Now that a week has passed since Michigan was completely screwed out of a Frozen Four appearance, I finally feel like talking about hockey again. So, let’s take a look at who returns, who is departing, and the batch of newcomers for Michigan hockey next season:
FORWARDS
Key departures: Brian Lebler (graduation), Robbie Czarnik (CHL)
Key newcomers: Luke Moffatt, Jacob Fallon
Barring some unexpected departures, Michigan should be very strong up front next season after losing just one player (Lebler) who participated in more than 12 games in 2009-10. Leading scorer Carl Hagelin could very well be a Hobey Baker contender after hitting the 50-point mark, and should be reunited with fellow senior Matt Rust to form one of college hockey’s most dangerous two-way duos. Add in sniper Louie Caporusso, and the Wolverines will be blessed with a trio of senior forwards who could all be up for postseason honors.
With just Lebler, Czarnik (who after 12 games this season for the CHL), and seldom-used Anthony Ciraulo gone from the forward ranks, the Wolverines will not only have star power but also great depth. A trio of promising freshmen forwards — Chris Brown, Kevin Lynch, and A.J. Treais — could be poised for breakout sophomore seasons, and 2008-09 CCHA Rookie of the Year David Wohlberg will be expected to produce more as well after a somewhat disappointing second season as a Wolverine. Seniors Scooter Vaughan and Ben Winnett, junior Luke Glendening, and sophomores Jeff Rohrkemper and Lindsay Sparks will provide third- and fourth-line depth, and the team will also welcome freshmen Luke Moffatt, the #35 overall prospect and a four-star in CollegeHockey247′s class of 2010 rankings, and Jacob Fallon (four-star, #37 overall) to the fold.
With Hagelin making recent remarks that both he and linemate Matt Rust will stay in school for their senior seasons, Michigan looks to be in great shape up front in 2010-11. Hagelin really came into his own as a playmaker this season, and if Louis Caporusso can consistently produce like he did in his sophomore season or at the end of this year, the Wolverines should boast one of the best offenses in the country.
DEFENSEMEN
Key departures: Chris Summers (graduation), Steve Kampfer (graduation)
Key newcomers: Jon Merrill, Mac Bennett, Kevin Clare
The Wolverines won’t get off quite so easy with the defensemen, as the team will lose captain, and top blue-liner, Chris Summers and top-four defenseman Steve Kampfer to graduation. Red Berenson has worked his usual recruiting magic, however, and Michigan will reload with a trio of highly-touted freshmen next season: Jon Merrill (five-star, #4 overall), Mac Bennett (five-star, #13 overall), and Kevin Clare (four-star, #31 overall) should all see the ice in 2010-11. Merrill and Bennett both have the potential to be top-four defensemen right off the bat, while Clare should have a good shot at being one of the six regular defensemen as well.
Those freshmen certainly won’t be without competition, however, as Michigan returns seniors Chad Langlais and Tristin Llewellyn, juniors Brandon Burlon and Greg Pateryn, and sophomore Lee Moffie from this year’s squad. Langlais, the team’s top offensive defenseman, should once again find a home on the team’s top defensive pairing, and Pateryn will likely join him after filling in for an injured Summers there during the CCHA tournament. Llewellyn, if he can keep out of the box, and Burlon are both solid second-pair guys, although they could be pushed by Merrill. The interesting battle will be for the last defensive spot — Bennett has great talent, as does Clare, and Moffie struggled at times in the defensive end as a freshman.
Even with the loss of two NHL-caliber defensemen, it appears Michigan will be strong on the blue line once again in 2010-11. That leaves hockey’s most important — and Michigan’s most intriguing — position group.
GOALTENDERS
By now, we all know the story: after a stellar sophomore season Bryan Hogan played nearly every regular-season game this season, and struggled, before going down with a groin injury and being replaced, spectacularly, by walk-on Shawn Hunwick as Michigan tore through the CCHA tournament and secured a miracle NCAA berth. With no departures or newcomers at the position, Michigan is now looking at a battle for the top goaltender spot, and for one, I have no idea how it will (or should) turn out.
