good penalty, IMO. I'm not going to fault Jason for protecting Brendan.) Michigan led 3-2 early in the third and had a man-advantage, looking for another nail in the coffin. Cue the Laker lightening. Brian Felsner gained control of the puck, beat the lone Wolverine back (Morrison) then beat Marty Turco for the shorthander. Morrison didn't slow Felsner down enough for Blake Sloan (who was trailing) to make a play on him. Michigan 3, Lake Superior 3, momentum to Laker Superior, third period...I've been there before. (Btw...Felsner's SHG came while LSSU was serving a major. LSSU won the five-minute mini-game, 1-0.) Bring on Bobby Hayes for the heroics. I can't begin to describe the goal. Suffice it to say it went in and UM went nuts. It DID seem like a long time (six plus minutes) for Michigan to hang on, but hang on they did. CCHA regular season co-champs and CCHA post-season champs. As for the All-Championship Team, it was damn near perfect. Grahame and Turco both played well, but IMO Grahame was deserving of the nod in goal. UM's Harold Schock was a 5-10, 182 pound monster on the blue line getting one of the defenseman spots. Aldridge got the other, which is the only selection I question. He had three assists, all on the power play, and his defense wasn't at his usual level in the title game. Give me another D, maybe another Laker (Lambeth?), I don't really know. No one else really jumps out. The only D's to score a goal this weekend were Gino Pulente (LSSU) and Steven Halko (UM), but I wouldn't put either of them on the team based on that. The selection of Hayes, Madden and Gerald Tallaire (LSSU) at forward was a done deal. Alvey, Botterill and Joe Blaznek (LSSU) were also notable. Madden snags MVP honors, which maybe should have been shared with Hayes. Lastly, I have to say something about my buddy GM Finniss, who just "signed off" as I was putting the finishing touches on this post. I'd like to say GM is the first Spartan fan that I like, but I met Glen Keeney long before GM so Glen will always be the starting point. But, GM (as twisted as he is) may think more like me than any other non-UM fan I know. He just roots for the wrong team! GM -- DON'T BE A STRANGER! Someday, we have to do a fanzine together! John H ([log in to unmask]) Btw...CCHA scoring champion Kevin Hilton left the title game during the first period and did not return. The early report was that he suffered a charlie horse following a collision...with LSSU's Mike Mattuecci, I believe. I haven't heard anything more, but Hilton's healthy return will be vital for Michigan in the NCAA. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.