CCHA MEDIA DAY

The CCHA held their annual Media Day this afternoon.

In the preseason Coaches Poll, the Miami RedHawks took the top spot
with five first place votes and 114 points. One point behind them is
defending NCAA champion Michigan State, who took six first place votes
for 113 points.

Notre Dame, with one first place vote, was third, and the University
of Michigan followed behind in fourth. Ohio State, Nebraska-Omaha,
LSSU, and Northern Michigan were picked in the middle of the pack, and
Ferris State, Western Michigan, Alaska, and Bowling Green make up the
bottom.

In the Media Poll, the Spartans took top honors with 25 first place
votes and 701 points, while the RedHawks were voted second with 21
first place votes.

Notre Dame received 13 first place votes and was picked to finished
third, followed by the Wolverines, who somehow received four first
place votes.

Ohio State and Nebraska-Omaha were picked the same as the Coaches
Poll, however Western Michigan and Ferris State slide up to the seven
and eight spots, while LSSU and Northern Michigan move down to the
ninth and tenth spots respectively. Alaska and Bowling Green make up
the bottom.

Here's what U-M head coach Red Berenson had to say about the upcoming season:

"This will be a big year for Michigan in terms of a challenge. Last
year, we sat here and we knew we'd be a good team because of T.J.
Hensick and Matt Hunwick and Jack Johnson and Andrew Cogliano and our
big senior class, but all those guys are gone. We have 12 incoming
freshmen that will have to contribute to this year's team. We'll be
led by Kevin Porter who is college hockey's highest returning scorer
in his senior year, also should be led by Chad Kolarik, our only other
senior. On defense we should be led by Mark Mitera, who'll be a
junior, but we'll have four freshmen on defense. Certainly the depth
of our team should be good but the experience will be a questions
mark, so this will be the most interesting season in the recent past
for the coaching staff at Michigan and certainly for the players. I
like the incoming freshman from what I know of them and what I've
seen. We've got a long season. We have a tough schedule. We start off
against Boston College in the Ice Breaker in Minnesota and that'll
give us a bit of a wake-up call as to the level of hockey we'll have
to play. I'm looking forward to my 24th year, glad to be back. I don't
think these players should leave early, I'm glad to see Kevin Porter
come back for his senior year. Nothing has changed at Michigan."

ALL-CONFERENCE: Senior captain Kevin Porter was named to the CCHA
Preseason All-Conference First Team. Porter received eight first team
votes and 49 points (third highest). He is joined by Miami forwards
Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones, RedHawks defenseman Alec Martinez, Notre
Dame defenseman Kyle Lawson, and Michigan State netminder Jeff Lerg.

The Wolverines other senior forward Chad Kolarik was selected to the
Second Team, while junior defenseman Mark Mitera was an Honorable
Mention.

TV SCHEDULE: Michigan will hit the airwaves 24 times this season.
Rather than post the games, here's a link to the Adobe Acrobat file
that you can download and view:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ccha/genrel/auto_pdf/ccha-media-tv-07.pdf

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CHECKING IN...
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MGoBlue.com has started back up their "Checking In..." interviews with
the freshmen. So far they've chatted with Louie Caporusso, Carl
Hagelin, Bryan Hogan, and Shawn Hunwick. As always, it's a good read,
and you can check'em out at MGoBlue.com.

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SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
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Single-game tickets for Michigan hockey home and away games went on
sale today. The ticket office can be reached by calling (734)
764-0247 or (866) 296-MTIX (6849).

Ticket orders for games at Yost Ice Arena also may be placed online at
MGoBlue.com/tickets and for the first time ice hockey tickets
purchased online can be printed from home.

Groups of 10 or more people can purchase blocks of tickets in the end
zones at a discounted price ($15 per ticket instead of $19). Group
orders must be placed over the phone or in person.

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BLACKBURN RETURNS
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Former Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn has returned to the team as
a volunteer assistant coach.

Blackburn will be working with U-M goalies Billy Sauer, Bryan Hogan,
and Shawn Hunwick.

Blackburn retired from professional hockey in 2005 and has been
operating a goaltending school in southeast Michigan for the past year.

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That's all for now...

Go Blue!

Jason
Michigan Hockey Net
http://MichiganHockey.net/