hockey

Michigan Hockey: A salute to consistency, the most unheralded virtue

John U. Bacon — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Sports columnist Rick Reilly once wrote that weekend golfers invariably claim, “I’m a good golfer. I’m just not consistent.”

Well, he said, if you’re not consistent, you’re not a good golfer.

Americans are great at building things, and rotten at maintaining them.

We admire winners and celebrities, but we overlook the loyal spouse or the honest accountant or the people who maintain our bridges – that’s why they’re falling apart.

So, let this be a salute to consistency – that most unheralded virtue.

In 1984, Red Berenson took over Michigan’s moribund hockey program, which had not been to the NCAA tournament in seven years. Berenson thought it would be easy, but it took seven more years to get Michigan hockey back to the big dance in 1991.

Once they got into the tournament, they made it a point to stay there. Year after year, they kept coming back.

Finally, in 1996, they won Michigan’s first national title in 32 years – and they did it again in 1998. They’ve come close a few times since, but they have yet to win another.

This bothers Berenson, one of the most competitive men I’ve ever met. When he visited my class, I listed his many accomplishments on the board.

Hockey: The greatest sport, run by the dumbest people

John U. Bacon — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:00:00 +0000

I’ve played hockey my entire life, so I’m biased. But when you combine ice skating, stick handling, passing, shooting and yes, body-checking, in one game, you’ve got it all.

Until they start playing lacrosse in the water or golf on skis, hockey will remain the hardest sport to play, and the most impressive to see played well.

There’s nothing like it.

So, for Detroit Red Wings fans, the NHL lockout was a nightmare.

Remembering Budd Lynch

John U. Bacon — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 05:00:00 +0000

His parents named him Frank Joseph James Lynch—but everybody knew him as Budd.

He passed away this week, at the age of 95. No, you can’t call that a tragedy, but you can call it a loss—one thousands are feeling.

In a week that included no Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25, the idiotic NHL lockout and, far worse, Jerry Sandusky’s sentencing, I’d rather spend my few minutes with you honoring a man who lived as long as he lived well.

Lynch was born in Windsor, Ontario, during World War I.

Cut from the team: Some lessons for players and parents

John U. Bacon — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-1012350.mp3

Teresa Bloodman’s son was thrilled to play on his freshman basketball team for two months. But, when the coach held a third round of tryouts so the football players could come out for the team, he cut Bloodman’s son.

Shawn Hunwick's unlikely run at Michigan ends, and new doors open

John U. Bacon — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:29:26 +0000

One of the most unlikely careers in the history of University of Michigan sports ended last weekend, in overtime.

Two years ago, Michigan’s hockey team was in danger of snapping its record 19-straight NCAA tournament bids.

They finished seventh in their league – unheard of, for Michigan. So, the only way to keep the streak alive was to win six straight league playoff games to get an automatic NCAA bid.

Oh, and they had to do it with a back-up goalie named Shawn Hunwick, a 5-foot-6 walk-on who had never started a college game until that week.

It didn’t look good.

But the kid caught fire.

Hockey from different sides of the rink

John U. Bacon — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:00:23 +0000

I’ve coached high school boy’s hockey teams for almost a decade. But a few years ago, I spent two years helping out the Michigan women’s hockey team – and I learned a lot more than they did.

It’s worth noting that I’m comparing only high school boys and college women, based solely on my observations of two hockey teams. Your mileage may vary.

My education started on day one.

Why Midwest cities love outdoor hockey games

Micki Maynard — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:53:17 +0000

CLEVELAND — On Sunday afternoon, I was one of the 25,864 people shivering in 27 degree temperatures at Progressive Field, watching the Frozen Diamond, a face off between the Michigan and Ohio State hockey teams.

The Wolverines won, 4-1 — perhaps not the outcome that Buckeyes fans hoped for, but the event made Cleveland Indians president Mark Shapiro happy. “Pretty cool, out there, isn’t it?” Shapiro told reporters before the game.

Steve Kampfer hoists the Stanley Cup in Jackson

John U. Bacon — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:30:52 +0000

Steve Kampfer grew up in Jackson, and learned to play hockey well enough to earn a scholarship to the University of Michigan. He was a good student and player on great teams, but few expected Kampfer to make it to the NHL.

What chance he had seemed to vanish in October of 2008, when he was leaving a campus bar. He started jawing with another student, who happened to be on the wrestling team. Things got hot, but it was all just words, until the wrestler picked up Kampfer and turned him upside in a single, sudden move – then dropped him head first on the sidewalk.

Kampfer lay on the sidewalk unconscious, with blood sliding out of his mouth. His stunned friend thought he might be dead.

