GLI Wrapup:
MTU 4, Michigan 0
For anyone who thought (or was hoping) that the 2-0 win over Western Michigan prior to the Christmas break would be a springboard to a more Michigan hockey-like second half, the GLI opener provided a nice dose of "Not so fast, my friend".
The Wolverines played a thoroughly uninspired game against Mel Pearson's Huskies and fell by a 4-0 score. Michigan Tech goalie Pheonix (sic) Copley had not given up fewer than three goals in a game the entire season, until the GLI where shut out the Wolverines and followed it up with a shutout against Western Michigan in the championship game.
I only saw about half of the game and the defensive-zone coverage was junk. Adam Janecyk showed that he wasn't immune to the piss-poor defense that's plagued Michigan this season no matter which goalie has been between the pipes.
The game actually started off pretty well. Michigan dominated the first five minutes and were denied by Copley on a couple of great chances. Then Michigan Tech came down and scored on their first real chance of the game. Jujhar Khaira brought the puck behind the net and was followed by a couple of Wolverines. No one covered Alex Petan streaking into the slot and he was left wide-open for an easy goal.
Treais had a good opportunity to tie the game up when he blocked a shot in the defensive zone and took the puck the length of the ice. Copley waited him out and then got a glove on his shot, however. The Techsters made it 2-0 with a power play goal off a great tip from Khaira on a David Johnstone shot. PDG nearly brought the Wolverines back within one in the waning seconds of the first period, but his shot at a wide open net was deflected by Steven Seigo.
Janecyk tried to keep the Wolverines in the game in the second as a nothing play turned into a breakaway, and he stopped the rushing MTU player. He made twelve stops in the second period and held the Huskies at bay until 4 minutes into the third when someone (Bennett I think) turned it over just inside the MTU blueline and it led to a 3-on-1 the other way. A pass got through to Petan, which turned it into more of a breakaway. He scored to make it 3-0. After that goal, Moffie got a penalty for reaching over the boards to hit Petan, who was doing a fly-by of the Michigan bench. MTU had five shots on the ensuing power play and eventually scored. That was all she wrote.
Michigan 5, Michigan State 2
Credit to the team, though...the next night, they took on Michigan State in the third-place game and they got themselves up off the mat and salvaged something out of the weekend with a 5-2 win. We've seen enough uninspired performances against Michigan State (which I don't get), even in the GLI (which I also don't get), where it would have been really easy to mail that game in. They got down 2-1, but then blitzed the Spartans for four goals in the third period. The best part was that most of the goals were by guys who needed some good things to happen for them offensively (or deserved to be rewarded, in Copp's case): Moffie, Copp, K. Lynch, PDG, and Hyman.
Moffie made it 1-0 a few minutes into the game on an odd-man rush where Treais was able to get him the puck streaking down the left side. The Spartans responded when Tanner Sorenson fought off a Clare check to sneak out in front of the net and slip a puck through Janecyk, on maybe the only goal of the weekend that Janecyk should have stopped.
Three minutes later, Clare couldn't chip the puck past a Spartan along the sideboards. Darnell won a battle for the puck and slid it out to RJ Boyd. He was uncovered and Janecyk stopped him, but Matt Berry pounced on the rebound for his 11th on the year.
The Wolverines tied it up 1:29 into the third on a play that looked very similar to their first goal. Three men were up, Hyman with the puck, but instead of going cross-ice to T. Lynch, where Moffie was earlier in the game, he went to the late man, Copp. Copp ripped a shot into the top part of the net for his second.
With the Wolverines on the power play just under a minute later, Treais's shot from the point hit post and sat in the crease. PDG's whack at the rebound was denied but it popped out to K. Lynch and he buried it to give Michigan another one-goal lead.
Michigan's fourth goal was one for the highlight reel. Moffatt spun off a check in the corner and brought the puck out toward the front of the net, down on one knee, with a defenseman sliding at him, he whipped the puck behind his back right on the tape to PDG, stationed at the backdoor. He lifted a shot past Hildebrand to give Michigan a 4-2 lead. I can't imagine there will be too many prettier passes than that this season.
Hyman added an empty-netter on a play where the puck never actually went into the net. A Spartan threw his stick to deny Hyman the tally, and the official correctly awarded the goal. Janecyk stopped 35 shots in the win. It was the first time since their last victory over the Spartans that Michigan scored more than 3 goals in a game.
The only downer of the game was AJ Treais being given 5 and a game for contact to the head late in the third period. He was suspended for a game by the CCHA and will thus miss Michigan's game against Bowling Green on Tuesday night.
NTDP 5, Michigan 3
Michigan's lone game this weekend was the annual exhibition against the crosstown kids from the NTDP. For the first time in the history of the series, the high schoolers earned bragging rights, downing the Wolverines by a 5-3 score.
On the bright side, Michigan signee Tyler Motte had a pair of goals to earn the #1 star of the night. Both of those were assisted by future classmate JT Compher, who was the #3 star of the game. Motte now has 12-9--21 on the season, good for second on the team in goals and points. Allen is tied with Motte with 21 points, and is fourth in goals and second in assists.
There were two other positives:
1) Two short-handed goals by Lee Moffie. Combined with his goal in the GLI, maybe that's a sign that he's breaking out of his season-long slump. Moffie has just 5 points this season and an even rating after he broke out for 32 points and a +22 a year ago. If he gets it going, that would be a major positive for any potential Michigan turnaround.
2) The return of Jon Merrill. From what I understand he didn't play very much--possibly only on the power play--but seeing #24 back out on the ice no doubt brought a lot of smiles from the Yost faithful. There are a lot of problems with this team and getting Merrill back won't fix them all, but adding one of the top players in the conference back into the lineup can only help.
I suppose Derek DeBlois should get a "positive" as well. He had 3 assists and was +3 on the night.
Jared Rutledge played the whole game in net and gave up five goals on 37 shots. Quick strikes were once again Michigan's downfall. After playing to a 2-2 tie through two periods, Michigan gave up two goals in 38 seconds to fall behind. Boo Nieves continued his strong play as of late by bringing Michigan back within one, but Trevor Hamilton scored (on an assist from Michigan signee Evan Allen) to ice it.
You can't get too down about an exhibition game, but it would have been nice to see more signs of life from a team that needs to put a few good performances together and get on a roll to dig their way out of this mess. While it was the first time USA has beaten the Wolverines, they've definitely come close before (against better Michigan teams to boot). There's no shame in losing to them--the NTDP has tied Minnesota, Notre Dame, and New Hampshire this year--but yeah. The Wolverines were, in fact, outshot 37-22 on the game, which isn't especially inspiring.
Trouba!!!!
The US World Junior team captured the gold medal, and Jacob Trouba was a big reason why. He was named Best Defenseman in the entire tournament after scoring 4-5--9 in seven games and providing the US with strong play in his own end. His point total was good for fifth overall and tops amongst defensemen. He joins Erik Johnson and Joe Corvo as Americans who won the Best Defenseman award.
After a must-win game just to get out of the medal round, USA beat the Czechs 7-0 in the quarterfinals before slaughtering Canada 5-1 in the semifinals. They beat Sweden 3-1 to capture gold. Canada did not medal, though Don Cherry says that the US can thank the CHL for having beaten Canada, despite all five goals coming from NCAA players. So there's that, Canada.
Recruiting:
Matt Tkachuk, son of 500-goal scorer Keith, visited Yost a couple of weeks back, but pledged a verbal commitment to Notre Dame earlier this week.
Bowling Green:
The Falcons are tied with Northern Michigan for last-place in the CCHA, with a 2-7-3-1 record (they have a couple games in hand on NMU though). They're 5-10-5 overall, but are actually 3-1-2 in their last six, with wins over Alaska, Niagara, and Canisius, and ties against Alaska and Canisius. Their lone loss in that span was against Notre Dame.
The Falcons haven't scored more than three goals in a game the entire season, and have just 20 in 12 conference games. They have scored 3 times in four of their last six games, however, so they're coming in playing the best hockey that they've played all season.
Their top five scorers are all sophomores. Ryan Carpenter leads the team in goals (6) and points (13). Dan DeSalvo has 11 assists on the year, and Mike Sullivan has added nine back on the blueline.
Andrew Hammond is 3-7-3 on the season with a 2.84/.913. Freshman Tommy Burke hasn't played much as of late, but he was in net for today's win over Canisius. He is 2-3-2 with a 2.23/.905. I'd expect to see Hammond, however. Last year Michigan got 8 pucks past him in three games, winning two, but Hammond had 46 and 55-save performances in the losses, the latter coming in double-overtime in the CCHA Semifinals.
Tuesday's game is at Yost and will air on the Big Ten Network (!). This is a key week for Michigan as they have three home conference games (the latter two are against Alaska) before going on the road for their next four and eight of the next ten, with the ninth at the Joe).
Showing posts with label GLI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GLI. Show all posts
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Saturday, December 29, 2012
GLI Preview
After a disaster of a first-half, the Wolverines come back from the Christmas break looking to get back to the program's usual winning ways. A shutout win over Western Michigan to close the semester was a nice start. Now they'll take on Michigan Tech and either Michigan State or those same Broncos in the 48th Great Lakes Invitational.
The tournament was originally supposed to take place yesterday and today at Comerica Park, but because this is a lockout year in the NHL it was moved back indoors to the familiar confines of Joe Louis Arena and shifted to the current Saturday/Sunday format.
Michigan's first opponent is the Michigan Tech Huskies, and this will be the first time that Red Berenson has gone head-to-head against longtime assistant coach Mel Pearson, now the head man for the Huskies, as well as Assistant Coaches Steve Shields and Bill Muckalt.
In his first year, Pearson took the Huskies to just their second 15-win season since 98-99 with a 16-19-4 record, more wins than the previous three seasons combined. This year hasn't gone nearly as well, though. They currently sit at 4-10-3, bad for 11th in winning percentage in the WCHA. They do have a win over Minnesota to their credit. The other three have come against Bemidji State (2) and LSSU.
The Huskies are winless in their last seven contests. In their most recent action, they lost 6-1 and 4-1 at home against North Dakota. They've also only scored 7 goals in their last five games.
They're led in goals by sophomore Blake Pietila's 10. Pietila, however, is playing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Russia and will miss the GLI. To even things up, Michigan will be missing Jacob Trouba for the same reason. The Huskies' next leading goal-scorer is Dennis Rix with five. Both freshman Alex Petan and sophomore David Johnstone have 13 points on the season (4-9--13 lines) to lead the team. Petan has gone scoreless in his last five games, but Johnstone has been on fire. He has 10 points in his last eight games. All of Jujhar Khaira's 3 goals have come on the power play. Steven Seigo has 4 goals and 8 points on the blueline. They don't get a lot of offense out of the rest of them.
