OSU Meets Arch-Rival Michigan in CCHA Semis – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 15, 1999
GAME NO. 40
%^$The Ohio State hockey team (21-14-4, 17-10-3), after sweeping Ferris State in a CCHA quarterfinal series last weekend, will meet Michigan (22-10-6, 17-8-5) in a CCHA semifinal game Friday night in Joe Louis Arena (19,983). The puck will be dropped at 8:38 p.m. and the winner will advance to the CCHA Championship game played the next night.%^$
%^$THE BROADCAST
%^$Fox Sports Detroit will produce Fridays game for tape delay broadcast, and will make the package available to Fox Sports affiliates across the country, including Fox Sports Ohio. Josh Lewin (play-by-play) and Mike Greenlay (color) will call the game. The CCHA Championship game (Saturday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.) will be aired live on Fox Sports Detroit and, like OSUs semifinal game, will be made available to Fox affiliates throughout the nation. %^$
WOSU Radio (820 AM), in its inaugural season of airing live OSU hockey action, will broadcast all tournament games this weekend that OSU is involved in. Herb Howenstine (play-by-play) and former Buckeye John Mowat (color) will call the action.%^$
%^$CCHA CHAMPIONSHIP CREDENTIALS
%^$Accredited members of the media may apply for credentials to the CCHA Championship through the conference office. Contact CCHA Director of Communications Sherry Skalko for details at (248) 888-0600.%^$
%^$TOURNAMENT INFO
%^$Michigan State, Michigan, and Northern Michigan join Ohio State in this years CCHA Championship. Coaches, players, and staff will be staying at the Mariott Renaissance Center (313-568-8000) during the Championship. A schedule of events surrounding the Championship can be found later in this release.%^$
%^$CONSECUTIVE YEARS AT THE JOE
%^$Prior to this season, OSU had not advanced to Joe Louis Arena in consecutive seasons in 14 years (1983-84, 84-85).%^$
%^$LEADING THE PACK
%^$Ohio State placed three players on the all-league teams this season, tying Michigan State and Bowling Green for the most in the conference. Forward Hugo Boisvert and goaltender Jeff Maund were named to the CCHAs first team, while defenseman Andre Signoretti was a second team selection. The selection of three Buckeyes marks the most OSU players named to the all-league teams since the 1983-84 season when three (two first team, one second team) were also selected.%^$
%^$SERIES INFO
%^$Michigan leads the all-time series with Ohio State, 44-21-8, but the Buckeyes are unbeaten in their last four meetings with the Wolverines. Ohio State is 1-6 against Michigan all-time in the postseason, with the lone win coming in last years CCHA semifinal game. All six losses have come in CCHA quarterfinal action and have been played in Ann Arbor (1991, 92, 95).%^$
%^$LUCKY NO. 5
%^$A win over the Wolverines this Friday would give OSU a five game unbeaten streak against UM, equaling the longest in school history. The other five game stretch ran from 1989 to 1990.%^$
%^$SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
%^$Michigan swept Bowling Green in a two-game series last weekend to advance to the CCHA semifinals. The Wolverines finished the regular season with a 17-8-5 conference mark and in second place, two points ahead of the Buckeyes. Freshman Mike Comrie, a member of the CCHA all-Rookie team, leads Michigan offensively and finished the year in sixth place in the conference scoring race (13-20-33). The Wolverines boast two of the top offensive defensemen in the conference in senior Bubba Berenzweig (5-18-23), the top scoring blueliner in the league, and Jeff Jillson (5-15-20), another Wolverine named to the leagues all-Rookie team. Josh Blackburn has seen the majority of the time in goal for Michigan, and ended the regular season with a 2.29 goals against average and .904 save percentage in league play. The Wolverines are coached by Red Berenson, the 1981 National Hockey League Coach of the Year. Berenson, a 1962 Michigan graduate in his 15th season behind the Wolverine bench, will bring a 391-196-36 career record into this weekends game. %^$
%^$OSU LAST WEEKEND
%^$Ohio State swept Ferris State in a CCHA quarterfinal series in Value City Arena, winning 4-2 last Friday night and 3-1 on Saturday evening.%^$
Ohio State ended a five-period scoring drought on Friday by netting a pair of goals in each of the final two periods to earn a 4-2 win. Senior captain Dan Cousineau and freshman Yan Des Gagne each recorded goals to give OSU a 2-1 lead heading into the final period. Eric Meloche scored the eventual game-winner on the power-play at 4:15 of the third period, and Ryan Jestadt added a short-handed empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to seal the game. Jeff Maund stopped 23-of-25 Ferris State shots in the win and the OSU penalty-killing unit shut out Ferris State in five power-play attempts.%^$