Hunwick, after going 8-3-0 with a 1.82 goals against average and .918 save percentage this season, will be the sentimental favorite heading into next season, but there will be serious (and legitimate) doubts about whether a 5-7 walk-on can continue to play that well over the course of a whole season. Hogan, on the other hand, has proven before that he can be a stellar #1 goaltender, after a sophomore season in which he posted a 1.97 GAA and .914 save percentage in 31 games. After his numbers fell across the board in 2009-10, however, there will be a lot of questions about which Bryan Hogan will show up next season.
How this position battle is handled, and who wins it, will go a long way towards determining the success of the Wolverines in 2010-11 — Michigan appears to be loaded at every other spot on the ice, and will simply need a goalie who can consistently play well to make a serious run at the Frozen Four.
It was a busy weekend for Michigan sports, and while one team lost in heartbreaking fashion, another pulled off a surprising road sweep to keep their tournament dreams alive.
By now, we all know what happened to the basketball team on Friday, when Evan Turner’s 37-foot prayer was answered at the buzzer to give Ohio State a 69-68 victory over the Wolverines and ending the 2009-10 basketball season for Michigan. My quick thoughts on the game, because it’s still painful to talk about and somewhat old news at this point:
First, it’s important to mention just how well the team played. While Michigan did allow Ohio State to go on a big run to end the first half, for the most part Michigan hung with, and outplayed, a team that just secured a two-seed in the NCAA tournament and had a strong argument for being one of the one seeds. Losing in that fashion was heartbreaking, but there’s no shame in the loss itself.
Unbelievable effort by Manny Harris, which unfortunately was overshadowed by Turner’s late-game heroics. 26-6-4 for Manny on 8-15 shooting, including the go-ahead shot that should’ve given Michigan the win. When it came time for someone to step up and get the Wolverines back in the game or to put them ahead, there was no question who was getting the ball: Manny took over, scoring 22 of his 26 points in the second half and putting the team on his back in the final minutes. I felt bad for DeShawn Sims, whose college career ended on Turner’s shot, but I felt just as bad for Manny, who poured everything he had into that game.
As for the last play: I can understand not guarding the inbounder, but there’s no excuse for not doing that and not getting a great deal of pressure on Turner in the backcourt. John Beilein and his players have tried to defend his, um, defense, saying they (obviously) didn’t expect Turner to hit a half-court shot and just wanted to contest without fouling or double-teaming and allowing another shooter to get an open look. That’s fine, except Ohio State had 2.2 seconds to get the ball all the way up the court and get a shot off. The only way to do that is to either pull the Christian Laettner (a desperation, full-court pass, for those that somehow don’t know what I’m referring to) or do exactly what Michigan allowed them to do: hit a guy running full steam towards midcourt and hope he has the space to get a shot off. If Michigan plays a tight man defense in the backcourt, Turner doesn’t have the chance to sprint before catching the ball, and there’s no way he crosses half court and launches a shot before the buzzer goes. Maybe he gets a look from 50 feet, but if he tries to pass it up to a closer player, he’s in grave danger of allowing time to expire without getting a shot off. I just don’t know how you can defend how Michigan played the last couple seconds, and it cost the team a (very slim, but still) chance at postseason play.
As always, UMHoops has a more in-depth breakdown if you enjoy pain and whatnot.
In much less depressing news, the Michigan hockey team was able to sweep the hated Spartans in their own arena this weekend to advance to the CCHA semifinals this weekend at the Joe, keeping the team’s NCAA tournament hopes alive in the process. The weekend saw a maddeningly inconsistent Michigan squad turn into the team people expected to roll through the CCHA in the preseason, as they dominated MSU 5-1 on Friday and clinched with a 5-3 victory on Saturday that was much more dominant than the score would suggest. I was able to catch the Saturday game, so here are my thoughts on the clinching victory:
First, as Brian gleefully points out in his weekend recap, karma finally caught up with Corey Tropp, the Spartans’ leading scorer who you may remember as “Goon #2″ in the Steve Kampfer on-ice assault last season. Tropp stepped on a puck in warmups before the clincher and wasn’t able to play because of the ensuing ankle injury. Seriously. If you don’t believe in karma, read that again: in all my years of watching hockey, I’ve never heard of that happening to a player, especially right before a potentially-deciding playoff game. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, in my opinion.
