Michigan Takes on Miami at the Joe

Round three of the CCHA Tournament pits the Wolverines against the #1-seeded Miami RedHawks. Miami edged out Notre Dame for the CCHA crown and currently sits tied for 3rd in the Pairwise. They come into this weekend 24-10-5 on the season but 10-7-2 away from home. They punched their ticket for the Joe by beating FYS in three games (0-3, 4-1, 4-1).

Miami is a team that won't overwhelm you offensively, but they do have some talent up front. They have both the CCHA MVP (Austin Czarnik--man, I guess we got the wrong one, eh?) and the CCHA Rookie of the Year (Riley Barber) playing forward for them. Barber led the team in scoring and was the top-scoring freshman in the nation with a 15-23--38 line. Czarnik has 14-22--36, though four of his goals were empty-netters (4 also came short-handed). Freshman defenseman Matthew Caito has chipped in with 5-15--20 on the season.

Overall, though, they rank just 38th nationally in offense at 2.54 goals per game. Like Western Michigan, however, they earn their wins on the defensive end. After a shaky week by Quinnipiac, the RedHawks now rank #1 nationally in team defense at 1.62 goals per game. Ryan McKay has taken the reigns in net after splitting time most of the year. He's made the last six starts. On the season he has an unbelievable 1.20 goals against average and .954 save percentage (tops in the nation in both categories).

He has only given up more than two goals on one occasion this season, that in a 3-3 tie against NMU back in January. He has lost 3 of his last seven starts, however. The fact that he's 12-5-2 despite almost never giving up more than 2 goals means that Miami's offense is prone to letting them down. They've been shut out on seven occasions this year, including three by a 1-0 final. They have scored 4+ in four of their last seven, however, keeping in mind that those were against LSSU, OSU, and FYS.

The teams split a pair of games at Yost during the first weekend of CCHA play. Michigan won 4-2 and then lost 4-3 the next night, behind three goals in a 2:41 span. McKay only saw 5 minutes of action, however. That was also so long ago and things have changed so much that I don't think you can take a whole lot from those games. Racine did play well between the pipes during the Friday night game. The goals he allowed were of the fluky variety.

Their PP is right about where you'd expect (36th). They're sixth on the PK at 88.2%, but they have scored 8 short-handed goals on the year (4 by Czarnik), which is second to only Bobby Mo's 9.

Game time is at 4:35 pm and the game will air on FSN Detroit +. If the Wolverines win, they'll take on the winner of Notre Dame/Ohio State with a tournament berth on the line.

Wolverines Face WMU in Do-or-Die Series

It's been all smiles for Steve Racine as of late.
Photo: Bill Rapai

Operation: Save The Season moves to Phase Two this weekend. The easy part is over. Michigan won their home series against NMU. Now the fun begins. Steve Racine and company travel to Kalamazoo to take on the WMU Broncos in a best-of-three series.

The task is daunting--the Broncos have only lost twice at home all season (13-2-3) and Michigan needs to beat them twice in a three-game span. WMU was 3-1-0 in the four games this year, splitting a pair at Yost before sweeping Michigan in Kalamazoo.

Here's the good news, though: Western can't score goals. They rank tied for 51st in the country (out of 59) in offense at 2.31 goals per game. The only teams with a worse offense are Harvard, Army, FYS (snicker), Bemidji, Maine (snicker), SEAWOLF, and Alabama-Huntsville. They're tied in offense with Sacred Heart who damn-near thought about trying to go 0fer this season. All eight of those other teams appear in a list of the 13 worst teams in the country by winning-percentage.

The reason WMU does not, and the reason they rank 8th in winning percentage? Their defense is really fricken good. They rank 3rd in team defense, giving up a stingy 1.92 goals per game. The only teams better? Quinnipiac and Miami, #1 and #3 in the PWR.

Since scoring 8 goals in a series against Michgan back in January, the Broncos have scored 5, 2, 4, 4, and 5 goals in their weekends since. They're 3-3-4 over that stretch. They've scored either 1 or 0 goals in a game in each of their last 4 series, so they've been vulnerable to a stink bomb. Michigan, on the other hand, since scoring just 3 goals while getting swept by the Broncos, has been held below 3 just one time. They've scored  8, 8, 11, 5, 9 in their last five series.

What does that mean? If the offense can put a few pucks in the net, they're going to have a chance to win this series. That's hard-hitting analysis right there, but it's true. WMU is 0-7-1 this year when they give up more than 2 goals, so they really can't outscore teams. The problem is that most teams haven't been able to put many pucks past Slubowski. Michigan only scored six times in four games this year, so easier said than done.

What they can't do is give up the soft goal that plagued them earlier in the year because Frank Slubowski  is good enough to not give them back. WMU has only lost two games the entire season when giving up two-or-fewer goals: one in Michigan's 2-0 win at Yost and one in their last outing, a 1-0 loss to FYS. They were, however, taken to overtime on seven different occasions when they gave up two-or-fewer, so the offense doesn't always score enough goals to win even when Slubowski is keeping teams at bay.

I realize that I just told you "If the offense plays well, the defense plays well, and the goaltending plays well, Michigan will have a chance to win this series" and that's as "no crap" as it gets, but the Broncos play a lot of really low-scoring games. Goals in this series are like three-pointers in a basketball game against Wisconsin: They mean a little bit more than they normally do. If you can get to 3, you're going to win.

WMU has two double-digit goal scorers: Senior Dane Walters (12-12--24) and junior Chase Balisy (10-14--24). Those two and freshman defenseman Kenney Morrison (7-12--19) each have six power play goals. They make up the bulk of WMU's middle-of-the-pack power play, which is 28th at 17.8%. It feels like Walters has always killed Michigan, and it turns out he has. He has 7-5--12 in 12 games against the Wolverines. Mike Leone is about a half-point a game guy, but he's averaged more than a point per game against the Wolverines and has averaged a point per game in his postseason career, so he could be a guy to watch as well.

Rearguard Danny DeKeyser is Jacob Trouba's defense "partner" on the All-CCHA First Team. Luke Witkowski made the second team. Neither of those guys have put up huge offensive numbers (15 and 10 points, respectively) so that shows you the respect they have around the league as solid defensive defensemen.

Walters, their leading scorer, is also up for the CCHA Best Defensive Forward honors. DeKeyser is up for Best Defensive Defenseman (an award he won last season), and Morrison is up for Best Offensive Defenseman, which is totally going to Trouba.

In net, it's been The Big Slubowski all the way. The CCHA Second Team goalie has earned every decision this season and has yielded only 87 minutes of playing time to his backup. He has a 1.85 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. Only two guys have played more minutes this year. Slubowski is 4-2 with a 2.01/.924 against Michigan in his career.

Western Michigan has eliminated Michigan from the CCHA Tournament the past two seasons, but their wins in Kalamazoo this year were the first times they had beaten Michigan at Lawson since 2003, so the Wolverines are no strangers to winning in that building.

On the Michigan side, Kevin Lynch is the guy to have a huge weekend. He has 12 points in 12 games against the Broncos and we know how he does in big games. Nieves and Copp each had 3 points in four games this year. No Wolverine aside from Lynch has scored more than twice against WMU.

Friday night's game will air on FSN Detroit. Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) will be streamed on WMU's pay-per-view website.

Not gonna lie, I like Michigan's chances. I'll take the Wolverines in 3.

Scouting the Spartans With "The Munn Minute"

The Munn Minute, written by "MSUStudent" from the Yost Post, thought it might be fun for us to have a little back-and-forth in light of this weekend's series between Michigan and Michigan State. I answered a bunch of questions about the Wolverines for his site, and he returned the favor by discussing the Spartans for me to post here.

I freely admit that the questions that were similar between the two interviews were totally ganked by me.

Yost Built: Okay. So Jake Hildebrand has a GAA that's almost half that of Yanakeff. His save percentage is 64 points higher. His winning percentage is almost 10% lower. What gives? They just not giving him any goal support whatsoever? Are they inflating his save totals like they did with Jeff Lerg? How are you not winning 30% of your games when a guy is stopping 94% of the shots that the other team puts on goal? Like....I kind of feel bad for the guy. Can we have him?

