hockey

Maple Leafs @ Canadiens (7:00 CBC, 0-0 four minutes in)
Capitals @ Blackhawks (8:00 NBCSN, banner raising pregame)
Jets @ Oilers (10:00)

TheWolverine had a nice interview with Red up today. Full interview here

Some key notes-

News: Junior forward Alex Guptill participated in team drills Monday for the first time since practice started, held out previously for an off-ice issue from the summer. Berenson said Guptill will likely be suspended for a game or two. 

Berenson: "In the summer, I don't follow them around but we still have expectations. It's a program decision."

Views: This isn't Guptill's first incident. A year ago, he was left behind on a trip to Ferris State because of on-ice effort and attitude, and Berenson will not stand for insubordination nor will he accept it when his players conduct themselves off the ice in a manner detrimental to the program goals of academic, athletic and community success. 

Guptill is a talent. He's led Michigan in scoring each of the past two seasons, netting 16 goals in his first year to earn CCHA Rookie of the Year honors, and another 16 goals last season. Losing him would be a big blow to a U-M offense that should be among the nation's best. 

However, Berenson has shown repeatedly during his 30-year career that no one skater is above the expectations of the team, dismissing players when they break the rules. Two years ago, in fact, Michigan suspended its best player, defenseman Jon Merrill, for half a season for violating team rules. Guptill would be wise to learn from that, stay out of trouble and turn this situation around so he can be the player and person that he's capable of. - See more at: http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1556111#sthash.liVcB3gh.dpuf

USCHO released their first poll of the season and the rankings are very similar to USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine's preseason poll. USCHO has three B1G teams in the top 11, with Wisconsin at #3 and Minnesota at #5 (which is the same as the USA Today poll). Michigan at #11 is just one spot below where they are in the USA Today poll.

Based on where they're ranked across the two polls I'd say that the consensus is that Michigan is talented and could perform as most followers of Michigan hockey expect them to, but the number of freshmen who will play big minutes and the lack of depth on the blueline is reason to pause.

USCHO poll:

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/2013-2014/poll,0930/september-30,-2013/

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll:

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/national-polls/

Just announced today is the fact that the Big Ten and Hockey East (home of BC, BU, Notre Dame, etc) have reached an agreement to have a Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge ala the B1G/ACC Challenge for basketball. I believe this is going to be an annual affair.

All of the games have already been scheduled and now it makes sense why we have games against BC, BU, Umass-Lowell and New Hampshire (which are all Hockey East) and very few against the NCHC and WCHA. Interestingly, the BC game does not count in the challenge though.

The Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Cup will be presented to the conference that records the most points from the 13 games. Teams will earn points as follows: two points for a win, one point for a tie and a bonus point for a road win.

Eligible games:

Friday, October 18
#3 Wisconsin at #4 Boston College
Michigan State at Massachusetts
#10 Michigan at #13 New Hampshire (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday, October 19
#3 Wisconsin at Boston University
Michigan State at Massachusetts
#10 Michigan at #13 New Hampshire

Friday, October 25
#4 Boston College at #5 Minnesota (8 p.m.)*
Boston University at #10 Michigan#
#1 UMass Lowell at Michigan State@

Saturday, October 26
Boston University at Michigan State
#1 UMass Lowell at #10 Michigan#
Penn State vs. Vermont % (Philadelphia – 5 p.m.)

Sunday, October 27
#4 Boston College at #5 Minnesota (2 p.m.)^  

Quite a few huge games in there. Interestingly, Ohio State is not partcipating while Michigan and MSU have four. May have been conflicts with scheduling on fairly short notice. Anyway, should be a good thing for college hockey and B1G hockey exposure as the Big Ten/ACC Challenge has been for basketball.

Source: USCHO

Speaks to the respect for the program. Missed the tourney and still preseason top-10 like I assumed. http://mihockeynow.com/2013/09/michigan-ranked-no-10-in-usa-today-college-preseason-poll/

1. UMass-Lowell (20)
2. Miami University (9)
3. Wisconsin (1)
4. Boston College
5. Minnesota
6. North Dakota
7. Notre Dame
8. Yale
9. St. Cloud State
10. Michigan
11. Quinnipiac
12. Union
13. New Hampshire
14. Minnesota State
15. Providence

NHL Central Scouting released their 2014 "North American Ones to Watch" list this morning which contained 3 hockey commits and 2 guys already on the team

An 'A' rating means you're a potential first-rounder, 'B' ratings indicats potential mid-round pick, and 'C' is a late round pick.

Dylan is one of only four future NCAA players to get an 'A' rating which would make him a theoretical 5* at this point

Link

Edit: Forgot that Jared Walsh is totally not cool you guys right now