First, a comment and correction. Greg Ambrose writes... >without the box, would the average fan know that BU was >called for delay of game at the start of the second period >because the team was late in coming out of the locker >room? When was the last time THAT was called, especially >against Jack Parker? I can't say as to Parker, but it was called on Michigan just two weekends ago at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. One of the only "goods" calls made by the man in orange stripes that weekend, IMO. Greenie writes... >Michigan ekes out a 3-2 overtime victory over Ferris State after trailing >2-1 heading into the third stanza, then travels to Ewigleben Ice Arena (say >that three times fast) and blows a 3-0 lead in in a 5-minute span of the >second period (Ferris scores twice in 20 seconds). Marty? The second game was actually at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, site of last season's West Regional. Here are the scoring summaries from the FSU-UM series, as I don't have the boxes. MICHIGAN 3 Ferris State 2 OT (Yost Ice Arena) Friday 18:56 M Hayes 4 (Muckalt) 22:14 F Colborne 1 (unassisted) 33:31 F Kowalski 5 (McCullough,Colborne) 4-on-4 42:21 M Muckalt 8 (Kosick) pp 61:49 M Muckalt 9 (Hayes) Saves: FSU Owen (10-8-6-1--25) UM Turco (6-12-10-1--29) Attendance: 6457 Note that Ferris outshot Michigan. Marty Turco was solid in net, making several key saves in the third period to get this game to overtime. Also note, fwiw, all five goals were scored at the south end of the arena. Tilted ice? As the score indicates, this was a close game. The smaller Bulldogs seemed to get the best of the bigger Wolverines in the physical play. Notably, 5-9 defenseman Brett Colborne was knocking around UM's big wingers. Colborne also added 1-1--2 offensively...an outstanding all-around game. I thought the officiating was fairly good, with FSU getting the advantage of the early no calls while UM benefitted from the swallow-the-whistle in OT practice. In the first period, FSU defenseman Mike Maas drilled Bobby Hayes from behind, several seconds after the play was whistled offside. I thought a double-minor was justified, but nothing was called. Fast forward to OT and the whistle was put away as Turco tripped Kowalski behind the UM net and, from my angle, it appeared that Greg Crozier pulled down a Bulldog in the corner of the FSU zone...who subsequently fell on the puck to create a faceoff to the right of Owen. UM changes lines to get Rominski-Hayes-Muckalt out with the defensive pair of Peach-Van Ryn. Hayes moves in to take the draw, Peach moves from the left point to LW, Rominski slides over to the right side of Hayes, Muckalt moves to the left point with Van Ryn on the right. Hayes cleanly wins the draw back to Muckalt who rips a shot into Owen, who smothers it. Now, repeat. Again, Hayes wins the faceoff, this time drawing the puck a little more into the middle of the ice. Hayes ties up the FSU center, Rominski ties up his man (interference?...not in OT) and Muckalt buries his second opportunity to finish 2-1--3 on the night. Muckalt, Turco and Hayes were clearly the stars for Michigan as Colborne and, to a lesser degree, Kowalski were for FSU. FERRIS STATE 3 Michigan 3 OT (Van Andel Arena) Sunday 6:42 M Hayes 5 (Rominski,Magnuson) 19:59 M Hayes 6 (Langfeld,Muckalt) pp 28:40 M Muckalt 10 (Van Ryn,Turco) 4-on-4 31:13 F Homer 4 (Swider,Irwin) 31:33 F Irwin 5 (Swider) 35:15 F Wishart 3 (Irwin,Dube) pp Saves: UM Turco (6-11-8-2--27) FSU Owen (7-8-6-0--21) Attendance: 4438 Note that Ferris once again outshot the Wolverines, including the OT session. I wasn't at the game, so I can't comment directly on the three quick Bulldog goals...two coming on the same shift. But, I'm not surprised. Michigan is a very young team. Coach Berenson uses nine freshmen (Kahler, Koch, Kosick, Langfeld, Matzka and Trainor at forward...Crawford, Huntzicker and Van Ryn on defense) on most nights. They're also playing without captain Matt Herr...who has missed the last ten games and doesn't look to be returning any time soon. At this point, if Herr doesn't return by Christmas I would consider redshirting him and bringing him back for 1998-99. Lastly, I know it's very early, but how about the goaltending around the CCHA. Looking at the 1996-97 overall stats, only three starters had a goals against average under 3.00, and there were no save percentages in the 90's: Turco (Michigan) 2.27 & 89.4 Alban (Michigan State) 2.72 & 89.4 Prior (Miami) 2.74 & 89.5 Turning to 1997-98, look at the eleven starters...wow! Alban (Michigan State) 1.44 & 92.1 Prior (Miami) 2.21 & 91.1 Barnes (Western Michigan) 2.23 & 91.5 Hoey (Northern Michigan) 2.26 & 90.2 Turco (Michigan) 2.44 & 90.2 Eisler (Notre Dame) 2.49 & 91.8 Aho (Ohio State) 2.63 & 89.5 Owen (Ferris State) 3.05 & 88.5 Galatiuk (Lake Superior) 3.08 & 89.5 Savard (Bowling Green) 3.49 & 87.9 Marvel (Alaska Fairbanks) 5.59 & 84.8 Nine of eleven under 3.10 with an 88.5 or better. Are the goaltenders that much better or is the loss of Michigan's seniors along with snipers such as Randy Robitaille and Mike Watt being felt league-wide to this degree. Probably a mix of both. John Haeussler ([log in to unmask]) University of Michigan: 7-3-1 overall / 4-2-1 CCHA HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.