The gift of friendship on Father's Day

John U. Bacon — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:30:55 +0000

My dad grew up in Scarsdale, New York – but, as he’s quick to point out, that was before it became “Scahsdahle.” His dad told him always to root for the underdog, and my dad took that seriously.

Michigan Ice Hockey, Shawn Hunwick's Cinderella story

John U. Bacon — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:25:41 +0000

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-963551.mp3

Most sports fans love a Cinderella story.

I've found an athlete who played the role twice.

Last year, Michigan’s men’s hockey team was in danger of breaking its

record 19-straight appearances in the NCAA tournament – a streak that started before many of the current players were even born.

They were picked to finish first in the league, but they finished a disastrous seventh.

Wolverines lose NCAA hockey title game in overtime

Steve Carmody — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:51:10 +0000

The University of Michigan men's hockey team fell in overtime to Minnesota-Duluth in last night's NCAA championship game. The Associated Press reports:

New MSU hockey coach to be announced today

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:01:22 +0000

Will the real next Spartan hockey coach please stand up?

After conflicting reports, it seems as if the job may go to CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos. From WILX-TV:

Former Spartan Tom Anastos will be announced as the next Spartan hockey coach at a 4 p.m. press conference at Munn Ice Arena. Anastos played for Ron Mason at Michigan State from 1981-85 scoring 60 goals and 143 points in his 4-year career.
Over the last 13 years he has served as the commissioner of the CCHA. He currently serves as the president of the Hockey Commissioner's Association. They created College Hockey Inc. which is responsible for growing the sport of college hockey.
Anastos was the head coach at the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 1987-1990. He was then as assistant to Mason at Michigan State from 1990-1992. The 46-year old will be just the 6th coach in Michigan State history.

Anastos emerged from a field of approximately twenty candidates, including Danton Cole, a former Waverly High School hockey star, who many believed was set to replace for MSU's hockey coach Rick Comley.

Comley guided the Spartans to a national championship in 2007, and is the fourth all-time winningest coach.

Former Red Wing hockey player suffered from brain trauma

Mark Brush — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:01:36 +0000

Bob Probert was known as an "enforcer" in the game of hockey. The guy who had your back.

If an opposing player started something, Probert was there to exact a penalty on the other player with his fists.

He played in the NHL for sixteen seasons, including a long stint with the Detroit Red Wings.

Probert died last year at the age of 45 after suffering chest pains.

The New York Times published a piece this morning on the discovery that Probert suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - a brain trauma disease that has also been found in many former NFL players.

After learning about CTE, Probert told his wife he wanted his brain donated to researchers.

Probert's widow, Dani Probert, is quoted in the Times article:

"I remember joking with him, ‘Wouldn’t your brain make a nice specimen?’ ” she said. “He started questioning whether he would have it himself. He told me that he wanted to donate his brain to the research when he died. Who would have thought that six months later it would be happening?"

His brain was donated after his death last year.

Researchers at Boston University said they found evidence of CTE in Probert's brain.

One of the researcher's noted they couldn't isolate where Probert's exposure to head trauma came from:

“How much is the hockey and how much is the fighting, we don’t really know,” said Dr. Robert Cantuco-director of the Boston University center and a prominent neurosurgeon in the area of head trauma in sports. “We haven’t definitely established that the skills of hockey as a sport lead to a certain percentage of participants developing C.T.E. But it can happen to hockey players, and while they’re still relatively young.”

Probert's wife believes it came from all the checking and hits in the game itself. She did note that in his last years, Probert did show signs of "behavior uncharacteristic to him, especially memory loss and a tendency to lose his temper while driving."

Wherever the brain trauma came from, the NHL will likely take a closer look at protecting its players, the same way the NFL has been creating new rules to cut down on head trauma in its sport.

If they're successful in better protecting their players, the sports have reporters from the New York Times to thank.

Times reporters, like Alan Schwartz, have been exposing the effects of head trauma in sports for the last several years.

Remembering Fred Fragner

John U. Bacon — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:31:52 +0000

Whenever I talk to a high school coach who quit, they always say the kids were great, but the parents drove them crazy.

It doesn’t matter what sport.

But when I coached the Ann Arbor Huron High School hockey team, I was lucky.

Yes, getting to know the players was the best part, and now, seven years after I stepped down, I’m going to their weddings.

What I didn’t expect, though, was becoming lifelong friends with their parents, too.

The Big Chill is big time, but hockey was not always so popular at UM

John U. Bacon — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:28:19 +0000

Tomorrow, more than 100,000 frozen fans will watch Michigan play Michigan State at the Big House. Not in football, which happens every other year - but in hockey, thus setting the record for the biggest crowd ever to watch a hockey game - anywhere.