B1G Season is Nigh

Since Michigan football made me into an alcoholic this year, I figure it's time to sober up and pay attention to what I love most...THE COACHING CAROUSEL (wait, that's not right)....MICHIGAN HOCKEY!

Yes ladies and gents, it's almost crunch time in the B1G hockey season, which means I get to rant about Michigan hockey for several paragraphs and pretend to know what I'm talking about.  Let's take a look back on what's been happening this season thus far, and what the next couple of months will hold.

Early Disappointment

The title of this little section is "Early Disappointment", because duh, the beginning of the season was  a disappointment!  Talk about inconsistency (again!).  The season started out on Oct.4th with a visit to Big Rapids against the Ferris State Bulldogs.  And boy did it start on an awful note.  27 seconds in to the game, before I could even get a decent feed on my WCHA stream (which btw, what an awful experience that was.  I hope they've improved the quality of their streams, but I'll never find out because I'm not going to shell out coin for such poor quality).  Then about 30 seconds later, the Wolverines found themselves down 2 goals.  The fresh season was already off to a rocky start, with Michigan trailing 3-0 after the opening period.  It almost felt as if it was going to be another one of "those" years, that we Wolverine faithful have seen so few of in the past 20 years.  We eventually battled back, dropping the opening game with a 4-3 final, but still, it was a tough way to start the year.  

Following the Ferris loss, Michigan ran over the USA - NTDP, something a few other programs struggled to do, and also handled Wilfrid Laurier in a sloppy win.  Then came the UNH series, an early season test that again showcased Michigan's inconsistencies.  Dropping the first game 5-1 and then bouncing back for a 2-1 win on Saturday, it left many scratching their heads.  The following weeks only left more questions around the Maize and Blue...an 8-4 drubbing of UMass-Lowell and a tight game against BU with some questionable calls, many, including myself thought we were snake bitten and not actually inconsistent! Fast forward past a sweep in Houghton, where Mel Pearson's team dismantled the big bad Wolverines, and a shaky weekend against AIC, in which Michigan found a way to simply get it done.  There were still many questions to be answered.  The top three lines were changing on a regular basis, the D-core was being switched up regularly as well, and the goaltending was less than desirable.  I was fortunate enough to in attendance for the PSU series.  Keep in mind, PSU had our number last year, and on Friday night, more disappointment.  Things got off to a great fast start, exactly what Michigan wanted to do, control the tempo.  They were buzzing from the get go and ended up striking first.  Then allowed three unanswered goals in a 3 minute span, where the defense looked simply awful.  The comeback effort fell a little short, and if it's one thing we learned from last year, it's that you can't not take any points on home ice.  This league is competitive, believe it or not, and you need to win on your home ice.  The following night was a completely different showing...nothing could go wrong for the Maize and Blue as they destroyed Penn State 8-1!  Everything was clicking for them that game and you got a sense that things were starting to turn around.  You could see the confidence boost, goal after goal that night...it was fun to watch.

The Turning Point

The following weekend was a character weekend for the team...a late come from behind win against RPI, followed by another onslaught of goals, a 6-0 win on Saturday.   Last Friday Michigan trounced Ohio (heh), and are now scoring 4.07 Goals/game (2nd in the nation).  The team looks completely different, from the start of the season, they have confidence now and need to continue the momentum in the coming weeks.  

What Lies Ahead

Big Blue has one game slated for this weekend, a tough OOC match-up with Boston College, a team that is still struggling to find their identity as well.  It's going to be a big weekend for multiple reasons.  The first being, they've already proven they can score, and score often.  Now they need to compete with the "big boys".  Taking down a big time program like BC will further boost the teams confidence as they head into the GLI (a tournament in which they might be missing 5 players to the National Junior roster).

Following the BC game, the 50th GLI at the Joe!  This will be a great test for Michigan as they face Michigan Tech for the third time this season, and as I mentioned earlier, they could be with out 5 impact players for the world junior tournament.  

Starting off the new year at home against a talented Minnesota team.  Taking one of those games will be vital if they want any chance at winning the regular season B1G championship.  Either way, the next 5 games are going to be pivotal in what type of team Michigan wants to be moving forward.  

Personnel 

Michigan has plenty of talent to be a top 10 team this year.  But without cohesive units, they're destined to struggle.  Here's a quick glimpse at who I like this year and how I imagine them impacting the rest of the season.