One would look at the box score and think this was a close game, with Michigan needing an empty-net goal to seal a 5-3 win late, but this game never should have been close. The Wolverines put in two early goals within a minute of each other, and looked to be running away with the game before taking a couple dumb penalties that allowed the Spartans to score two quick goals of their own and then a go-ahead tally with just 0.7 seconds left in the first period. The shot totals tell the real story of the game: the final tally was 44-21 Michigan, and the Wolverines outshot MSU 16-9 in the first and 16-1 (!) in the second. The team did an unbelievable job playing defense by controlling the puck on offense, which was much-appreciated considering the walk-on playing in net.
Those penalties, however, were infuriating, and not because of any issues with the officiating (surprise!). Tristin Llewellyn has a fully-deserved reputation for taking bad penalties at bad times, and he nearly cost the team the game on Saturday. He took an entirely unnecessary elbowing penalty with a minute left on a Chad Langlais penalty in the first, leading to a five-on-three that the Spartans capitalized on almost immediately, giving them time to score a second time before Llewellyn’s penalty time had expired. He then took another penalty, this time for a trip along the boards after turning the puck over, with under a minute left in the first, and MSU again took advantage with a goal. Yes, you could easily pin all three of MSU’s goals on Tristin Llewellyn taking bad penalties on Saturday. Brian points out, with a fair amount of surprise, that Llewellyn is a very impressive +9 in the CCHA tournament, which would be great if he didn’t spend so much time in the box. But he does, and it completely mitigates the positives he contributes when on the ice — take away his penalties, and this game is much like Friday night’s: a total laugher.
Michigan’s first two goals were set up by absolutely gorgeous passes. Ben Winnett made a great cross-ice pass that Matt Rust knocked home (with a deflection, it appeared) on the power play to put Michigan up 1-0, and David Wohlberg hit A.J. Treais tape-to-tape from the corner on his backhand 21 seconds later for the 2-0 lead. It was nice to see Wohlberg, who has been a disappointment in his sophomore season, have a great game on Saturday — he was passing the puck really well, especially in the first period, and he made a nice play to force a turnover and convert the empty-net goal to seal it.
Chris Brown’s effort to whack home a loose puck at the side of the net — a goal that proved to be the game-winner — was nothing short of a tremendous individual effort. To display that kind of power and presence of mind as a freshman is really impressive.
As for the goaltending situation: Shawn Hunwick has done an admirable job of stepping in for the injured Bryan Hogan, and the (awful) Comcast announcing team was calling for Red Berenson to stick with Hunwick until the team stops winning, but I think this team needs Hogan back if they hope to knock off Miami on Friday and move on to the title game. Hunwick makes up for his lack of size and talent by committing very hard to every shot, but while that style keeps him afloat sometimes, it also leads to goals like the one that tied the game at 2-2, when State’s Andrew Rowe (after faking out Brandon Burlon) made a quick fake on the short side that Hunwick over-committed to before going behind the net and converting a wide open wraparound. A better team probably would have been able to take more advantage of Hunwick’s style — it was really an adventure any time State got consistent pressure, which luckily wasn’t often. Hunwick has played well enough to advance Michigan this far, and he should be praised for it, but now is not the time to try “riding the hot hand” instead of going with your one scholarship goalie.
The Wolverines will need to advance to — and probably win — the CCHA title game to earn a bid in the NCAA tournament. They take on top-seeded Miami on Friday night at 8, and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network. As this is our last chance at salvaging something good out of an otherwise-awful 2009-10 academic year, I encourage you to make your way to Joe Louis or your sports bar of choice and pull hard for the Wolverines this weekend.
The normal basketball recap will be a bit abbreviated today, because, in the interest of full disclosure, my friends and I left the game with about ten minutes left when it was clear that Iowa had attempted to sneak a D-II team into Crisler Arena dressed as the Hawkeye basketball team. Instead, I’ll give my thoughts on an interesting weekend of Michigan sports.
