'Perfect Game' By Michigan Icers Stuns Toronto
‘Perfect Game’
By Michigan lcers Stuns Toronto
By Dave Good
Michigan’s hockey men reluctantly have hung up their game togs for a three-week Christmas layoff after crushing the University of Toronto, 10-0.
In a stunning display of scoring power and defensive tenacity, the Wolverines turned in what Toronto Coach Joe Kane termed "a perfect game" as they avenged a 5-3 Friday-night loss to the visitors.
The Wolverines, who were decidedly outplayed in losing the series opener, turned tiger Saturday night behind some fancy shooting by the "Soph Line" of Wilf Martin, Pierre Dechaine, and Alex Hood. Martin drilled home a 30-footer just before the two-minute mark to start the rout in the first period, and only 35 seconds later Hood jabbed in a rebound after martin had staggered U-T goalie Larry Soden with a point-blank blast from 10 feet out. Dechaine picked up assists on both goals.
Capt. Gord Wilkie, winger Gary Butler, and defenseman Barry MacDonald rapped home three more goals before the opening session ended to give the Wolverines a five-goal cushion after only 20 minutes of play.
Wilkie, who wound up as the night's leading scorer with two goals and three assists, tallied the lone marker in the middle stanza when he hoisted a back-hander high into the Toronto cage after taking a pass from wingman Ron Coristine.
The final period found the Wolverines still hungry, and just past the one-minute mark, Butler converted a perfect cross-rink goal-mouth pass from Wilkie for his second counter of the night.
Marlin laced home a sizzling 25-footer unassisted at the 9:18 mark, and less than three minutes later MacDonald intercepted a blue-line pass from deep in the Toronto zone and beat Soden with a skimming 30-foot slapshot. MacDonald's tally set the stage for the final Michigan goal, a spectacular hat-trick effort by Butler which brought the small crowd roaring to its feet.
The fast-skating junior wingman picked up a loose puck at center ice and broke in alone on Toronto defensemen Bob Hamilton and Peter Speyer. He feinted once to the left, dipped to the right and slipped between the two defenders just in front of the face-off circle. Pressed hard, with no time to shoot and only one hand on his stick, Bulter pushed the puck across the crease, underneath the sliding Toronto goalie and just inside the far post, to put on the red light.
The Wolverine defense turned in some ferocious checking in the final three minutes to preserve Gray’s first shutout of the season. The Michigan goalie, although turning aside a respectable 28 shots, was tested severely only three times, and was equal to the task on each occasion.
Coach Al Renfrew, cautious about making any rash predictions on the basis of only one outstanding game, was nevertheless impressed by his charges, who definitely outclassed a Toronto outfit which had clipped them handily one night earlier.
In looking to the resumption of league action against Minnesota-Duluth on Jan. 7, Renfrew is counting on the addition of promising sophomore center Mel Wakabayashi to bolster the team “down the middle.” The Michigan coach also will be making strenuous efforts to avoid the deadening effects of the long lay-off from competition entailed in the three-week vacation, a let-down which has slowed down several fast-starting Michigan ice squads in recent years.
TORONTO MICHIGAN
Larry Soden -------G----- Bob Gray
George Olah ------D--- B. MacDonald
Bob Awrey ---------D----- Tom Polonic
Hank Monteith ---C--- Gordon Wilkie
Don Fuller ------W----- Jack Cole
Peter Speyer -----W----- Gary Butler
ALTERNATES
MICHIGAN: Henderson, Day, Dechaine, Martin, Hood, Ferguson, Galipeau, Coristine, Forrest, Read.
TORONTO: Sinclair, Hamilton, McNeil, Marlborough, Osborne, Passi, S. Monteith, MacKay, Thompson, McClelland, McGee, C Speyer.
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING: 1-(M) Martin (Hood, Dechaine) 1:48; 2-(M) Hood (Dechaine, Martin) 2:25; (3)-(M) Wilkie (Bulter) 8:16; 4-(M) Butler (Wilkie, Hood) 11:13; 5-(M) MacDonald (Hood, Dechaine) 15:21.
PENALTIES: 1-(T) MacKay (tripping) 7:11; 2-(T) McClelland (elbowing) 9:40; 3-(T) Fuller (holding) 10:07.
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING: 1-(M) Wilkie (Coristine) 14:43.
PENALTIES: 1-(M) Day (cross-checking) 1:23; 2-(M) MacDonald (holding) 15:20; 3-(T) Marlborough (slashing) 19:47.
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING: 1-(M) Butler (Cole, Wilkie) 1:23; 2-(M) Martin (unassisted) 9:18; 3-(M) MacDonald (unassisted) 11:46; 4-(M) Butler (Wilkie) 17:21.
PENALTIES: 1-(T) Passi (illegal check) 7:26; 2-(M) Ferguson (high-sticking) 13:08; 3, 4(T-M) Passi, Ferguson (high-sticking) 15:20.
SAVES
GRAY (M) 8 9 11-28
SODEN (T) 21 8 6-35
OFFICIALS: Jack Patterson, Stan Dubois.
Article
Subjects
Dave Good
Hockey
University of Michigan - Athletics
Sports
Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA)
University of Toronto Varsity Blues
Old News
Ann Arbor News
Joe Kane
Wilfred Martin
Pierre Dechaine
Alex Hood
Larry Soden
Gordon Wilkie
Gary Butler
Barry MacDonald
Ron Coristine
Bob Hamilton
Peter Speyer
Al Renfrew
Mel Wakabayashi