Michigan's first (and hopefully not last) opponent in the 2012 NCAA Hockey Tournament is the Cornell Big Red out of the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
The Big Red finished second in the ECAC, 2 points behind #1-seed Union. They were 18-8-7 on the season and 12-4-6 in conference. The big takeaway? All their games are close. They only had 13 games the entire season that weren't decided by 1 goal or fewer (of those, there were 3 more that ended up being 2-goal games due to an empty-netter). That works out to 23 of 33 games being extremely tight. They've played 12 overtime games on the season, including 10 of their last 19. They won't be intimidated if it's a close game.
When you think Cornell hockey, you think defense-first, strong goaltending, and it seems like they've got that again. They rank 12th nationally in team defense and Andy Iles has been very good in net for them. He's played every non-empty-net minute this season and has a 2.13 goals against (10th nationally) and a solid .918 save percentage (28th nationally). He also has six shutouts, five of which came in a six-game span back in November and December. Only two goalies have more. He's given up two or fewer in seven of their last ten, though he was shelled by Harvard (6 on 30 shots) in the ECAC semifinals.
The offense is middle-of-the-pack, 23rd in the country at 2.91 goals per game. In their last 9 games, they've scored 1 goal on 3 occasions, 3 goals on 3 occasions, and 4 goals on 3 occasions.
They have two players who cracked the 10 goal mark: Former St. Michael's Buzzer Greg Miller, who has 14-16--30 in 33 games, and senior Sean Collins (13-11--24). Those two happen to be their two leading point scorers as well. Defenseman Nick D'Agostino (also a former Buzzer) has 8-12--20, and has scored big goals for Cornell. 6 of his goals have come with the man advantage, and five of them have been game-winners. He leads the team in both categories. They have six guys with 20+ points and nine with 15+.
They were 1-0-1 against Union this year. Keep in mind that Union throttled Michigan (though, so did everyone back in November). They beat Niagara 1-0 about a month-and-a-half after Michigan beat them 5-0 in the opener. They also beat St. Lawrence by a single goal on two occasions. Michigan downed the Saints 10-3 in October.
The Big Red also took BU to overtime before losing 2-1 and took three of four points from Colorado College at CC.
Collins is a former Wolverine-his junior team was the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. And I mention that only because it's really fun to type Waywayseecappo.
Michigan is 3-2-1 all-time against Cornell, the last meeting coming in 1997. In their previous meeting in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan won the best-of-three series two games to one. That was the famous weekend when the Michigan faithful picked up a few things about cheering from the Cornell fans, which led to Yost becoming what Yost is today.
Kevin Lynch is actually the only Wolverine with multiple goals in NCAA Tournament play. He has a 2-1--3 line in six games. Shawn Hunwick is 4-2-0 with a 1.55 goals against and a .948 save percentage when they are playing for keeps. He's 16-4-0 with a 1.65/.938 in post-season play as a whole.
For more on the matchup, check out:
MGoBlog
The United States of Hockey, who has Michigan at 35% to come out of the region (Denver is also at 35%).
Also:
Vote Shawn Hunwick for Hobey!!! It literally takes like 5 seconds and you don't have to register, or fill out captchas or anything. He currently trails Spencer Abbott by 2% in the voting. We actually had him in the lead for a period earlier today.
Hoover Street Rag has their annual picks contest. No team capsules this year, guys?
I'll be at the game in Green Bay. I probably won't make it up there for the Ferris/Denver game, as, while I think it's going to be a great game, I don't want to take off half a day of work to be there, when I'm saving up vacation for my wedding/honeymoon in four months. If Michigan wins, it's highly likely that you'll find me at The Stadium View on Saturday, drinking before the game.
Travis Turnbull made his NHL debut tonight for the Buffalo Sabres. He played just over six minutes and didn't register anything on the stat sheet. Still, that makes 21 former Wolverines to appear in the NHL this season. Almost enough to dress an entire team.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Wolverines #1 Seed in Midwest Regional, Will Face Cornell
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to brace yourselves once again for the heart-attack-in-hockey-form that is the NCAA postseason. The brackets are out, and the Wolverines will be the #1 seed in the Midwest Regional, which takes place on Friday and Saturday in Green Bay, WI.