After a week of practices that turned a lot of heads in the NFL, Brandon Graham earned MVP honors in the Senior Bowl with five tackles, two sacks, one TFL and a forced fumble. The week began with Graham projected as a late first/early second-round NFL draft pick, but his outstanding week has almost certainly solidified him as a first-round pick and one of the top defensive players available. I think Graham had to overcome the (patently false) perception that he was a decent player on a bad defense, and he exceeded the expectations of everyone who hadn’t seen him play at Michigan to show that he is, simply, a great football player. The only thing holding Graham back is his size — at 6’1, 263 pounds, Graham could be either an undersized 4-3 defensive end or a big, pass-rushing 3-4 outside linebacker. Personally, I think his future is with his hand on the ground, but a lot depends on what team grabs him in the draft. Either way, Graham showed this week that he is one of the elite prospects in the draft this season.
In basketball, Michigan beat Iowa 60-46 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score would indicate. I’m really not sure how much can be taken away from this one — Iowa is now 2-7 in the Big Ten, with their wins coming against Penn State (winless in conference play) and Indiana (3-5). Michigan scored the game’s first 13 points, held Iowa scoreless for nearly seven minutes, and kept the Hawkeyes without a field goal until almost ten minutes had elapsed. We spent half the game joking that Iowa guard John Lickliter — son of head coach Todd Lickliter — looked like he had been given his spot on the team as a Bar Mitzvah gift. It was one of those games.
DeShawn Sims carried the scoring load early, and finished with 20 points (on 9-18 shooting) and 12 rebounds (including nine offensive boards), as nobody on the Hawkeyes could really check him on the block. Manny Harris also finished with 20 points, but that number is deceiving — most of his points came in the second half, and he shot only 6-16 from the field and turned the ball over six times.
Other than that, it was your standard performance on offense from the Wolverines: nobody else finished with more than six points (Douglass and Novak), the team shot poorly (36.2% from the field, 26.9% from three) but came up with a lot of their own misses (15 offensive rebounds out of 27 missed shots), and the only consistent offense came when Harris and Sims were creating for themselves. Michigan dominated on the defensive end, however, holding Iowa to just 17-55 shooting and allowing just nine offensive rebounds, which allowed the Wolverines to rout the Hawkeyes.
One final thought on the game: Zack Novak was in foul trouble for most of the game, finishing with four fouls, and when he was replaced by Anthony Wright it really showed on both ends of the floor. On offense, Novak gets his hand on seemingly every miss that comes into his area, and even if he doesn’t pull down the offensive rebound he makes the defense work to get the ball back. Wright tends to hang out by the three-point line and occasionally throw up a brick. On defense, Novak has solid positioning and displays the same tenacity that makes him a great offensive rebounder for his size. Wright appeared lost on defense and doesn’t rebound as well as Novak despite a considerable height advantage. In short, let’s hope Novak stays out of foul trouble from now on — this team can’t afford losing him against a competent opponent.
I was actually able to catch both hockey games against MSU, as this was the rare weekend when both Michigan hockey games were televised. Michigan salvaged a split, losing 3-2 on Friday at Munn and taking a wild 5-4 decision Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, but the team was robbed of a chance for a sweep thanks to a very untimely whistle in the opener (from TBTYB):
So now Michigan has a man-advantage with just over two minutes to go and a chance to pull off a huge comeback on the road. Just after the penalty expired, Chris Brown was standing in the slot. The puck hit him and bounced down, through the legs of Drew Palmisano, and into the net. Like, straight through the legs of Palmisano. We’re not talking pinballing. We’re not talking the puck died between his legs but was still loose and someone jammed it in. It hit Chris Brown, bounced down, went right through Palmisano into the net.
Shegos somehow missed this and blew the play dead within milliseconds of the puck going underneath Palmisano. The whistle may not have gone until the puck was in the net (I’m not sure), but thanks to the most retarded rule in sports–the play is dead when it’s dead in the referee’s mind, not when he blows the whistle–you can’t review it.
That’s a missed call. You can see from the behind-the-net cam that the puck was never even remotely covered. And the guy who is widely considered the best ref in the conference–as if that’s not like saying someone is the prettiest ugly girl (by the way, there were options in the crowd tonight….for as many good-looking girls as there are supposed to be at Michigan State, they must have found every fug in the bunch during the crowd shots tonight….holy buckets)–completely blew it.