Maund led OSU to a 3-1 win in Saturdays game, making 36 saves on 37 Ferris State shots. The Buckeyes trailed 1-0 entering the third period, but exploded for three third-period goals, two by All-American Hugo Boisvert. Ryan Skaleski scored the game-winner on a hard slapshot in front of the net at 12:02 of the third period. Ohio State connected on one-of-six power-play attempts and stopped six-of-seven FSU power-play opportunities.%^$
%^$MICHIGANS LAST ACTION
%^$The Wolverines swept Bowling Green in a quarterfinal series last weekend, winning 3-2 Friday night and 9-3 Saturday evening.%^$
Michigan scored two goals in the final ten minutes to slip past Bowling Green 3-2 in the first game. Bobby Hayes had a hand in both of the late goals, scoring one and assisting on the short-handed game-winner. Josh Blackburn stopped 19-of-21 BGSU shots in the victory. %^$
The Wolverines led 2-0 after the first period in the series finale and never looked back, cruising to a 9-3 win. Hayes and Josh Langfeld each had two goals and the Michigan power-play sizzled, connecting on four-of-nine attempts. The teams combined for 122 penalty minutes in the game, and Michigans Bob Gassoff received a game disqualification for fighting. He will sit out the Ohio State-Michigan game this weekend.%^$
%^$OSU vs. UM – LAST TIME
%^$The Buckeyes jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the Feb. 6 meeting between the two schools and never trailed in an eventual 3-2 win. Neal Rech and Eric Meloche scored in the opening period for OSU, and Hugo Boisvert netted the eventual game-winner at 11:20 of the second period on a beautiful unassisted breakaway slapshot. Michigan outshot OSU 27-24, but Ohio States Jeff Maund made 25 saves in the win, including 10 in the scoreless third period. %^$
%^$MR. POSTSEASON
%^$”The playoffs are my favorite time of the year. Its better than Christmas,” Ohio States Jeff Maund said after an impressive 36-save performance against Ferris State Saturday night. Maund stopped 59-of-62 shots in the two wins over the Bulldogs (.952 save percentage). He entered this season with a 1.86 goals against average in the postseason, and lowered that to 1.79 with his effort last weekend. Maunds save percentage in postseason games is a sizzling .943 (280-of-297).%^$
%^$985 DOWN, 15 TO GO
%^$Maund needs just 15 saves to become the third OSU goaltender ever to record 1,000 saves in a season. The other two goalies to accomplish this feat – Mike Bales and Mike Blake – went on to play in the National Hockey League. Maund led the CCHA in total saves this season in both overall and league games. He is also closing in on a record that has stood for 27 years at Ohio State – lowest single-season goals against average. Bill McKenzie holds the record of 2.25 set in 1972. Maunds GAA currently stands at 2.27.%^$
%^$BACK AT .500
%^$With two wins over Ferris State last weekend, OSU head coach John Markell raised in career postseason winning percentage to .500. He stands 8-8-0 in postseason games. Markell is 1-2-0 all-time against Michigan in the postseason.%^$
%^$SLUMPING NO MORE
%^$OSUs special teams returned to mid-season form against the Bulldogs. Ohio State broke out of a zero-of-25 slump on the power-play in game one versus Ferris State when Eric Meloche scored during a five-on-four situation in the third period. The Buckeyes scored another power-play goal in game two versus the Bulldogs. OSUs power-play unit finished the season ranked third in the CCHA in overall games (37-of-92, .177). Ohio States penalty-killing unit also shutout FSU in the opening game of the series, marking the first time in eight games the Buckeyes had shut out an opponents power-play.%^$
%^$SLUMPING NO MORE, PART II
%^$All-American Hugo Boisvert broke out of a four-game scoreless streak with two goals in game two against Ferris State. The four game drought marked the first time in 72 consecutive games that Boisvert had been held scoreless in four straight games. Prior to this point, Boisvert had not been held scoreless in four straight games since October of 1997. %^$
%^$50-POINT BARRIER
%^$Hugo Boisvert cracked the fifty-point barrier with two goals over the weekend (24-26-50). It marks the first time in over a decade that an OSU player has recorded at least 50 in two consecutive seasons. Boisvert notched 58 points (23-35-58) last season. His 24 goals this year sets a new career high.%^$
%^$NOT YOUR TYPICAL OSU-UM YEAR
%^$Ohio State went unbeaten against Michigan (2-0-1) this year for the first time since the 1989-90 season. OSU won the season series against UM this year for only the fourth time in school history. The Feb. 6, 3-2 Ohio State win against the Wolverines gave the Buckeyes their first win in Ann Arbor since Nov. 17, 1989.%^$
%^$THE 1998-99 OSU-UM SERIES
%^$Some notes on the three earlier meetings between Ohio State and Michigan this year:
%^$* Each game has either been decided by one goal or ended in a tie.
