Icers No. 2 in both polls

By Ryan C. Moloney

Daily Sports Writer

When Michigan hosts the Ice Breaker Tournament this weekend, one game could feature the top two teams in the nation.

Released yesterday, both the USA Today/AHM and USCHO preseason polls have North Dakota and Michigan in the first two slots, respectively.

North Dakota faces No. 9 New Hampshire in the first game at 5:05 p.m. Michigan battles Colgate at 8:30 p.m.

If the Fighting Sioux and Wolverines win their semifinal games, both could play for No. 1 in the nation Saturday night.

Meanwhile, as Michigan prepares, walk-on cuts were made yesterday before the team's afternoon practice. And by first appearance, it looked as though some of the regulars had failed to make the grade.

Jeff Jillson, Geoff Koch, Mark Kosick, L.J. Scarpace and Mike Komisarek all missed parts or all of practice because of various injuries.

Jillson has been battling the flu for an unspecified amount of time and sat out practice. Koch and Kosick are still plagued by groin injuries that kept them out of action this past weekend. Komisarek is also battling a groin ailment and left practice after a short time on the ice. Scarpace sat out the rest of practice after taking a shot off a shoulder early on in practice.

Berenson expressed concern about the availability of each player saying he "can't guarantee they will all be ready to play" for this weekend's IceBreaker tournament.

"They are all day to day but there are too many guys not skating," Berenson said. "We've had guys out for six weeks and eight weeks with groins or it can be for a short time. They've been nursing them for the last week and we'll see if we can get them ready for the weekend."

Scarpace's injury was more of a stinger and Berenson said, "he should be okay."

Jillson's situation is the most problematic and also the most serious. The cause of the illness for the All-American continues to elude team physicians.

"He's been battling some kind of flu or virus that's not bad one day - but today he couldn't breathe," Berenson said.

Jillson has undergone two blood tests, but neither revealed any problems.

The junior defenseman played in Saturday's exhibition against Wilfrid Laurier, recording an assist.

Facing the possible loss of at least three players going into the IceBreaker tournament, the coaching staff is now faced with the task of restructuring line combinations after each line played impressively against Wilfrid-Laurier.

"It takes away a little bit from your practice - when everyone is not there it's not the same," Berenson said. "But we can't worry about that, this is part of college hockey."

Kosick and Jillson are both the Wolverines' top returning scorers from last season

Michigan hosts Colgate on Friday night at 8:35 p.m. while North Dakota and New Hampshire square off at 5:05 p.m. The winners of both games advance to the Saturday night championship game.

North Dakota is ranked number one in the USCHO poll, released yesterday. Michigan is number two. New Hampshire is ranked ninth and Colgate 16th.

Yost Ice Arena

This weekend

Ice Breaker Tournament: No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 9 New Hampshire; No. 2 Michigan vs. Colgate; playoff

When: 5:05 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday. Losers play consolation game 5:05 p.m. Saturday, winners play for championship at 8:30 p.m.

Latest: Second-ranked Michigan could come out of the weekend No. 1 if the Wolverines take the tournament.

FACEOFF THURSDAY - The Daily hockey writers preview the season with a 16-page section inserted Thursday.