The same “intent to whistle” bull has cost the Red Wings a couple games this season as well, so sadly I wasn’t even remotely surprised when the goal was waived off. It was a terrible call, and I don’t want to exonerate Shegos in any way, but that rule is a black eye for hockey at every level it’s enforced — one of these day someone is going to get sick of answering angry emails and actually change the damn thing, and I hope that day comes as soon as possible. The controversy of the third period overshadowed a completely lackluster effort from the Wolverines — they couldn’t get any sort of offensive rush into the zone or set up a power play until the game was nearly out of reach. The goal that put MSU up 3-0 was vintage Bryan Hogan of the worst kind, a juicy rebound on a routine shot that was hammered home by (argh) Corey Tropp.
Saturday’s game was just crazy. Michigan appeared to put the game out of reach with three goals in the first period — A.J. Treais drove the net hard and knocked home a rebound to get the first goal, Chris Summers netted a laser from the point for the second, and Brian Lebler’s wrister gave Michigan a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Then State scored four unanswered goals. Michigan gave up an inexcusable shorthanded tally at the beginning of the second period, and Hogan allowed another rebound goal halfway through the period to cut the lead to one. State tied the game up just 50 seconds into the third period, and I think I speak for all Michigan fans when I say that I was resigned to a loss at that point. When Dean Chelios netted the go-ahead goal with a little under seven minutes to go, I almost shut off the TV. When Michigan took a penalty shortly afterward, I almost threw the remote through the TV, which probably would have been an effective way of permanently shutting it off.
Good thing I didn’t. On a seemingly innocuous play in the Spartan zone, Carl Hagelin made a great effort to force a turnover and took two shots on Drew Palmisano. The second shot bounced off to the side, where Matt Rust was able to hammer home the rebound. Just two minutes later, Chris Brown refused to budge from the side of the net, and whacked home the game-winner past both Palmisano and a Spartan defenseman on a great, gritty play.
This weekend’s series was a microcosm of the season for Michigan: very inconsistent play, a lot of chances, some soft goals allowed, and a weekend split. The Wolverines now are in great danger of missing the NCAA Tournament — Brian thinks Michigan probably needs to win eight of nine (or, of course, take the CCHA Tournament) to get a spot in the tourney. With Michigan’s shaky goaltending situation, I don’t really see that happening.
After a pair of exhibition victories this past weekend, Michigan’s hockey team is set to open the regular season on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska. In preparation for the season, I fired a few questions at Michael Spath, who covers Michigan hockey for The Wolverine.
AA: What do you think the greatest strength of this team will be? Weakness?
MS: The greatest strength should be the defense. When you bring back two seniors in Chris Summers and Steve Kampfer who have played a ton, and you bring back juniors in Tristin Llewellyn and Chad Langlais and a pair of sophomores in Brandon Burlon and Greg Pateryn you’ve got six experienced guys who are all very talented. Summers could be the best defenseman in the CCHA. Generally he hasn’t gotten that kind of respect yet — he wasn’t voted first- or second-team all-conference before the year began — but you watch him play and he’s got everything you want. He’s a great skater, he understands the offensive game, has a good shot and ability around the net, and in the defensive zone he’s just a stud. I really like our defense. Even on nights when we’re playing top teams we should be letting up less than 25 shots a game.
The goalie is pretty good too – Bryan Hogan, a junior. He has some experience now that he’s played an entire year and has some postseason experience. The forwards, you know, I think it’s hard to do a weakness for Michigan, but if you’re looking at it I don’t think they have a lot of proven scorers – Louis Caporusso scored 25 goals last year but I think he had 18 in the first half of the year and really faded down the stretch. They have a lot of guys like Matt Rust and Carl Hagelin and David Wohlberg and Robbie Czarnik that they’re counting on to have their best seasons. That’s a Red mantra that you have to have a better season than the year before, and if those guys do, they’ll be just fine offensively. But if they don’t, and they give you what they’ve been giving you the last couple years, the offense, against some of the better teams, just might not be there.
AA: How concerned are you about the backup goaltending situation? Do you think Bryan Hogan can shoulder the load if Berenson needs him to play 40+ games?
MS: Well, the fact of the matter is, until the last couple years a single goalie played 40 games for Michigan every year. Al Montoya did it for four years, Josh Blackburn did it for four years before him, Marty Turco did it for four years before him, and Steve Shields did it for four years before him. It’s funny how quickly things change. For the longest time people gave Red a hard time because he had a single #1 goalie and that’s who he played, and then a couple years ago Noah Ruden and Billy Sauer started when Sauer was a freshman and split time, and then Sauer started his sophomore year, in his junior year he split time a little bit with Bryan Hogan, and his senior year Hogan and him split the entire first half of the season. If they need Hogan to play 40 games, and he has no health concerns, then absolutely that’s fine and he’ll do well in that role.
I am concerned about the backup goalie. I have nothing against Shawn Hunwick, but a walk-on that has appeared in one career game going into his senior year doesn’t give you confidence that if he gets thrown in there for any extended period of time beyond maybe one game or one weekend if it’s an emergency – that could very quickly be Michigan’s undoing. You talk about a weakness, if Hogan gets hurt and he’s going to miss more than a weekend, you’ve got yourself a serious problem.
AA: How will Michigan replace the playmaking ability of Aaron Palushaj? Do you think Louie Caporusso will be as productive without his departed linemate?
MS: You know, it’s interesting, because I asked that question to Louie specifically, and Louie came back and actually looked this up: he said that outside of the first half of the season, he actually didn’t play with Aaron that much, and he didn’t really play with him a ton in the first half. He played with him for about a ten-game stretch, and during that ten games Louie had, I think, about eight goals, but other than that he didn’t play with him very much. Louie actually played quite a bit with Matt Rust and Carl Hagelin on the second line.
In terms of replacing him, you know, every year there’s a guy, or two guys, or three guys that they lose that are a big deal that you look at the roster and you go, where are the points going to come from? Two years ago, they lost Kevin Porter and Max Pacioretty and Chad Kolarik, all off the first line. You lose your whole first line, and you go, who’s going to step up? Well, Palushaj and Caporusso stepped up. This year you lose Palushaj, and you say, who’s going to step up? Well, maybe those guys we talked about. Maybe Matt Rust steps up. Carl Hagelin had four goals over the weekend. That was exhibition games, but maybe he’s the guy scores 20 goals this year. Maybe Robbie Czarnik, I want to say he had three goals a year ago, but maybe he gets 10 or 15 goals. Maybe Brian Lebler steps up. There’s always going to be a guy who steps into that role, so I’m not really that worried about it. It’s just going to be if it’s one guy, or maybe three or four guys that are just doing a little bit more.
AA: It always seems like Michigan has one or two players who just come from out of nowhere and have really productive years. Which guy or guys do you see having a breakout season this year?
MS: I think Czarnik could have a breakout year. Like I said, he only scored three goals last year, but that was way below what he’s capable of. He’s probably a guy who, if he gets off to a hot start like his classmate David Wohlberg does, he probably scores 15 goals and 15 assists. Those are the kind of numbers that he should put up this year at least. He’s a very skilled forward, great skating, great hands, he can do a lot of things offensively. He needs to have a big year.
Brian Lebler is a person they keep on talking about. He’s a senior, a big body, he scored seven goals last year and he came on towards the second half of the year. He could have a good year, and kind of do what David Rohlfs did. David Rohlfs was a good plays and then had a huge senior year, scored close to 20 goals. Lebler, I don’t think he’d get 20, but he could get 15 to 18 and have a really good senior year.
The other player that I really like is Greg Pateryn, the sophomore defenseman. He came in, and he had only played one year in juniors out of high school, and he was clearly overwhelmed early, but by December he was playing really well and he was playing really well in January when Mark Mitera came back and pushed him out of the lineup. He’s very physical, and has got the body type – 6-2, 220 pounds – that can just be punishing as a defenseman. He seems to have realized the speed of the game and has caught up to that. If he can do a better job in terms of his skating and in terms of being in the right spot at the right time, I think he’ll have a really good sophomore year.
AA: What freshmen do you see stepping and playing a big role for the team this year?