The Munn Minute: First off, no, you can't have him. If it wasn't for him, I'm not sure MSU would have a win at this point in the season. I don't believe the Jeff Lerg shot inflation is going on, though the first night against Penn State made me wonder if it was. The problem is offense. If you thought MSU football had no offense, the hockey team is setting new limits on just how inept you can be. 54 goals scored in 26 games. Hildebrand has lost three 1-0 games this year. Yes, you are reading that correctly - MSU has lost three games this year by a 1-0 score in which Hildebrand was in goal. And I'm not counting the 2-1 or 2-0 games either. MSU has been shutout five times this year (six if you count the game against the US Development team), and only one of those five games the team scored more than two goals, and in that game the final goal was an empty net goal. Now with that said, I do believe MSU has some guys in place that look like they could turn into something down the road. Kevin Walrod had a pretty good weekend against Penn State, and if he can get going, MSU might actually have a second line develop. Just take a mental note of how many quality chances MSU gets this weekend and then count how often they miss the net. Even Coach Anastos has said the team needs to hit the net more. It has been interesting to see how many close opprtunities go wide.

YB: Clearly this season hasn't gone the way that either of our fanbases (or either of our teams) would have wanted. Who is the most pleasant surprise on your team? Any major disappointments?

TMM: The biggest disappointment has been the injuries. Bondra and Chelios (Dean) being out hurts the depth up front. Maybe we can get their dads to come in and play a little. Hildebrand actually has been a surprise, because I don't think he was a highly rated recruiting target. His numbers weren't bad in the USHL, but they weren't eye-popping either. I believe he posted a .913 save % and 2.79 GAA in his final year. Solid numbers. His rebound control has been spectacular this year, and he really seems to be calm under a lot of pressure. It gives me a lot of hope that MSU can build around him for the next few years. Draeger on the blue line seems to be getting more comfortable and improving - but again, the offense needs to come. The offense in general has been disappointing. You can probably go right down the list, but the upperclassmen haven't been producing a lot.

YB: A lot of people mocked the Anastos hire when it happened. There were also a lot of people who swore up and down that it was a brilliant move. You're on year 2 now, so it's probably still too soon to say for sure, but which side of the fence are you on? Do you think he's the right man for the job?

TMM: I will admit I wasn't exactly jumping up and down with the hire, but I wasn't in the room when he interviewed, and Anastos has brought people back to the program despite a struggling season. He got the team to the NCAA tournament the year before - something Comley was struggling to do. He played at MSU, and he knows the program. He basically said all the right things at first, and I think that got a lot of people in his corner. I heard a stat a week or two ago that Michigan State was leading the CCHA in attendance. I never did check to verify it, so it might not be true, but if it is then I think that shows what a good job he is doing bringing the University back to the program. Attendance had suffered under Coach Comley. But now if a team that is in last place in the CCHA is leading the league in attendance, then he must be doing something right.

I also like some of the kids that it looks like he has coming into East Lansing in the near future. I'm wondering if hockey fans are going to be patient enough to give him enough time to finish the job, and I think people are willing to give him a pass on this season given the circumstances of injuries and having so many freshmen on the roster. It's going to be important that MSU has a rebound year next year though.

YB: I have a major hatred for Bryan Lerg because of the whole decommit-and-then-go-to-State thing. Also Corey Tropp and Andrew Conboy for obvious reasons. Is there/Are there any Michigan player(s) past or present who someone could say their name to you and your immediate reaction would be, "Aww man, screw that guy"?

TMM: T.J. Hensick. Couldn't stand the guy. Great player, but it seemed like he would destroy MSU and was at Michigan for 15 years. Treais is getting up there on this list, but I don't have quite the same "Wow, didn't he graduate 3 years ago?" feeling with him that I had with Hensick. Then he went to play for the Avs - which made it worse (as a Wings fan). I think he's in the Blues organization now too right? That isn't any better. Al Montoya was fun to mess around with at Munn. It didn't seem like he ignored your comments either.

YB: What is your favorite Michigan/Michigan State hockey moment? Beside The Cold War, clearly. (Ed Note: This was originally supposed to be a snarky comment. I meant to say "Beside The Big Chill, clearly", but I was writing these questions at 3 in the morning and completely stuffed it up.)

TMM: The Cold War was a great experience at Spartan Stadium. It also made everyone instantly like Jim Slater since he said something either before or after the game (I think) that any MSU fan would love to hear "I hate Michigan." Plus he scored the goal that tied the game late in the 3rd period. (Thanks to a blatant penalty that went uncalled. Just saying. -YB) The 2008 game at Munn when Michigan was #1 and unbeaten on the road was fun to be at. MSU used a couple quick goals in the second period to turn a tight 2-1 contest into a 4-1 blowout. The ultimate 5-2 win kept MSU in the CCHA title race too. One of my favorite moments happened during team introductions at Munn. I forget which year (I want to say early 2000s - since Mason may still have been coaching, and I was in my first or second year at MSU), but the first Michigan player introduced skated out and fell down at the blue line. He got a standing & laughing ovation from the crowd at Munn, and he actually did a good job shaking it off putting his stick in the air to acknowledge the crowd. We thought it'd be good if his next teammate intentionally fell just to make him feel slightly better.

YB: If you could have one Wolverine on your team right now, who would it be?

TMM: Probably Trouba. MSU always seems to have d-men that can create offense (Krug being the latest example). We need that this year, since it really hasn't happened yet. Trouba certainly could fill that role.

YB: Thoughts on the Big Ten Hockey Conference?

TMM: I love the idea. I think the casual hockey fan turns up for the big name schools, so getting Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Penn State on a regular basis will put more people in the seats and eyes on the TV. I think the teams within the conference need to improve, or we might as well hand the trophy to Minnesota for the first couple of years. My one concern though is if the shoot-out follows us into the Big Ten. I'm not a fan of the shoot-out in the CCHA. But then again, I was never one of those hockey fans that really thought it was a big deal to end a game in a tie. I guess at the NHL level I've gotten used to it, but I feel like the impact of it isn't as great over an 82 game schedule.

YB: Does your team have a winning streak in it to keep their season going into the NCAA Tournament?

TMM: It would surprise me. The only way this happens is if we win the CCHA tournament, and the odds of that are simply not good. If Hildebrand continues to play well or gets even better then I suppose we'll be in some games, but right now MSU would have to go to Columbus and play Ohio State to win 2 out of 3. Ohio State swept MSU in East Lansing this season. If we manage to win that series, we'd have to go to Western Michigan for a pair. MSU is technically unbeaten against Western in like 3 or 4 games (GLI game counting as a tie) - which includes sweeping them in K-Zoo last year, but yeah - Hildebrand would need to put on a show. At that point it's single elimination which a good goalie can win you a game. But that point seems like it's a very, very, very long ways away. MSU is entering a key stretch to their schedule - State is only four points out of eighth place. And MSU plays Michigan, Bowling Green, and Northern Michigan over the next 3 weeks (the 3 teams ahead of MSU right now). Plus MSU has two games on hand Michigan and Northern Michigan, so the Spartans control their own destiny. If we can manage to get home ice in the first round, I think our chances improve.

Here's a stat for you that might make your jaw drop: MSU has not been to Joe Louis Arena for the CCHA Tournament since the 2006 - 2007 season. (Whoa. Yeah, I didn't realize that. -YB) Since that season the CCHA tournament has been a short lived one with zero series wins, and only one playoff victory (game 1 vs. NMU in 2008):

2008 - CCHA Quarterfinal loss vs Northern Michigan in 3 games
2009 - CCHA First Round loss at Northern Michigan in 2 games
2010 - CCHA Quarterfinal loss vs. Michigan in 2 games
2011 - CCHA First Round loss at Alaska in 2 games
2012 - CCHA Quarterfinal loss at Miami in 2 games (MSU was #5 - earning a bye, but having to play at #4 Miami)

In fact, if you include the NCAA tournament, MSU has now lost ten straight post season games (MSU beat Colorado College in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament, but lost to ND in the regional final)

YB: What's been the single biggest reason for Michigan State's lack of success this season and what would be the single most important thing they could do in order to turn it around?

TMM: Offense & more offense. MSU needs better production from its second and third lines. I also think MSU needs better production from the blue line (top d-man in scoring has 7 points) and power play. Unfortunately, I only think this is going to come with time and recruiting, and I do believe MSU has more offensive style recruits coming in, but we'll have to see if it's enough to turn things around. Berry, Delbouw, and Darnell can't do it by themselves. Tanner Sorenson has started to pick it up which has been good to see. If a guy like Chris Forfar or Kevin Walrod really get going (Walrod had a good weekend against Penn State), then MSU could still turn this season around a little bit - and at least be a tough out in the CCHA tournament. This means hitting the net when they have those good scoring chances, and it means taking care of the puck heading out of their own zone. I think I just gave you a few different things, but it just all revolves around putting more pucks in the net.