In net, they haven't been so dissimilar to Michigan. Freshman Pheonix (sic) Copley is 1-6-0 with a 4.36/.851 (this is the part where you say "Oh hell, those numbers are better than Rutledge's" and start cursing John Gibson and the bank account of the Kitchener Rangers*) and Jamie Phillips is 0-1. Senior Kevin Genoe is 3-3-3 with a 3.28/.902. Copley has only played one game since early November and has given up 3+ goals in every game he's played this year. Phillips's start was on 12/4, but it's been mostly Genoe over the last two months. I'm guessing we'll see Genoe because, yeah.
The Wolverines have won 10 in a row and 18 of 19 against Michigan Tech. All of the GLI games will air on either Fox Sports Detroit or FSD+.
On Sunday, the Wolverines will draw either the 5-10-2 Spartans or the 11-4-1 WMU Broncos, in a rematch of a really entertaining series at Yost from a couple of weeks ago. I'm not expert, but it seems like we're going to need all the PWR help we can get, so it'd be a nice boost to get wins over Michigan Tech (WCHA opponent) and Western Michigan (RPI, record against TUC), even if realistically the Wolverines are probably going to need to win the CCHA Tournament to make the NCAAs unless they get on a mega-run.
In other news, Mike Spath reported that Jon Merrill is skating with the team, and could return as soon as next weekend, pending the outcome of a doctor visit on 1/2. Again, that would be huge for Michigan's chances of getting this thing turned around. The defense has been part of the problem and adding one of the best defensemen in the country certainly helps with that.
Trouba is over in Russia at the World Junior Championships. Team USA is 1-1-0 after dropping a 2-1 decision to the host team today. Trouba has goals in both games, and was named Team USA's most outstanding player after today's game.
There have also been a couple of recruiting tidbits bandied about. Spath mentioned that the team is evaluating options in net for the future. As he said, it's too late for 2013 and they'd have to get cracking to find someone for 2014, but the play in net has been too poor and too inconsistent to chance it that one of the two will be the long-term answer. I still think it's too early to give up on either Racine or Rutledge (though I firmly think that Janecyk should be given every chance to steal the job). We saw how bad Sauer was when he started out and he was a pretty darn good goalie by the end of his time at Michigan. Some improved team defense combined with a couple of good outings in a row would probably do wonders. The problem is that they probably waited too long for them to play their way out of it and the margin for error is completely gone. Berenson has indicated that it isn't a given that Janecyk will get the start (he wanted to see something in practice today) but I'd be shocked if he's not between the pipes given how the season has gone for the freshmen and how Janecyk fared in his last start.
The other tidbit is that Keith Tkachuk and his son Matthew were at Yost visiting. Spath thinks there's maybe a 30-40% chance they land him.
*Because who likes people with money? I'm certainly not implying that the Rangers paid Gibson or did anything untoward in getting him to come play for them. Don't sue me, bro.
The tournament was originally supposed to take place yesterday and today at Comerica Park, but because this is a lockout year in the NHL it was moved back indoors to the familiar confines of Joe Louis Arena and shifted to the current Saturday/Sunday format.
Michigan's first opponent is the Michigan Tech Huskies, and this will be the first time that Red Berenson has gone head-to-head against longtime assistant coach Mel Pearson, now the head man for the Huskies, as well as Assistant Coaches Steve Shields and Bill Muckalt.
In his first year, Pearson took the Huskies to just their second 15-win season since 98-99 with a 16-19-4 record, more wins than the previous three seasons combined. This year hasn't gone nearly as well, though. They currently sit at 4-10-3, bad for 11th in winning percentage in the WCHA. They do have a win over Minnesota to their credit. The other three have come against Bemidji State (2) and LSSU.
The Huskies are winless in their last seven contests. In their most recent action, they lost 6-1 and 4-1 at home against North Dakota. They've also only scored 7 goals in their last five games.
They're led in goals by sophomore Blake Pietila's 10. Pietila, however, is playing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Russia and will miss the GLI. To even things up, Michigan will be missing Jacob Trouba for the same reason. The Huskies' next leading goal-scorer is Dennis Rix with five. Both freshman Alex Petan and sophomore David Johnstone have 13 points on the season (4-9--13 lines) to lead the team. Petan has gone scoreless in his last five games, but Johnstone has been on fire. He has 10 points in his last eight games. All of Jujhar Khaira's 3 goals have come on the power play. Steven Seigo has 4 goals and 8 points on the blueline. They don't get a lot of offense out of the rest of them.
In net, they haven't been so dissimilar to Michigan. Freshman Pheonix (sic) Copley is 1-6-0 with a 4.36/.851 (this is the part where you say "Oh hell, those numbers are better than Rutledge's" and start cursing John Gibson and the bank account of the Kitchener Rangers*) and Jamie Phillips is 0-1. Senior Kevin Genoe is 3-3-3 with a 3.28/.902. Copley has only played one game since early November and has given up 3+ goals in every game he's played this year. Phillips's start was on 12/4, but it's been mostly Genoe over the last two months. I'm guessing we'll see Genoe because, yeah.
The Wolverines have won 10 in a row and 18 of 19 against Michigan Tech. All of the GLI games will air on either Fox Sports Detroit or FSD+.
On Sunday, the Wolverines will draw either the 5-10-2 Spartans or the 11-4-1 WMU Broncos, in a rematch of a really entertaining series at Yost from a couple of weeks ago. I'm not expert, but it seems like we're going to need all the PWR help we can get, so it'd be a nice boost to get wins over Michigan Tech (WCHA opponent) and Western Michigan (RPI, record against TUC), even if realistically the Wolverines are probably going to need to win the CCHA Tournament to make the NCAAs unless they get on a mega-run.
In other news, Mike Spath reported that Jon Merrill is skating with the team, and could return as soon as next weekend, pending the outcome of a doctor visit on 1/2. Again, that would be huge for Michigan's chances of getting this thing turned around. The defense has been part of the problem and adding one of the best defensemen in the country certainly helps with that.
Trouba is over in Russia at the World Junior Championships. Team USA is 1-1-0 after dropping a 2-1 decision to the host team today. Trouba has goals in both games, and was named Team USA's most outstanding player after today's game.
There have also been a couple of recruiting tidbits bandied about. Spath mentioned that the team is evaluating options in net for the future. As he said, it's too late for 2013 and they'd have to get cracking to find someone for 2014, but the play in net has been too poor and too inconsistent to chance it that one of the two will be the long-term answer. I still think it's too early to give up on either Racine or Rutledge (though I firmly think that Janecyk should be given every chance to steal the job). We saw how bad Sauer was when he started out and he was a pretty darn good goalie by the end of his time at Michigan. Some improved team defense combined with a couple of good outings in a row would probably do wonders. The problem is that they probably waited too long for them to play their way out of it and the margin for error is completely gone. Berenson has indicated that it isn't a given that Janecyk will get the start (he wanted to see something in practice today) but I'd be shocked if he's not between the pipes given how the season has gone for the freshmen and how Janecyk fared in his last start.
The other tidbit is that Keith Tkachuk and his son Matthew were at Yost visiting. Spath thinks there's maybe a 30-40% chance they land him.
*Because who likes people with money? I'm certainly not implying that the Rangers paid Gibson or did anything untoward in getting him to come play for them. Don't sue me, bro.
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Winter Classic Official; GLI Outdoors
At long last, the outdoor games over the Christmas season are now official. After the Regents voted yesterday to rent Michigan Stadium to the NHL, the NHL announced today that the Red Wings and Maple Leafs will play at the Big House on January 1, 2013 in the Winter Classic. That is, if the CBA situation is settled. #buzzkill
Additionally, a second rink will be constructed at Comerica Park. Among the games featured on that rink will be the 2012 GLI, which will include Michigan, FYS, Michigan Tech, and Western Michigan. St. Cloud State was previously thought to be the fourth team involved, but were reportedly told that the organizers wanted a fourth Michigan team.
Both days of the GLI will be outdoors at Comerica Park, which means that the outgoing senior class will have played in five outdoor games by the time their careers end.
Also, of particular interest to me, the Red Wings and Maple Leafs will have an alumni game. The goalies for Detroit are rumored to be Chris Osgood, Mike Vernon, and Dominik Hasek. Hasek is my favorite player ever outside of Yzerman, and is probably the funniest player to watch that I've ever seen. It greatly excites me that there might be another opportunity to see him strap on the pads. No word on if CuJo will play and switch teams in the middle of the game.
There has been a lot of talk about outdoor games losing their appeal and I just don't see it. I get that the novelty is wearing off, but I've been to all four that Michigan has played in, and I'm going to do everything in my power to be at Comerica and the Big House this Christmas season. Having two Original Six teams playing in Michigan Stadium is special. Having the GLI outdoors is special. According to College Hockey Inc, it will be the first tournament title decided outdoors since the 1950s. It probably wouldn't be the worst idea for Michigan to give it a break for a couple of years after the GLI. That said, outdoor games in general: If they're shifting the teams around, the novelty isn't wearing off for the individual fanbases. There's something about your team participating in one of these games that really is special. I hope the trend keeps up and more clubs have a chance to host, because it really is an awesome way to engage people that might not otherwise come out, and it's a unique experience for players, coaches, and fans.
As part of the deal for Michigan Stadium, the NHL will pay Michigan $3 million and will also donate a significant amount of money (reported to be at least $250,000) to the University of Michigan for scholarships. Like it or not--and from the sound of it, most people are on board--Dave Brandon found an additional way to pack the Big House, outside of the Michigan football home slate. It's a huge amount of money for the Athletic Department, and will help with the renovations, buildings, and new sports teams. It's also a huge boon to Ann Arbor. Brandon said he expects it to generate $14 million for the local economy. I'd imagine this will be more than the Big Chill, since we'll have a bunch of visitors from across the border spending their loonies and twonies.
Gary Bettman said that they expect to have more demand for tickets than they can satisfy with the 115,000-or-so tickets that will be made available. Bettman also went on:
This is going to be a huge event for the city of Detroit, the city of Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan. Anyone who was at The Big Chill knows how great the stadium can be for hockey. It was a first-class event, and the NHL has some work to do if they're going to live up to that one.
Turning attention to the Great Lakes Invitational at Comerica Park, College Hockey Inc posted a picture of a possible rink configuration. The sight-lines (at least from this spot) look great!
Other News:
Max Pacioretty had a hat trick tonight for Montreal in a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders. It was his first career hat trick and also gave him the first 20-goal season of his career. He has 22-19--41 in 52 games to lead the Habs in both goals and points.
Speaking of Max Pacioretty, this story will make you proud that he is a Wolverine. Pacioretty started a foundation which is trying to raise money for the hospital where he was cared for after the vicious hit he took last year.
Earlier this year, I suggested that it's time the NCAA fought back against the dirty recruiting tactics of the CHL, and it appears that they're doing just that. According to the Grand Forks Herald, College Hockey Inc. is working to enact legislation to prevent players from jumping to the CHL for one year after they've signed their National Letter of Intent. The United States of Hockey has been covering the story and explains how the transfer agreement between the US and Canada could play a role. Chris also covers some of the pros and cons. Bravo to College Hockey Inc. Here's hoping that they can find a way to make it work. I'm okay with kids changing their mind. But once they sign the Letter of Intent, it's officially too late to find anyone else if they bail. Making the LOI binding would at least allow coaches to know how committed a kid was, and recruit as if he wasn't coming if he didn't sign when he was able to. Love it.