%^$* OSU has narrowly outscored Michigan in the three game, 5-4.
%^$* The teams have played 185 minutes against each other this year, and the score has been tied during 85 minutes and 16 seconds of that action (46 percent of the time).
%^$* Both teams have gone an identical two-of-21 (.095) on the power-play in the three games combined.
%^$* In both games that OSU won, it scored first.
%^$* Hugo Boisvert (1-2-3), Chris Richards (1-1-2), and Eric Meloche (1-1-2) have been OSUs leading scorers in the series, while Mike Comrie (1-1-2) and Josh Langfeld (1-1-2) have been UMs offensive leaders.
%^$* Michigan has been whistled for 28 penalties in the three games, while OSU has been whistled for 27.
%^$* OSU has outshot Michigan 80-78 combined, but the Wolverines outshot the Buckeyes in two of the three games.
%^$* Jeff Maund has stopped 75-of-78 Michigan shots in the three games (.962 save percentage) and has an 0.98 goals against average this year against UM.
%^$* Neal Rech and Jean-Francois Dufour lead Ohio State with +2 rating combined in the three meetings.
%^$* Hugo Boisvert has been on the ice for four of the five goals that Ohio State has scored against Michigan this season.%^$
%^$MAKING HISTORY
%^$Boisvert became the first Ohio State player ever to be named first-team all-CCHA on two occasions this week. Boisvert tied Michigan States Mike York as the leading vote-getter in this years all-conference squad, and was named to the team after leading the league in scoring last year.%^$
%^$SPEAKING OF CCHA HONORS
%^$Maunds first-team all-CCHA selection marks the first time since 1984 that an OSU goaltender has been named to the team. Maund is the third Ohio State netminder to be named first-team all-conference (John Dougan, 1983-84; Mike Blake, 1980-81). Signoretti becomes the first OSU defenseman to gain any type of all-CCHA honors since Mike Rousseau, who played both wing and defense, was a second-team selection in 1985.%^$
%^$GRUELING SCHEDULE
%^$Ohio State faced one of the more demanding schedules in the country this season. The Buckeyes played seven teams that were at some point ranked among the nations top 10. More importantly, Ohio State played only 15 games at home this year and 22 on the road. The Buckeyes did not face a non-league opponent in Columbus this season.%^$
%^$COLUMBUSS NEWEST GOAL SCORER
%^$With his short-handed empty-net goal in Fridays win over Ferris State, OSUs Ryan Jestadt ranks second in the CCHA in overall goals scored by a defenseman with nine. Only Michigans Mike Van Ryn, who scored in the Wolverines 9-3 win over BGSU, has more goals than Jestadt (10). The goal against the Bulldogs was also the first short-handed tally of Jestadts career. The Western Springs, Ill., native has nine goals this season and had a combined three in goals in the two previous seasons.%^$
%^$OHIO STATE IN JOE LOUIS ARENA
%^$The Buckeyes are 5-5-0 in CCHA Playoff games played in Joe Louis Arena. They have made five appearance in Joe Louis Arena (1983, 84, 85, 87, 98) and on each occasion, have won a game and lost a game.%^$
%^$LAST YEAR IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
%^$The Buckeyes broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of third period goals – one by Louie Colsant and another by Chris Richards – for a 4-2 win over Michigan in last years CCHA semifinals. Hugo Boisvert and Todd Compeau also scored for Ohio State. The Buckeyes limited Michigan to just 23 shots on goal, and Jeff Maund made 21 saves for OSU. Neither team scored on the power-play.%^$
