KALAMAZOO - The Michigan hockey team did a lot of shattering this weekend - both of records and of glass.
Michigan goaltender Marty Turco took care of the record-shattering. With the Wolverines' victory Friday night over Bowling Green, 4-2, at Yost Ice Arena, Turco broke the NCAA record for career wins with his 112th victory in four years at Michigan. The senior surpassed former Michigan netminder Steve Shields, who ended his career as a Wolverine with 111 victories in 1994 - the year before Turco's arrival.
"I'm more thrilled for this program," Turco said. "Recruiting is great. There's high expectations. There's a lot of great players who have come here. ... But it's year-in and year-out success, and you've got the backing of a great program, a great school and obviously a great coach."
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| WARREN ZINN/Daily Bill Muckalt scored on this play after grabbing the puck out of midair. He had a hat trick in the Wolverines' 4-2 victory. |
Michigan defenseman Dave Huntzicker did the shattering honors Saturday, when he and Western defenseman Brent Lovett collided into the boards at 2:15 in the second, smashing the glass. Shards of the pane rained down on the ice, forcing play to stop for several minutes.
The incident was indicative of the entire evening, which featured 25 penalties, including one game disqualification to Michigan center Matt Herr for checking from behind at 4:07 in the first period.
Despite the hard-hitting nature of Saturday's contest, Michigan coach Red Berenson said the Wolverines played even better than they did during Friday's record-breaking game.
"I thought our team could get more focused tonight than they were last night," Berenson said after the game. "We had a good meeting this morning, and I think a lot of guys realized that they can play better."
Herr must have been paying special attention at the meeting, because even though he only played for four minutes, he made the most of them, scoring Michigan's first goal of the game.
The goal came at 3:11 of the first period, during the Wolverines' first power play of the night. Michigan freshman Mark Kosick faked a shot from the right point, then passed the puck to Herr in the slot for the goal.
After Herr's early departure, Michigan forward Josh Langfeld was able to pick up the scoring slack. Western tied the game at 1-1 with its own power play goal at 6:35 in the second, but Langfeld answered back quickly.
Less than two minutes after the Western goal, Langfeld scored on a odd-man rush. Langfeld took a nice pass from Justin Clark, then deked Western goaltender Matt Barnes for the goal.
But Langfeld wasn't done. At 14:55 in the second, the freshman scored his second goal of the night, putting the Wolverines up by two over Western, 3-1. It seemed like the Michigan put the game out of reach for the Broncos, who struggled to establish an offensive presence all evening.
Miraculously, though, Western was able to come up with two more goals of its own, at 16:47 in the second period, and then again at 12:27 in the third. The Broncos evened up the score at 3-3 - despite being outshot 34-20 by the Wolverines - and sent the game into overtime.
So who would step up for Michigan in the extra stanza? Langfeld? Star forward Bill Muckalt? The answer came from one of the more unlikely candidates - Michigan defenseman Bubba Berenzweig.
With time running out, the junior snuck a shot from the slot past Barnes. There were only 24 seconds left on the clock.
"We're playing against Western Michigan, and they're not that high up in the (CCHA) rankings," Berenzweig said. "But the thing is, this is probably the most exciting goal I've ever scored in my life."
The situation was particularly different for Turco. Michigan's goaltender went from being lauded as a hero by home-crowd fans after his record-breaking victory Friday to being verbally assaulted by chants of "Turco sucks" from the Western fans Saturday.
Turco said he'll miss the fans from Western after he graduates.
"It was fun," Turco said. "It was sad, your senior year and you're making your last rounds in the CCHA loop. I don't take it personally; they're just trying to get under my skin.
"But (Saturday night) was definitely a different perspective from a great time (Friday) night."
Friday's game against Bowling Green (2-11-2, 4-17-2) carried a much different atmosphere than Saturday's game. Excited and anxious fans were rewarded with a Michigan victory, despite some sloppy play from the Wolverines.
Bowling Green took advantage of a Michigan giveaway in the opening minute of the first period to take an early lead, 1-0. Langfeld tied the score at 4:37 in the second, but Muckalt was the real offensive story of Friday's game.
The senior assumed responsibility for the record-breaking victory, scoring Michigan's next three goals - the last one an open-netter - for the hat trick and a 4-2 Michigan win.
Despite the three-goal performance, Muckalt was only awarded third star of the game - Turco being the obvious choice for first star, and Bowling Green goaltender Shawn Timm winning second for his tremendous play in the net.
"Third star, hey," Muckalt joked after the game. "(If I) might have had six, I might have got second star. But that's all right - I'm so happy for Marty, I'm so happy for the program.
"Marty's a great goaltender and a good person, and I couldn't be happier for him."
Turco showed his appreciation after the game, as well - for the Michigan fans. He skated around the rink, waving to the crowd and blowing kisses after being presented with a plaque for his accomplishment.
"I didn't know how I'd react when this game ended," Turco said. "It was self-gratifying in that fact that where I've come from and what it's made me today.
"It was a great feeling because I'm a part of this program, a part of this institution, the University of Michigan, that has provided me with so much since the day I stepped on campus."
WARREN ZINN/Daily
As has been his place all season, Bill Muckalt led Michigan to victory, recording a hat trick on Friday.
01-12-98
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