Additionally, a second rink will be constructed at Comerica Park. Among the games featured on that rink will be the 2012 GLI, which will include Michigan, FYS, Michigan Tech, and Western Michigan. St. Cloud State was previously thought to be the fourth team involved, but were reportedly told that the organizers wanted a fourth Michigan team.
Both days of the GLI will be outdoors at Comerica Park, which means that the outgoing senior class will have played in five outdoor games by the time their careers end.
Also, of particular interest to me, the Red Wings and Maple Leafs will have an alumni game. The goalies for Detroit are rumored to be Chris Osgood, Mike Vernon, and Dominik Hasek. Hasek is my favorite player ever outside of Yzerman, and is probably the funniest player to watch that I've ever seen. It greatly excites me that there might be another opportunity to see him strap on the pads. No word on if CuJo will play and switch teams in the middle of the game.
There has been a lot of talk about outdoor games losing their appeal and I just don't see it. I get that the novelty is wearing off, but I've been to all four that Michigan has played in, and I'm going to do everything in my power to be at Comerica and the Big House this Christmas season. Having two Original Six teams playing in Michigan Stadium is special. Having the GLI outdoors is special. According to College Hockey Inc, it will be the first tournament title decided outdoors since the 1950s. It probably wouldn't be the worst idea for Michigan to give it a break for a couple of years after the GLI. That said, outdoor games in general: If they're shifting the teams around, the novelty isn't wearing off for the individual fanbases. There's something about your team participating in one of these games that really is special. I hope the trend keeps up and more clubs have a chance to host, because it really is an awesome way to engage people that might not otherwise come out, and it's a unique experience for players, coaches, and fans.
As part of the deal for Michigan Stadium, the NHL will pay Michigan $3 million and will also donate a significant amount of money (reported to be at least $250,000) to the University of Michigan for scholarships. Like it or not--and from the sound of it, most people are on board--Dave Brandon found an additional way to pack the Big House, outside of the Michigan football home slate. It's a huge amount of money for the Athletic Department, and will help with the renovations, buildings, and new sports teams. It's also a huge boon to Ann Arbor. Brandon said he expects it to generate $14 million for the local economy. I'd imagine this will be more than the Big Chill, since we'll have a bunch of visitors from across the border spending their loonies and twonies.
Gary Bettman said that they expect to have more demand for tickets than they can satisfy with the 115,000-or-so tickets that will be made available. Bettman also went on:
“Based on what we’re doing for this Winter Classic and Detroit, I’m not sure if anyone’s going to be able to top it. (That’s) both in terms of the number of events and the sheer enormity of how fans can connect to it.”
This is going to be a huge event for the city of Detroit, the city of Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan. Anyone who was at The Big Chill knows how great the stadium can be for hockey. It was a first-class event, and the NHL has some work to do if they're going to live up to that one.
Turning attention to the Great Lakes Invitational at Comerica Park, College Hockey Inc posted a picture of a possible rink configuration. The sight-lines (at least from this spot) look great!
Other News:
Max Pacioretty had a hat trick tonight for Montreal in a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders. It was his first career hat trick and also gave him the first 20-goal season of his career. He has 22-19--41 in 52 games to lead the Habs in both goals and points.
Speaking of Max Pacioretty, this story will make you proud that he is a Wolverine. Pacioretty started a foundation which is trying to raise money for the hospital where he was cared for after the vicious hit he took last year.
Earlier this year, I suggested that it's time the NCAA fought back against the dirty recruiting tactics of the CHL, and it appears that they're doing just that. According to the Grand Forks Herald, College Hockey Inc. is working to enact legislation to prevent players from jumping to the CHL for one year after they've signed their National Letter of Intent. The United States of Hockey has been covering the story and explains how the transfer agreement between the US and Canada could play a role. Chris also covers some of the pros and cons. Bravo to College Hockey Inc. Here's hoping that they can find a way to make it work. I'm okay with kids changing their mind. But once they sign the Letter of Intent, it's officially too late to find anyone else if they bail. Making the LOI binding would at least allow coaches to know how committed a kid was, and recruit as if he wasn't coming if he didn't sign when he was able to. Love it.
Monday, January 02, 2012
GLI Champions! Michigan 3, FYS 2 (ot)
The 47th edition of the Great Lakes Invitational ended in dramatic fashion. The Wolverines battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits against the Michigan State Spartans, scoring a goal in the final minute of regulation before winning it in overtime.
I only got to see the third period and overtime. The Spartans outshot Michigan 11-7 in the first period, but outside of a few checks it didn't sound like anything was overly noteworthy. The Wolverines had a great chance on a two-on-one with Wohlberg and Brown. Wohlberg got the pass across, but Palmisano made a great stop on Chris Brown.
In the second period, it was the Wolverines outshooting the Spartans by the same 11-7 margin, but the Spartans got on the board first. Tanner Sorenson beat Hunwick over the glove. Based on Hunwick's reaction, it looked like it probably tipped off the defenseman on the way in.
The third period was not too dissimilar (except in reverse) from the second period of the BC game the day before. The Wolverines outshot the Spartans 24-3 in the third period, but Michigan State managed to get a goal out of it.
The game would remain 1-0 until just past the halfway point of the third period when Derek DeBlois broke the shutout. Palmisano left a rebound on a Kevin Lynch shot and DeBlois muscled it into the net. It was one of those plays where the puck is sitting there, the net is open, and it seemingly takes FOREVER for the player to put it in. He did, though, and the game was tied....
....briefly. Just 2 1/2 minutes later, Walrod brought the puck into the Michigan end and dropped a pass toward the net for Brett Perlini. Hunwick looked to be slightly off his angle and Perlini put a shot pass him on the short side.
The Wolverines continued to pepper Drew Palmisano with shots and finally got the break they needed with just over two minutes left in regulation when Brent Darnell was called for tripping. After a lot of possession and several shots on goal--Palmisano made one very nice shoulder save--Luke Moffatt got to a loose puck in the corner and centered it. Kevin Lynch tipped it past Palmisano to tie the game back up with 50 seconds left in regulation.
In overtime, both teams had their chances. Shawn Hunwick made a pair of fantastic saves to keep the Wolverines in the game in the middle section of the period. That was after he stopped Wolfe on a breakaway 20 seconds into the extra session. Just past the halfway point of the first overtime, Moffie got the puck by the left point. A Spartan aggressively charged the point and slid to block what he assumed would be a Moffie shot. Moffie moved to his left and eluded the Spartan. He walked in on goal and the Red Sea kind of parted. He had a lot of traffic in front of the net and would've had a great look had he decided to shoot. Somehow, he spotted a streaking Kevin Clare (just off the bench after Mike Chiasson went for a change). He slid the puck over to Clare and the defenseman had nothing but the back of the net to shoot at. He hit it, and Michigan had their second GLI Championship in a row and the fourth in the past five years!
Treais, Wohlberg and Clare were named to the All Tournament Team. Clare was named the MVP. It was kind of fitting that he'd be the guy to score the game-winner as he was as good defensively this weekend as he has been at any point in his Michigan career.
PDG, Pateryn, Moffatt, and Treais all had 5+ shots on goal in the game, as Michigan outshot FYS by a 48-25 margin. Pateryn also had 4 blocked shots in the game. Moffatt had a pair of assists and was a noticeable threat offensively the entire weekend.
So Michigan comes away with another GLI Championship and they also come away with two huge wins for their PWR ranking. Boston College and FYS were both ranked in the top 6 of the PWR and will more than likely remain TUCs all year. Michigan slid up to 13th in the PWR. They've since slid back to a tie for 15th, but I've got to believe the position is better than it was a week ago. They're 11th in RPI.
The Wolverines are 4-0-1 in their last five games and they're picking a good time to turn things around. The next six series on the docket are against LSSU (at Yost), at OSU (including the Frozen Diamond Faceoff, which I'll be attending!), at Notre Dame, Miami (at Yost), a road-and-Joe series against the Spartans, and at home against NMU. Those are the #13, #1, #4, #21, #10, and #9 teams in the PWR, respectively. And the worst team of the bunch is the one that has given Michigan a ton of trouble in recent years.
It's a tough stretch, but also a huge opportunity for Michigan to solidify their NCAA Tournament chances and home ice in the first round of the CCHA Tournament. They're 8 points out of a bye in round one which would be tough to make up, but they're just one point out of home ice in the first round of CCHAs. With the way they are playing right now and (hopefully) with their best player coming off suspension at some point in the near future, things are definitely looking up.
I only got to see the third period and overtime. The Spartans outshot Michigan 11-7 in the first period, but outside of a few checks it didn't sound like anything was overly noteworthy. The Wolverines had a great chance on a two-on-one with Wohlberg and Brown. Wohlberg got the pass across, but Palmisano made a great stop on Chris Brown.
In the second period, it was the Wolverines outshooting the Spartans by the same 11-7 margin, but the Spartans got on the board first. Tanner Sorenson beat Hunwick over the glove. Based on Hunwick's reaction, it looked like it probably tipped off the defenseman on the way in.
The third period was not too dissimilar (except in reverse) from the second period of the BC game the day before. The Wolverines outshot the Spartans 24-3 in the third period, but Michigan State managed to get a goal out of it.
The game would remain 1-0 until just past the halfway point of the third period when Derek DeBlois broke the shutout. Palmisano left a rebound on a Kevin Lynch shot and DeBlois muscled it into the net. It was one of those plays where the puck is sitting there, the net is open, and it seemingly takes FOREVER for the player to put it in. He did, though, and the game was tied....
....briefly. Just 2 1/2 minutes later, Walrod brought the puck into the Michigan end and dropped a pass toward the net for Brett Perlini. Hunwick looked to be slightly off his angle and Perlini put a shot pass him on the short side.
The Wolverines continued to pepper Drew Palmisano with shots and finally got the break they needed with just over two minutes left in regulation when Brent Darnell was called for tripping. After a lot of possession and several shots on goal--Palmisano made one very nice shoulder save--Luke Moffatt got to a loose puck in the corner and centered it. Kevin Lynch tipped it past Palmisano to tie the game back up with 50 seconds left in regulation.
In overtime, both teams had their chances. Shawn Hunwick made a pair of fantastic saves to keep the Wolverines in the game in the middle section of the period. That was after he stopped Wolfe on a breakaway 20 seconds into the extra session. Just past the halfway point of the first overtime, Moffie got the puck by the left point. A Spartan aggressively charged the point and slid to block what he assumed would be a Moffie shot. Moffie moved to his left and eluded the Spartan. He walked in on goal and the Red Sea kind of parted. He had a lot of traffic in front of the net and would've had a great look had he decided to shoot. Somehow, he spotted a streaking Kevin Clare (just off the bench after Mike Chiasson went for a change). He slid the puck over to Clare and the defenseman had nothing but the back of the net to shoot at. He hit it, and Michigan had their second GLI Championship in a row and the fourth in the past five years!
