Oct. 3, 2009

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Yost Ice Arena)
Score: #4 Michigan 4, U.S. NTDP Under-18 2
Records: U-M (0-0-0), U.S. NTDP U-18 (2-3-0, 0-1-0 NCAA)
Attendance: 5,920
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Oct. 4 -- vs. University of Windsor (Yost Ice Arena), 5:05 p.m.

• Boxscore

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team opened exhibition play with a 4-2 win over the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team in the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs on Saturday (Oct. 3) at Yost Ice Arena.

Team USA alumnus A.J. Treais (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) recorded a goal and an assist in the effort. Fellow U.S. NTDP alumni forwards Chris Brown (Flower Mound, Texas), Robbie Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) and David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) each added a helper. Forward Carl Hagelin (Sodertalje, Sweden) posted two markers in the second half of the game to seal the victory.

The Wolverines opened the scoring 13 seconds into the game on a blast by defenseman Brandon Burlon (Nobleton, Ontario) from just above the inner hash marks of the left faceoff circle to beat Team USA netminder Jack Campbell. The play began back in the Michigan zone when goaltender Bryan Hogan (Highland, Mich.) sent the puck along the boards. Czarnik collected the puck outside the U-M zone before getting rocked by a USA player. Wohlberg grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and carried it past the USA blue line along the left boards before backhanding a pass to Burlon for the goal.

Thirteen shot attempts later, Michigan found the back of the net at the 8:22 mark in the first period on a slick give-and-go play. A turnover by Team USA allowed forward Ben Winnett (New Westminster, B.C.) and his center, Treais, to enter the USA zone on a two-on-one breakaway. Treais sent the puck up to a breaking Winnett, who held onto the puck as he neared the USA net to draw the lone defender before sliding the puck back to a wide-open Treais for a two-goal lead.

Defenseman Jon Merrill brought the U.S. NTDP team within one goal with 12.3 seconds left on the clock in the opening stanza of play. The marker came on the power play.

Despite outshooting Team USA 11-4 during the second period, Michigan did not improve its lead until a four-on-four situation late in the frame. Winnett gathered the puck along the goal line to the left of the USA goaltender before skating up to the left point and shooting the puck with Hagelin screening down low. Hagelin found the rebound at his skates and was able to backhand the puck into the net between Campbell's left pad and the right goal post. Treais was credited with the second assist.

Hagelin notched his second tally of the game with 1:28 left in the contest on the man advantage. Center Louie Caporusso (Woodbridge, Ontario) fed the puck to Hagelin, who sent a pass to Brown from the goal line. Brown flicked the puck toward the USA crease from his position in the mid-slot with the shot going off Campbell to Hagelin for the easy rebound.

Defenseman Adam Clendening scored 46 seconds later for Team USA, but the marker did not alter the final outcome of the game.

Michigan will conclude its exhibition play Sunday evening (Oct. 4) against the University of Windsor at 5:05 p.m. Following the close of the game, fans will have the opportunity to get autographs and skate with their favorite Wolverines.

N O T E S

Series Notes

• The Wolverines remain undefeated against the U.S. National Team Development program in exhibition games. The all-time record now sits at 10-0-0.

Player Notables

• U of M currently has seven alumni of the U.S. National Team Development Program on its roster: senior Chris Summers, junior Matt Rust, sophomores David Wohlberg and Robbie Czarnik and freshmen Chris Brown, A.J. Treais and Kevin Lynch.
• Treais notched a goal and an assist (1-1-2). Wohlberg, Brown and Czarnik each registered one assist (0-1-1).

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Red Berenson
On tonight's game ... "Well, it was what we expected. They're a good team. They're all going to be Division I players next year. Their defense is as good as any Division I defense right now, so I thought they played a good game. They were in the game all night. We had to kill too many penalties. We put our chances in, but it was a closer game than the score might have shown."

On the freshmen ... "I got a good look at our freshman. For the most part, I thought for the first game for Michigan against the development team, it was a good experience. They got some good ice time. I liked A.J. Treais, I liked [Kevin] Lynch, and I thought [Chris] Brown came on strong as the game went on. [Lindsay] Sparks didn't get as much power-play or special-teams time, but he can skate and play at this level. [Lee] Moffie fit right in on defense."

On the importance of getting an early goal ... "It's good to get a good start. We're a team that's known for having goods starts. To be able to do that right off the get-go is good. I know that Carl Hagelin wants to have a terrific year and he showed that tonight. He got a good start; I think he got the fourth goal, but he had a good game tonight."

U-M Sophomore Defenseman Brandon Burlon
On the importance of getting an early goal ... "We got off to a good start, not just for myself, but for everyone around me. I think it was a good confidence boost and you saw that later on in the game. We were playing well, we were playing strong, and feeding off of that first goal."

On the power play ... "Coach really emphasizes the fact that the power play operates, if a good one, 25-30 percent. That means you're failing 75 percent of the time. We have to take the good with the bad, and not get flustered when we don't score every time. I think a lot of the new guys on the team -- A.J. [Treais] had a lot of power play time, so did Kevin Lynch -- it's not something that comes together right away. You'll see it come together four to five games into the season. When we start to develop and come together with each other, and knowing what the other person is going to do later on we'll be better."

U-M Freshman Forward A.J. Treais
On playing against his old team ... "I think it was a lot better this year because last year we just hoped to win. This year we expected to win. Playing against all the [USA] guys was fun."

On his goal ... "I don't know how I got the puck, it hit someone. I just passed it to [Ben Winnett] and we had a 2-on-1 and I banged it home."

Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423