DETROIT - Friday night, a pair of Michigan hockey players ... er, former Michigan hockey players - seniors Harold Schock and Blake Sloan - found themselves in an unfamiliar situation.
Never mind that their temporary team, Team USA, was on the disappointing end of a 5-4, overtime loss to Team Canada in the inaugural World University Hockey Championship at Joe Louis Arena.
What was really strange was that even though Michigan coach Red Berenson was in the building, the outgoing Wolverines were taking orders from Michigan State coach Ron Mason.
Mason coached the team of U.S.-born seniors, while Berenson watched the game from the stands.
Team USA also featured players such as Shawn Bates - star of the Boston University team that bounced Michigan from the NCAA tournament last week - and Michigan State's Tony Tuzzolino.
"It was nice to play with those guys for a change, instead of having to hold them back all the time," Sloan said. "They're good guys. They just happen to wear the wrong colors, that's all."
Sloan was an assistant captain for Team USA, while Schock was added to the roster Tuesday as a late replacement for Boston defenseman Jon Coleman, who withdrew for personal reasons.
Once the action started, Schock wasted no time making his presence felt. He started the game on the blue line with Sloan and scored the first goal of the night, 5:32 after the opening faceoff. Sloan got the only assist on the goal.
Berenson, who watched from the stands, said after the game that he was impressed with the pair.
"They had a strong showing," Berenson said. "They played well; they played hard. They definitely belong out there."
Team USA led for much of the night, and seemed to be headed for a victory, before Canada tied the game with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation. Less than two minutes into overtime, the Canadians scored to win.
While the Americans were disappointed with the loss, Schock said that he was happy to be a part of the game.
"It's a nice event, and it's a good experience," he said. "It's fun to play with these guys that we don't normally get a chance to see. To be honest, (Canada) showed me something tonight."
After the game, an elated Darrell Young, coach of Team Canada, talked about "that Canadian attitude" that led to his team's come-from-behind victory. He even referred to Joe Louis as "our building." While a cynic might remind Young that Joe Louis Arena is, in fact, on the American side of the Windsor tunnel, the fans didn't seem to care. The hugely-partisan crowd was clearly behind the Canadians.
Young said he hoped the victory would help bring credibility to Canadian university-level hockey, and said he hoped it would eventually induce more young Canadian hockey players to play for Canadian schools. Currently, much of the top Canadian talent crosses over to play for American colleges or heads directly to the professional ranks.
Team Canada was made up of Canadian-born players that compete for Canadian universities. The American team consisted entirely of seniors, however, and the Canadians had no age restrictions, apparently to make the game more competitive.
Mason said that while he enjoyed coaching some different players, the event needs some restructuring.
"I couldn't have asked for anything more out of these kids. They really played their hearts out, and it was a good game. I'd like to see this event go on again, but I'd like to see us on a level playing field - which we weren't, this time. If you look at how American colleges have done against Canadian teams, it's a different story. I mean, it's well-documented. It's not even close."
PHOTOS: (top right) Blake Sloan assisted on teammate Harold Schock's goal in the U.S.'s 5-4, overtime loss to Canada. (top left) Harold Schock didn't even know he was going to play Friday - until Michigan teammate Peter Bourke interrupted Schock's taco-salad dinner at Pizza Bob's on Tuesday to tell him.
FILE PHOTOS/Daily
04-07-97
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |