U of M folds against CC

U of M's Al Montoya made 19 saves,
but couldn't hold off CC in the NCAA playoffs

The Michigan Wolverines season came to a screeching halt on Saturday night with a devastating 4-3 loss to the Colorado College Tigers in the second-round of the NCAA playoffs.

It was really a tale of two games at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.

The Maize and Blue dominated the early game and got power-play goals from Jeff Tambellini and Brandon Kaleniecki and an even-strength goal from captain Eric Nystrom to sail out to a 3-0 lead by the 1:32 mark of the second period.

Then the Tigers awoke and took control of almost the remaining 38 minutes of play.

Marty Sertich scored a 5-on-3 marker and Trevor Frischmon scored short-handed for CC to make it a 3-2 game at the end of two periods.

Joey Crabb bit the Wolverines at 4:24 of the third to tie the score at three.

Frischmon beat U of M goalie Al Montoya just past the 10-minute mark of the third of the third for the eventual game-winner and a trip to the Frozen Four in Columbus, Ohio.

“I didn’t feel it hit my stick at all,” Frischmon said. “But if you look at the replay, it kind of looks like it might have. I think it was just a great shot by Joey.”

Montoya finished the night, and possibly his last game in a Maize and Blue sweater, with 19 saves.

“I’m just real pissed off that that’s the way we have to go out,” Nystrom said. “You don’t get to the regional finals every year, you don’t get to the Frozen Four every single year. There are no guarantees. You have to take advantage of the chance every time you’re there. Every year, we say we’re going to learn from this, but when are we going to? We’ve been saying it for four years, but now, our four years is up. These guys (coming back) have to make sure that when you get in a situation like this, you have that real killer instinct that maybe we didn’t have this year. The killer instinct to put a team down and get to that game you want to be in. We’ve been saying it, but we just haven’t done it. It’s ridiculous. I’m just so upset, so pissed.”

Curtis McElhinney turned aside 24 for Colorado College who head back to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1997.

"Al gave us a chance to win," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "Ugly goals beat us. It wasn't going in on the other end."

The last time Michigan blew a three-goal lead was on Oct. 9, 1987, when Bowling Green overcame a 6-3 deficit to defeat U-M 7-6.

The Wolverines finish their season with a record of 31-8-3.

The All-Regional Team was comprised of forwards Trevor Frischmon and Marty Sertich of Colorado College and Michigan's Jeff Tambellini, defensemen Brandon Rogers (UM) and Brian Salcido (CC) and goalie Al Montoya (UM). Frischmon was named most outstanding player.

Wolverines advance to regional final

Michigan picked up their 31st win of the season last night and in the process advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional finals.

The Wolverines (31-7-3) defeated a game Wisconsin team, 4-1, and will play Colorado College today at 5 p.m. at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. The Tigers beat Colgate, 6-5 in yesterday's other semi-final.

Jeff Tambellini scored twice and added two assists while linemate T.J. Hensick had a goal and two assists for U-M.

"You have to be able to handle the moment; that's the whole thing with the NCAA Tournament," Tambellini said. "Guys can play well in the regular season but these kind of games, there is so much pressure and so much riding on these games that experience is huge. We're lucky to have 15 upperclassmen. We know that we've played tough games and tight games, so we're confident right now."

Brandon Rogers also scored for Michigan and goaltender Al Montoya stopped 17 shots, allowing a late goal by Badgers' captain Adam Burish to ruin the shutout.

"We just wanted to make sure we established a good forecheck against a team like that," Michigan captain Eric Nystrom said. "They're a physical team and so are we. We got the puck behind them and were making sure we were finishing our checks on their defensemen. We created turnovers and got scoring chances. We really had good jump in the first period and that was huge for us. There were points in the game where we got away from chipping it in and chipping it out, getting a little cute at the blue line. Once we established the game plan of chipping it behind their defense and going on the forecheck that's when we had our best success."

