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Michigan Wolverines (WCHA, 1977-78)

 

1977-78 Regular Season
Wolverines vs. North Dakota Fighting Sioux
     The University of Michigan has had college hockey since 1922-23 and has won nine NCAA National Championships (second most in college hockey). Since 1973, home ice has been at Yost Ice Arena, which currently seats 5800. Dan Farrell was head coach of the Wolverines for his fourth season. The team competed in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). 
     Michigan was coming off a trip to the 1977 NCAA Championship Game, losing 6-5 to Wisconsin at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The 1977-78 squad took a step back, finishing 15-20-1 (12-19-1 in conference play). Their 25 conference points put the Wolverines in a three way tie for seventh place in the WCHA (with Minnesota-Duluth and Notre Dame), nine points ahead of last-place Michigan State. 
     Michigan scored 169 goals that year, 6th-most in the WCHA. They were led by senior center Dave Debol. The Chicago Black Hawks and New England Whalers prospect scored 20 goals and 58 points in 36 games. Center Kip Maurer had the most goals on the team, with 25 goals and 45 points in 36 games. The only other 20-goal scorer was sophomore center Dan Lerg, with 21.
     Michigan struggled on defense, allowing 192 goals, third-most in the WCHA in 1977-78. They employed three goaltenders that season. Rick Palmer, a senior from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, played in 18 games, sporting a 6-9-0 record and 5.34 GAA. Frank Zimmerman, a senior from Edina, Minnesota, played 17 games with a 7-6-1 mark and 4.70 GAA. Lastly, Dearborn Heights freshman Rudy Varvari played 20 games, with a 2-5-0 record and 6.41 GAA. Leading scorer on defense was Sarnia senior John McCahill, who scored 5 goals and 28 points in 35 games.
     
Michigan and North Dakota rosters

     That night's opponents were the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. This was the era before college hockey was viewed as a much clearer path to the NHL as it is today. A few of these players did make it to "The Show" or at least play a few years in the minor leagues. Dave Debol of Michigan played 92 games with the Hartford Whalers. Dean Turner played 35 games in the NHL with the Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Kings. Gord Hampson played 4 games with Calgary. The Wolverine with the most time in the NHL would be freshman defenseman John Blum, who played parts of 8 seasons in the NHL with Edmonton, Boston, Washington and Detroit. Blum played 250 games in the NHL, scoring 7 goals and 41 points and 610 minutes in penalties. 
     Dan Lerg, a St. Louis Blues prospect, ended up playing 1 season of pro hockey, split between Salt Lake of the CHL and Port Huron of the IHL.
     Assistant Coach Doug Hinton played several seasons in the Detroit Red Wings farm system, with Fort Worth and Port Huron, before finishing his pro career with the Tulsa Oilers. After the 1978-79 season, Hinton would accept the head coaching position with the IHL's Port Huron Flags, guiding that team through its final two seasons of operation. When the Flags folded, Hinton stayed in Port Huron after the Flags folded, getting into the golf industry and coaching youth hockey. He did return to the pro ranks as an assistant coach of the UHL's Port Huron Border Cats in 1997-98. Goaltender Rudy Varvari would later become an assistant coach with the UHL's Saginaw Lumber Kings.
     North Dakota had a few players that went on to long NHL careers. Freshman Doug Smail would carve out a 13-season NHL career, mostly with Winnipeg, scoring 210 goals and 459 points. Dave Christian played 15 years with Winnipeg, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis and Washington. Mark Taylor played parts of 6 seasons in the NHL with Philadelphia and Washington. Lastly, Mark Chorney played parts of 5 seasons with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. 
     This program is 16-pages long, all in black-and-white. Local advertisements include West Bank ("Ann Arbor's Great Steakhouse"), Thano's Lamplighter, Leo Calhoun Ford, Malloy Lithographic, Inc. and Bimbo's in Ann Arbor (Dining and Entertainment, not THAT type of bimbo). 

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