Michigan's first opponent will be the Cornell Big Red out of the ECAC. I'll have more on them later in the week, but they rank 12th in the PWR and have an 18-8-7 record on the season. They go to overtime a lot. 10 of their last 19 games have gone to at least one extra session. They lost 6-1 to Harvard in the ECAC Semifinals, but beat Colgate 3-0 to take third place. Earlier this year they had 5 shutouts in a 6-game span, but averaged less than 2 goals per game of their own during that stretch (and 8 of those were in 2 games). They're 23rd in offense and 12th in defense.
The winner of that matchup will take on the winner of Ferris State and Denver.
Here is the full bracket:
Midwest:
1) Michigan vs. 4) Cornell
2) Ferris State vs. 3) Denver
East:
1) Union vs. 4) Michigan State
2) Miami vs. 3) UMass-Lowell
West:
1) North Dakota vs. 4) Western Michigan
2) Minnesota vs. 3) Boston University
Northeast:
1) Boston College vs. 4) Air Force
2) Minnesota-Duluth vs. 3) Maine
The winner of the Midwest bracket will take on the winner of the East regional in the Frozen Four, which, for Michigan, would mean no BC or North Dakota until the Championship Game. Things actually set up really nicely.
The only complaint is that Michigan is the only #1 seed playing the late game in their regional. We saw this weekend what can happen when you're playing the late game and it goes multiple overtimes. I'd love to know what the logic is there, and it better be more than the miniscule TV ratings they'll get on ESPNU. For selfish reasons it's a good thing, since I won't have to take a day off work to get up there in time for our game. It's probably not the end of the world if the game is settled in regulation. If it goes multiple OTs, it could definitely play a factor the next day.
Michigan's trade off for not getting shipped to St. Paul is a tougher (seed-wise) first round game (13th seed instead of the 15th seed) and a potentially tougher second round game (6th seed instead of the 7th that you'd expect with the seeds). In practice, it's Cornell instead of Michigan State and Ferris instead of Minnesota-Duluth. With all due respect to the teams in our region, I'm happy with the way things shook out.
Michigan's game is at 9:00 pm EDT on Friday night. It will air on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. I'd assume we'll get more information about possible syndication later in the week.
Here's a blurb from MGoBlue about ticket information:
-The Packers Hall of Fame and seeing Lambeau Field are probably the two best things to do. Lambeau is as historical of a venue as there is in this country and I think even non-Packers fans would enjoy seeing it.
-There are a bunch of bars down the street from Lambeau, but my favorite without a doubt is The Stadium View. It's really close to Lambeau (obvious?) and it's even closer to the Resch Center. Great place. And given Cornell's mascot, it might not be a bad idea to learn the "The Bears Still Suck" polka. You'll make friends with the locals and it applies!
-As far as food goes, I haven't been up there in a few years. I remember liking the food at Brett Favre's restaurant. I'm actually kind of surprised that it's still there. The Prime Quarter is a solid grill-your-own-steak place. Chili John's and Kroll's are two of the famous local places, but I've never been to either one.
Michigan's first opponent will be the Cornell Big Red out of the ECAC. I'll have more on them later in the week, but they rank 12th in the PWR and have an 18-8-7 record on the season. They go to overtime a lot. 10 of their last 19 games have gone to at least one extra session. They lost 6-1 to Harvard in the ECAC Semifinals, but beat Colgate 3-0 to take third place. Earlier this year they had 5 shutouts in a 6-game span, but averaged less than 2 goals per game of their own during that stretch (and 8 of those were in 2 games). They're 23rd in offense and 12th in defense.
The winner of that matchup will take on the winner of Ferris State and Denver.
Here is the full bracket:
Midwest:
1) Michigan vs. 4) Cornell
2) Ferris State vs. 3) Denver
East:
1) Union vs. 4) Michigan State
2) Miami vs. 3) UMass-Lowell
West:
1) North Dakota vs. 4) Western Michigan
2) Minnesota vs. 3) Boston University
Northeast:
1) Boston College vs. 4) Air Force
2) Minnesota-Duluth vs. 3) Maine
The winner of the Midwest bracket will take on the winner of the East regional in the Frozen Four, which, for Michigan, would mean no BC or North Dakota until the Championship Game. Things actually set up really nicely.