•  Dylan Larkin, FR - 2g, 13a - 15pts.  Larkin hasn't been a big goal scorer this year, but his presence is definitely felt on the ice.  He's got a knack for the puck and has great vision, there's no doubt he's high end talent, and is going to be critical to Michigan's success.  Gee, wouldn't it be nice if we could keep him for another year (or two)? 
• Zach Hyman, SR - 7g, 10a - 17pts.  Hyman has been Mr. do-it-all this year.  He's been fun to watch.  Seems to be all over the ice and has quietly (IMO) amassed 17pts thus far.  He'll need to keep the pedal to the floor if the Wolverines want to make it to the NCAA tournament.  
• Tyler Motte, SO - 5g, 9a - 14pts.  Motte has came up huge for the Maize and Blue this year.  His unique combination of speed and skill have landed him on the top line and also garnered him an invite to the US national roster tryout.  He's a goal scorer and needs to keep this pace if the Wolverines want to make a deep push into the playoffs this year.
• Andrew Copp, JR - 7g 6a - 13pts.  Andrew is one of those guys that hardly gets out worked.  He's a Zach Parise kind of captain, and leads by example.  The Junior captain is an integral part of the offense, but more importantly, is a huge defensive help as well.  A pure two-way player, and you know he's hungry to get back to the NCAA tourney.  
• JT Compher,SO - 3g 8a - 11pts.  It's been nice to see JT heat up again.  He gained a lot of respect from the World Junior tournament last year and and a big impact in his freshman campaign.  I hope to see more form JT in the coming weeks, but he's one of those guys that needs to bring his "A" game each night. 
• Zach Werenski, FR - 3g 9a - 12pts.  This kid is the real deal.  And I do mean kid. the 17 year old has already made a huge impact on the blue line.  He reminds me somewhat of Kris Letang with the puck, wheels and hands to match, he's going to be special.  Again, lets hope we get to keep him for another year or two as he develops.
• Boo Nieves, JR - 4g 7a - 11pts.  Boo has been coming on as of late, which is always a good sign.  After a breakout freshman year, Boo went quit for most of last season.  He's a big power forward with soft hands, which makes him especially fun to watch (See goal vs. PSU for example).  He's defintely capable of scoring goals, and that's just what the Wolverines will be counting on him to do for the remainder of the year.  
• Zach Nagelvoort, SO - 2.65 GAA, .908sv%.  Will the real Zach Nagelvoort please stand up?  Zach is one of the best goalies to come through the UofM.  There's no denying that.  But the team lives and dies with his backstopping.  He's been coming on as of late, but the inconsistency in nets has been reflected with the team.  When he's on, he's amazing, but when he's not, we're not.  Here's to hoping he's settled in and won't be relied upon as heavily as he was last year down the stretch.  If the D can get comfortable playing for him, we'll be okay.  We can't expect him to carry the entire load this year, but there are going to be opportunities in every game where we'll need Zach to stand on his head...maybe not for the entire game, or period, but there are probably going to be a couple of stretches where we need Zach to play to the best of his abilities.  There can't be any "turning it off", he has to be dialed in every game.

Well that's all I've got for now!  Let's hope the second half is better than the first...and as always, GO BLUE!

Di Giuseppe and Guptill Leave Michigan

Not too much of a surprise here, with both forwards leaving.  Both DiGi and Guptill have had similar impacts since their Freshman campaigns 2 seasons ago.  I'm a little disappointed DiGi left, I felt as if he was a bigger impact player and could have had a huge year next season.  Guptill was expected, and however good he was was often overshadowed by other incidents/lack of effort.  I can't imagine either of them actually contributing much to Carolina and Dallas, but they'll probably get a couple years in the AHL.  Hopefully they prove me wrong. 

Another Disappointing Season Comes To An End

I was able to attend the Michigan vs. Penn State game on Thursday, thinking it was going to be one of the last times I'd be able to see them live all year.  What I didn't expect was that it was the last time anyone would see them all season.  The 2-1 2OT game on Thursday was one of the most disappointing things I've had to watch.  From when I was younger until today, I can't think of any other time where I've been so disappointed.  Not even last year, when we had to win to get into the NCAA tournament to keep our 22 year streak alive, have I been this disappointed.  Penn State simply dominated UM in the first 2 periods of the game.  We looked like we didn't even belong on the same sheet of ice as PSU, a team that is in it's second year of D-I competition.

