In winning the Big Ten tournament this year and making a return trip to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2018, coach Mel Pearson admits seeing a few of the advantages that COVID might have brought their way.
2/25/2022 – Notre Dame 4, Michigan 1 – 25-8-1 (16-4-0-3 B1G) 2/26/2022 – Notre Dame 2, Michigan 1 – 25-9-1 (16-5-0-3 B1G) Playing Notre Dame in hockey is a decent microcosm of what it's like to play any team in the NCAA Hockey Tournament. In my five years covering the Michigan hockey team, one thing has always been true about playing Notre Dame: you have to get the first goal in order to have a good chance of winning. If you get the first goal, you force Notre Dame to open it up. They have to send defensemen up in the neutral zone, they have to be more aggressive pinching at the point in the offensive zone, and thus are more exposed to the sorts of 3v3 entries or even odd-man rushes that Michigan has become so reliant on as Mel Pearson has built his roster exclusively around NHL caliber talent. If you score first, your probability of scoring 3 or 4 on the Irish goes up considerably. If you don't score first, your chance of scoring 3 or 4 plummets like a couch thro
This week’s update features Luke Hughes scoring a highlight reel goal for Michigan, Arseni Gritsyuk winning a Silver Medal in the Olympics, and Alexander Holtz continuing to score for Utica.
This week’s update features Luke Hughes starring for Michigan, a duo of Devils prospects named to Russia’s preliminary Olympic roster, and Nate Schnarr continuing his breakout season with the Utica Comets.