OSU faced Michigan State in last years CCHA Championship game in what would become one of the most memorable final games of all-time. The two teams battled to double-overtime, playing the longest CCHA Championship game ever (82:30). A pass by Shawn Horcoff deflected off an OSU players skate early in the second overtime, giving the Spartans a 3-2 win. Jeff Maund was sensational in goal for Ohio State, stopping 48-of-51 Michigan State shots. Todd Compeau scored both Ohio State goals, while Chris Richards assisted on both.%^$
%^$RETURNING FOR MORE
%^$Two Ohio State players that were selected to last years CCHA all-Tournament team return this season. Jeff Maund and Chris Richards were both named to the all-Tournament squad, as well as departed Buckeye Todd Compeau.%^$
%^$THE 20-WIN PLATEAU
%^$Ohio State clinched the 10th 20-win season in school history with last Fridays win over the Bulldogs. The victory also marked the first time in 15 years that Ohio State has enjoyed consecutive 20-win seasons.%^$
%^$BULLDOG KILLER
%^$Yan Des Gagne has now scored two goals in his collegiate career – both of which have come against Bulldog goaltender Vince Owen. Des Gagne scored OSUs second goal in Fridays game, and recorded the game-winner in a Jan. 21 game between OSU and FSU.%^$
%^$OSU IN THE CCHA TOURNEY
%^$Including last weekends sweep of Ferris State, the Buckeyes are now 21-40-4 all-time in the CCHA Tournament. OSU captured the first ever CCHA tournament title in 1972, and former Buckeye goaltender Bill McKenzie was named the tournaments Most Valuable Player.%^$
%^$NOT JUST DEFENSE
%^$Ryan Skaleski, one of Ohio States top defensive defensemen, scored the first game-winning goal of his career in game two against Ferris State. Skaleski doesnt crack the scoring column often, but when he does the Buckeyes are tough to beat. OSU is now 7-0-0 all-time when Skaleski has a point.%^$
%^$PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW
%^$Ohio State is 24-3-2 in its last 29 home games. The Buckeyes went 5-0-0 in the OSU Ice Arena this season and 8-3-1 in Value City Arena. Ohio State surrendered just 16 goals in 12 games in Value City Arena this season. The OSU penalty-killing unit was also stellar in its new home, stopping 65-of-69 opponent power-play attempts (.942).%^$
%^$SPEAKING OF DEFENSE
%^$The Buckeyes are now 13-5-2 when surrendering 30 shots or less and 8-9-2%^$when giving up 31 or more shots. OSU held opponents to 30 or less shots in nine of the 12 games played at Value City Arena this year.%^$
%^$DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
%^$In the first 19 games of the season, Ohio State surrendered an average of 32.63 shots on goal per game (620 total). In their last 20 games of the year, that figure dropped to 28.95 opponent shots per game (579 total). OSUs defense was even more solid at home. In Value City Arena, Ohio State surrendered an average of only 26.8 shots per game (322 total). In road games this season, the Buckeyes are giving up 33.27 shots on goal per game (732 total).%^$
%^$YOUR BIG GUNS HAVE TO CARRY YOU
%^$The Buckeyes are winless (0-5-1) this year when Boisvert and Richards, their top two scorers, are held scoreless.%^$
%^$MOVING UP THE SCORING LADDER
