'M' starts Ferris twinbill on road

Blue revisits ght site on front end of home-and-home

By Stephanie Offen

Daily Sports Editor

This weekend, the Michigan hockey team will be entering unfamiliar territory.

After two weekends of facing rival Ohio State in two very familiar penalty-filled battles, the Wolverines travel to Ferris State to face the Bulldogs for the teams' only two games this season.

And this unchartered territory is just a wave of the future.

In fact, for the next three weekends Michigan will face teams - Ferris State, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan - that it has not faced this season.

"We just have to go by statistics, what we read, what we see and how they're doing division-wise," Michigan captain Sean Peach said. "But they're (Ferris State) a better team then what those statistics show."

And those statistics show the Bulldogs sitting in eighth place in the conference, seven spots below first-place Michigan.

But there is one thing that is all too familiar to the Wolverines about Ferris State.

When asked about their in-state foes, the players seem to remember the last meeting of the two teams. Last season, the Wolverines were swept by Ferris State 4-0 in Big Rapids.

In an aggressive matchup between the two teams, Michigan's Andrew Merrick and Jeff Jillson were kicked out for a fight that broke out in the third period.

The players think this weekend could be more of the same.

"They have a small rink at home, so I know they play a pretty aggressive game," Peach said.

And Jillson can get revenge against the Bulldogs after not competing in last weekend's game. Jillson will be returning to the lineup tonight after serving a game disqualification he received for his involvement in a brawl at Ohio State two weeks ago.

The Wolverines are happy to have Jillson back, especially on the power play. Michigan coach Red Berenson has expressed concern over the production of the power-play unit recently. The unit didn't convert on a single opportunity last weekend, and has been hurt in the past by the Bulldogs. In the last six matchups with Ferris State, Michigan has managed to score on just four of 27 power play opportunities, for a mere 14.8 percent.

But the return of Jillson on the power play came with the loss of other Wolverines.

Junior Mark Kosick and sophomore Craig Murray will not make the trip to Big Rapids. Kosick is out with a sprained knee, and may play tomorrow at home. Murray is out with an illness. Junior Geoff Koch, who had been absent for some practices this week with a back injury, will return to the lineup.

This weekend has serious tournament implications as well. Heading into the final month of conference play, Michigan currently stands at No. 5 in the nation.

"In the pairwise rankings I think they're pretty high, so this game has serious NCAA implications as well," junior Josh Langfeld said. "So we'll have to bring our 'A' game."

And the Wolverines have been on their 'A' game ever since goaltender Josh Blackburn returned on Jan. 7. Since then, the Wolverines have gone 4-0-1. But they must watch out for another aggressive team, but this time one that they may not be all that familiar with.

"They're like all other teams that when they look at the schedule and see they're playing Michigan," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "It's like if we were going to play the Detroit Red Wings. There's something special about those teams."

This weekend

Who: Tonight, Michigan at Ferris State; Tomorrow, Ferris State at Michigan

When: 7:05 p.m. both nights

Latest: Last season, Jeff Jillson duked it out with Ferris State goaltender Vince Owen in a 4-0 loss to the Bulldogs. Fresh off a one-game suspension for fighting Ohio State's Jean-Francois Dufour, Jillson returns to action tonight for Michigan.