YB: And lastly, your prediction for the weekend?

TMM: With the way both teams have been playing this year, I suppose a split is the logical way to go. But I'm actually going to say Michigan gets five of the possible six points with a shoot-out win down in Detroit. Note: the last time I did this with a team was Ferris State and MSU won #reversejinx. One last thing - just to see if you'll put it on your blog.....Go [Derrick -YB] Green!

HOCKEYBEAR Previews the Nanooks

Today's guest column is by HOCKEYBEAR, renowned primeval force of destruction known for his appearances in University of Alaska hockey intro videos. When not traveling across the galaxy destroying planets and stars, he lives in Fairbanks and supports his hometown Nanooks. You can follow HOCKEYBEAR's satirical path of destruction and links to cute polar bear videos on Twitter at @AKhockeybear.

Greetings once again, small humans of Michigan! The proprietor of this most excellent hockey blog has invited me, HOCKEYBEAR, to inform you regarding the hockey-playing abilities of my Alaska Nanooks! You will undoubtedly find this information useful while preparing to watch this weekend's games. I hope that none of your coaches or players are reading this, though.

Before beginning my preview, HOCKEYBEAR has a statement to make. In the 1980-81 season, my Nanooks went 0-22-0 as a D-II Independent. Did HOCKEYBEAR abandon his 'nooks for the Edmonton Eskimos or another polar-bear-mascotted team? NO, even though Edmonton was the CENTER (CENTRE?) OF THE HOCKEY UNIVERSE in the early 1980s. I stick with my Nanooks through thick and thin. Not only did I have to wait SIXTY-TWO YEARS for my team's only NCAA tournament appearance, I spent much of that time frozen in a giant block of ice! I am INFURIATED that the Michigan "faithful" are so willing to abandon their team during a down season, by which they mean a season where the Wolverines might not make the tournament that my 'nooks have made ONCE. Your lack of perseverance in the face of adversity now is suspiciously similar to the time a few years ago when your foot-ball team played atypically poorly. HOCKEYBEAR IS NOT IMPRESSED by your attitude. I expect full houses at Yost Friday and Saturday, loudly cheering against my 'nooks and telling them repeatedly that they are terrible at hockey. Of course, do not be so foolhardy as to cheer against HOCKEYBEAR. That is something you would regret.

With that said, on to my preview.

My 'nooks are currently 6-8-4 overall, with a CCHA record of 4-7-3. The season's highlight-to-date is a 2-1 victory over the North Dakota Očhéthi Šakówiŋ to win the Alaska Gold Rush. Despite the sub-.500 record, HOCKEYBEAR is not disappointed. Much like the pains of Michigan foot-ball losing a game 41-14 can be alleviated by Notre Dame playing the same team and losing 42-14, any Alaska hockey season can be saved by a regular-season ending victory over the perfidious SEAWOLF of Alaska-Anchorage.

WHEN ALASKA HAS THE PUCK: My 'nooks' points leader so far this year is sophomore defenseman Trevor Campbell with 12, but he actually leads the way with 11 assists. Goal-scoring duties are divided between freshman Tyler Morley and senior Andy Taranto with 6 each, juniors Colton Beck and Cody Kunyk with 4, while four more 'nooks each have three.

My 'nooks take a lot of shots (656 compared to 465 for their opponents) and the shots can come from any direction. HOCKEYBEAR is not impressed by the number of low-percentage shots they take, but their shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later approach could pay dividends against a defense that's prone to mental errors.

KEY MATCHUP: Jon Merrill vs. rust. If Merrill is back up to full strength on defense, he should shore up Michigan's D and help clear the zone against Alaska's shot barrages.

WHEN MICHIGAN HAS THE PUCK: Alaska's goaltending situation has improved since senior Steve Thompson was replaced with a tandem led by freshman John Keeney. Keeney's save percentage of .914 is the best of the bunch; he isn't outstanding yet but shows lots of potential for the future. Finding Keeney way down in Twin Peaks, CA was a shrewd piece of scouting by head coach Dallas Ferguson.

KEY MATCHUP: Jake Trouba vs. Winnipeg desperately wanting him now, now, now.

ON THE POWER PLAY: Alaska doesn't do much either way on the power play, being among the CCHA leaders in penalty-killing and near the basement in power play efficiency.

FEAR LEVEL: 0. With HOCKEYBEAR at the vanguard, the Nanooks have nothing to fear.

DESPERATE NEED TO WIN LEVEL: 0. The Nanooks have HOCKEYBEAR's unconditional support.

THE SECTION WHERE I PREDICT THE SAME THING KENPOM DOES: KenPom doesn't predict hockey games.

THE STRICTURES AND CONVENTIONS OF SPORTSWRITING COMPEL ME TO PREDICT: Nothing compels HOCKEYBEAR to do anything. However, I predict that Michigan fans will expect to get six points this weekend and come away disappointed. (Don't RAMPAGE me, BEAR, but I don't think Michigan fans would expect to take six points from Huntsville or SEAWOLF at this point.... -ed) A combination of some hot goaltending by Keeney and even more Michigan defensive breakdowns will allow my 'nooks to take home 1-4 points. If it's just one point, you'll be mostly okay. If it's four, the wailing and gnashing of teeth will continue and you will contemplate replacing Red Berenson with an actual red bear and son.

I also predict lots of cheers for HOCKEYBEAR from the crowd at Yost, because you wouldn't want me smashing your nice newly-renovated arena. But you had also better shape up and support your team.

Lastly, more than half my 'nooks are Canadian and we don't have Tim Hortons in Alaska. If you could be so hospitable as to direct them to your new 24/7 location, that would be very nice of you. Plus it may be to your advantage to get my 'nooks full of do-nuts and make them sluggish.

GLI Wrapup/BGSU Preview

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).

RIT Preview

Michigan kicks off the 2012-13 season for real against the RIT Tigers. The Tigers won their exhibition game against the University of Ottawa by an 8-1 score. Eight different players scored for them in the game, and they went 4-for-8 on the power play.

Last season, the Tigers went 20-13-6 and finished in a three-way tie for third in Atlantic Hockey (two points out of first). They went to the AHA Championship Game before losing 4-0 to Air Force. Against teams from the major conferences, they lost beat Ferris State 3-0, beat LSSU 3-1, and got swept 6-3 and 2-1 by Wisconsin.

From that team they return 16 players including leading scorer Mike Colavecchia (14-18--32, with 8 PPGs), but Colavecchia will not play for the first month of the season due to injury. Because of that, they'll be down their top three scorers from a year ago. They also lost three senior defensemen, including two captains. Additionally, goaltender Shane Madolora, who put up Hunwick-numbers in his sophomore and junior years, graduated and is now playing in the ECHL.

Matt Garbowsky, an alternate captain, will be their top returner in the lineup tomorrow night. He had 9-11--20 a year ago. Adam Mitchell had nine goals a year ago as well, but five of those were game-winners. Bryan Potts had 4-1--5 in seven games before being injured and missing the rest of the season.

On the blueline they're led by captain Chris Saracino, who had 2-7--9 in 14 games a year ago before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He was their best defenseman last year and runs their power play and is on the penalty kill. Greg Noyes had six goals and 20 points from back on the blueline.

Anthony Hamburg is the first-ever draft pick to play for the Tigers. He was a 7th round pick of the Wild back in 2009. He played seven games for Colgate before going back to the USHL. He'll help them.

RIT was 44th in offense a year ago at just 2.54 goals per game. They were eighth in team defense, but again, they lost a lot on the back-end. Their PP and PK were about where you'd expect them to be given the offensive and defensive stats.

According to the USCHO team preview, it sounds like they'll be platooning in net. Josh Watson was 1-1-1 with a 1.63/.940 a year ago. He was in net for their win over Lake State. Jordan Ruby was 1-3-0 with a 3.03/.904. He got to play against Union as well as one of their games at Wisconsin, so he had a little taste of a hostile environment. Watson and freshman Ken MacLean split time in their exhibition win over Ottawa. MacLean had a 2.76/.911 for Kalamazoo in the NAHL last season.

These will be the first meetings between the teams.