%^$Several changes will have to be made to the Ohio State hockey record book after this season. With 146 career points, Hugo Boisvert now stands in sole possession of 20th place on the schools all-time scoring list. With his assist against Ferris State on Feb. 19 for his 144th career point, Boisvert passed former OSU head coach Jerry Welsh on the all-time scoring list. Next up for Boisvert on the list is Gord Peters, who from 1970-73 collected 148 career points and sits in 19th place on the all-time list.%^$
With an assist on the game-winning goal in game one against Ferris State last weekend, Chris Richards moved into a tie for 26th place on the all-time OSU scoring list. Richards has 131 career points (43-88-131) and is tied with Dave Hoyles (70-73). Next up for Richards is Steve Pankiw (25th place with 133) and Mark Freeman (24th place with 135).%^$
%^$RECORD BOOK, PART II
%^$Scoring records are not the only ones being broken by Ohio State this season. Jeff Maund collected his 42nd career win against Ferris State in Saturday nights playoff victory and is in sole possession of sixth place on the all-time goalie win list at OSU. Maund, who last year posted the second best goals against average in school history (2.36), can move into a tie for fifth place on that list with Dan Stergiou by collecting his 43rd career victory against the Wolverines this weekend.%^$
%^$RECORD BOOK, PART III
%^$Chris Richards moved into sole possession of fifth place in the OSU postseason record book for career points. Richards has 12 career points in postseason games, more than any other current Buckeye.%^$
%^$CLOSE CALLS
%^$With a March 2, 2-1 loss to Bowling Green, the Buckeyes have now played in 15 one-goal games this season, tying a school record set by the 1986-87 team Ohio State is 8-7-0 in one-goal games this season. %^$
%^$THEY SCORE, WE WIN
%^$When Ohio State defensemen score, the Buckeyes are tough to beat. OSU is now 8-1-0 when Scott Titus scores a point, 8-1-2 when Ryan Jestadt scores a point, 4-1-1 when Jaisen Freeman scores a point, 15-4-1 when Andre Signoretti scores a point, 10-4-1 when Jason Crain scores a point, and 2-0-0 when Ryan Skaleski scores a point.%^$
%^$THEY DONT SCORE, WE DONT WIN
%^$Ohio State is winless at 0-4-0 in games where no OSU defenseman records a point (10/23 vs. Notre Dame, 11/6 vs. Michigan State, 12/27 vs. Boston University; 3/6 vs. Bowling Green).%^$
%^$THESE ARE THE DAYS
%^$Following is a breakdown of Ohio States record on certain days of the week:%^$
%^$Day All Games CCHA%^$Friday 11-3-0 10-2-0%^$Saturday 7-8-3 5-6-3%^$Sunday 0-1-1 0-0-0%^$Monday 1-0-0 0-0-0%^$Tuesday 0-2-0 0-2-0%^$Thursday 2-0-0 2-0-0%^$%^$
%^$CONTINUED CONTRIBUTIONS
%^$Its been a tale of two seasons for Ohio States Brian Morrison. The senior forward was a healthy scratch for the first 23 games of the season. After that, he played in 13 consecutive games and the Buckeyes went 8-3-2 during that stretch. Morrison has two goals and three assists for five points and is +1 playing mostly on OSUs fourth line.%^$
%^$TALE OF TWO SEASONS
%^$Jean-Francois Dufour, an honorable mention CCHA all-Rookie team selection last year, ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 9-15-24 totals. Dufour had just four points in his first 13 games of the season. Since then, however, he has scored at least a point in 17 of his last 26 games (6-14-20 over that span).%^$
%^$ALL-MYLANTA TEAM