MS: Chris Brown, because he’s a power forward, and those guys usually end up on a good line – a few years ago Pacioretty was on Porter and Kolarik’s line. I think he has a good chance of ending up on Caporusso’s line, or maybe with Rust, and being that powerful left or right winger that clears room in front of the net and benefits from playing with a playmaking center. I like Chris Brown a lot.
Then A.J. Treais, I kind of counted him out as a guy who was too small – he’s only about 5-8 – but Michigan has had great players before that were shorter. T.J. Hensick was 5-8, Mike Comrie was 5-8, Mike Cammalleri was only 5-10 or so. I think Treais can come in and be the center on the third line and produce 20 points or more this year too. So, those are the two guys that I look to this year the most.
AA: Michigan was tabbed as the top team in the CCHA by both the media and the coaches. Where do you see this team finishing, and do you see them as a Frozen Four-caliber squad?
MS: Well, they absolutely have Frozen Four potential. Two years ago, they went to the Frozen Four, and they won the CCHA championship and the tournament championship, and I think this team can be better than that team. I think they have all the pieces in place that they need. I think the defense is fantastic, the goalie will very good, and the forwards – even though that’s a little bit of a concern – I think they’ll rise up. I would say this: I would be very disappointed, with the Frozen Four in Detroit this year, if Michigan wasn’t playing in the Frozen Four. There are a couple other really good teams out there, and certainly within the conference Notre Dame and Miami are going to be pretty special, but I really think this team has it all and should be in that position.
The same goes for the conference as well. Notre Dame and Miami are going to be Michigan’s biggest competition, and somebody usually comes out of the blue and challenges a little bit. Those are going to be good teams, Michigan is a very good team. I think they play Miami four times, so they’ll have an opportunity to beat those guys. But yeah, I really like this team a lot. I think they’ll be playing for the national title, that’s actually my prediction. I don’t know if they’ll win it, because a lot of things depend, but I think they’ll be playing for the national title at the end of the year.
eBay Watch: Harmon Jitterbugs with Joan & Jinx (1941) — MVictors — Don’t ask me how Greg manages to find all these great eBay auctions … I think he might secretly be selling all this stuff himself in some diabolical plan to get traffic. Dammit Greg, it’s working. The above photo, depicting Tom Harmon during the filming of the 1941 film Harmon on Michigan, is available for auction until July 20. Nobody has bid yet. Do your thing, Michigan fans.
Recapping RichRod, Pt. 2 — Wolverine Liberation Army — chitownblue forges on with his review of Year One of the RichRod Era, looking at game strategy, maintaining tradition, handling the media, and “avoiding a potty-mouth”. Again, scores are done via molotov cocktails.
U-M’s Nick Sheridan primed for competition — Detroit News — Agree to … ha, just kidding. This is really a great read from Angelique Chengelis. Despite hoping we don’t have to put him out on the football field again, I have the utmost respect for Nick Sheridan. I can’t imagine how much crap he took last year when he got tossed into the starting role, and now he is an afterthought behind two true freshmen, but he still handles himself with a ton of class. I really hope he ends up coaching here when his playing career is over.
Ranking my favorite Big Ten stadiums — ESPN.com — Adam Rittenberg, um, ranks the Big Ten stadiums. Michigan Stadium comes in fifth, and the main knock is the lack of noise. Hopefully we’ll end up a little higher after the renovations, both because they make the stadium look damn impressive, and because they’ll supposedly hold more noise in. We can only hope.
Custom Covers — Spawn of MZone — For the video gamers out there, Spawn of MZone has posted a Brandon Minor custom cover for NCAA ’10, as well as a link to other Michigan covers. These look great, so if you want to show your school spirit with your game cover, head over there.
Camp Report: LeBron James Skills Academy/King City Classic — SlamOnline — Gotta scroll down a bit, but somewhere in there you’ll find praise for both Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims for their performances in the same camp as above. Is it too early to get excited for basketball season? [HT: MGoBlog via UMHoops]
Hockey:
Michigan pipeline continues for Coyotes — The Arizona Republic — Via MGoBlog, it sounds like the Phoenix Coyotes expect incoming freshman Chris Brown to leave school early. An in, GM Don Maloney said he’d be “stunned” if Brown stayed all four years. To his credit, Brown says he’s planning on staying in school “right now”, but that quote offers little comfort. Enjoy him while you can.
