Michigan and Michigan State, two strong programs in recent years, come to Mariucci Arena this weekend for something called the College Hockey Showcase.

The Gophers play these teams from the CCHA every season, the site alternates between the U and their home rinks.

Last season the Gophers actually played Michigan twice, beating the Wolverines 4-3 in the second game of the regular season. That game was played at the X and was for the championship of the Ice Breaker Invitational.

It also was the game junior captain Ryan Stoa suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Michigan was rated the No. 1 team in the country much of last season and in the showcase in Ann Arbor beat the U 5-1. But that was when the Wolverines had senior forward Kevin Porter, now playing for Phoenix, and senior forward Chad Kolarik, now playing in the AHL for San Antonio.

Porter finished with 33 goals and 30 assists for 63 points and won the Hobey Baker award. Kolarik had 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 points.

Those two led Michigan to the Frozen Four. The Wolverines have been among the top three scoring teams in the nation the past four seasons. Not this year, though.

They are averaging 2.93 goals per game, 23rd best. And Michigan is especially struggling the first night of a series. The Wolverines are averaging 2.00 goals on first nights, 3.86 on second nights. Quite a difference.

Their defense is the same statistically both nights, opponents are averaging 2.57 each night. Michigan’s penalty kill has killed off 23 power plays in a row.

Michigan is rated No. 14 in one of the major national polls, No. 15 in the other after being No. 2 in preseason rankings. The Wolverines are 1-4 versus ranked teams, 3-5 on the road.

The goalie situation is a bit unsettled. Senior Billy Sauer is coming off a superb season in which he set school records for goals-against average (1.95) and save percentage (.924).

But this season has been different for Sauer. His gaa is 2.72, his save pct. .898. His record is 2-5-0.

Coach Red Berenson has rotated Sauer with sophomore Bryan Hogan who was 6-0-0 until losing 2-1 to Miami (Ohio) last Saturday. Hogan made 32 saves in his first loss.

Hogan has already appeared in eight games, two more than he played in all of last season.

Part of the reason for Michigan’s struggles are two key injuries to veterans. Senior defenseman and captain Mark Mitera has not played since the first game. He injured his left knee seriously in the first period against St. Lawrence on Oct. 10.

Junior Steve Kampfer, another of Michigan’s top defenseman, played in the first two games because he was injured in a bizarre off-ice incident at about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12.

A walk-on football player Mike Milano allegedly body-slammed Kampfer to the ground, fracturing his skull.

Kampfer was in a neck brace for about a month and tried to file a restraining order against Milano — a judge declined because he could not show a history of harrassment. Who knows when he will play again.

Milano, a fullback who was indefinitely suspended from the football team after the incident, wrestled at Michigan for two years. On Monday, Milano was charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm (a felony) and aggravated assault (a misdemeanor).

So Mitera and Kampfer have been out but there is more. Promising freshman defenseman Brandon Burlon, a second round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2008, has played only six games because of a sprained ankle.

Ouch. Wonder if coach Berenson has any red left in his hair or is it all white?

There are no Minnesota players on Michigan’s team. Here is the roster breakdown:

Michigan: 17

Canadians: 4 (2 Ontario, 2 British Columbia)

Other states: 4 (1 California, 1 Missouri, 1 New York, 1 Washington)

Sweden: 1

MICHIGAN STATE ON 0-6-0 SKID

The Spartans, who visit Marucci on Saturday after playing at Wisconsin the night before, are in a scoring funk like the Gophers were last season.

Remember that? In midseason the Gophers scored 10 goals in one eight-game stretch. …. MSU is scoring with even less frequency: five goals in six losses.

Michigan State has two Minnesotans on its roster, both are freshmen. They are defenseman Matt Crandall of St. Cloud and forward Andrew Conboy of Rosemount.

The breakdown of the rest of MSU’s roster:

Michigan: 17

Canadians: 6 (4 Ontario, 1 British Columbia, 1 Yukon)

Illinois: 2

Wisconsin: 2

TALKING HOBEY

The website INCH (Inside College Hockey) runs a list of Hobey Baker candidates every other week early in the season, then weekly later.

Guess who is on last week’s list at No. 2? Gophers forward Ryan Stoa.

So how many Hobey Baker winners have the Gophers had? Four since the award began. Neal Broten won the first one in 1981.

The other three winners were Robb Stauber in 1988, Brian Bonin in 1996 and Jordan Leopold in 2002. … Only one other college has as many as four. That’s Minnesota-Duluth.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 11:49 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.