%^$On four different occasions this year, Ohio State has scored in the last :30 seconds of the game to win or tie and then win overtime. On Nov. 20 against Miami, Ryan Jestadt scored with five seconds left to tie the game (which OSU won 2-1 in overtime). On Nov. 27 in Alaska-Fairbanks, Hugo Boisvert scored with :14 seconds left to tie the game (which OSU won 3-2 in overtime). On Dec. 28 in Minnesota, Eric Meloche scored a one-timer goal with :28 seconds left to give OSU a 6-5 win. Against Bowling Green Feb. 5, Morrisons goal came with :15 seconds remaining and gave OSU a 3-2 win.%^$
%^$MAUND THE DEFENSEMAN
%^$Jeff Maund enters the CCHA Tournament with four career assists. OSU goaltender coach John LaCoste has targeted Maunds puck-handling skills as an area of improvement this season – and it shows. He handles the puck nearly 15 times per game and routinely gets the puck out of the zone during penalty-killing situations. “It (handling the puck) was something we wanted to work on this year,” LaCoste said. “When he got out of the net, it was a situation where he could stop the puck but he wasnt sure what to do with it. He has a good shot. It was a matter of getting him to realize he has some options when he gets the puck. Its an area hes really improved in.”%^$
%^$CCHA UPDATE
%^$
%^$1998 STANDINGS CONFERENCE OVERALL%^$Team W L T Pts. GF GA W L T %^$1. Michigan State 20 3 7 47 91 40 28 4 7%^$2. Michigan 17 8 5 39 98 72 22 10 6%^$3. OHIO STATE 17 10 3 37 87 66 21 14 4%^$4. Notre Dame 15 11 4 34 92 68 19 14 5%^$5. Northern Michigan 14 11 5 33 94 83 21 13 5%^$6. Ferris State 13 12 5 31 76 69 14 16 6%^$7. Bowling Green 13 14 3 29 102 105 17 18 3%^$8. Lake Superior 10 17 3 23 79 93 11 23 4%^$9. Miami 9 17 4 22 78 104 11 20 5%^$10. Western Michigan 5 17 8 18 69 119 6 20 8%^$11. Alaska Fairbanks 8 21 1 17 77 124 11 22 1%^$%^$CCHA PLAYOFFS
%^$FRIDAY, MARCH 19
%^$No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Northern Michigan 5 p.m.
%^$No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Ohio State 8:30 p.m.
%^$
%^$SATURDAY, MARCH 20
%^$CCHA Championship @ Joe Louis Arena 7:30 p.m.
%^$
%^$FRIDAY-SATURDAY, MARCH 26-27
%^$NCAA East Regional (Worcester, Mass.) TBA
%^$
%^$SATURDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 27-28
%^$NCAA West Regional (Madison, Wis.) TBA
%^$
%^$THURSDAY, APRIL 1
%^$NCAA Semifinals (Anaheim, Calif.) TBA
%^$
%^$SATURDAY, APRIL 3
%^$NCAA Championship (Anaheim, Calif.) TBA
%^$
%^$All times local.%^$
%^$FRIDAY, MARCH 12
%^$MICHIGAN STATE 3, Lake Superior 2
%^$MICHIGAN 3, Bowling Green 2
%^$OHIO STATE 4, Ferris State 2
%^$NOTRE DAME 3, Northern Michigan 2
%^$
%^$SATURDAY, MARCH 13
%^$MICHIGAN STATE 4, Lake Superior 0
%^$ MSU wins series, 2-0
%^$MICHIGAN 9, Bowling Green 3
%^$ UM wins series, 2-0
%^$OHIO STATE 3, Ferris State 1
%^$ OSU wins series, 2-0
%^$Northern Michigan 7, NOTRE DAME 1
%^$
%^$SUNDAY, MARCH 14
%^$Northern Michigan 3, NOTRE DAME 2
%^$ NMU wins series, 2-1
%^$
%^$AWARD WINNERS%^$
%^$The following Ohio State players have been honored in some way, shape or form this season:%^$
%^$HUGO BOISVERT
%^$First-team all-CCHA
%^$Ice Breaker Cup All Tournament Team
%^$USCHO National P.O.W. Nov. 17
%^$
%^$JASON CRAIN
%^$1999 Bauer/CCHA all-Rookie Team
%^$CCHA Rookie of the Wk. Dec. 6
%^$CCHA Rookie of the Wk. Dec. 13
%^$
%^$JEFF MAUND
%^$First-team all-CCHA
%^$CCHA Player of the Wk. Nov. 15
%^$CCHA Player of the Wk. Dec. 6
%^$CCHA Player of the Wk. Jan. 3
%^$CCHA Player of the Wk. Jan. 24
%^$USCHO National P.O.W. Dec. 8
%^$USCHO National P.O.W. Jan. 26
%^$
%^$ERIC MELOCHE
%^$Mariucci Classic All-Tournament Team%^$
%^$ANDRE SIGNORETTI
%^$Second-team all-CCHA%^$
%^$SCOTT TITUS
%^$CCHA Rookie of the Wk. Jan. 31
%^$Honor. Mention CCHA all-Rookie Team