Treais, Wohlberg and Clare were named to the All Tournament Team. Clare was named the MVP. It was kind of fitting that he'd be the guy to score the game-winner as he was as good defensively this weekend as he has been at any point in his Michigan career.
PDG, Pateryn, Moffatt, and Treais all had 5+ shots on goal in the game, as Michigan outshot FYS by a 48-25 margin. Pateryn also had 4 blocked shots in the game. Moffatt had a pair of assists and was a noticeable threat offensively the entire weekend.
So Michigan comes away with another GLI Championship and they also come away with two huge wins for their PWR ranking. Boston College and FYS were both ranked in the top 6 of the PWR and will more than likely remain TUCs all year. Michigan slid up to 13th in the PWR. They've since slid back to a tie for 15th, but I've got to believe the position is better than it was a week ago. They're 11th in RPI.
The Wolverines are 4-0-1 in their last five games and they're picking a good time to turn things around. The next six series on the docket are against LSSU (at Yost), at OSU (including the Frozen Diamond Faceoff, which I'll be attending!), at Notre Dame, Miami (at Yost), a road-and-Joe series against the Spartans, and at home against NMU. Those are the #13, #1, #4, #21, #10, and #9 teams in the PWR, respectively. And the worst team of the bunch is the one that has given Michigan a ton of trouble in recent years.
It's a tough stretch, but also a huge opportunity for Michigan to solidify their NCAA Tournament chances and home ice in the first round of the CCHA Tournament. They're 8 points out of a bye in round one which would be tough to make up, but they're just one point out of home ice in the first round of CCHAs. With the way they are playing right now and (hopefully) with their best player coming off suspension at some point in the near future, things are definitely looking up.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Michigan 4, Boston College 2
The Wolverines came into the GLI as underdogs. Michigan was faced with a tough task in the Great Lakes Invitational semifinal: The Boston College Eagles. The #3 team in the country came into the holiday tournament with a 12-6-0 record on the season, but was the #20 Wolverines who advanced to the GLI Championship with a 4-2 victory.
Michigan came out strong. Alex Guptill was robbed early on in the game. Kevin Clare threw a shot wide of the net and it bounced out on the same side of the net. Guptill was all alone, but Billett robbed him with the glove.
A few moments later, though, Wohlberg brought it in with Guptill on a two-on-one. He took it himself and lasered one up under the bar to give Michigan a 1-0 lead.
BC hit the post on the other end to just miss tying the game.
Back-to-back calls on the Eagles gave Michigan a LONG 5-on-3 and they capitalized! Moffie took a shot with Kevin Lynch on the doorstep. The rebound skipped out to Billett's right and Moffatt was right there to bury the rebound.
Boston College went to a power play, but it was the Wolverines with the majority of the chances. Wohlberg had a breakaway, tried to go backhand and missed high. Then the Wolverines had a 2-on-1. Travis Lynch shot and Michigan couldn't put in the rebound. Then Kevin Lynch had a breakaway and was stopped. The first period ended with Michigan up 2-0.
Early in the second, Treais sprung Glendening on another 2-on-1 and Billett made a nice glove save. Guptill was interfered with while trying to chase his own dump in, but Wohlberg was called for a late hit to even things back up. The momentum really changed at this point in the game. It was all BC for a good chunk of the second period after this. Hunwick made a couple of good stops, Moffatt just missed the far post, and then BC got on the scoreboard.
A failed clear by Chiasson led to an opportunity for BC. The player was knocked down by a Wolverine but the puck came back to Tommy Cross at the point. He sent a shot through traffic past Hunwick to make it 2-1.
BC just missed tying it shortly thereafter. Kevin Lynch was sent to the box and the Eagles kept buzzing. A little drop pass through the slot got a guy wide open and he hit the goalpost. While still on the power play, Hunwick made an initial stop, but the rebound came right to Carey in the slot who slipped it to Hunwick's right.
The Eagles kept up the momentum. A player deked through the Michigan defense and got a shot past Hunwick, but Sinelli and Hyman were in behind the Michigan goalie and Hyman was able to keep the puck out of the net. BC just missed again. All the momentum was on their side and then out of nowhere the Wolverines were back on top.
Treais got the puck out of the zone and led a 2-on-1 for Michigan. He shot the puck through Cross's legs and it beat Billett to put Michigan back ahead. That was a big, big goal to put Michigan back ahead in a period where they were thoroughly dominated.
The Eagles had a chance to even the score when Pateryn was sent off for kneeing. He cranked Whitney, who was vulnerable after lunging to knock the puck ahead. Their knees hit, but he certainly didn't stick his leg out. I thought it was a really questionable call, but the puck don't lie. Michigan killed it off without too much trouble.
PDG was robbed late in the period, and Michigan led 3-2 headed to the second intermission. BC carried the play that period.
Hunwick made a really nice stop on Gaudreau early in the third period. Then another early in a Michigan power play, where BC had the two best chances.
PDG set up Treais for a good look in front but Billett was there. Pateryn absolutely killed Mullane, and then Chris Brown leveled an Eagle who thought a spin-o-rama in the middle of the ice was a good idea.
The Eagles pulled the goalie with 1:15 left in regulation. Their best chance was a bullet from the point that was over top of the net. Glendening had a great effort to get the puck out of the zone, carried it until he got just over center ice, and then paid the price to take a shot at the net. He scored and the Wolverines were off to the championship game with a 4-2 win.
That was a huge win for Michigan's tournament chances, in addition to putting them into the GLI Championship Game. Treais was great. In addition to scoring the eventual game-changing goal, he was setting up people all night. He sprung the Wolverines on at least a couple of odd-man rushes. BC gave up a ton of them.
I really liked the play of the 4th liners. Moffatt was buzzing for good portions of the game and Hyman and Sinelli both had excellent plays in their own end. They were both in behind Hunwick to save a goal and Hyman had another gorgeous backcheck to break up what would have been a great scoring chance. I'm surprised that Hyman has the worst +/- on the team. Every time I've seen him, he's done good things on the defensive end.
The top line was really good, especially in the first period.
The second period was rough once Michigan got running around after a couple of penalties, but the first and third were great periods against a really strong opponent. Michigan carried the play for the majority of the game. They had numerous odd-man rushes and breakaways, along with several other chances right in the slot. Billett played really well to keep BC in it, or it could have been much worse. At the other end, Hunwick was good for Michigan and his defense stepped in to help him when he needed it.
Michigan will take on FYS in the GLI Championship Game tomorrow night. The Spartans downed Michigan Tech 3-1, though the Techsters outshot them 46-26. Palmisano was strong in net, and apparently Tom Anastos hinted that he might stick with his hot goaltender. Palmisano was really good against Michigan in FYS's shootout win, but the Wolverines have a history of success against him. Should be a fun one!
Michigan came out strong. Alex Guptill was robbed early on in the game. Kevin Clare threw a shot wide of the net and it bounced out on the same side of the net. Guptill was all alone, but Billett robbed him with the glove.
A few moments later, though, Wohlberg brought it in with Guptill on a two-on-one. He took it himself and lasered one up under the bar to give Michigan a 1-0 lead.
BC hit the post on the other end to just miss tying the game.
Back-to-back calls on the Eagles gave Michigan a LONG 5-on-3 and they capitalized! Moffie took a shot with Kevin Lynch on the doorstep. The rebound skipped out to Billett's right and Moffatt was right there to bury the rebound.
Boston College went to a power play, but it was the Wolverines with the majority of the chances. Wohlberg had a breakaway, tried to go backhand and missed high. Then the Wolverines had a 2-on-1. Travis Lynch shot and Michigan couldn't put in the rebound. Then Kevin Lynch had a breakaway and was stopped. The first period ended with Michigan up 2-0.
Early in the second, Treais sprung Glendening on another 2-on-1 and Billett made a nice glove save. Guptill was interfered with while trying to chase his own dump in, but Wohlberg was called for a late hit to even things back up. The momentum really changed at this point in the game. It was all BC for a good chunk of the second period after this. Hunwick made a couple of good stops, Moffatt just missed the far post, and then BC got on the scoreboard.
A failed clear by Chiasson led to an opportunity for BC. The player was knocked down by a Wolverine but the puck came back to Tommy Cross at the point. He sent a shot through traffic past Hunwick to make it 2-1.
BC just missed tying it shortly thereafter. Kevin Lynch was sent to the box and the Eagles kept buzzing. A little drop pass through the slot got a guy wide open and he hit the goalpost. While still on the power play, Hunwick made an initial stop, but the rebound came right to Carey in the slot who slipped it to Hunwick's right.
The Eagles kept up the momentum. A player deked through the Michigan defense and got a shot past Hunwick, but Sinelli and Hyman were in behind the Michigan goalie and Hyman was able to keep the puck out of the net. BC just missed again. All the momentum was on their side and then out of nowhere the Wolverines were back on top.
Treais got the puck out of the zone and led a 2-on-1 for Michigan. He shot the puck through Cross's legs and it beat Billett to put Michigan back ahead. That was a big, big goal to put Michigan back ahead in a period where they were thoroughly dominated.
The Eagles had a chance to even the score when Pateryn was sent off for kneeing. He cranked Whitney, who was vulnerable after lunging to knock the puck ahead. Their knees hit, but he certainly didn't stick his leg out. I thought it was a really questionable call, but the puck don't lie. Michigan killed it off without too much trouble.
PDG was robbed late in the period, and Michigan led 3-2 headed to the second intermission. BC carried the play that period.
Hunwick made a really nice stop on Gaudreau early in the third period. Then another early in a Michigan power play, where BC had the two best chances.
PDG set up Treais for a good look in front but Billett was there. Pateryn absolutely killed Mullane, and then Chris Brown leveled an Eagle who thought a spin-o-rama in the middle of the ice was a good idea.
The Eagles pulled the goalie with 1:15 left in regulation. Their best chance was a bullet from the point that was over top of the net. Glendening had a great effort to get the puck out of the zone, carried it until he got just over center ice, and then paid the price to take a shot at the net. He scored and the Wolverines were off to the championship game with a 4-2 win.
That was a huge win for Michigan's tournament chances, in addition to putting them into the GLI Championship Game. Treais was great. In addition to scoring the eventual game-changing goal, he was setting up people all night. He sprung the Wolverines on at least a couple of odd-man rushes. BC gave up a ton of them.
I really liked the play of the 4th liners. Moffatt was buzzing for good portions of the game and Hyman and Sinelli both had excellent plays in their own end. They were both in behind Hunwick to save a goal and Hyman had another gorgeous backcheck to break up what would have been a great scoring chance. I'm surprised that Hyman has the worst +/- on the team. Every time I've seen him, he's done good things on the defensive end.
The top line was really good, especially in the first period.
