'M' freshmen ignite offensive outburst

Coming into the season, the Michigan hockey team knew its success would be determined in large part by the play of its 10 freshmen.

If last weekend's games against Alaska-Fairbanks are any indication, the Wolverines will be fine.

After struggling offensively in a 4-2 loss to Michigan State, the Wolverines broke out for 10 goals in two games against the Nanooks. A primary reason for the Michigan's offensive outburst was the play of its freshmen, who tallied six goals and five assists against Fairbanks.

Freshman center Mark Kosick led the way, scoring the first hat trick by a freshman since Bill Muckalt in 1994.

JOHN KRAFT/Daily The Wolverines, who lost to Michigan State then traveled 12 hours by plane to Alaska, now must make an eight-hour bus trip to Northern Michigan.

"Kosick jumped up and had a big game Friday," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "He was a much better player this past weekend than he's been."

But Kosick was hardly the only freshman to contribute offensively against Fairbanks. Forward Josh Langfeld and defenseman Mike Van Ryn continued their strong play. Langfeld netted two goals and added an assist over the weekend, while Van Ryn contributed one goal.

Kosick's five points over the weekend gave him 10 points on the season, making him the team's second leading scorer. For Langfeld, the two goals gave him five goals this season, good enough for second on the team. Van Ryn is the team's highest-scoring defenseman with eight points.

As good as the freshmen have been, Berenson expects even more contributions from the freshman class as the season progresses and they adapt to playing in the CCHA.

"I think you'll see an awakening of more of the freshmen as we go through the early part of the season," Berenson said. "We think we know what they can do, but they're not all going to do it right away. We are seeing players play better and play closer to their potential."

Yellow snow: Many of the Wolverines were upset with what they perceived as dirty play on the part of the Nanooks - and the referees' unwillingness to call enough penalties on them. Instead, the referees called a pretty even game in terms of penalty minutes.

"They played a real physical style of hockey," Berenson said. "They should have had probably six to two - that kind of ratio - in penalties. Unfortunately, the referees don't always see it that way, and they even things up.

"So, we're getting penalized for the way the other team is playing, not the way we're playing."

In all, the Wolverines were called for 69 minutes of penalties over the weekend, giving the Nanooks 15 power plays, including two five-on-three power play opportunities.

"I don't necessarily think we deserved the penalties that we got," said Michigan forward Dale Rominski, whose five-minute major penalty late in Saturday's contest led to two Fairbanks goals. "They're a dirty team. There was a lot of holding, slashing - the type of stuff that should be called in a normal game but obviously up there it wasn't."

The Wanderers: After making the 12-hour trip to Alaska last weekend, the Wolverines will be on the road again this weekend. The Wolverines will travel eight hours by bus to Marquette to play Northern Michigan.

With all of the time spent traveling, the Wolverines don't have much time for anything other than hockey.

"I'm so behind in school," Kosick said. "After this weekend, I think the travel schedule gets a little bit better, and I'll be able to catch up. Right now everything is focused on hockey for everybody. School has taken a back seat for the last couple of weeks."

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