The third period and majority of Overtime belonged to the Wolverines.  It was almost as if they awakened (as they should have), and tried to salvage their season.  The worst part about watching them play in the final 3 periods of the game was that I knew they could have been playing like that all game. It's hard to win games with 2 goals, and it's even harder to win with one.  As I sat in my seat at the Xcel Energy Center, the Wolverines gave a stick salute to their fans, and I soon realized, that there is a high probability that we might not be able to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.  I immediately went home, logged onto the Pariwise Predictor and tried to find every which way Michigan could make the Tournament.  There were a lot of different ways we could sneak into the NCAAs, and even possibly nab the 14th seed.  A lot would have had to happened, and as I sat around Saturday, I realized that none of those situations were panning out.

It was an interesting season, one that seemed to peak way too soon.  It will be interesting to see who decides to leave early, and who decides to stick around to try to get Michigan back to it's national prominence.

That Time of Year

So it's apparent my blog has become a seasonal blog now, with me getting more and more anxious for playoffs, perhaps it's the only way I know how to relieve my anxiety.  Now that the regular season is over, it might be fitting to look back, fire up the 'ole brain, and scribble something into a new post.  Let's begin!

Season Review

What can I say about Michigan's season that makes me sound like I don't despise the Maize and Blue?  I find the inconsistency to be the most troubling trend within the last couple of years, that has me somewhat thinking that Red leaving might not be a bad thing.  I couple years ago I'd never find myself saying such nonsense, but it seems as if the players lack respect for the iconic head coach. 

The season obviously got off on a good note.  Beating BC and starting 10-2-1 was an early positive for Michigan, who seems to never really start strong.  This team looked to be unbeatable in the early goings, but quickly lost steam.  Then...more goaltending issues.  Nagelvoort and Racine seemed to both hit a rough patch midway through the year, and we ended up losing to teams like OSU, MSU, and PSU.  That's not acceptable at Michigan.  I'd say the Defense was one of the worst defensive cores I've seen in recent years.  Obviously losing Merrill and Trouba are gigantic losses, but the Freshman that came in gave me some hope.  Early, they looked to be a stable group, but throughout the year their inexperience showed, and it was painful to watch them at times.  I will say that they is a lot of potential here, and if we can avoid early departures, the next 2 years look VERY promising.  Nolan De Jong is one of my favorite new players to watch.  Not necessarily a big guy, but he's an incredibly gifted skater and can move the puck very well.  Mike. Downing.  I'm not sure how to feel about Mike Downing.  Obviously he's a gifted player and certainly can make a difference, however, I saw too much negative in his game, especially in the Minnesota series in Minneapolis in Mid-Feb.  He looked so inexperienced compared to Mac Bennett and the likings, I was amazed he was even dressed, yet alone starting.  Follow his performance up with some awful penalties, and it would be very easy for me to dismiss Downing as a top D-guy.  BUT, he IS a difference maker.  At times he can be our best defenseman and he does have a pretty good sense for where to be on the ice.  He has all the attributes to be a very good defenseman.  On to the forwards, and where do I begin?  Copp, Compher, Di Giuseppe, all stars in their own fashion.  This group can be scary good when they want to be.  One player that I'll focus on that I hope to continue to see more out of, and especially next year, is Alex Guptill.  Guppy has been a favorite of mine since he stepped on campus two years ago.  Him and DiGi were going to be the future.  I was sure of it.  Then we ran into this year, and although both players didn't have the years they wanted to last year, it appears that there was a larger affect on Guptill.  His attitude this year has been awful, hence him probably being a "healthy" a couple of times.  His attitude on the ice, towards officials, teammates, opposing players.  He seems so negative, and I can't imagine it's helping his chances playing at the next level.  He's been fine since being sat down, in fact he's been one of the best on the ice night in, and night out.  I hope he can keep his focus for the remainder of this year, but more importantly, for next year as well.  He truly is an incredible player, he just needs to hold himself to a higher standard. 

Playoff Outlook

I'll be there Thursday when Michigan takes on Penn State at Xcel Energy Center.  Let's hope we come ready to play.  We've already proven that we can't let a team like PSU hang around.  I've been looking at the scenarios and playing with USCHO.com 's  pairwise predictor, and a win on Thursday puts us in a really good position for making the Tournament.  Lose, and we still have a shot at getting in, but I wouldn't want to hope my way into a the field of 16.  I really do believe they can make a push for the inaugural B1G Tournament crown, but it's going to take three of our best games all year.  Plus, if we did end up winning the B1G title, most of the scenarios I've seen pushed us into a 2 seed.  As if it really matters.  I'm hoping for a 3 seed, but I guess we'll get dealt what we deserve.

Depending on how Thursday goes, I'll report back with a recap from the game, and a brief preview of the Wisconsin game (which I will unfortunately not be able to attend).  Thanks for the read and as always, GO BLUE!