Van Ryn happy to be home after absence

Slowly but surely, all the pieces have been falling into place for the Michigan hockey team. In fact, with the Wolverines alone at the top of the CCHA standings for the first time this season, the Michigan jigsaw puzzle is starting to look picture perfect.

What's even more amazing is that the Wolverines' puzzle has been coming together without one of its primary pieces.

Freshman defenseman Mike Van Ryn spent the past few weeks trying to fit into another team's plans - the Canadian world junior hockey team, which played in the 1998 World Junior Hockey Championship in Finland from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3.

MALLORY S.E. FLOYD/Daily Freshman Mike Van Ryn has been seeing red - instead of maize and blue - for the past few weeks. The defenseman played for the Canadian junior hockey team.

But Van Ryn's Canadian team didn't have nearly as much success as his American team. The Canadian's had their worst showing ever in the tournament, finishing eighth after losing to Kazakstan, 6-3, in the final consolation round on Saturday.

Think eighth isn't all that bad? Consider that Canada won the past five world junior championships before this year. Overall, the Canadians won only two games out of seven during the entire tournament, which featured 10 international teams.

The native of London, Ontario, tried to remain optimistic about Canada's disappointing showing.

"It was a good experience," Van Ryn said. "But like I told the guys, I'm sick of losing. It was something new for me; I wasn't accustomed to losing all those games. But that happens. We had a young team - only two guys back from last year. "We weren't focused the whole time, and we weren't disciplined, either."

Van Ryn is one of the top defensemen on another young, inexperienced team - the Wolverines. There was a chance the Wolverines would falter without his help behind the blue line. Instead, however, during his absence, the Wolverines only lost one game - the championship match of the Great Lakes Invitational to Michigan State.

Van Ryn said he's happy his team improved so much during his trip abroad ... just as long as the Wolverines still want him back, of course.

"It's great when you go away and you see your team still winning," Van Ryn said. "Every day, I woke up and called my home, and asked my mom how the guys did. They just kept winning.

"Kind of made me feel bad - I don't really make that much of a difference, I guess - but it's good to know your team can still play without you."

All kidding aside, though, Michigan coach Red Berenson said the team was grateful to have Van Ryn back in the maize and blue.

"We're glad to have him back, because we don't have a farm team," Berenson said. "He's going to upgrade our team just by his presence."

Berenson said he was pleased with Michigan's performance without the aid of Van Ryn - but that the time has come for the freshman's return.

"The good thing about having guys out or missing is that it gives other guys the opportunity to step up," Berenson said. "Players like Bubba Berenzweig, Sean Peach, Chris Fox and Dave Huntzicker really stepped up.

"But are we a better team with Mike Van Ryn in the lineup? Absolutely."

But Berenson and the rest of the Wolverines may have to wait a little while for Van Ryn to get back in sync. Van Ryn said the international competition wasn't up to par with what he faces in American college hockey.

"To tell you the truth, I think the college game is faster than international play," Van Ryn said. "The coaches asked me what I thought, and I told them the same thing. I thought it was faster here, the players are older, bigger and stronger.

"So, maybe mentally I'm a stronger player, but physically it didn't do anything."

He may have felt a little rusty at first, but Van Ryn said he was anxious to get back into the action.

"It was weird," he said. "When I came down Tuesday, we were all gathered around the room - all the frosh - we were sitting down. I said, 'Geeze, this feels like my first day back at school.' It was so long.

"It was just good to see the guys again, get back on the ice and get into the swing of things."

Not only did the world championship tournament take him out of action for the Wolverines, it also changed Van Ryn's academic schedule a little bit. He was forced to take his final exams for the fall semester a week early so he could leave for tryouts for the team.

"It was a rush," Van Ryn said. "It kind of hurt me, too. I only found out two days before, so I had to get my exams ready and write them the next day, and also I didn't get to really study for any of them."

But the most important thing: Did he pass?

"Yeah," he said with a laugh. "I passed by a lot."

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