The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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ketball's: "big and strong, equally capable of playing physical and contributing offensively." Boston Bruins president Harry Sinden helped bring the phrase into the hockey lexicon as a way to describe rugged Bruins forward Cam Neely, who played 13 NHL seasons (1984-96), netting 395 goals while also tallying 1,241 penalty minutes. "When I arrived in Boston in 1994, Neely was an elite player and someone the opponent hated to play against because he was so physical, and yet every chance he had, he buried the puck," said former Wolverine forward Cam Stewart (1991-93). "That's really when I first heard it. I think I qualified even though I was only 5-11 because I played with tenacity. I was a pit bull." Stewart racked up 41 goals and added 78 assists in three seasons with the Maize and Blue before leaving for the NHL. During his U-M career, he played alongside Mike Knuble, and Knuble may have been the program's first skater to truly be dubbed a power forward. "For a long time, bigger guys were typecast as checkers or the tough guy that fought," said Knuble (1992-95). "When I got to Michigan, I didn't think of myself that way. I was bigger, 6-3, 215 or so in college, but I always considered myself a scorer, and in my sophomore year, when I scored [26] goals, teams figured out that I wasn't the stereotypical bruiser that would just plod around the ice. "There were more and more guys appearing around that time like me that were bigger with some skill. We were sort of a hybrid player, and it really put teams on notice because suddenly everyone wanted a guy like me that was big, physical, could skate and score." Knuble tallied 103 goals in his fouryear career donning the winged helmet and had another 278 markers in a 17-year NHL career that included eight 20-goal campaigns. He ranks among the top five power forwards the Wolverines have featured during head coach Red Berenson's 30 seasons in Ann Arbor (see the sidebar). Today, that title belongs to junior Alex Guptill, though it is not a natural fit. A year from now, Dexter Dancs, a 6-2, 205-pounder from Vancouver, British Columbia, will supply U-M a more traditional power forward. "Alex has the ability to be a power forward because he has the size and strength and skill set and some of those attributes, but he doesn't play that game consistently enough," assistant coach Brian Wiseman said. "Dexter is a kid that probably fits all the criteria, and he likes to play with the physicality that is the hallmark of a power forward." The Game Has Demanded Evolution At Forward According to research done by quanthockey.com, the average NHL game produced 8.2 goals in 1981, but a decade later that average was down to 6.9 total markers per contest. It fell to 5.5 goals per game by 2001 and reached a 50-year low of 5.1 in 2004. Scoring has plummeted as a greater emphasis has been placed on defense