Comcast Local will have the game today at 5 p.m. with Eric Frede and ESPN's Darren Pang calling the action.

Nightingale signs with Greenville

The Greenville Grrrowl of the ECHL, proud affiliates of the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers, have announced that forward ADAM NIGHTINGALE has signed a professional contract. Nightingale played his first pro game Tuesday, helping the Grrrowl to a 2-0 win at South Carolina.

Nightingale comes to Greenville after recently completing his senior season with Michigan State University, where he played with current Grrrowl forward BROCK RADUNSKE in 2003-04. Nightingale spent two seasons at Lake Superior State University before transferring to Michigan State.

The 6-0, 170-pound native of Cheboygan sat out the 2002-03 season after transferring from Lake Superior State. He played in 33 games for LSSU in 2001-02 and was the team's third-leading scorer with six goals and 15 points.

Michigan schools aplenty at UHL Draft

The United Hockey League held their annual North American Amateur Draft yesterday and several Michigan college players were selected by the 14 UHL member teams.

Western Michigan defenseman Jim McNamara went in the first round to the Kalamazoo Wings to lead the pack.

Ferris State forward Jeff Legue was taken in the third round by the Port Huron Beacons while Michigan State's Jim Slater (Flint Generals) and Mike Lalonde (Kalamazoo) and Michigan's Eric Werner (Fort Wayne Komets) also were chosen in round three.

Eastern Michigan club goalie Jake Pruss also went in the third round to Flint.

Port Huron selected Michigan Tech captain Colin Murphy in the fourth round along with Flint taking MSU goalie Matt Migliaccio.

Ferris State captain Matt York (Motor City Mechanics), Michigan State's Adam Nightingale (Flint), Michigan Tech forward John Hartman (Kalamazoo) and Michigan forward Jason Ryznar (Fort Wayne) all were taken in the fifth round.

WMU forward Trevor Cooke (Kalamazoo) and Michigan senior David Moss (Fort Wayne) rounded out the Michigan picks as they both went in the sixth round.

Players that are 19 years of age or older who played in North America during the 2004-05 season are eligible for the draft.

The draft consisted of six rounds with each UHL team selecting in reverse order of their current winning percentage. Each UHL team is permitted to protect up to four of their six drafted players and place them on their final roster. In addition, each UHL team is allowed to protect two players for their team's playoff roster. These two selected players are exempt from the six games played requirement for players on the postseason roster.

Players aren't required to report to their teams once drafted and several are still playing i.e. Michigan.

Spartans get West Bloomfield commitment

The Cleveland Barons of the North American Hockey League are proud to announce that defenseman Matt Shouneyia has committed to Michigan State University for the upcoming 2005-06 season.

Shouneyia, a 6-foot, 185-pound left defenseman, is a native of West Bloomfield. He currently has 30 pts (9G-21A) in 54 games, which ranks him in a tie for fifth place among defensemen in the NAHL.

Shouneyia, the Barons captain, is in his second season with the club. He started his career in the Compuware organization and from there he joined the Danville Wings in the USHL in 2003-04. Cleveland acquired Shouneyia in October of that year. Shouneyia is noted for his speed and a great passing skills, which earned him a place on the NAHL All-Star team this past February.

Matt will be the fourth Baron to wear the Green and White colors of Michigan State. He joins current Spartans Tommy Goebel and graduating senior captain Jim Slater and current teammate Kurt Kivisto, another 2005-2006 recruit.

"I congratulate Matt and his family for committing with MSU," said Barons head coach and general manager Tim Alexander. "Matt has the potential to be a top defenseman in the CCHA. I wish him all the best at Michigan State.”

Shouneyia becomes the fifth current Baron to commit to a CCHA school this year joining defenseman Steve Silver (Western Michigan), defenseman Nick Biondo (Ohio State University), forward Kurt Kivisto (Michigan State) and forward Jacob Cepis (Bowling Green).

John Shouneyia, Matt's older brother, played at Michigan from 1999-2003 and had a free-agent tryout with the Detroit Red Wings in 2003.

