Wolverines announce '06-07 schedule

The Michigan Wolverines will play 36 regular-season contests, including 18 at Yost Ice Arena, and will face five opponents that finished the 2005-06 season ranked in the top 15 nationally by the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

The Wolverines' 85th season begins with the annual Blue/White intrasquad scrimmage on Sept. 30. The following weekend U-M has a pair of exhibition games against Canadian university Waterloo (Oct. 6) and the U.S. National Team Development Program (Oct. 8).

Michigan kicks off the campaign with nine of its first 10 games on home ice, including the first six tilts. Michigan will oppose Alabama-Huntsville on opening night, Friday, Oct. 13, in the just the second meeting all-time between the two schools. The first weekend of the regular season concludes with the first ever meeting with Connecticut on Oct. 14.

The Wolverines open their 28-game CCHA schedule against the defending conference champion, Miami, in a Thursday-Friday series (Oct. 19-20) at Yost Ice Arena. Northeastern travels to Ann Arbor for two games on Oct. 27-28 to conclude Michigan's early non-conference schedule.

The first road test of the season comes against the Spartans of Michigan State on Nov. 3. It will be the lone match-up between the rivals played in East Lansing in 2006-07. Game two of the weekend series with MSU will be in Ann Arbor on Nov. 4. Michigan's long homestand to start the season wraps up following Nebraska-Omaha's visit to Yost Ice Arena on Nov. 10-11.

Michigan heads to Big Rapids to take on clustermate Ferris State on Nov. 17-18. FSU makes the return trip to Ann Arbor on Jan. 26-27. U-M's four-team cluster includes MSU, FSU and Western Michigan this season. U-M plays home-and-home weekends against WMU on Dec. 1-2 and Feb. 2-3. Michigan's last two games with the Spartans are on Nov. 21 at Yost Ice Arena and Feb. 10 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

The 14th annual College Hockey Showcase is slated for Thanksgiving weekend. U-M meets the 2006 NCAA Champion Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 24, and then takes on Minnesota on Nov. 25.

U-M finishes the first half of the season with home-and-home weekends versus WMU (Dec. 1-2) and Notre Dame (Dec. 8-9).Michigan's other regular season tournament, the 42nd annual Great Lakes Invitational, takes place Dec. 29-30 at Joe Louis Arena. U-M will face Michigan Tech in one semifinal while Michigan State plays invitee Harvard in the other.

U-M comes out of the mid-season break with three consecutive home games against Bowling Green (Jan. 9) and Northern Michigan (Jan. 12-13). Then the Wolverines make the trek north to visit the University of Alaska (formerly University of Alaska Fairbanks) Jan. 19-20.

The Maize and Blue spends the final three weekends of the season away from Yost. U-M plays at BGSU on Feb. 9 and then vs. MSU at Joe Louis Arena on Feb. 10. Michigan plays a "road-and-Joe" series with Lake Superior State on Feb. 16 and 18, respectively. The last weekend of the year will be in Columbus, Ohio against the Buckeyes (Feb. 23-24).

For the second consecutive season all 12 CCHA teams will qualify for the CCHA Tournament, but seeds 1-4 will receive first-round byes for the weekend of March 2-4, during which the squads that finished fifth through 12th will play best-of-three series at campus sites. The four teams remaining after the first round will travel to the campuses of top four seeds for a second round of best-of-three series March 9-11. Teams will be reseeded following the first round. The four teams that emerge from the second round will move on to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for the CCHA semifinals and finals Friday and Saturday, March 16-17. The victor of the CCHA Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The road to the Frozen Four will travel through four NCAA Regional sites. Two regionals will be held on March 23-24, with the ECAC hosting the East Regional at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., and the Midwest Regional, hosted by Western Michigan University, being played at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. On March 24-25, University of New Hampshire will host the Northeast Regional at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., while the University of Denver hosts the West Regional at the Pepsi Arena in Denver, Colo.

Having made a record-setting 16 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Wolverines will be driving to get back to the Frozen Four after missing out in each of the last three campaigns. The 2007 Frozen Four will take place in St. Louis, Mo., with games being played at the Savvis Center. The national semifinals will be on Thursday, April 5, and the NCAA championship game will be played on Saturday, April 7.

Michigan's 2006-07 schedule here.

Whitten leaves WSU for Alaska-Anchorage

University of Alaska Anchorage head hockey coach Dave Shyiak, a former assistant at Northern Michigan, announced Tuesday that Damon Whitten has been hired as an assistant coach.

A native of Brighton, Whitten comes to UAA after a two-year assistant stint at Wayne State University, and one year at his alma mater, Michigan State. At both schools he assisted with all facets of practices and games, with a specific focus on coaching the teams' forwards.