The second period was rough once Michigan got running around after a couple of penalties, but the first and third were great periods against a really strong opponent. Michigan carried the play for the majority of the game. They had numerous odd-man rushes and breakaways, along with several other chances right in the slot. Billett played really well to keep BC in it, or it could have been much worse. At the other end, Hunwick was good for Michigan and his defense stepped in to help him when he needed it.
Michigan will take on FYS in the GLI Championship Game tomorrow night. The Spartans downed Michigan Tech 3-1, though the Techsters outshot them 46-26. Palmisano was strong in net, and apparently Tom Anastos hinted that he might stick with his hot goaltender. Palmisano was really good against Michigan in FYS's shootout win, but the Wolverines have a history of success against him. Should be a fun one!
Friday, December 31, 2010
GLI Champs!
Michigan 4, Michigan Tech 2
Michigan 6, Colorado College 5
Well we sure didn't do things the easy way this weekend, did we? Despite outshooting Michigan Tech 31-13 through two periods, the Wolverines had just a 1-0 lead. The Techsters tied it back up, we took the lead again just under a minute later. They tied it back up two minutes after that. Then a minute and a half later, AJ Treais put the Wolverines up for good. Luke Glendening added an ENG and Michigan was off to the Championship.
That game against CC was weird. I don't think I've flip-flopped between being happy and being really pissed off that much during a game in a long time.
Michigan got off to a great start. First shift of the hockey game, the Wolverines put a ton of pressure on. Finally Ben Winnett was able to corral a rebound and flip it past Howe to put Michigan on the board.
A few minutes later, we capitalized short-handed thanks to a great effort by Carl Hagelin. He read the play and stole the puck. Since he's fast as all hell, he beat everyone down the ice and made a really nice move on the goalie. Howe made the stop, but kind of took himself out of position when he did. He slid out of the net to the left, Glendening was following the play and he was able to slide the puck in for a 2-0 lead.
The excitement was short-lived as CC scored their first goal on the very same power play. Shot from the point. Imagine that. Traffic in front, Hunwick never saw it.
3 minutes and two Michigan penalties later, CC had another goal. With Vaughan and Caporusso in the box, Schultz was able to put a shot from the point past Hunwick to make it 2-2.
Michigan went back on top with an effort play by Langlais, a great feed from Wohlberg, and a little luck. There was a 50-50 puck by the Michigan bench and Langlais gave up his body to get to it. He slipped it to Wohlberg who took it by the boards and made a nifty little pass to spring Caporusso. The defender dove to try to knock the puck away, but Caporusso's shot ended up deflecting off the defender's stick past Howe into the net.
Michigan also received a power play immediately after the goal, but Rust took an offensive-zone slashing penalty on the forecheck (read: a bad penalty), which wiped out our man advantage and gave them a short power play, which they capitalized on. Nick Dineen made an absolutely gorgeous tip of a shot from the point.
After another abortion of a power play where we didn't do a whole lot but turn the puck over and force Hunwick to make a great save, the Wolverines regained the lead yet again. Rust redeemed himself somewhat for his penalty by taking the hit to make a pass to Hagelin. Hagelin slid it to Glendening, who was able to backhand one into the net to put Michigan up 4-3. Three captains combining for a big goal right there. (Rust was also 24 for 35 in the faceoff circle this weekend, which is stellar.)
The rest of the period was all the CC netminder. He made a fantastic stop on AJ Treais. Sparks made a good play to rush into the zone and find a passing lane. He centered the puck for Treais and I'm not sure how Howe got over there to make the save. CC then got caught out on a long shift and Howe made two really nice stops right at the end of the period to keep it a one-goal game heading to the third.
Things started to go South for Michigan. Winnett had a chance to get the puck out of the zone and completely toe-picked. The puck stayed in for another 30 seconds or so, Guentzel made a cross-ice pass and Schultz roofed one as Hunwick tried to stack the pads.
Llewellyn was called for a cross-check on the play as well--his third penalty of the night. Burlon got walked and Johnson scored his 12th goal in 13 games by putting a beeeautiful shot up under the bar.
After one fairly uninspired power play and another that had nothing going for about 1:50, Moffie got the puck from Hagelin and delayed, delayed, delayed as he slid toward the middle of the ice and waited for some traffic in front. He half-slapped it on goal and it beat Howe to tie the game back up at 5, with 6 minutes to play in regulation.
1:56 later, AJ Treais scored his second game-winner on the weekend. It was an accidental goal, but he was rewarded for a great effort. CC either won the draw or Treais tapped it ahead. Either way, he jumped around the center and beat him to the puck in the corner. Sparks was driving the net and Treais threw it in front. The puck hit the defenseman's skate and deflected up into the top corner of the net.
Michigan came close to getting an insurance goal when the puck stuck on the side of the net. One of the CC players tried to clear it out and inadvertently nearly put it into his own net. He may have, but the replay didn't show anything. What the replay did show was the defenseman covering the puck in the crease, but Brian Aaron failed to blow the whistle for the first time all game.
CC had a few chances down the stretch, but Hunwick stood tall, the defense blocked some shots and cleared them out, and Michigan won their third GLI title in four years.
Hagelin, Glendening, and Hunwick were all named to the All Tournament Team. Glendening was named MVP, with three goals on the weekend, including two tonight.
You want to talk about unlikely heroes stepping up? The goals last night were Sparks, Rohrkemper, Treais, and Glendening. Coming into the night, they had combined for five goals on the season. Tonight, Winnett, Glendening (2), Caporusso (not as unlikely), Moffie, and Treais. So you had three players score their first goals of the season this weekend. Glendening exceeded his goal total for the rest of the season. Treais had a pair of game-winners. Nice to see.
What wasn't nice to see was the performance of the special teams. The power play was 1 for 7 on the weekend, though they got one when it mattered (Moffie tonight), though even that power play was absolutely brutal up to the instant of the goal. CC's power play was 4 for 5 on the night, and our penalty kill was just 4 for 9 on the weekend.
So it wasn't the most well-played game in history, but the Wolverines pick up another big win over a WCHA foe. We now return to CCHA play against the Spartans next weekend in a home-and-home. Friday night's game is at Munn and is on the Big Ten Network. I'm sure there are plenty of good seats available! Feel free to go help take over Munn again. It was so much fun during the playoffs last year. Saturday's game is at Yost and will air on Fox Sports Detroit.
Michigan 6, Colorado College 5
Well we sure didn't do things the easy way this weekend, did we? Despite outshooting Michigan Tech 31-13 through two periods, the Wolverines had just a 1-0 lead. The Techsters tied it back up, we took the lead again just under a minute later. They tied it back up two minutes after that. Then a minute and a half later, AJ Treais put the Wolverines up for good. Luke Glendening added an ENG and Michigan was off to the Championship.
That game against CC was weird. I don't think I've flip-flopped between being happy and being really pissed off that much during a game in a long time.
Michigan got off to a great start. First shift of the hockey game, the Wolverines put a ton of pressure on. Finally Ben Winnett was able to corral a rebound and flip it past Howe to put Michigan on the board.
A few minutes later, we capitalized short-handed thanks to a great effort by Carl Hagelin. He read the play and stole the puck. Since he's fast as all hell, he beat everyone down the ice and made a really nice move on the goalie. Howe made the stop, but kind of took himself out of position when he did. He slid out of the net to the left, Glendening was following the play and he was able to slide the puck in for a 2-0 lead.
The excitement was short-lived as CC scored their first goal on the very same power play. Shot from the point. Imagine that. Traffic in front, Hunwick never saw it.
3 minutes and two Michigan penalties later, CC had another goal. With Vaughan and Caporusso in the box, Schultz was able to put a shot from the point past Hunwick to make it 2-2.
Michigan went back on top with an effort play by Langlais, a great feed from Wohlberg, and a little luck. There was a 50-50 puck by the Michigan bench and Langlais gave up his body to get to it. He slipped it to Wohlberg who took it by the boards and made a nifty little pass to spring Caporusso. The defender dove to try to knock the puck away, but Caporusso's shot ended up deflecting off the defender's stick past Howe into the net.
Michigan also received a power play immediately after the goal, but Rust took an offensive-zone slashing penalty on the forecheck (read: a bad penalty), which wiped out our man advantage and gave them a short power play, which they capitalized on. Nick Dineen made an absolutely gorgeous tip of a shot from the point.
After another abortion of a power play where we didn't do a whole lot but turn the puck over and force Hunwick to make a great save, the Wolverines regained the lead yet again. Rust redeemed himself somewhat for his penalty by taking the hit to make a pass to Hagelin. Hagelin slid it to Glendening, who was able to backhand one into the net to put Michigan up 4-3. Three captains combining for a big goal right there. (Rust was also 24 for 35 in the faceoff circle this weekend, which is stellar.)
The rest of the period was all the CC netminder. He made a fantastic stop on AJ Treais. Sparks made a good play to rush into the zone and find a passing lane. He centered the puck for Treais and I'm not sure how Howe got over there to make the save. CC then got caught out on a long shift and Howe made two really nice stops right at the end of the period to keep it a one-goal game heading to the third.
Things started to go South for Michigan. Winnett had a chance to get the puck out of the zone and completely toe-picked. The puck stayed in for another 30 seconds or so, Guentzel made a cross-ice pass and Schultz roofed one as Hunwick tried to stack the pads.
Llewellyn was called for a cross-check on the play as well--his third penalty of the night. Burlon got walked and Johnson scored his 12th goal in 13 games by putting a beeeautiful shot up under the bar.
After one fairly uninspired power play and another that had nothing going for about 1:50, Moffie got the puck from Hagelin and delayed, delayed, delayed as he slid toward the middle of the ice and waited for some traffic in front. He half-slapped it on goal and it beat Howe to tie the game back up at 5, with 6 minutes to play in regulation.
1:56 later, AJ Treais scored his second game-winner on the weekend. It was an accidental goal, but he was rewarded for a great effort. CC either won the draw or Treais tapped it ahead. Either way, he jumped around the center and beat him to the puck in the corner. Sparks was driving the net and Treais threw it in front. The puck hit the defenseman's skate and deflected up into the top corner of the net.
Michigan came close to getting an insurance goal when the puck stuck on the side of the net. One of the CC players tried to clear it out and inadvertently nearly put it into his own net. He may have, but the replay didn't show anything. What the replay did show was the defenseman covering the puck in the crease, but Brian Aaron failed to blow the whistle for the first time all game.
CC had a few chances down the stretch, but Hunwick stood tall, the defense blocked some shots and cleared them out, and Michigan won their third GLI title in four years.
Hagelin, Glendening, and Hunwick were all named to the All Tournament Team. Glendening was named MVP, with three goals on the weekend, including two tonight.
You want to talk about unlikely heroes stepping up? The goals last night were Sparks, Rohrkemper, Treais, and Glendening. Coming into the night, they had combined for five goals on the season. Tonight, Winnett, Glendening (2), Caporusso (not as unlikely), Moffie, and Treais. So you had three players score their first goals of the season this weekend. Glendening exceeded his goal total for the rest of the season. Treais had a pair of game-winners. Nice to see.
