CCHA - not dog - race focus for 'M'

By Stephanie Offen

Daily Sports Editor

With snow piled higher than this article is long, Marquette yields perfect weather for one of the city's biggest weekends of the year.

In a dog race rivaling the popularity of the Iditarod, the U.P.200 brings dogs from all over the world to Marquette for a competition.

If that isn't enough to keep one busy this weekend - Ishpeming, home of the National Ski Hall of Fame museum, is hosting the 113th annual Ishpeming Ski Jumps. Skiers from all over the world will try to conquer the Upper Peninsula's Suicide Hill.

And finally this weekend, along with the dogs and skiers, comes the Michigan hockey team. The city will manage to squeeze the Wolverines in for a weekend series at Northern Michigan's new Berry Events Center.

But it's a good thing that the U.P.200 will be on television, because the Wolverines won't have time to make the trip downtown to see the canines.

With just six games to go until the end of the season, and five points separating conference-leader Michigan from the Wildcats, this weekend may be the toughest the Wolverines will face this season.

"I'm not going to enjoy the trip," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I'm not going to the dog race or anything like that. I won't be going snowmobiling or cross-country skiing, all the things that I would like to do. We'll be up there focused on the game and we'll have a good look at the rink."

This weekend will be the first time that Northern gets a good look at its new rink as well.

The Wildcats host Michigan in their newly built facility which includes an Olympic-size sheet of ice.

The only time the Wolverines have played on the larger ice this season was in Alaska. Michigan split a pair of games with the Nanooks, despite tallying forty shots on goal in both matchups.

This weekend will once again pit two offensive powers against each other.

The Wolverines currently lead the conference in goals with Northern Michigan a close second.

The The Michigan defense will be on the lookout for senior forward Roger Trudeau who is leading the Wildcats to an average of 3.5 goals per game.

"To win on the road you have to play well defensively," Berenson said. "You need good goalkeeping and you need to make your chances count. If those three things happen they'll have a good weekend."

And a good weekend for Michigan could lead to a good shot at the CCHA regular season title and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

But Northern isn't going to give up fighting for that top spot so easily. Last weekend Michigan State swept Northern in East Lansing to claim second place in the conference, and the Spartans rest only four points behind the Wolverines.

The Wildcats, still on the heels of both teams, will be looking to avenge the sweep now that they have returned home. Either way, the Wolverines are not home free. The Spartans are next on the docket for league-leading Michigan.

"If we sweep them up there we have a pretty good chance of winning the whole thing," junior winger Josh Langfeld said.

"We definitely know the implications of the games. Michigan State has Alaska so they will probably pick up four points.

"We need to pick up these four points to stay in the hunt."