Storybook comeback highlights 'M' victory over Spartans By Geoff Gagnon Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - It was a storyline that seems too improbable to believe. And as things unfolded Friday night in East Lansing, one couldn't help but think that it was the same fairy-tale drama that flashed a thousand times through an injured Josh Blackburn's mind three months ago. Maybe the soft-spoken sophomore entertained visions of a storybook comeback as he sat in a hospital bed in October. Maybe it was quiet thoughts of a dramatic return that offered solace to the frustrated netminder. As his team carried on without him four time zones away in Alaska, maybe thoughts of rejoining them helped drown the desperation the hobbled young goalie must have felt. Three months is a long time. By his own admission, Josh Blackburn said that he thought about his comeback a lot. And there were times when thinking was all that he could to as we waited for his surgically repaired foot to mend. Whatever Blackburn may have thought, however he may have drawn the evening in his mind or played it out in his head, it could not have compared to the way history will remember Blackburn's return. With a record crowd of 7,117 on hand to open a renovated Munn Ice Arena, Blackburn, for the first time in his career, led his Wolverines past their most hated rival stopping 23 shots against one of the nation's most potent offenses. What's more, he held the league-leading Spartans scoreless, picking up the fourth shutout of his career and did it all in East Lansing where the Wolverines haven't won since 1995. "It was a very emotional game for me," Blackburn said. "I've been waiting for it for three months and I could have wanted it to go any better." In knocking off the fifth-ranked Spartans, Blackburn did more than win his first game back with the Wolverines, he capped off a remarkable recovery and proceeded to stun critics who questioned his preparedness. "This kid is a real top-notch goal keeper and I can't tell you how thrilled I am that he had a good game," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "He could have bombed and I was ready for that. I'm pleased for him because he's worked his tail off to get back." And he seemed to answer his own questions as well as he let his play erase his doubt. "It was tough doubting myself," Blackburn. "I wasn't thinking 'I'm going to be bad tonight', but I wasn't sure what was going to happen. When you haven't played in three months you wonder 'what if?' And if that was the question that Blackburn was grappling with heading into Friday's game, his performance can put his mind at ease. "He played an amazing game," J.J. Swistak said. "First game back in months and he does that and stands on his head. That's the kind of kid he is. "You didn't expect it, but if there was anybody that could play like that, it's Josh Blackburn." But nobody, not even Blackburn, could've scripted Friday night any better. JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily Josh Blackburn, playing in his first game since October, returns to record a shutout against nemesis Michigan State. Originally on page 4B in the 1-10-2000 issue of the Daily.