What wasn't nice to see was the performance of the special teams. The power play was 1 for 7 on the weekend, though they got one when it mattered (Moffie tonight), though even that power play was absolutely brutal up to the instant of the goal. CC's power play was 4 for 5 on the night, and our penalty kill was just 4 for 9 on the weekend.
So it wasn't the most well-played game in history, but the Wolverines pick up another big win over a WCHA foe. We now return to CCHA play against the Spartans next weekend in a home-and-home. Friday night's game is at Munn and is on the Big Ten Network. I'm sure there are plenty of good seats available! Feel free to go help take over Munn again. It was so much fun during the playoffs last year. Saturday's game is at Yost and will air on Fox Sports Detroit.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
GLI Preview: 10 Things to Know About Michigan Tech
The Wolverines return to the ice for the first time since The Big Chill in the 46th edition of the Great Lakes Invitational. After winning the 2007 and 2008 GLI Championships, Michigan was thwarted by RPI in last year's tournament. Their first opponent this year is the Michigan Tech Huskies. Michigan State takes on Colorado College on the other side of the bracket.
Here are ten things to know about the boys from Houghton:
1) They are 3-11-2 on the season (1-10-1 in the WCHA) but two of their three wins have come against the CCHA. They're 1-1-1 against Northern Michigan and also beat LSSU.
2) They've lost 11 games in a row and have given up fewer than four goals just once in that span, a 3-1 loss to Nebraska-Omaha.
3) After scoring 24 goals in their first five games, they've scored just 21 goals in their last 11. They've been outscored 54-21 in this 11 game losing streak. For the season they average 2.81 goals per game, which is 32nd in the country. Redshirt freshman Milos Gordic has 9-4--13 on the season and has scored points in every weekend series.
4) For a team that has had all sorts of trouble scoring goals as of late, they're actually pretty good overall on the power play. They're #8 in the country at 23.9%. The PK is avert-your-eyes bad, though, at 73.4% which is third-worst in the country. Then again, Minnesota's was that bad as well and we made them look like superstars.
5) Jordan Baker and Brett Olson are the only players who have scored against Michigan. Both players are out, according to College Hockey News's injury report. Olson had 4-3--7 in the 9 games he had played.
6) They're apparently really decimated by injury and have only been playing 8 forwards or so, according to some posters at USCHO. There are 28 players currently listed on the roster. Alan L'Esperance was added to the roster from Brighton High School. They've also added Tyler Gubb to the roster for the GLI. Apparently he was supposed to be on the team but had an eligibility issue that is cleared up.
7) Louie Caporusso has been great in the GLI, scoring 5 goals in 6 games. David Wohlberg has 5 points in 4 career games at the tournament. The Wolverines will be without Jon Merrill and Chris Brown due to the World Junior Championships, and Bryan Hogan due to injury. Hunwick gave up 1 goal on 4 shots against RPI last year after replacing Hogan.
8) The Tech defense is giving up a whopping 4.38 goals per night, which is also third-worst in the country. But you know, they play in the WCHA, so that's really like giving up 2 goals in any other conference. Total.
9) Sophomore goalie Kevin Genoe has been seeing more and more ice time as of late. He's 2-8-1 with a 3.92/.893. Junior Josh Robinson is 1-3-1 with a 4.73/.882.
10) The Wolverines have won 9 straight in the series, which shocked me since it seems like yesterday that I was sitting in the Joe watching us give up goal after goal in a terrible loss to them. Hard to believe that was a decade ago. In those nine wins, the only time we scored fewer than 4 goals was in that 1-0 double OT win back in 07 that snapped our GLI drought. We've averaged 4.67 goals per game to their 2.00. They've scored just four goals in the last four meetings, though three of those were last year.
Based on the way Tech is playing (they've lost 11 in a row and are giving up a ton of goals), their injuries, and our track record against them, it seems very reasonable to expect the Wolverines to put up some goals and advance to the Championship Game against the winner of CC/FYS. This is a good chance to pick up a win against a WCHA team, which would help out in the PWR a little later on.
No TV for tomorrow's game, though the championship game would be on FSN-Detroit.
Here are ten things to know about the boys from Houghton:
1) They are 3-11-2 on the season (1-10-1 in the WCHA) but two of their three wins have come against the CCHA. They're 1-1-1 against Northern Michigan and also beat LSSU.
2) They've lost 11 games in a row and have given up fewer than four goals just once in that span, a 3-1 loss to Nebraska-Omaha.
3) After scoring 24 goals in their first five games, they've scored just 21 goals in their last 11. They've been outscored 54-21 in this 11 game losing streak. For the season they average 2.81 goals per game, which is 32nd in the country. Redshirt freshman Milos Gordic has 9-4--13 on the season and has scored points in every weekend series.
4) For a team that has had all sorts of trouble scoring goals as of late, they're actually pretty good overall on the power play. They're #8 in the country at 23.9%. The PK is avert-your-eyes bad, though, at 73.4% which is third-worst in the country. Then again, Minnesota's was that bad as well and we made them look like superstars.
5) Jordan Baker and Brett Olson are the only players who have scored against Michigan. Both players are out, according to College Hockey News's injury report. Olson had 4-3--7 in the 9 games he had played.
6) They're apparently really decimated by injury and have only been playing 8 forwards or so, according to some posters at USCHO. There are 28 players currently listed on the roster. Alan L'Esperance was added to the roster from Brighton High School. They've also added Tyler Gubb to the roster for the GLI. Apparently he was supposed to be on the team but had an eligibility issue that is cleared up.
7) Louie Caporusso has been great in the GLI, scoring 5 goals in 6 games. David Wohlberg has 5 points in 4 career games at the tournament. The Wolverines will be without Jon Merrill and Chris Brown due to the World Junior Championships, and Bryan Hogan due to injury. Hunwick gave up 1 goal on 4 shots against RPI last year after replacing Hogan.
8) The Tech defense is giving up a whopping 4.38 goals per night, which is also third-worst in the country. But you know, they play in the WCHA, so that's really like giving up 2 goals in any other conference. Total.
9) Sophomore goalie Kevin Genoe has been seeing more and more ice time as of late. He's 2-8-1 with a 3.92/.893. Junior Josh Robinson is 1-3-1 with a 4.73/.882.
10) The Wolverines have won 9 straight in the series, which shocked me since it seems like yesterday that I was sitting in the Joe watching us give up goal after goal in a terrible loss to them. Hard to believe that was a decade ago. In those nine wins, the only time we scored fewer than 4 goals was in that 1-0 double OT win back in 07 that snapped our GLI drought. We've averaged 4.67 goals per game to their 2.00. They've scored just four goals in the last four meetings, though three of those were last year.
Based on the way Tech is playing (they've lost 11 in a row and are giving up a ton of goals), their injuries, and our track record against them, it seems very reasonable to expect the Wolverines to put up some goals and advance to the Championship Game against the winner of CC/FYS. This is a good chance to pick up a win against a WCHA team, which would help out in the PWR a little later on.
No TV for tomorrow's game, though the championship game would be on FSN-Detroit.
Monday, December 28, 2009
GLI Semi-Final Preview: 10 Things to Know About RPI
Hey, remember when there used to be this site called The Blog That Yost Built, and the guy who wrote for it would actually do things like provide weekend previews, game recaps, and once-in-awhile, gasp (!) a thing called analysis? Hmm....I don't either.
Sorry about the last month. Real life got in the way and I had a hard time motivating myself to write things like "Yup, split another weekend. Shocking." or "Nope, not making the tournament".
Anyway, the Wolverines (finally) return the ice tomorrow to take on the RPI Engineers in the semifinal of the Great Lakes Invitation, a tournament that Michigan is looking to win for the third year in a row.
One plus is that for the first time in over a decade, the Wolverines come in to the GLI with their entire roster. Yes, that's right. Michigan did not lose anyone to the World Junior Championships.
Their first opponent is in the nightcap tomorrow. Here are ten things to know about the Engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
1) They come into the GLI with a 9-9-1 record on the season (3-4-0 in the ECAC). After a pretty good start that included a wins over UNH and Yale, and a tie against Alaska, RPI has lost six of their last eight (though their last win came against the defending national champions--yeah they're down this year, but it's still a win over BU). Four of those six losses were by a single goal.
2) They're paced offensively by junior Chase Polacek, who has a 12-14--26 line in 19 games and comes in riding a 13-game point streak. He ranks 15th in the country in points per game. Freshman Brandon Pirri has 18 points, which is seventh amongst freshmen in points per game. He was a second round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. Another freshman, Jerry D'Amigo, will miss the GLI as he is playing for Team USA at the World Juniors.
3) Goaltender Allen York (a Columbus draft pick) has lost six straight starts after winning his previous five, giving up 23 goals in that span. He was in net for the win over UNH. Freshman Bryce Merriam made 32 saves in the recent win over BU, but has only played 4 times this year. He does have a 3-1-0 record with a 2.27/.898 however. York is 6-8-1 with a 2.93/.895.
4) RPI's 55 goals in 19 games rank them 26th in the country in offense at 2.89 goals per tilt. Michigan is just a little further down the list at 2.78 (ugh). Defensively they're 28th at 2.79 goals per game. Michigan's team defense is actually pretty good, ninth in the country at 2.28.
5) The special teams: 22nd in power play at 20.2% (they have the same number of goals in the same number of chances as Miami). Way down the list in 46th on the PK at 76.9%. They've given up 24 power play goals in 19 games. By comparison, Michigan's anemic power play is at 16.9% (37th in the nation) but they rank second in penalty killing at an impressive 91.0%.
6) The last meeting between these teams was in 1986, an 11-10 overtime victory for the Wolverines. That game was the last time Michigan trailed by 4 goals and came back to win. They were down 4-0 in that game. Michigan trails the all-time series 3-6-1. All four of RPI's previous appearances at Joe Louis Arena came in the 1985 calendar year. This is their second appearance in the GLI. They knocked off Michigan in their previous appearance.
7) Junior defenseman (and captain) John Kennedy is the only Michigan native on the roster. He hails from Saginaw.
8) You want to see patience? Senior defenseman Christian Jensen was drafted in 2004, by the San Jose Sharks in the ninth round.
9) RPI has not won a game the entire season when they've scored fewer than three goals. They're 0-6-1 in those contests.
10) The goals that they've scored and allowed are fairly consistently spread out through the game. They've scored 17 in the first, 19 in the second, 17 in the third. They've allowed 14 in the first, 19 in the second, and 19 in the third.
A few things from the Michigan perspective:
-Louie Caporusso has 5 goals in 4 career games in the GLI. Lebler, Langlais, Glendening, Summers, and Wohlberg all have 3 career points in the holiday tournament.
-Bryan Hogan is 2-0-0 with a 0.50/.971 in the GLI.