No. 46 Michigan — Rivals.com — Rivals’ Tom Dienhart gives his rundown of the Wolverines as they come in No. 46 in Rivals’ Top 120 Countdown. I can’t say my expectations are much higher than that right now, so this seems to fall in line with a realistic outlook on the season.
2009 Opponent Preview: Wisconsin — Varsity Blue — New fat running back, same old Badgers. We’ll see if Bielema adjusts to losses on both lines, as Wisconsin seems to return practically everything else.
Recapping Rich Rod, Part 1 — Wolverine Liberation Army — Chitownblue over at the always-entertaining (and quirky, to say the least) WLA gives his take on Year One of the RichRod era. Once you get through the Stalin references (seriously), there’s really good stuff in here. Also, you have to love any ratings that are measured in Molotov Cocktails.
Catching Up With Drew Dileo — UMGoBlog — A quick interview with 2010 slot commit Drew Dileo, plus some nice video of him as a sophomore.
Basketball:
Maize Rage is getting Larger — MVictors — Student ticket sales for basketball have more than quadrupled since last season, and Greg over at MVictors loves it, as well as the school’s decision to make student seating first-come, first-serve. I’m one of those new season ticket holders, and I’m excited for a louder, more electric atmosphere in Crisler next season. Winning will do that to a place. So will more college students.
Hockey:
Three Players Selected; Omaha to the WCHA — The Blog That Yost Built — Three future Wolverines — Chris Brown, Kevin Lynch, and Mac Bennett — were selected in the NHL Draft. Yost Built pulls together links to commentary on the three, plus gives their take on UNO leaving the CCHA. My take, in two words: that’s crappy.
Other Sports:
Pictures of Michigan’s new digs — MFlowBlue — Michigan’s leading lacrosse blog puts together a nice slide show of the new athletic complex.
M-Den = M-Done?? — Spawn of M Zone — M Den gets outbid by eSports for the rights to be Michigan’s official merchandising partner. Get your certified, official gear over at www.mgoblueshop.com now.
2009 Preseason All-Americans — NationalChamps.net — Zoltan Mesko is your preseason first team punter, although I hope we see far less of him this year than in 2008. Brandon Graham was named honorable mention. (HT: The Daily)
Michigan football season-ticket sales are down, but by how much? — Detroit Free Press — Bad economy + 3-9 season + broke students = less student ticket sales. Don’t expect the stadium to be any less full though: 10,000 people are on the season ticket wait list, and with Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State on the home slate in 2009 (and an improved Michigan team to boot) we can all still expect to be crammed into our seats with little room for elbows, hot dogs, sodas, or fresh air. Which is a good thing, I think.
Before they were stars: How top picks graded out as preps — SI.com — SI takes a look at the Rivals rankings of their 2009 NFL Draft mock first round. If you think the star ratings are bogus, you might want to reconsider after checking out the piece: this year’s crop averages 3.59 stars, even including outlier Clay Matthews (a no-star walk-on).
Chasing Blanchard and Davis — MVictors — Greg from MVictors takes a look at the Wolverines’ battles with Army’s famed running back duo in the wake of Doc Blanchard’s death. Great photos and some real interesting stuff on Fritz Crisler and the platoon system.
Jake Long on ESPN’s First Take:
Basketball:
Gabriel Richard’s Eso Akunne named 2009 Ann Arbor News Player of the Year — Ann Arbor News — Akunne is a preferred walk-on for Michigan next season, and put up some pretty impressive numbers (21.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists per game). The 6-3 guard could be a diamond in the rough for Michigan, who looked past his small school background and saw big time potential.
Hockey:
US Takes Gold at World U18s — The Blog That Yost Built — Big time performances from future Wolverines, especially goaltender Jack Campbell (now officially dubbed “JMFC” by TBTYB), whose tournament numbers were straight mind-blowing (4-0-0, 0.75 GAA, .967 save %, 2 shutouts, no even strength goals allowed). Get that man on campus, STAT. Kevin Lynch (5-5-10, +9) also had an outstanding tournament, and fellow recruits Chris Brown, A.J. Treais and Jon Merrill all finished with positive +/- ratings.
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