The only complaint is that Michigan is the only #1 seed playing the late game in their regional. We saw this weekend what can happen when you're playing the late game and it goes multiple overtimes. I'd love to know what the logic is there, and it better be more than the miniscule TV ratings they'll get on ESPNU. For selfish reasons it's a good thing, since I won't have to take a day off work to get up there in time for our game. It's probably not the end of the world if the game is settled in regulation. If it goes multiple OTs, it could definitely play a factor the next day.
Michigan's trade off for not getting shipped to St. Paul is a tougher (seed-wise) first round game (13th seed instead of the 15th seed) and a potentially tougher second round game (6th seed instead of the 7th that you'd expect with the seeds). In practice, it's Cornell instead of Michigan State and Ferris instead of Minnesota-Duluth. With all due respect to the teams in our region, I'm happy with the way things shook out.
Michigan's game is at 9:00 pm EDT on Friday night. It will air on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. I'd assume we'll get more information about possible syndication later in the week.
Here's a blurb from MGoBlue about ticket information:
The Michigan Athletics Ticket Office will have Midwest Regional tickets on sale for hockey season-ticket holders only beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday (March 19) until 9 a.m. Tuesday (March 20). All-session tickets are $68. Hockey public season-ticket holders may order up to two tickets and hockey student season-ticket holders may order one ticket. Purchases can be made in person at the U-M ticket office or by phone by calling (734) 764-0247 or toll-free (866) 296-MTIX (6849). Tickets will only be available for pick up at the Resch Center.
General public looking to purchase tickets are directed to visit NCAA Regional Tickets (Green Bay) for more information.For those of you headed up to Green Bay, here are a few tidbits:
-The Packers Hall of Fame and seeing Lambeau Field are probably the two best things to do. Lambeau is as historical of a venue as there is in this country and I think even non-Packers fans would enjoy seeing it.
-There are a bunch of bars down the street from Lambeau, but my favorite without a doubt is The Stadium View. It's really close to Lambeau (obvious?) and it's even closer to the Resch Center. Great place. And given Cornell's mascot, it might not be a bad idea to learn the "The Bears Still Suck" polka. You'll make friends with the locals and it applies!
-As far as food goes, I haven't been up there in a few years. I remember liking the food at Brett Favre's restaurant. I'm actually kind of surprised that it's still there. The Prime Quarter is a solid grill-your-own-steak place. Chili John's and Kroll's are two of the famous local places, but I've never been to either one.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Wolverines Advance to the Joe!
Michigan drew a dangerous-but-underachieving Notre Dame team in round two of the CCHA Tournament and likely sent the Irish home for the season, sweeping the best-of-three series by 2-1 and 3-1 scores.
Friday night's contest was a goaltender duel, and Shawn Hunwick was slightly better than Steve Summerhays for the Irish. Michigan scored just over a minute into the contest when AJ Treais broke up a clearing attempt. Phil Di Giuseppe got off a nice shot that Summerhays got 90% of. It trickled in behind him, nicked the goalpost, and sat right on the goalline. Luke Glendening was driving the net and knocked it home.
That would be it for Michigan for the next 80 minutes of hockey. The Irish tied the game up about halfway through the third period. Hunwick stopped Tynan on a 2-on-1, but the Irish were able to regain control of the puck and get it to Anders Lee, who fired one past Shawn.
One overtime wasn't enough to settle things, even though both teams had numerous chances. Both goalies made some great saves to keep their respective team alive, and both goalies had some help from the iron. By my count (listening on the radio), the Wolverines hit three posts in the first overtime and the Irish hit a pair. Michigan had numerous chances early in the overtime. They had the benefit of a power play and nearly ended things several times, but couldn't get a puck to find the back of the net.
Early in the second OT, Travis Lynch and Jeff Rohrkemper won a battle on the sideboards for a puck. Lynch got it back to Bennett at the point, who found Chris Brown all alone by the faceoff circle to Summerhays's right. Brown sniped one shortside and the Wolverines had themselves a 1-0 lead in the series.
Hunwick made 37 stops in the contest. Tiny Jesus was spectacular at times, stopping numerous odd man rushes and flashing his glove to stymy the Irish (check out picture 25 in the photo gallery). Coach Berenson and Luke Glendening gave him credit for stealing that game.
The next night Michigan got out to a 3-0 lead behind two goals by David Wohlberg sandwiching a PDG tally. Notre Dame drew back within two on Peter Schneider's second of the year, but that was the last goal they'd score. Hunwick made 25 saves in the game, including a breakaway while it was still 0-0, and Michigan advanced to the CCHA semifinals for the 24th consecutive year. Hunwick is now 15-4 in playoff games.
