Hockey Quick Hits: Michigan Shuts Out Ferris State in 2-0 Win

By Sean · Saturday, January 23, 2010 · 2:30 AM |  Share | Leave a Comment 

• Michigan beat Ferris State last night 2-0 in what was another impressive performance.  The Bulldogs are third in the CCHA currently, so this was a huge win.  It was close throughout the night, though Michigan did seem to dominate play for the most part.  Both of Michigan’s goals came in the second period off the stick of Luke Glendening.  He nearly had a hat trick, but Ferris State’s Chad Billins got a piece of the puck when Glendening fired it at an empty net.  Glendening’s two goals proved to be more than enough for Michigan to win because Bryan Hogan recorded his second shutout in the last three games.  There was a close call or two involving the post (on both ends), but Hogan played extremely well again, which was good to see.
• As mentioned, Ferris State is still third in the CCHA, but a win by Michigan tonight would cut the gap in half and put the Wolverines only three points back of the Bulldogs.  Actually, depending on what happens in the games involving Alaska, Lake Superior State, and Notre Dame, a Michigan win could vault the Wolverines all the way up to fourth in the conference.  As you can see, tonight’s game in Big Rapids is very important because of the conference standings implications, but it is also important because a sweep of a team like FSU would go a long way in helping Michigan get back in the NCAA tournament discussion.  With a huge series against Michigan State coming up next week, it would be great if Michigan could head to East Lansing on a wave of momentum thanks to a sweep of the Bulldogs.
• Former Michigan players Danny Fardig and Jack Johnson were at last night’s game and participated in Score-O during the second intermission.  Fardig scored on his second attempt, but both of Johnson’s shots went wide of the net.
• Speaking of Johnson, the timing of his return to Ann Arbor couldn’t have been better.  The Kings play at Detroit tonight, which is why he had a chance to take in the Ferris State game, but his visit came in the wake of a war of words in the media with Los Angeles general manager Dean Lombardi.  Lombardi said some pretty nasty things about Johnson, Red Berenson, and the Michigan hockey program in an interview earlier this week.  The quotes really speak for themselves, but all I can say is that it’s unbelievable that the general manager of a professional hockey team would have the audacity to say things like this:
  

  “This guy has never had any coaching [at the University of Michigan],” Lombardi said. “Jack just did what he wanted.”

  “Michigan is the worst.” Lombardi added. “For hockey people, if you’ve got a choice between a kid—all things being equal—one’s going to Michigan and one’s going to Boston University, you all want your player [going to Boston University]. Michigan’s players—[head coach] Red [Berenson] doesn’t coach. It’s ‘do what you want.’ He gets the best players in the country.”

  During his two seasons at the University of Michigan, Johnson played as a rover, rather than as a defenseman, even though that was his official position.

  “Jack was a thoroughbred out there,” Lombardi explained. “But he was all over the place. He was awful as a hockey player. As an athlete, you’re going, wow! Look at the way he skates, shoots, he can pass. But he had no idea where he was going.”

  “At times, he was playing forward at Michigan,” Lombardi elaborated. “You had no idea what position he was playing. But he had always been the star and he always got his numbers. Then he turns pro and for the first time, we’re telling him ‘whoa, just make the first pass and learn to play in your own end.’ How about making a read in your own end about the right guy to pick up? He was awful.”

  Again, I can’t believe the GM of a pro team would say things like that, but lo and behold a douche like Lombardi has come along and basically called out his own player and Red Berenson, whose resume speaks for itself. As you might imagine, Jack Johnson did not take kindly to what Lombardi said, and he fired back yesterday.

  “I’m a Michigan man. I’m very proud of it. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way,” Johnson said after the Kings’ 4-3 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Staples Center.

  “Michigan has produced more NHL players than any other school. Even the U.S. development program, people rip that and they just don’t know anything about it and don’t know what they’re talking about.”

  Berenson, Johnson said, “is one of the finest coaches and men that I’ve met. For my general manager to rip me as a person and criticize me as a person and as a player and call me an awful hockey player is irresponsible and unprofessional.”

  Kudos to Johnson for sticking up for his former coach and former school, because I’m sure colleges recruiting the same players as Michigan are salivating over what Lombardi said. That is just about the worst kind of negative recruiting fodder out there — the GM of an NHL team calling into question Michigan’s coach despite the fact that, as Johnson said, more NHL players come from Michigan than any other school.

• The Free Press has an interview with Jack Johnson.
• Brendan Morrison came to the defense of Red Berenson and the Michigan program on mgoblog.
• Berenson had nothing to say about Lombardi’s comments.
• There was some concern over the status of the Cold War II after some comments MSU coach Rick Comley made on the radio earlier this month, but according to a poster on Spartan Tailgate’s Red Cedar Message Board, the game is official and the date is set for December 11, 2010.  Yes, it’s a post on a message board, but the RCMB has quite a few connected posters (that board played the biggest role in breaking the news about MSU’s new logo), so I believe it is a credible post.