CCHA Quarterfinals: Notre Dame Preview

Thanks to NMU losing a home playoff series to BGSU for the second year in a row, the Wolverines will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second round of the CCHA Tournament. Notre Dame advanced by putting Ohio out of their misery, 2-0 and 4-2.

In Friday night's contest, ND used two Billy Maday goals and 33 saves by Steve Summerhays (11 in each period) to take a 1-0 lead in the series. On Saturday, Ohio scored a pair of goals in the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission, but the Irish scored three unanswered (including a Maday ENG to seal it) to end Ohio's season in all likelihood. Unbelievably, the Buckeyes were 14-4-1 on New Year's and won one game the rest of the season and finished the year .500.

Notre Dame is a more dangerous opponent than you'd typically expect to see in the second round as the #2 seed, but the Irish stumbled to an 8th place finish in the conference this year. They're 19-16-3 overall and were below .500 (12-13-3) in conference. Like Ohio, they got off to a good start (10-2-3 in their first 15), and then got wildly inconsistent. They lost 4-straight (including an ugly 9-2 loss to Northeastern), won 3 in a row, then went 6-10 down the stretch (including 5 straight losses, where they were outscored 18-4).

The offense hasn't been there lately and the defense has been hit or miss. The four goals they scored against Ohio in the clinching game of the first-round series was the first time they've put up more than 2 in a game since late January. They had gone 9-straight scoring two or fewer. The defense gave up 18 in their five game losing streak, but only gave up 25 over the past ten as a whole.

I can't imagine we'll see Mike Johnson in net. Steve Summerhays played both games last weekend, gave up 2 goals total, and made 30+ saves in both games. Johnson hasn't won since February 3 and has an ugly stat line: 9-10-3 with a 2.69/.883. Summerhays is 10-6 with a 2.43 and a .907. He's given up two goals in his past three starts, but lost his four starts prior to that. He was chased in two of them, including 5 minutes into a game against Ferris. Summerhays did hold Michigan to three goals on the weekend the last time these teams met.

Despite the offensive struggles (42nd nationally in offense), this team does have some talent up front. Everyone knows about TJ Tynan (13-28--41) and Anders Lee (16-17--33) by now. Behind them are Billy Maday and Riley Sheahan, who both have 20+ points. It doesn't seem like they get a whole heckuva lot out of the top two lines though. Outside of their top 5 forwards, no one has more than 5 goals (and no other forward has more than 11 points).

Tynan has been held in check lately. He has just one goal and four points in his last nine. He had two assists in ND's Friday-night win against Michigan earlier this year. Lee has scored goals in two of his last three, but before that he was held out of the goal column in 14-straight games and 23 of out his last 24(!!!!). He started the year with 12 goals in his first 11 games, but has really cooled off since.

Tynan, Lee, Maday, and Sheahan have combined for 24 power play goals on the season (also, all four of Robbie Russo's have come with the man advantage). ND is middle of the pack on the PP and PK.

None of the Wolverines have been overly successful against ND in their careers. No active player has more than 2 goals or 4 points against the Irish. Hunwick has a .931 save percentage, but hasn't gotten much help. He only has a 3-3-0 mark. The big stat in Michigan's favor: They've made the CCHA semifinals in 23 straight seasons.

All two/three games will be at Yost and will be 7:35 faceoffs. Saturday night's game will air on Comcast Local, but there is no TV for the other one/two games. This sure would be a nice time to have the live internet video back, Dave Brandon!

Bowling Green Preview

Have you voted Shawn Hunwick for Hobey today? Here's the link. It literally takes 2 seconds. 

The final weekend of the regular season takes the Wolverines down US-23 to Bowling Green, Ohio. After giving up just six goals in a 4-0-1 start, the Falcons have struggled to a 9-20-5 record this season (4-18-4-3 in the CCHA). Just four of those wins have come at home. They've beaten LSSU, Alaska, WMU, and Notre Dame in conference play.

BGSU comes in having lost their past four games. Last weekend they went up to Big Rapids and were handed 5-1 and 4-1 losses by the #1 Bulldogs.

They've given up 4+ goals on fifteen occasions this year, and haven't scored more than 3 since a 4-4 tie against Miami back on November 19th. They've scored just 26 goals in the 20 games since. In 14 of the 20, they've been held to 0 or 1. They rank 57 out of 58 in offense at 1.65 goals per game. Alabama-Huntsville is the only team below them (with a dreadful 1.19). They haven't won a game when they've given up more than 2 goals.

As you'd expect with that kind of offense, the numbers aren't pretty. Jordan Samuels-Thomas, the leading scorer the past two years, took his 46 carer points and transferred to Quinnipiac. The Falcons have just five players who have cracked the 5-goal barrier and five players who have double-digit points.

The good news for BGSU is that 43 of their 56 goals have come from underclassmen and their five leading scorers are made up of three freshmen and two sophomores. They're led in goals, assists, and points by freshman Ryan Carpenter who has 8-12--20. Camden Wojtala is right behind him with 7-11--18.

Lee Moffie has outscored their entire defense corps by 2 goals and 6 points. Robert Shea is the top-scoring blueliner with 4-4--8.

CCHA Commissioner Fred Pletsch's son Ted is a freshman forward. He has 5-1--6 on the year.

The power play is 55th at 9.5% and they haven't scored with the man advantage in their last 35 opportunities, dating back nine games. Both Wojtala and 7-goal scorer Alan Williamson have 3 PPGs to lead the team.

Defensively they aren't that bad. They rank 32nd in the country at 2.82 goals per game, tied with Notre Dame for last in the conference (but still fairly middle-of-the-pack overall). The PK is 25th, despite having given up a goal in five-straight games.

In net it's been Andrew Hammond all the way. He's started every game this year and has every decision but one. He has a 2.67 goals against and a .896 save percentage. He's done his part, despite a 19 point drop in his save percentage from last season. He currently ranks 4th in the CCHA Perani Cup Three Star Award standings.

Andrew Wallace is a 60% faceoff guy, but no one else on the team is higher than 50%.

Michigan has won seven straight in the series and was 4-0 last season, outscoring the Falcons 17-5. No Falcon player has more than one career point against the Wolverines. Wohlberg (9), Moffie (4), and Merrill (4) all have averaged one point per game against BGSU. Shawn Hunwick has faced the Falcons on three occasions and is 3-0-0 with a 0.72 goals against and a .963 save percentage.

The Wolverines can wrap up a share of the CCHA Title with six points against the Falcons, combined with Western Michigan sweeping Ferris State again. Michigan has locked up a bye in the first round of the CCHA Tournament and will clinch home-ice in the second round with two points this weekend. There is no video for either Michigan game, though the Friday night WMU/Ferris game will air on FSN-Detroit.

FYS Preview

It's fitting that Michigan is playing against Little Brother this week, given that Brian Hoyer got to be Tom Brady's water boy in another Super Bowl, Mario Manningham made a game-changing play that gave Greg Jones a chance to propose to his girlfriend, and the eyes of the hockey world were on Ann Arbor as the NHL wants to play their Winter Classic at Marcia, Marcia, Marcia's stadium! It's not fair, dammit!

Anyway, Friday night's game is at Munn Library and Ice Arena while Saturday's contest will be at Joe Louis Arena. The Big Ten Network and Fox Sports Detroit will air the respective games.

The Wolverines will play Friday night without Chris Brown, who was suspended for his altercation with Miami's Will Weber on Saturday night.

The Shartans sit in a tie with LSSU for seventh place in the CCHA, though FYS is just one point behind Ohio and Miami and has two games in hand on both of them.

Sparty returns home after playing their last four on the road. They were swept by Ferris State and then swept the Buckeyes in Columbus, as Ohio continues their free-fall from the top spot in the rankings to possibly landing out of the NCAA Tournament.

They rank 15th in the nation in offense at 3.13 goals per game, but have just one player with 10+ goals, and that's Mike Merrifield with 11. They do, however, have six players with 8+ goals. Sophomore forward Lee Reimer leads the team in points with 8-19--27. Torey Krug has 8-16--24 from back on the blueline, including five goals on the power play.

Merrifield got off to a very fast start, but has only put up 3-1--4 since the start of December. Assist-leader Reimer has been in a slump as well. He has just four assists in 2012 and hasn't scored since a 1-1--2 performance the last time these teams met at Munn. Krug has 10 points in his last 7.