Michigan took a 1-0 lead when Luke Glendening won a battle on the boards to get the puck down to PDG. Di Giuseppe centered for Wohlberg who put one off the water bottle.
The Wolverines increased their lead on another goal set up by an AJ Treais takeaway. He stripped Lorenz of the puck and threw one in front of the net that PDG tipped home. 6 1/2 minutes later, the Wolverines would score their last goal at Yost for the year. Alex Guptill tried to split the defense and had the puck poked away. It went right to Wohlberg who blasted one past Summerhays for his second of the game and 15th on the year.
Notre Dame scored just 19 seconds later to get back within two on a shot that Hunwick had no chance on. One of the Domers dumped one high off the glass out of the zone. Moffie caught it but was immediately knocked to the ice, which set up a 2-on-1 for Notre Dame down low. Sheahan got the puck across to Schneider and he was able to get one past Hunwick.
Notre Dame would come close on a shot that rolled up over Hunwick and down his back, but it somehow stayed out of the net. They had some chances in the waning moments, but the "second best" goalie in the CCHA prevented the Irish from making a game of it, and the Wolverines swept their rivals from South Bend.
For Notre Dame it's a likely end to a disappointing season that started with a lot of promise. The Irish went 10-2-3 out of the gate, Anders Lee looked like a Hobey contender, and then things pretty much just fell apart, even as their goaltending got better. (Summerhays had a sub-.900 save percentage at the time of the first meeting between these teams and ended up with a respectable-enough .910.)
The Wolverines will head to the Joe once again. Their opponent will be determined by the outcome of the lone Game 3 in the CCHA Playoffs tonight. If Ferris State beats Bowling Green, the Wolverines get Western Michigan. If the Falcons are victorious, they'll be the Wolverines' opponent. Miami absolutely rolled FYS and will be the fourth participant at the Joe.
Michigan now sits second in the Pairwise, behind only Boston College. Ferris State and Miami are 4th and 5th. Michigan State and WMU are part of a 3-way tie for 14th and the final two spots in the tournament. As things currently sit, they'd both be part of the field and Merrimack would be out. Merrimack has a Game 3 against Maine tonight. Northern, Notre Dame, Ohio, and Lake State are the next four teams out.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
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!
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!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Michigan Splits with Bowling Green, Finishes Second in CCHA
This weekend the Wolverines needed to sweep Bowling Green and have Western Michigan sweep Ferris in order to earn a share of the CCHA Championship. They got neither. On Friday night, the Falcons scored twice in the last seven minutes of regulation to down the Wolverines 3-2. It didn't matter from the CCHA Championship perspective as the Ferris State Bulldogs took WMU to a shootout to earn the one point that they needed to clinch the title.
On Saturday, the Wolverines rebounded with a tougher-than-the-score 3-0 victory. That was enough to tie WMU for second in the conference. Michigan gets the #2 seed via their one-win edge in conference wins over Western.
What does that mean? Michigan will have a bye in the first round of the CCHA Tournament and will then play one of the following teams in a best of three at Yost: LSSU, Notre Dame, Ohio, or Alaska. If all the home teams win in the first round, it will be LSSU.
The matchups in round one are:
Bowling Green at NMU
Alaska at LSSU
Ohio at Notre Dame
We know FYS will travel to Miami in round 2.
On Friday night, the Wolverines got off to a quick start, with Phil Di Giuseppe scoring just 38 seconds into the contest to give Michigan a 1-0 lead. Bennett got the puck up ice to Treais who slid it over to PDG. The lead was short-lived, however, as Chad Sumison scored his first of the year just six seconds later.
David Wohlberg knocked in the rebound from a Bennett shot to put the Wolverines back on top at the 4:58 mark of the first period, but once again the Falcons had an answer. Cameron Wojtala beat Hunwick over the blocker with about six minutes left in the opening frame. Moffie may have screened Hunwick on that one.
Late in the second, Brown worked it down low to Wohlberg who sent a centering pass in front that Guptill was able to tip home for his team-leading 16th goal of the year.
Adam Berkle tied things up for BGSU with just under seven minutes left in regulation. Cameron Sinclair put a shot on net and Hunwick left the rebound. Berkle jumped on it and got it past a diving Hunwick to make it 3-3. That's one that Hunwick would want back. The initial shot didn't seem particularly difficult.