-Caporusso is at 57% on draws this year and Rust is at 55.2%. Nice!
The semifinal games and the third place game are not televised. The championship game will be shown on Fox Sports Detroit.
Sorry about the last month. Real life got in the way and I had a hard time motivating myself to write things like "Yup, split another weekend. Shocking." or "Nope, not making the tournament".
Anyway, the Wolverines (finally) return the ice tomorrow to take on the RPI Engineers in the semifinal of the Great Lakes Invitation, a tournament that Michigan is looking to win for the third year in a row.
One plus is that for the first time in over a decade, the Wolverines come in to the GLI with their entire roster. Yes, that's right. Michigan did not lose anyone to the World Junior Championships.
Their first opponent is in the nightcap tomorrow. Here are ten things to know about the Engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
1) They come into the GLI with a 9-9-1 record on the season (3-4-0 in the ECAC). After a pretty good start that included a wins over UNH and Yale, and a tie against Alaska, RPI has lost six of their last eight (though their last win came against the defending national champions--yeah they're down this year, but it's still a win over BU). Four of those six losses were by a single goal.
2) They're paced offensively by junior Chase Polacek, who has a 12-14--26 line in 19 games and comes in riding a 13-game point streak. He ranks 15th in the country in points per game. Freshman Brandon Pirri has 18 points, which is seventh amongst freshmen in points per game. He was a second round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. Another freshman, Jerry D'Amigo, will miss the GLI as he is playing for Team USA at the World Juniors.
3) Goaltender Allen York (a Columbus draft pick) has lost six straight starts after winning his previous five, giving up 23 goals in that span. He was in net for the win over UNH. Freshman Bryce Merriam made 32 saves in the recent win over BU, but has only played 4 times this year. He does have a 3-1-0 record with a 2.27/.898 however. York is 6-8-1 with a 2.93/.895.
4) RPI's 55 goals in 19 games rank them 26th in the country in offense at 2.89 goals per tilt. Michigan is just a little further down the list at 2.78 (ugh). Defensively they're 28th at 2.79 goals per game. Michigan's team defense is actually pretty good, ninth in the country at 2.28.
5) The special teams: 22nd in power play at 20.2% (they have the same number of goals in the same number of chances as Miami). Way down the list in 46th on the PK at 76.9%. They've given up 24 power play goals in 19 games. By comparison, Michigan's anemic power play is at 16.9% (37th in the nation) but they rank second in penalty killing at an impressive 91.0%.
6) The last meeting between these teams was in 1986, an 11-10 overtime victory for the Wolverines. That game was the last time Michigan trailed by 4 goals and came back to win. They were down 4-0 in that game. Michigan trails the all-time series 3-6-1. All four of RPI's previous appearances at Joe Louis Arena came in the 1985 calendar year. This is their second appearance in the GLI. They knocked off Michigan in their previous appearance.
7) Junior defenseman (and captain) John Kennedy is the only Michigan native on the roster. He hails from Saginaw.
8) You want to see patience? Senior defenseman Christian Jensen was drafted in 2004, by the San Jose Sharks in the ninth round.
9) RPI has not won a game the entire season when they've scored fewer than three goals. They're 0-6-1 in those contests.
10) The goals that they've scored and allowed are fairly consistently spread out through the game. They've scored 17 in the first, 19 in the second, 17 in the third. They've allowed 14 in the first, 19 in the second, and 19 in the third.
A few things from the Michigan perspective:
-Louie Caporusso has 5 goals in 4 career games in the GLI. Lebler, Langlais, Glendening, Summers, and Wohlberg all have 3 career points in the holiday tournament.
-Bryan Hogan is 2-0-0 with a 0.50/.971 in the GLI.
-Caporusso is at 57% on draws this year and Rust is at 55.2%. Nice!
The semifinal games and the third place game are not televised. The championship game will be shown on Fox Sports Detroit.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
GLI Championship: Michigan 5, MSU 1
That was what we call a beatdown. Michigan won their second straight Great Lakes Invitational championship by a 5-1 margin over rival Michigan State behind a complete team effort that showcased what a poor hockey team MSU really is.
It seems strange to say this in a game that was, by hockey scores, a blowout, but the score didn't accurately represent the dominance of the Wolverines. That was a hockey game that could have legitimately been something like 13-1. The Wolverines hit at least 4 goalposts and missed about 5 gaping empty nets. Final shots in the game were 54-20.
MSU took an early lead after capitalizing on a 5 on 3. But after Travis Turnbull tied the game with a great backhand shot, it was all Wolverines the rest of the way. Ben Winnett scored the game winner off a nice play from Turnbull and a pass from Naurato.
Naurato gave the Wolverines some breathing room with his fourth of the year. He was at the front of the net and found some open space by the faceoff circle to Lerg's left. Summers got it to him and he one-timed it into the net. Really nice awareness to get himself to an open area and a great shot.
Tim Miller kept the onslaught going a few minutes later with a diving shot that beat Lerg. Then Louie Caporusso scored his fourth goal on the weekend with a gorgeous rush. He deked to his backhand and put it where the peanut-butter is.
What was really beautiful about this game was that everybody contributed. When the Wolverines can get goals from guys like Winnett, Turnbull, Miller, and Naurato they're going to be tough to beat, especially since it's looking like Caporusso has officially ascended to elite status in the NCAA. He's just one goal behind Kevin Porter's pace of last year.
Beyond the guys who actually put the puck in the net tonight, Robbie Czarnik was just flying. He led the team with six shots on goal (and had a few good ones). The kid can't buy a goal and he's visibly frustrated, but if he keeps playing like that, eventually they're going to start going in. I really think that once he puts a couple in, they're going to start coming in bunches.
Wohlberg also had six shots on goal (and he put one off the pipe) and looked great once again playing with Caporusso. I also thought Lebler had a good game. He was banging in the corners and creating some space, but he didn't take any penalties. He's had an interesting season. He's played well quite a bit of the time, but got himself benched due to some awful penalties. When he's playing smart, he's actually pretty good.
Chris Summers had a Playmaker and was +3 on the night, earning himself a spot on the All Tournament Team.
And I'd be completely remiss if I didn't give a call to our fourth line. Glendening, Fardig, and Ciraulo were fantastic the entire weekend. Glendening picked up his third assist of the tournament on a great play on Turnbull's goal, but that entire shift for the fourth liners was fantastic. Those guys got an opportunity with Palushaj and Rust away and they really made the most of it.
How big of a beatdown was this? After the first period, the Wolverines outshot Michigan State by an incredible 36-5 margin. Yes, after the first forty minutes, we had 4 goals, they had 5 shots. MSU is a bad, bad hockey team. And they played undisciplined hockey. Twice they took penalties away from the play with under five seconds to go in a period. Crowder took a complete dip-shit elbowing call, Gentile kept being Brandon Gentile...I know they beat North Dakota on Friday night, but that to me doesn't look like a hockey team that is in any danger of snapping out of this funk in the near future. They were completely outclassed.
The Wolverines on the other hand look like a team that could make a run in the second half of the season. Unless Michigan sweeps Miami and Notre Dame, which is a tough chore, I think they've dug themselves too big of a hole to win the conference, but one sweep in those two series would put them heavily in contention for a top 2 finish in the CCHA. I don't know what it is, but they just play well in front of Bryan Hogan (Michigan scored as many goals this weekend for Hogan as they have the entire season for Sauer). Caporusso is arguably the best player in the country right now, Kampfer's return bolsters the defense, and the Wolverines are starting to get contributions from the supporting cast, which is a great sign.
After taking next weekend off, the Wolverines return to action the following Friday in a huge home series against the Miami Redhawks. In the meantime, we're GLI champs again and I'm really happy about it. I love that tournament and I love seeing that Michigan banner hanging from the rafters.
It seems strange to say this in a game that was, by hockey scores, a blowout, but the score didn't accurately represent the dominance of the Wolverines. That was a hockey game that could have legitimately been something like 13-1. The Wolverines hit at least 4 goalposts and missed about 5 gaping empty nets. Final shots in the game were 54-20.
MSU took an early lead after capitalizing on a 5 on 3. But after Travis Turnbull tied the game with a great backhand shot, it was all Wolverines the rest of the way. Ben Winnett scored the game winner off a nice play from Turnbull and a pass from Naurato.
Naurato gave the Wolverines some breathing room with his fourth of the year. He was at the front of the net and found some open space by the faceoff circle to Lerg's left. Summers got it to him and he one-timed it into the net. Really nice awareness to get himself to an open area and a great shot.
Tim Miller kept the onslaught going a few minutes later with a diving shot that beat Lerg. Then Louie Caporusso scored his fourth goal on the weekend with a gorgeous rush. He deked to his backhand and put it where the peanut-butter is.
What was really beautiful about this game was that everybody contributed. When the Wolverines can get goals from guys like Winnett, Turnbull, Miller, and Naurato they're going to be tough to beat, especially since it's looking like Caporusso has officially ascended to elite status in the NCAA. He's just one goal behind Kevin Porter's pace of last year.
Beyond the guys who actually put the puck in the net tonight, Robbie Czarnik was just flying. He led the team with six shots on goal (and had a few good ones). The kid can't buy a goal and he's visibly frustrated, but if he keeps playing like that, eventually they're going to start going in. I really think that once he puts a couple in, they're going to start coming in bunches.
Wohlberg also had six shots on goal (and he put one off the pipe) and looked great once again playing with Caporusso. I also thought Lebler had a good game. He was banging in the corners and creating some space, but he didn't take any penalties. He's had an interesting season. He's played well quite a bit of the time, but got himself benched due to some awful penalties. When he's playing smart, he's actually pretty good.
Chris Summers had a Playmaker and was +3 on the night, earning himself a spot on the All Tournament Team.
And I'd be completely remiss if I didn't give a call to our fourth line. Glendening, Fardig, and Ciraulo were fantastic the entire weekend. Glendening picked up his third assist of the tournament on a great play on Turnbull's goal, but that entire shift for the fourth liners was fantastic. Those guys got an opportunity with Palushaj and Rust away and they really made the most of it.
How big of a beatdown was this? After the first period, the Wolverines outshot Michigan State by an incredible 36-5 margin. Yes, after the first forty minutes, we had 4 goals, they had 5 shots. MSU is a bad, bad hockey team. And they played undisciplined hockey. Twice they took penalties away from the play with under five seconds to go in a period. Crowder took a complete dip-shit elbowing call, Gentile kept being Brandon Gentile...I know they beat North Dakota on Friday night, but that to me doesn't look like a hockey team that is in any danger of snapping out of this funk in the near future. They were completely outclassed.
The Wolverines on the other hand look like a team that could make a run in the second half of the season. Unless Michigan sweeps Miami and Notre Dame, which is a tough chore, I think they've dug themselves too big of a hole to win the conference, but one sweep in those two series would put them heavily in contention for a top 2 finish in the CCHA. I don't know what it is, but they just play well in front of Bryan Hogan (Michigan scored as many goals this weekend for Hogan as they have the entire season for Sauer). Caporusso is arguably the best player in the country right now, Kampfer's return bolsters the defense, and the Wolverines are starting to get contributions from the supporting cast, which is a great sign.