In net, it's been almost a dead-split between DREW PALMISANO IS FROM ANN ARBOR and Willie Yanakeff, who played for the NTDP in Ann Arbor. Yanakeff has outperformed the senior, however. He has a 10-5-1 record to Palmisano's 5-6-3. Yanakeff leads in GAA 2.37 to 2.77 and has a .927 save percentage compared to Palmisano's .914. That said, the Wolverines put four past Yanakeff at Yost, and Palmisano has given up 7 on 87 shots in two games against Michigan (a shootout win when he acted like they won the Stanley Cup and an overtime loss in the GLI).

Palmisano has only played three games since the GLI Championship game, and has given up 11 goals, including 9 in his last two starts. Yanakeff has played in seven games this calendar year and has three 40-save performances to his credit in that span. I'd imagine we'll see both goalies.

The Spartans have a 15.9% power play, which is actually one slot in the rankings behind Michigan's 16.1%. They've scored one fewer power play goal on five fewer chances with the man advantage. They're very good on the PK however. They rank second nationally with an 89.1% (and the team ahead of them is Robert Morris, so for all intents and purposes, the Spartans are the best penalty killing team in the country). They've given up 13 power play goals on 119 chances. Michigan has climbed the ranks up to #15, as they've been phenomenal since these teams last met. Michigan has given up 20 PPGs on 127 short-handed occasions (84.3%).

David Wohlberg has been an absolute Spartan-killer in his career. He is far and away the tops on the team against FYS, with a 9-8--17 line in 18 career games. The next highest on the Wolverines in points is Chris Brown, with 8 in 13 games. He'll only get one crack at them this weekend.

Shawn Hunwick is 6-2-1 with a 1.94/.929 against Michigan State in his career.

Notre Dame Preview

What the hell is the matter with me? Three posts in one day?

Anyway, the teams that are tied for fifth in the Pairwise rankings square off this weekend as #7 Notre Dame takes on #10 Michigan at the new Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend.

Notre Dame will play Friday night's game without third-leading scorer (and Red Wings prospect) Riley Sheahan, as he was suspended one game for a hit to the head against Western Michigan.

Notre Dame is 13-8-3 on the season and 8-5-3-0 in the CCHA. They've been struggling as of late, going 3-6-0 in their last nine, though two of the wins were against Minnesota and Boston University. They were swept 3-2 and 3-1 by WMU last weekend.

The Irish have played a tough schedule this season. Their non-conference slate has featured two games against Minnesota-Duluth, Boston College, Boston University, and Minnesota. They're actually 4-1 in those games, yet somehow got bitch-bombed 9-2 by Northeastern.

Notre Dame has been uncharacteristically weak in between the pipes this year. While they rank a middle-of-the-pack 27th in goals against average (2.75), their goaltenders are 62nd and 67th out of 76 qualifying goalies in save percentage. Steven Summerhays has an .893 and Mike Johnson has an .887. Johnson has 18 GP to Summerhays's 10, but it's been Summerhays more often than not lately. Johnson has lost five straight starts after being unbeaten in 10. In the 9-2 loss to Northeastern, he was pulled after giving up goals on the first three shots of the game. His start in a loss to WMU last Saturday night was his first start since 12/9/11. In his five-game losing streak he has a 4.55 goals against and a .792 save percentage. In two games against Michigan last season, Johnson was 1-1 and gave up 6 goals on 57 shots (he stymied Michigan one game and gave up 5 on 33 the next night).

Summerhays has been better. He's 6-2-0 on the season and made 30+ stops against Minnesota and BU within his last 3 appearances. He, too, got shellacked by Northeastern (4 goals on 12 shots), but he's been much more sound than Johnson overall. Last year he had a 3.04/.863, so this is an improvement. Summerhays gave up 3 on 22 shots in a losing effort at Michigan last March.

The Irish are also middle-of-the-pack in offense. They rank 25th in the nation, scoring exactly 3 goals per game. They've got some talent up front, though. TJ Tynan has a 9-22--31 line in 23 games this season to rank in the top-10 nationally in points per game. He's actually ahead of his point-scoring pace from last season, when he had 54 points as a freshman. Tynan has been held off the score-sheet on just 5 occasions this year and he has 3-3--6 in his last four games. He started the year with 14 points in his first seven games.

Anders Lee has 14 goals and is just a tick off his point-a-game pace from last season. Lee has cooled off significantly after a scorching-hot start. He had 10 goals in the first seven games of the season (and he scored at least once in all of them) and had 12 in his first 11. In the 13 games since then, he's scored just twice, both in one game against BU. He has just 3 assists over that span as well. Lee and Tynan have combined for 11 power play goals.

Sheahan has 21 points on the year, and they've got 5 others with 10+ points, including 3 defensemen.

For a team that hasn't lit up the scoreboard, the Irish are strong on the power play. They've tallied at least one power play goal in 19 of their 24 games this year. They only rank 17th in PP (20.7%) but they've been effective. Only Minnesota, Union, Maine, and Connecticut have more tallies with the man-advantage. Then again, only Minnesota-State, Quinnipiac, Clarkson, and Vermont have had more chances on the power play. The PK is 28th in the country at 82.4%.

The special teams edge goes to Notre Dame. Michigan is -4 on special teams. Notre Dame is +9. They've been short-handed 16 fewer times and have had 21 more power play opportunities.

Michigan has 6 players with 3-career points against Notre Dame. Glendening and Wohlberg are the only players with multiple goals. Shawn Hunwick is 2-2-0 in his career with a 2.64 goals against and a .914 save percentage. 

Tomorrow night's game airs at 7:35 on NBC Sports (formerly Versus). Saturday's game is at 7:35 and will be on CBS College Sports. (Edit: I originally went with the USCHO times. NBC Sports lists it as a 7:35 faceoff as does Michigan, so we'll go with that. USCHO had it as 7:05.)

LSSU Preview

Michigan's run through the gauntlet begins with a pair of games at home against the LSSU Lakers. The Lakers are having a good season by most teams' standard, but a fantastic season by their standard. Jim Roque's team hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since Jeff Jackson left after the 1995-96 season, but right now they sit in a tie for 13th in the PWR.

The Lakers are 12-8-2 on the year and a solid 6-3-2 on the road. They were 8-2-0 in the first ten but have hit a bit of a rough patch since then. Not quite Michigan November rough, but they won just two of their next nine games (not counting a shootout win). They've won two of the past three, not including an exhibition win over Western Ontario their last time out.

They swept Michigan State, they swept Miami at Miami, they split with NMU, and they split with Notre Dame. So they've had some good performances against some good hockey teams. They got swept at Ohio State, but one of the losses was 2-1.

They've been cold more often than not offensively. They average 2.68 goals per game, which is 36th in the country. They've been held to two or fewer goals in 10 of their last 14 games. They're 14th nationally in team defense, though, giving up just 2.45 goals per night.

As usual, they're very rarely penalized. They only take 9 PIMs per night, which is 57th out of 58 teams. They've only been shorthanded on 79 occasions this year, and they're very effective when they are shorthanded. They rank 5th in the country in PK at 88.6%. The power play is middle of the pack at right around 20%. So LSSU has a definite advantage on special teams, at least if the rest of the season is an indication.

They're led offensively by Domenic Manardo, who has an 8-12--20 line. Four of his eight tallies have been game-winners. Only four players in the country have more game-winners. LSSU also has a pair of 10-goal scorers in Nick McParland and Kyle Jean. Defenseman Zach Trotman has 6 goals (4 on the PP) and 14 points.

It's been Kevin Kapalka in net most of the way for the Lakers. He's 11-6-2 with a 2.45/.916. Sophomore Minnesota State transfer Kevin Murdock doesn't have the record (1-2-0) but he has a 2.02 goals against and a .927 save percentage. He was strong in the 2-1 loss to Ohio State and played in the Catamount Cup championship game against RIT in their last game that counted. I would think that we'll see Kapalka, but it wouldn't be a major shocker to see Murdock either.

In the series, the Wolverines have won the past 13 meetings. The Lakers haven't beaten Michigan since February of 2007. Let's hope that continues. Prior to this most recent winning streak, the teams were tied in the all-time series.

David Wohlberg has 3-5--8 in 8 career games against the Lakers. Luke Glendening has seven points over that span. Shawn Hunwick is 3-0-0 with a 1.33/.947 in his appearances against LSSU. Kevin Lynch had 3-1--4 in the two games last season.