The game seemed headed for overtime, but with just over a minute remaining Bryce Williamson picked Jon Merrill's pocket as he was bringing the puck out of the zone. Williamson turned around and sent one over Hunwick's glove for the game-winner.
It was a rough night for Moffie and Merrill, who were each -3. Pateryn and Bennett were +3 in the game.
If you're so inclined to watch the highlights, here they are:
On Saturday, it seems the goalies were the stars of the show. Hunwick and Andrew Hammond were the first and second stars of the game, which ended in a 3-0 Michigan victory.
The game was tied 0-0 after two periods, despite a 31-15 shot edge for Michigan and eleven power plays between the two teams. The Wolverine penalty killers again did their job, surrendering just five shots on the seven BGSU power plays through two. At one point, power plays were 6-1 in BGSU's favor. In one stretch the Wolverines killed five straight BGSU power plays without surrendering a single shot on goal.
Granted the CCHA officiating is, in large part, incompetent, but this is an alarming trend where Michigan ends up spending significantly more time in the box than their less-talented opponent. (I didn't see either of these games, so I have no idea as to the quality of these calls or if it was more Gongshow.)
After going 0-for-3 on faceoffs the night before, Alex Guptill won a big one five minutes into the third. He drew it back to David Wohlberg who let a shot go that somehow found its way past Hammond.
A few minutes later, Kevin Lynch gave the Wolverines a two goal lead. He won a draw back to the point. The shot deflected around and Moffatt got a stick on it. The puck sat just to Hammond's right and Lynch found it before anyone else, diving head-first toward the net and knocking it home.
Michigan would add an ENG from Mac Bennett for the final margin of victory. Hunwick made 22 stops for his 10th career shutout. Hammond stopped 46 Michigan shots in the loss.
AJ Treais put ten shots on net in the game. Kevin Lynch had seven of his own. Only Hyman, Travis Lynch, Rohrkemper, and Sparks were not a plus on the night. All the other Wolverines were on the ice for one of the Michigan goals.
Highlights are here.
As MGoBlog predicted, a split wasn't too damaging in the PWR. The Wolverines sit 2nd in the RPI, .01 behind BC, and rank third in the PWR behind Minnesota-Duluth and BC. If the tournament started today, North Dakota and Merrimack would be the last two teams in. Cornell would be the first team out, closely followed by 4 CCHA teams (WMU, Ohio, Notre Dame, and LSSU).
Tory Krug and TJ Tynan tied for the CCHA Scoring Title. Reilly Smith's 18 goals were good for the conference crown in that category (by 5). Alex Guptill was tied for 2nd in goals and tied for 6th in points.
Connor Knapp led the CCHA in GAA (1.41 to Hunwick's 1.93) and save percentage (.945 to Hunwick's .937), but also only played half the minutes that Hunwick did. Hunwick was second in GAA, Save %, and minutes played. He led the conference in shutouts with 5.
On Saturday, the Wolverines rebounded with a tougher-than-the-score 3-0 victory. That was enough to tie WMU for second in the conference. Michigan gets the #2 seed via their one-win edge in conference wins over Western.
What does that mean? Michigan will have a bye in the first round of the CCHA Tournament and will then play one of the following teams in a best of three at Yost: LSSU, Notre Dame, Ohio, or Alaska. If all the home teams win in the first round, it will be LSSU.
The matchups in round one are:
Bowling Green at NMU
Alaska at LSSU
Ohio at Notre Dame
We know FYS will travel to Miami in round 2.
On Friday night, the Wolverines got off to a quick start, with Phil Di Giuseppe scoring just 38 seconds into the contest to give Michigan a 1-0 lead. Bennett got the puck up ice to Treais who slid it over to PDG. The lead was short-lived, however, as Chad Sumison scored his first of the year just six seconds later.
David Wohlberg knocked in the rebound from a Bennett shot to put the Wolverines back on top at the 4:58 mark of the first period, but once again the Falcons had an answer. Cameron Wojtala beat Hunwick over the blocker with about six minutes left in the opening frame. Moffie may have screened Hunwick on that one.
Late in the second, Brown worked it down low to Wohlberg who sent a centering pass in front that Guptill was able to tip home for his team-leading 16th goal of the year.