"Damon is a passionate coach who brings a tremendous work ethic," said Shyiak, who begins his second season at the Seawolf helm this fall. "His recruiting experience in Western Canada and the Midwest will help us identify future student-athletes for UAA. Damon has played in two Frozen Fours and won and ECHL championship, so he understands the process and demands in becoming a winning hockey team."

Whitten draws similar high praise from his former bosses as well.

"Damon has a bright coaching future ahead of him," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "He has a great feel for the game and grasps how to relate to players. He is a very committed person who will be a terrific addition to the staff at UAA."

Wayne State head coach Bill Wilkinson added, "Damon is an intelligent young coach who analyzes the game very well. He's very personable and dedicated to his job. He will be an asset to the UAA program."

Whitten began his coaching career after two seasons playing in the East Coast Hockey League. He played the 2002-03 campaign with the Arkansas RiverBlades, scoring 39 points on 12 goals and 27 assists in 69 games. The previous season, he helped the Greenville Grrrowl to the league championship by recording 32 points in 64 regular-season games (9g, 21a), and five points in 15 playoff games.

A left wing for MSU from 1997-2001, Whitten appeared in 166 games, ending his collegiate career with 35-40-75 totals. Whitten's class left MSU as the winningest senior class in program history with a four-year record of 122-28-20, including trips to the Frozen Four in 1999 and 2001 and a NCAA quarterfinal appearance in 1998. His Spartan teams also won three CCHA regular-season titles (1998, 1999, 2001) and three CCHA playoff championships (1998, 2000, 2001).

As a senior, Whitten received the Blue Line President's Award as the top scholar-athlete in the senior class, and the Amo Bessone Award for athletic, scholastic and community participation. He was a two-time nominee for the Hockey Humanitarian Award and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten At-Large honoree.

Whitten earned his bachelor's degree in communications from MSU in 2001, and his master's of science in kinesiology in 2005.

Photo by Matt Mackinder

Warrior women add one more to roster

Wayne State has announced the signing of forward Katrina Protopapas to a National Letter of Intent.

WSU's 2006-07 recruiting class now stands at five as forward Brandi Frakie and defensemen Chelsea Burnett, Tegan Schroeder and Christine Jefferson signed NLI's earlier.

Protopapas, 5-foot-6, played her last two years of juniors with the Bluewater Hawks. She had 48 points on 20 goals and 28 assists in 71 games during the 2004-05 season and scored 20 goals in 43 games during the 2005-06 campaign.

Protopapas graduated in 2006 from Chatham-Kent (Ont.) Secondary School where she participated in basketball, volleyball and soccer and served as a team captain in both soccer and hockey. She was also named to the academic honor roll all four years.

"Katrina is a strong aggressive forward that play toughs and battles hard," said WSU head coach Jim Fetter. "She is a smart player that will help in both ends of the ice. We are looking forward to working with her."

Katrina's older brother, Raphael, played professionally in the United Hockey League (Motor City Mechanics) and Central Hockey League (Topeka Tarantulas).

NHL Entry Draft coverage from Vancouver

Three Michigan players were drafted in the first round today as current defenseman Mark Mitera went No. 19 to the Anaheim Ducks. On stage, Mitera posed with both the new home and away jerseys for the Ducks.

Two picks earlier, incoming forward Trevor Lewis heard his name called by the Los Angeles Kings and then the Phoenix Coyotes acquired the No. 29 pick from the Detroit Red Wings and selected incoming blueliner Chris Summers.

In the second round, two future Michigan State Spartans were drafted. First, incoming freshman defenseman Michael Ratchuk went to the Philadelphia Flyers 42nd overall and then 2007 recruit Jeff Petry, another defender, went to the Edmonton Oilers three spots later.

Chesterfield native Jeff Zatkoff, entering his sophomore season in goal with Miami University, was taken by Los Angeles at No. 74 in the third round.

With the first pick in the fourth round, 94th overall, the St. Louis Blues selected incoming MSU forward Ryan Turek. Also in the fourth round, incoming Northern Michigan defenseman T.J. Miller was chosen by the New Jersey Devils with the 107th selection.

Sophomore Michigan State forward Nick Sucharski was a fifth-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, taken at No. 136.

Chris Frank, a sophomore defenseman at Western Michigan, went to Phoenix in the seventh round, 188th overall.

Wolverines' goaltender Billy Sauer is now property of the Colorado Avalanche after Colorado took the sophomore in the seventh round with the 201st overall pick. Notre Dame sophomore right wing and Livonia native Erik Condra was taken by the Ottawa Senators, also in the seventh round, at No. 211 to round out the collegians with Michigan ties.