Friday night's game will air on FSN Detroit+. Saturday's game will be on Comcast.

Northeastern and Union Previews

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

After a rough start to the CCHA season (3-5-2-1), the Wolverines return to non-conference play for a weekend. With the demise of the College Hockey Showcase thanks to Wisconsin footballifying their non-conference hockey schedule, the Wolverines have scheduled games against Northeastern (Friday) and Union (Sunday afternoon) this weekend.

Northeastern Preview:
Northeastern is 3-7-2 on the season and are just 1-5-1 away from home in Jim Madigan's first season behind the bench. The Huskies dove right into the Hockey East schedule at the start of the season. This is actually their first non-conference game of the year.

Despite the tough start to their season, the Huskies are coming off a pair of wins last weekend. On Friday night, they defeated Providence by a 5-2 score. The next night, they downed Vermont 4-1.

They've also given some good teams a run for their money. They've lost two one-goal games to Boston College (once in overtime) and in early-November they took the only unbeaten team in the country, #1 Merrimack (yes, Merrimack), to overtime on back-to-back nights, tying one and losing one.

They'll be a test for a Wolverine team that has dropped five of its past six (counting the SOL to Miami). Northeastern has struggled to put the puck in the net against good teams, however. They've scored just 8 goals in the 5 games they've played against ranked opponents.

They've been led offensively by freshman Ludwig Karlsson, who has 6-4--10 in 10 games. He had three goals last weekend and was named Hockey East Player of the Week. Justin Daniels has 5 goals and 4 assists in 12 games. Vinny Saponari, formerly of the USA NTDP, has 8 assists on the year to lead the team.

They don't get a ton of offense out of their blueliners. The whole crew has only accounted for 14 points on the year. They're very young on defense. Junior Drew Ellement is the only upper-classman. Beyond him, they've got 3 sophomores and 3 freshmen on the roster. Junior Drew Daniels is listed as a forward but has played the entire season back on D. Last weekend they dressed 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores, and 2 juniors.

In net, all but one decision has gone to three-year starter Chris Rawlings. The junior is 3-6-2 on the year with a 2.59 goals against and a .927 save percentage. Very solid. He's improved both of those numbers each season. Last year he had a 2.68/.920. One strange note: Last year, he faced either BC or BU eight times in a 10-game stretch. He's a big dude, listed at 6'5", 207. He also just recently tied Brad Thiessen atop Northeastern's career shutouts list (9).

Northeastern has always played Michigan tough. Back in the 06-07 season, they gave up a tying goal to Chad Kolarik with 5 seconds left in regulation before falling in overtime. They rebounded the next night by knocking off Michigan at Yost. They also beat the Wolverines in the Left McFadden tournament to kick off the 2004 season. If I remember right, we were ranked #1 at the time. I definitely remember that I was working at the Michigan Union Bookstore at the time, heard the score as I was leaving for the day, and was pissed. It's amazing that I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I can remember where I was when we lost a hockey game seven years ago.

Motivation:
From Northeastern's game notes:

Michigan is led by the junior duo of A.J. Treais and Lindsay Parks with 13 points apiece while nine skaters have registered double digits.

Oops!

Random:
They have seven players who have been drafted. Three of them have been picked by San Jose.

Sophomore Cody Ferriero is the brother of Benn, a former standout at Boston College.

Union Preview:
On Sunday afternoon, the Union Dutchmen come to town. The #13 team in the country is 6-3-3 on the year and have been excellent on the road, boasting a 5-1-1 record away from the Achilles Center. There are two caveats to that: 1) They play in the ECAC, so they automatically get an asterisk. Blame Yale for that. I made that rule after the NCAA Tournament last year. 2) This kind of goes along with #1, but the quality of competition is a question mark. To their credit, they tied WMU twice. Aside from that it's been Army, Niagara, RIT, UNH, American, St Lawrence, Clarkson, Brown, Yale (a 4-0 loss), and RPI.

Their prowess away from home isn't limited to this season. They're 12-1-1 in their last 14 road contests.

They have been rather stingy on defense as of late. Outside of the four goals that Yale scored, they haven't given up more than 2 since Oct. 21. That's 8 goals in 7 games (or 12 in 8 games if you include the contest against Yale).

Between the pipes has typically been sophomore Troy Grosenick. For the year, he has a 5-2-2 record with a 1.62 goals against and a .935 save percentage, good for third and fifth nationally. Last year he only recorded one decision. Against Yale, he was chased after just 22 minutes.

Offensively, senior Kelly Zajac leads the way. He is 5th nationally with 13 assists, and has 16 points on the year. He's also the brother of NHLer Travis Zajac, formerly of North Dakota. Kelly had 42 points last season.

Mat Bodie has 10 helpers from back on the blueline. Putting those pucks in the net are Jeremy Welsh (7, including 5 on the power play) and Wayne Simpson (6). Daniel Carr has 5-5--10 on the year, but three of those goals came in their last outing, a 5-1 win over RPI. Carr-Zajac-Simpson make up a dangerous top line.

Their power play is clicking along. Union ranks 5th nationally, scoring on 26.2% of their power plays. They've notched 16 goals with the man advantage this season, which works out to 1.33 power play goals per game. Staying out of the box would be nice. Their PP accounts for 42% of their offense.

They've also been really strong on faceoffs this year, at 56.2%.

Common Opponents:
We've actually played a surprising number of common opponents so far this season. Based on the results, they would point toward Michigan having an edge in this game.
They tied Niagara 3-3. We beat Niagara 5-0.
They tied WMU 2-2 and 3-3. We lost 3-2 and won 5-2.
They beat SLU 2-0. We beat them 10-3.

History:
This is the first time that Michigan and Union have ever faced off. They are the only ECAC team that Michigan has never played.

Some Love:
Some love to their athletic department for linking to my site in their official blog's preview of the weekend.

Final Thoughts:
Michigan looks to rebound from 3 tough weekends. After being unbeatable at home for nearly a full year, they've now dropped 3 of the last 4 at Yost. Northeastern has played good teams tough, but has struggled to put the puck in the net against them. Union has a better record, but has some question marks as to the quality of the competition. They're not intimidated playing on the road, however. Their road record is proof of that.

I'll take Michigan with two wins this weekend, though I think both of them will be closer games than you might typically expect, or that Red would want.

In Other News:
In other news, the Rangers have called up Carl Hagelin and he may make his NHL debut tomorrow night. Hagelin leads the Connecticut Whale with 7 goals and is second on the team with 13 points. He's also second in the entire AHL with a +12 rating. That's the player we know! Bork bork bork.

USA Hockey had a feature on Al Montoya, who hopes to make the 2014 US Olympic Team.

Michigan officially received Letters of Intent from Jacob Trouba, Boo Nieves, Justin Selman, Daniel Milne, Connor Carrick, and Jared Rutledge. Michigan Hockey Net has updates on a lot of our recruits in his weekly recruiting roundup.

Also, Bob Miller has started College Hockey PROSPECTive, a blog covering college hockey recruiting. It's very much a work in progress for the time being--he's targeting a true launch in January of 2012--but Bob is one of the best at covering the game and I very much look forward to reading his thoughts moving forward. That site will definitely be one to bookmark!

Lastly, don't forget to badger Dave Brandon about bringing back streaming video for hockey games! One again, unless you're at Yost, you won't see the games this weekend. (I'm going to keep on about this.)

Michigan vs. The Dynasty Preview

Photo Credit: Bill Rapai

Red Berenson's troops head south this weekend to take on the closest thing to a hockey dynasty that this world has ever known: The Miami RedHawks. In actuality, the RedHawks have been positively un-dynasty-like so far this year. They stumbled out of the gate, losing their opener against Bemidji, and started 0-4 in CCHA play after getting swept by Ferris and Lake State.

Last weekend, they went up to Alaska and beat the Nanooks by a pair of 2-1 decisions, despite being outshot 30-14 on Friday night.

The lack of offense has been a problem. Miami needed to replace Andy Miele, Pat Cannone, and Carter Camper after last season, and the result has been an offense that has scored just 2.30 goals per game this year, down from 3.75 a year ago. They currently rank 43rd in the nation in offense.

Through 10 games, Reilly Smith is the only player on the roster with more than 2 goals (5-1--6). (To compare, Michigan has 8 players with 3+ goals.) Even Smith's scoring has been cut in half, though. He averaged a very impressive 1.42 points per game last season (28-26--54 in 38 games).