Adam Berkle tied things up for BGSU with just under seven minutes left in regulation. Cameron Sinclair put a shot on net and Hunwick left the rebound. Berkle jumped on it and got it past a diving Hunwick to make it 3-3. That's one that Hunwick would want back. The initial shot didn't seem particularly difficult.
The game seemed headed for overtime, but with just over a minute remaining Bryce Williamson picked Jon Merrill's pocket as he was bringing the puck out of the zone. Williamson turned around and sent one over Hunwick's glove for the game-winner.
It was a rough night for Moffie and Merrill, who were each -3. Pateryn and Bennett were +3 in the game.
If you're so inclined to watch the highlights, here they are:
On Saturday, it seems the goalies were the stars of the show. Hunwick and Andrew Hammond were the first and second stars of the game, which ended in a 3-0 Michigan victory.
The game was tied 0-0 after two periods, despite a 31-15 shot edge for Michigan and eleven power plays between the two teams. The Wolverine penalty killers again did their job, surrendering just five shots on the seven BGSU power plays through two. At one point, power plays were 6-1 in BGSU's favor. In one stretch the Wolverines killed five straight BGSU power plays without surrendering a single shot on goal.
Granted the CCHA officiating is, in large part, incompetent, but this is an alarming trend where Michigan ends up spending significantly more time in the box than their less-talented opponent. (I didn't see either of these games, so I have no idea as to the quality of these calls or if it was more Gongshow.)
After going 0-for-3 on faceoffs the night before, Alex Guptill won a big one five minutes into the third. He drew it back to David Wohlberg who let a shot go that somehow found its way past Hammond.
A few minutes later, Kevin Lynch gave the Wolverines a two goal lead. He won a draw back to the point. The shot deflected around and Moffatt got a stick on it. The puck sat just to Hammond's right and Lynch found it before anyone else, diving head-first toward the net and knocking it home.
Michigan would add an ENG from Mac Bennett for the final margin of victory. Hunwick made 22 stops for his 10th career shutout. Hammond stopped 46 Michigan shots in the loss.
AJ Treais put ten shots on net in the game. Kevin Lynch had seven of his own. Only Hyman, Travis Lynch, Rohrkemper, and Sparks were not a plus on the night. All the other Wolverines were on the ice for one of the Michigan goals.
Highlights are here.
As MGoBlog predicted, a split wasn't too damaging in the PWR. The Wolverines sit 2nd in the RPI, .01 behind BC, and rank third in the PWR behind Minnesota-Duluth and BC. If the tournament started today, North Dakota and Merrimack would be the last two teams in. Cornell would be the first team out, closely followed by 4 CCHA teams (WMU, Ohio, Notre Dame, and LSSU).
Tory Krug and TJ Tynan tied for the CCHA Scoring Title. Reilly Smith's 18 goals were good for the conference crown in that category (by 5). Alex Guptill was tied for 2nd in goals and tied for 6th in points.
Connor Knapp led the CCHA in GAA (1.41 to Hunwick's 1.93) and save percentage (.945 to Hunwick's .937), but also only played half the minutes that Hunwick did. Hunwick was second in GAA, Save %, and minutes played. He led the conference in shutouts with 5.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
JMFJ Traded to Columbus
Jack Johnson was traded to Columbus as part of a deal that sent Harvick family-favorite Jeff Carter to the Kings. The Kings need help offensively as they are dead-last in the NHL at just a hair over 2 goals per game (125 goals in 61 games). Helluva team you've built there, Dean Lombardi!
It's a cruel fate for Johnson, who now has to live in Columbus, Ohio and play for that crappy team. On the bright side, Michigan fans will get to see him play more often and he gets away from Lombardi.
JMFJ ends his Kings career with 30-94--124 in 343 games. His numbers have been down this season, largely because it's hard to get assists when no one on the team can score. His best season was one year ago, when he had 42 points, including 28 on the power play.
Cue the haters in the comments....
It's a cruel fate for Johnson, who now has to live in Columbus, Ohio and play for that crappy team. On the bright side, Michigan fans will get to see him play more often and he gets away from Lombardi.
JMFJ ends his Kings career with 30-94--124 in 343 games. His numbers have been down this season, largely because it's hard to get assists when no one on the team can score. His best season was one year ago, when he had 42 points, including 28 on the power play.
Cue the haters in the comments....
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