After taking next weekend off, the Wolverines return to action the following Friday in a huge home series against the Miami Redhawks. In the meantime, we're GLI champs again and I'm really happy about it. I love that tournament and I love seeing that Michigan banner hanging from the rafters.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Michigan 5, MTU 0
A quick wrap-up:
Louie Caporusso gave Michigan all the offense they needed. He scored twice in the first four minutes and completed the natural hat trick just past the midway point of the first period. Anthony Ciraulo added another and the Wolverines went to the dressing room up 4-0.
They kind of put it on cruise control after that, from the sound of things. There was no scoring in the second period and Brandon Burlon scored his second of the year in the third, and the Wolverines advanced to the GLI Championship Game with a 5-0 win.
Caporusso now has 17 goals in 19 games to start the season (after scoring 12 a year ago). To compare, Kevin Porter scored 19 in 20 a year ago. It's amazing that Caporusso could actually match Porter's torrid start with a big game tomorrow night.
David Wohlberg kept up his stellar offensive play with a trio of assists (do they have such a thing as a Natural Playmaker to go with Caporusso's Natural Hat Trick?). He apparently stole the puck in the Tech end on both of the first two goals.
Luke Glendening scored the first two points of his Michigan career with assists on Ciraulo's and Burlon's goals. I think those were actually the first two Michigan goals he's been on the ice for, if I'm not mistaken. So congrats to Luke! Danny Fardig assisted on both of those goals as well.
Bryan Hogan made 15 saves for his second shutout of the season, but it didn't sound like he was ever tested. Tech had seven shots in the first, was held to just one shot in the second, and put another seven on him in the third. It didn't sound like any were of a "Grade A" variety, however. So an outstanding defensive effort--or just complete offensive ineptness on the part of the Techsters. MTU had several power plays and couldn't get anything going (Michigan didn't do anything on the PP either).
Steve Kampfer made his return to the lineup and absolutely lit up a Huskie in the third period. Nice to see that he's not gunshy about hitting after returning from that injury.
The Wolverines will get a chance to defend their GLI crown against either MSU or North Dakota in the Championship Game at 6:30 tomorrow night. The game will air on Fox Sports Detroit. It'd be good for the conference (and our strength of schedule) if MSU won tonight, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing North Dakota, who has gotten it together after a bad start. And the masochists who get to the Joe early would be seeing MTU/MSU. Take the under if that game happens.
Edit: It's Michigan/MSU. The Spartans got out to a 2-0 lead and held on for a 2-1 win. Good for the conference, good for attendance purposes, it's always good to quell some WCHA woofing, and it's good that one of the CCHA teams will win the GLI Championship. It's bad for Goon. It should be a fun one. I just hope that the Wolverines will bring a strong effort. They've had a couple of real stinkers against MSU in the GLI before and I don't understand how you could possibly NOT get jacked up for a game like that.
Scoring early would be big. Don't let Lerg get any momentum. Don't let the team start thinking that Lerg is unbeatable. Make State play from behind. If Lerg comes out and makes some big stops early, MSU could win one of those typical 2-1 games where Lerg makes 52 saves (30 of which were actual shots on goal). I would expect that Lerg will have to play a great game for MSU to have a chance, but then again, I fully expected to play North Dakota tomorrow, so that shows what I know.
It's strange that after back-to-back shutouts in the GLI last year, Sauer won't be making an appearance (barring a collapse--so let's hope he doesn't make an appearance) in the tournament, since the radio reported that Hogan would be starting tomorrow if he won today.
The Wolverines move to 1-0 when I wear my new white jersey! Hopefully it's got some luck in it.
Michigan. MSU. GLI Championship. Gotta love it!
Louie Caporusso gave Michigan all the offense they needed. He scored twice in the first four minutes and completed the natural hat trick just past the midway point of the first period. Anthony Ciraulo added another and the Wolverines went to the dressing room up 4-0.
They kind of put it on cruise control after that, from the sound of things. There was no scoring in the second period and Brandon Burlon scored his second of the year in the third, and the Wolverines advanced to the GLI Championship Game with a 5-0 win.
Caporusso now has 17 goals in 19 games to start the season (after scoring 12 a year ago). To compare, Kevin Porter scored 19 in 20 a year ago. It's amazing that Caporusso could actually match Porter's torrid start with a big game tomorrow night.
David Wohlberg kept up his stellar offensive play with a trio of assists (do they have such a thing as a Natural Playmaker to go with Caporusso's Natural Hat Trick?). He apparently stole the puck in the Tech end on both of the first two goals.
Luke Glendening scored the first two points of his Michigan career with assists on Ciraulo's and Burlon's goals. I think those were actually the first two Michigan goals he's been on the ice for, if I'm not mistaken. So congrats to Luke! Danny Fardig assisted on both of those goals as well.
Bryan Hogan made 15 saves for his second shutout of the season, but it didn't sound like he was ever tested. Tech had seven shots in the first, was held to just one shot in the second, and put another seven on him in the third. It didn't sound like any were of a "Grade A" variety, however. So an outstanding defensive effort--or just complete offensive ineptness on the part of the Techsters. MTU had several power plays and couldn't get anything going (Michigan didn't do anything on the PP either).
Steve Kampfer made his return to the lineup and absolutely lit up a Huskie in the third period. Nice to see that he's not gunshy about hitting after returning from that injury.
The Wolverines will get a chance to defend their GLI crown against either MSU or North Dakota in the Championship Game at 6:30 tomorrow night. The game will air on Fox Sports Detroit. It'd be good for the conference (and our strength of schedule) if MSU won tonight, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing North Dakota, who has gotten it together after a bad start. And the masochists who get to the Joe early would be seeing MTU/MSU. Take the under if that game happens.
Edit: It's Michigan/MSU. The Spartans got out to a 2-0 lead and held on for a 2-1 win. Good for the conference, good for attendance purposes, it's always good to quell some WCHA woofing, and it's good that one of the CCHA teams will win the GLI Championship. It's bad for Goon. It should be a fun one. I just hope that the Wolverines will bring a strong effort. They've had a couple of real stinkers against MSU in the GLI before and I don't understand how you could possibly NOT get jacked up for a game like that.
Scoring early would be big. Don't let Lerg get any momentum. Don't let the team start thinking that Lerg is unbeatable. Make State play from behind. If Lerg comes out and makes some big stops early, MSU could win one of those typical 2-1 games where Lerg makes 52 saves (30 of which were actual shots on goal). I would expect that Lerg will have to play a great game for MSU to have a chance, but then again, I fully expected to play North Dakota tomorrow, so that shows what I know.
It's strange that after back-to-back shutouts in the GLI last year, Sauer won't be making an appearance (barring a collapse--so let's hope he doesn't make an appearance) in the tournament, since the radio reported that Hogan would be starting tomorrow if he won today.
The Wolverines move to 1-0 when I wear my new white jersey! Hopefully it's got some luck in it.
Michigan. MSU. GLI Championship. Gotta love it!
GLI Coverage, or a Lack Thereof
Sorry for the lack of coverage and for the lack of a tourney preview. I've been unexpectedly busy over the holidays and it just didn't get done. I'm not even going to be able to make it down to The Joe for the game this afternoon. I'd write up something about Tech, but the game starts in like 20 minutes so the chances of anyone reading it are slim and none. To the Hockey Gods: In no way should this be construed as me looking past Tech. If you have a problem with a lack of a preview, take it up with the D-Bag Leaving Fence Posts In Middle Of The Road Taking Out My Tire and Wheel and Making Me Get My Car Fixed Gods.
I'm heading back to Madison tomorrow and I have my DVR set to tape the Championship Game, so if the Wolverines win today, I'll at least be able to watch/cover the game tomorrow. But as much as I'd like to write a preview if we're going to be facing NoDak, I don't think it's going to happen. Goon's World is a good NoDak resource. Tech Hockey Blog will probably have coverage from our first opponent's point of view as well.
If we face Sparty, nothing much has changed since the last time we played them, except that they're two players lighter and they lost to the NTDP yet again.
Quick hitters:
-Kampfer is back, Vaughan is apparently the odd man out on the blueline.
-USA won their opener against Germany 8-2. Matt Rust had the ultimate "Kessel": An unassisted goal at 19:59 of the third period on an end-to-end rush. I'm surprised that didn't cause a fight.
-Mac Bennett is going to miss a couple of weeks with a sprained MCL.
Go Blue!
I hope everyone had a great holiday. I'll be back in full force soon enough!
I'm heading back to Madison tomorrow and I have my DVR set to tape the Championship Game, so if the Wolverines win today, I'll at least be able to watch/cover the game tomorrow. But as much as I'd like to write a preview if we're going to be facing NoDak, I don't think it's going to happen. Goon's World is a good NoDak resource. Tech Hockey Blog will probably have coverage from our first opponent's point of view as well.
If we face Sparty, nothing much has changed since the last time we played them, except that they're two players lighter and they lost to the NTDP yet again.
Quick hitters:
-Kampfer is back, Vaughan is apparently the odd man out on the blueline.
-USA won their opener against Germany 8-2. Matt Rust had the ultimate "Kessel": An unassisted goal at 19:59 of the third period on an end-to-end rush. I'm surprised that didn't cause a fight.
-Mac Bennett is going to miss a couple of weeks with a sprained MCL.
Go Blue!
I hope everyone had a great holiday. I'll be back in full force soon enough!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Greg Pateryn to WJC Tryout Camp
Greg Pateryn was added to the USA roster for the World Junior Championship Evaluation Camp. He'll be one of 18 defensemen at the camp, which runs from Aug 1-9. As he was a replacement for one of the other defensemen his chances of making the team are remote, but it's still a nice compliment that USA views him as one of the nineteen-best defensemen in this country under the age of twenty.
Palushaj, Rust, Czarnik, Wohlberg, and Vaughan will also be at USA's camp.
Louie Caporusso is currently attending Canada's evaluation camp. He scored on a penalty shot in Monday's Red/White game.
Lastly, there's an absolute gem of a find at MGoVideo. A kind soul by the name of Credit812 has uploaded the Mike Legg game (registration required to download) from the 1996 NCAA Tournament. I don't think I've ever seen this one all the way through, so it's going to be a nice addition to my collection. It's always fun to see the Gophers get traumatized.
Palushaj, Rust, Czarnik, Wohlberg, and Vaughan will also be at USA's camp.
Louie Caporusso is currently attending Canada's evaluation camp. He scored on a penalty shot in Monday's Red/White game.
Lastly, there's an absolute gem of a find at MGoVideo. A kind soul by the name of Credit812 has uploaded the Mike Legg game (registration required to download) from the 1996 NCAA Tournament. I don't think I've ever seen this one all the way through, so it's going to be a nice addition to my collection. It's always fun to see the Gophers get traumatized.
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