Michigan to face Wisconsin in NCAA regional opener

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional and will face Wisconsin in the opening round of the NCAA Championship, the NCAA Ice Hockey Selection Committee announced Sunday. The Wolverines (30-7-3), who won the CCHA Super Six Tournament championship last Saturday night, will oppose No. 3 seed and No. 11-ranked Wisconsin (23-13-4) at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Michigan-Wisconsin winner will advance to play at 5 p.m. Saturday against the winner of No. 1 seed and No. 1-ranked Colorado College and No. 4 seed and No. 14-ranked Colgate.

Michigan will be competing in its NCAA-record 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament. Overall, this will be the Maize and Blue's 28th NCAA Tournament, which ties for the second-most in the nation. The Wolverines have won at least one game in the national tournament in each of the last 10 seasons. Michigan has a nation-best nine national titles, in 1948, '51, '52, '53, '55, '56, '64, 96' and '98.

Michigan has an all-time record of 59-50-7 against Wisconsin. Most recently, the Badgers defeated U-M by a score of 3-1 on Nov. 27, 2004, at the College Hockey Showcase in Madison, Wis. Michigan and Wisconsin have played one another in 14 straight seasons, including College Hockey Showcase matchups every November since the 1993-94 season. In the NCAA Tournament, the series is tied 2-2-0, with the last NCAA meeting occuring March, 25, 1995, with U-M winning 4-3. The other meetings were in 1977 (L, 6-5 OT), 1992 (L, 4-2), 1993 (W, 4-3 OT).

Ticket Information
The Michigan Athletics Ticket Office will only have tickets for the Midwest Regional from 9 a.m. on Monday (March 21) until 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The U-M ticket office can be reached by calling (734) 764-0247 or toll-free (866) 296-MTIX (6849). Also, tickets are available through Ticketmaster (616-456-3333 or www.ticketmaster.com) and the Van Andel Arena Box Office (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.). All-session passes are $60. Starting tomorrow at noon, individual session tickets will be sold, priced at $45 for Friday and $25 for Saturday.

Michigan wins CCHA championship

It was a rematch of last year's Super Six championship game, only this time, Michigan emerged with the Mason Cup.

The Wolverines (30-7-3) beat Ohio State, 4-2, Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena to claim their third CCHA tournament championship in four years.

"It was a good win for us," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "But they know we're not done yet."

Milan Gajic scored two power-play goals and Jeff Tambellini scored the game-winner 5:27 into the third period.

"I guess it was a typical Tambellini goal," laughed Tambellini, the tournament MVP. "I missed the open net and then threw it at the net from the corner and it went in. You need goals like that this time of year and I'll take it."

Jason Ryznar added an empty-netter to close out the scoring. Al Montoya stopped 27 shots for U-M and Dave Caruso made 34 saves for the Buckeyes.

Tom Fritsche and captain J.B. Bittner scored for OSU.

In the consolation game earlier in the day, Alaska-Fairbanks upended Michigan State, 3-2. Tommy Goebel and Adam Nightingale scored for MSU (20-17-4) and goalie Dominic Vicari finished with 23 saves.

"It was a frustrating game," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "(Fairbanks goalie Wylie) Rogers was playing outstanding and Dom (Vicari) was matching him save-for-save. We just couldn't put the puck in the net at critical times."

Michigan gains an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will play Wisconsin in the Midwest Regional this Friday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Colorado College plays Colgate in the other game. Ohio State also qualified for the tournament and will play Cornell in a West Regional game Friday night.

ALL-SUPER SIX CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
F - Ryan McLeod, Alaska-Fairbanks
F - Jeff Tambellini, Michigan
F - Tom Fritsche, Ohio State
D - Sean Collins, Ohio State
D - Brandon Rogers, Michigan
G - Wylie Rogers, Alaska-Fairbanks

MVP - Jeff Tambellini, Michigan