As you'd expect, the power play has also struggled. They're clicking along at 14.0%, good for 40th nationally.

The goaltending/team defense also hasn't been at the level they're accustomed to. Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard return for their senior seasons. Reichard is 3-3-0 on the year with a 2.46/.902. Knapp is just 1-3-0 with a 3.17/.888 (!!). The PK is at 81.4% and they have scored 3 shorties already this year.

Knapp has lost three straight starts, and after giving up 4 on 15 shots in less than 30 minutes of work against LSSU, he did not play against Alaska. Reichard got both of those starts and gave up just two goals total. It'll be interesting to see if Blasi gets back to his goalie rotation this weekend, or if Reichard gets both starts again. I suspect it will depend on how tonight goes. If Reichard shuts Michigan down, he may just keep riding the hot hand. Reichard typically plays Friday nights in their rotation, so he'd get first crack regardless.

I've always been more impressed with Reichard anyway. Last year, he held Michigan to two goals on 55 shots during a weekend sweep in Oxford. He was also in net for both games of their sweep at Yost in 09-10, again giving up just two goals on 49 shots. Michigan did beat him in the CCHA Semifinals during that magic run. Knapp was ridiculous in the tournament game where the quick whistle did Michigan in. He stopped 55 of 57 shots that night. Strangely enough, that's been his only start against Michigan since his freshman year, when he played the majority of three games.

Freshman Tyler Biggs was Toronto's first-round pick in this year's draft after spending two years with the NTDP. He has 1-4--5 so far this year.

This is a big weekend for the RedHawks. Despite their struggles, Miami could get back to .500 with a pair of wins. A Michigan sweep would put Miami at 2-6-0-0 in conference and 4-8-0 overall. That's quickly getting to the point of needing to put together a run to make the NCAA Tournament.

Miami has struggled, but you have to think they'll right the ship at some point. It seems like Reichard has gotten back on his game, but the offense has still be uncharacteristically quiet. A couple of the Wolverine killers (Miele and Cannone) are gone, which is nice. It'll be interesting to see how Michigan responds to the hostile environment down there. I like the chances for a good weekend. Michigan has only been held below 3 goals one time this season and Miami has struggled to the put the puck in the net thusfar. Reichard has been great against Michigan in his career, so if Miami is going to get some points out of the weekend, he'll have to keep that up.

NMU Revisited and Ferris State Preview

The "top ranked" Wolverines went on the road for the first time to take on Northern Michigan last weekend. They lost on Friday night before rebounding with the first shootout win in program history on Saturday. That dropped them to a more-reasonable-but-still-probably-a-little-high #4 ranking.

Halfway through Friday night's game, Shawn Hunwick had made 17 saves and the score was 0-0. Hunwick was run into and reacted poorly. I haven't seen a video clip, but it looked like he clocked an NMU player with his blocker. He was given a 5-minute major penalty for contact to the head and was ejected. Luke Moffatt and Andrew Cherniwchan were also given fighting majors and game DQs in the altercation.

After the fight, NMU scored 4 goals on their next 14 shots. The Wolverine battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game with under 4 minutes to play in regulation, but the Wildcats scored just over a minute later and added an empty netter to win 5-3. Sparks, Hyman, and T. Lynch scored for the Wolverines.

The next night, the Wolverines got out to a 2-0 lead behind goals from Treais and Sparks. NMU scored a pair of power play goals to tie the score, before Kevin Lynch put Michigan back ahead heading to the 2nd intermission. NMU tied it back up in the first minute of the third period and it stayed that way the rest of the game. Michigan had a power play for almost the entire overtime session but was unable to capitalize. Treais scored the only goal in the shootout, and Michigan was able to salvage two points on the weekend (out of six).

#6 Ferris State comes to town for a Thursday/Friday series at Yost. The Bulldogs are 6-0-0 on the season and just swept The Dynasty last weekend in Big Rapids, which helped them jump 8 spots in the USCHO poll and got them a first-place vote. They've given up just 5 goals in six games and held the high-powered Miami offense to a pair of goals.

One positive: The Bulldogs played a pair of games against St Lawrence (on the road) and beat them 4-2 (with an ENG) and 5-1 (in a game that was 3-1 with under 5 to play). Michigan beat them 10-3 at Yost. They then blanked RPI by 4-0 and 2-0 scores. Last weekend, the Bulldog duo of Tyler Nelson and CJ Motte out-dueled Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp.

The Bulldog power play was the difference in that series. They went 4 for 13 with the man advantage and held the RedHawks scoreless on 8 opportunities. Both of their goals in the 2-0 game came on the power play.

As you'd expect, since they've only given up 5 goals, the goaltenders have fantastic numbers. Nelson and Motte have split time this year and are both 3-0-0. Nelson has a 1.34/.943 and Motte has a ridiculous 0.33/.986(!).

Only 8 players have scored for FSU (which matches how many we had against SLU), but Travis Ouellette has 6 (second nationally with four on the PP) and Kyle Bonis has 5. They haven't gotten any goals out of their defensemen, but Chad Billins had 6 assists.

Overall, they're 14th nationally with 3.50 goals per game. Clearly 0.83 goals per game defensively is #1 in the nation. Only five other teams are even within a goal of that. The power play is humming along at 25% and they've given up just one goal on the penalty kill, which is good for 96.4%.

Michigan 5, Niagara 0, Bentley is Next

This post is brought to you by Charter Communications

This is a new one. I don't think I've ever blogged from 20,000 feet before!

Anyway, the Wolverines kicked off their season on Tuesday against the Purple Eagles from Niagara. There was some apprehension heading into the game with the way the exhibition season had gone, but Michigan jumped on the board just over a minute into the game.

Zach Hyman made a beautiful centering pass from the side of the next that either Chris Brown or Lindsay Sparks could have put in. Initially the goal was credited to Sparks (his first of 3 on the night), but it was later changed to Brown.

With the Wolverines shorthanded in the middle of the first period, Shawn Hunwick's clearing attempt hit off a Niagara player and bounced over to Travis Lynch. Lynch went end-to-end with it, spinning around and shooting when a defenseman stepped up. The puck got through the goaltending for Lynch's first of his Michigan career.

With the game still 2-0, Shawn Hunwick absolutely robbed Iuorio on a cross-ice pass following a Wohlberg turnover at the blueline. That was the turning point in the game. Michigan would add three goals before the end of the second period to turn a fairly close game into a rout.

Sparks made an early-season entry in the "Michigan Goal of the Year" category as he jumped up to take an errant pass away before streaking down the left wing and then faking a forehand shot before pulling it to his backhand and putting it top-shelf. Great move and a better shot. He got that thing up in the air quick.

Sparks would add another a minute later. Alex Guptill used his big body to fend off Kevin Ryan. He slid it back to Clare at the point. He gave it back to Guptill, who fed Sparks. Lindsay's shot hit off Matt Williams (actually, I'm not so sure that Lynch's shot didn't do the same) and deflected into the net.

Three minutes later, Sparks would add his third point of the night. He got the puck to Hyman, who threw a picture-perfect pass off the sideboards to spring Chris Brown. Brown brought the puck in and uncorked a ridiculous wrist-shot from the faceoff dot, beating Carsen Chubak over his blocker. That thing was a frigging laser.

Adam Janecyk saw the first extended playing time of his career in the third period, as Shawn Hunwick came out of yet another game with a shutout in tact. Janecyk made 3 or 4 really nice saves to preserve the shutout. He was officially credited with 8 saves in 9 minutes.

Overall it probably wasn't the prettiest game Michigan has ever played. The Wolverines gave up a whopping 38 shots on goal and gave the Purple Eagles 6 power plays, but it was a pretty good performance overall.

I was really, really impressed with the play of a lot of our freshmen.

Travis Lynch was one of the best players on the ice the entire night. In addition to his goal, he saw a ton of time on the penalty kill and was the only Wolverine to win more than 50% of his faceoffs (uh-oh), going 11/18 on the night.

Hyman had two beautiful passes to set up goals. Di Giuseppe didn't get on the scoresheet, but I thought he was pretty active out there. He had a lot of puck touches and did some good things. They set him up in front of the net on a few occasions, and they were trying to set up the little "screen the goalie, send the pass down low, the screener pivots around and looks for a centering pass" play to him a couple of times.

I thought Mike Chiasson had a really solid game on the blueline as well. He made a great stick check to break up a Niagara opportunity, and he had the look of a guy that isn't going to want to come out of the lineup.

Guptill had an assist and led the team with 5 shots on goal. He saw a bunch of time out on the PK as well. We need penalty killers and it seemed like they were more than willing to give a bunch of guys chances to play out there. I thought a lot of the freshmen looked really good in that role.

Kevin Clare had a gorgeous breakup of a Niagara rush. He chased the guy down, dove, and knocked the puck away without even making the slightest contact with the Purple Eagle. It was nice seeing Brown get on the scoresheet twice early in the season after the way he struggled out of the gate last year. He's going to be critical to Michigan's success this year. Treais and Moffatt had some chances as well. (Moffatt also ended up with 5 shots on goal.)

All in all, a pretty successful first game! The new scoreboard is fantastic. They have some kinks to work out with replays and whatnot, but I'm sure more of the effort has been focused into getting the football scoreboard up and running. It didn't seem like any pucks came close to hitting it this game, though I know at least one got it in exhibition play. Man it felt good to be back at Yost.

Now the Wolverines welcome Bentley into Ann Arbor for a weekend series. The Falcons come out of Atlantic Hockey, where they were picked to finish 10th in the preseason poll. Six of their top eight scorers and all six defensemen return from a team that finished 10-18-6 a year ago. The highlight of their season was a 2-1 win over Northeastern fairly early on. They fell 6-3 to Sacred Heart in the first round of the AHA Tournament.

Sophomore Brett Gensler was their leading goal scorer last year and is their top-returning points man. He had 13-11--24 last year. They have a trio of junior forwards that had 15-18 points last year. They didn't get much offense out of the defense. Mike Switzer and Ryan Kayfes each had 3 goals and 12-13 points, but the rest of the D combined for 4-19--23 on the year, or less than we'd expect out of Jon Merrill in a full year. Freshman defenseman Matt Maher did put up 40 points in the BCHL a year ago, which led all defensemen.

In net, Joe Calvi is gone. He was in net for 16 decisions a year ago. In his place are senior Kyle Rank (4-5-2, 3.46/.904) and sophomore Brandom Komm (1-5-1, 3.16, .890).

Bentley had far-and-away the worst power play in the country last year, at only 8.4%. They scored 13 PPGs, but gave up 7 SHGs. Dustin Cloutier, who had 4 of the 13 goals, graduated. The PK was pretty solid, though. Middle of the pack.

No reason not to get two Ws this weekend. 

In other news, it was announced that the Wolverines will be hosting the 2013 NCAA West Regional. They'll be playing at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Since the NCAA would rather punish Ohio State than let Michigan host at Yost again, it seems U of M decided to bid out a different arena. This works. You're still in friendly confines, and you're guaranteed to not have to go play another team in their home arena. I'd rather be at Yost, because the atmosphere was unreal, but it's better to host in Grand Rapids than see what the NCAA comes up with for the bracket.

National Championship Preview: 10 Things to Know About Minnesota-Duluth

Ahh the words that I've been waiting to write since I started this blog back in 05. Tonight the Michigan Wolverines could become NCAA Champions for the first time since 1998--and the first time since I completely fell in love with Michigan hockey.

The only team standing in our way is the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, who seek to become the first team since 1993 to win their first NCAA Championship. Here are ten things to know about UMD.

1) They finished the regular season in fourth place in the WCHA, one point behind our first round opponent, Nebraska-Omaha. They are 25-10-6 on the season and were 15-8-5 in the WCHA and 3-1-0 on neutral ice. They started the season on a tear, going 11-1-2 out of the gate. They faltered down the stretch and went just 4-5-2 heading into the NCAA Tournament, with two of the wins in the first round of WCHAs.

2) They did okay against NCAA Tournament Teams, but certainly not great. They were 1-2 against North Dakota, 1-1 against Denver, 0-1-1 against CC, and 1-1 against Omaha. Then they obviously beat Union, Yale, and Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.

3) The offense is solid. They finished the year 11th in goals per game at 3.41, which is .06 ahead of where Michigan ended up. They have three of the top 12 in points per game, however, in Jack Connolly, Justin Fontaine, and Mike Connolly (no relation). Jack averaged one assist per game, second to only Hobey Baker-winner Andy Miele in that regard. That line combined for 44% of UMD's offense this season.

I've talked to some people here in WCHA country who swear the Connollys are the two best forwards in the WCHA.

They get some offense from the blueline, but it's almost entirely due to Justin Faulk, their Merrill. He was a second-round pick of Carolina and has 8-25--33 in his freshman year. Six of those tallies were on the power play. They had gotten 12 points in 17 games out of Dylan Olsen, but he went pro around New Years. The remainder of the defense corps combines for 35 points. As a whole (including Faulk) they have 6 goals while not on the man advantage.

4) Where the offense really gets scary is on the power play. Both Connollys have 7 markers with the man advantage, while Fontaine has 12, good for second in the country. As a whole, their power play is 7th in the country at 23.3%. They've scored 49 PPGs on the year and have only given up three shorthanded.

You only have to look to the Notre Dame game to see how good they can be when they are rolling, however. UMD was 3 for 6 in that game. They were 3 for 9 against Yale and 2 for 8 against Union. All in all, 8 of their 11 goals in the NCAA Tournament have come with the man-advantage. Over the past 11 games, their power play has cashed in on 33.3% (17 of 51).

The lesson here: STAY OUT OF THE BOX!!!!!! Or kill penalties like against North Dakota if you do end up in the sin bin.

5) Defensively, the Bulldogs are 17th, giving up 2.59 goals per game. (As a reference, Michigan has risen to 6th in the national rankings, at 2.21 goals per game.) Their goalie is senior Kenny Reiter. He's 15-7-5 on the season with a 2.32/.914. He's played well in the NCAA Tournament (Most Outstanding Player at the East Regional) but gave up a major softie to get Notre Dame back in the game in the third period. I heard the other two goals weren't anything special either. He can be beaten. From the limited amount that I've watched Duluth in the NCAAs, he seems like a decent puckhandler.

6) The PK is middle of the pack: 27th at 82.2%. (Michigan is 21st at 83.4%.) They have 7 shorties, we have eight. They've been shorthanded 4 more times than Michigan all season. Duluth gets the advantage on the special teams because their power play is much better than ours.

7) The teams haven't played since October of 2001, when they beat us 3-2. I distinctly remember that we were highly-ranked at the time, they were not good. I was working at the Michigan Union Bookstore that day, and when I checked the score line I ended up being really pissed off. Let's not repeat that. Why do I remember that, and I probably couldn't tell you what I had for dinner two days ago?

8) Jack Connolly was named to the All-West First Team as an All-American. Mike was on the second team, along with Carl Hagelin. 

9) Fontaine has points in 11-straight games and has been held off the scoresheet on just three occasions since the start of 2011. He has 11 multi-point games since January 1, including four in the postseason so far. He had three assists against Notre Dame in the semifinals. Jack had an 11-game point streak of his own snapped a few weeks ago, but he has also scored in all but three games this calendar year and has 2-2--4 in the NCAA Tournament. Most of that damage came against Yale. Mike has been held off the scoresheet on five occasions in 2011, but had a five-goal game against Minnesota(!). Strangely enough, that was his only multi-goal game since OCTOBER. And he had FIVE. He has 2-3--5 in the NCAAs. Again, most of that damage (1-3--4) was against top-seed Yale.

10) Travis Oleksuk has just 13 goals on the year, but seven were game-winners. A second-generation Bulldog, he's been their Mr. Clutch.

In reading up about Duluth, it sounds like they're scary offensively, but are largely a one-line team. Michigan will have last change in this game, which is a good sign as we can get Rust's line out there against the Connollys. The defensemen don't activate often, but Faulk is as good as it gets at both ends of the ice. He's got a killer shot on the power play, and that opens things up for the Connollys and Fontaine down low.

Reiter is a pretty good goalie who was excellent in the East Regional, but struggled against Notre Dame.

If Michigan comes out with one more effort like the last three, I fully expect to have "one for the other thumb" tonight. It should be a great game and it could go either way, but I like having last change, I like the way Michigan is playing right now defensively, I love the way they've been killing penalties, they've shown the ability to shut down a ridiculous top line, and Shawn Hunwick is the best goalie in the country right now.

I'm getting ready to head out the door to St. Paul. GO BLUE!