wtka roundtable

Things Discussed:

• Frozen Four: Battle of the Blue Bloods. Usually you're counting on single-elimination hockey to off one of the impossibly good teams but NOT THIS YEAR. BC is fully of snipers—their top four forwards are shooting 18% to 21%.
• Michigan's chances rely on controlling the puck, scoring on their cycling, and Barzo stepping up to cancel out the corners.
• Past BC it's the #1 overall pick or a Denver team full of draft picks.
• College hockey right now: draft picks will coalesce at a few bluebloods like BC, BU, Denver, Minnesota, and Michigan, but the mid-majors are filled up with overagers trying to stay in the game. Also the NHL is enamored with college hockey players, and the US development program has succeeded in keeping talent home that five years ago and beyond we were losing to Canadian Juniors. So there's as much talent and skill in college hockey now as there's been in a very long time.
• Naurauto: He's on track for the perfect roster construction, which is two lines of highly skilled early NHL picks and Quinnipiac's top line, bunch of guys who are just on the cusp of NHL ability and are thus behooved to play out their eligibility in college.
• Break: What's going on at tight end? Beetham in the portal—is that about money? Michigan doesn't seem to have an inline guy this year.
• After Break: Women's basketball gone national. You can tell it's come on because sports fans are filling the hate boxes instead of being patronizing.
• Michigan othersports: wrestling is #2 in the Big Ten (better than Iowa) and is full of transfers! We love softball, women's gymnastics has a following, debate won a national championship.
• Is there enough NIL to go around at Michigan? Probably not, because we want to compete in every sport and donors are getting fatigued. The system doesn't work for anyone except the administrators who are getting the fans to pay out the nose for everything and want to shunt NIL on them too.

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Things Discussed:

• Dusty May's new staff: got himself a D guy and a recruiter.
• Good sign that he's addressing his first perceived weaknesses, bodes well for gathering the best players from FAU and bringing Khani Rooths back.
• Akeem Miskdeen: Like Dusty May, nobody has a bad word to say.
• Rebuilding a basketball roster: Feels confident they can get Davis and Goldin and others from FAU, adding Miskdeen gets them in the market for the Oklahoma State guys in the portal and Rooths, whom Miskdeen was recruiting to Georgia. Also after Yale's stretch C, Wolf. All of these guys are grad transfers or Yale. Say yes to a proven Big Ten player who's got a chip on his shoulder in Essegian, even if he's not a perfect fit for May's offense. Can add pieces from FAU's class to get some Zak & Stu types.
• Will they come? They all like May enough that they didn't leave FAU after going to the Final Four. Trey Townsend (Oakland) probably goes to MSU, isn't much of a fit because he's not a perimeter guy (35% but on just a handful of attempts from the arc).
• Will the NIL be right? Michigan won't commit the same mistakes again.
• Hockey: Two of the best third periods in program history. Has this been a turnaround in focus or in luck? Kind of both, but also Marshall Warren has come on, and now they're getting good shifts from everyone down the roster.
• The Michigan 2.0: GuloGulo reminded us Nazar did the same in his first game. Shall we watch it again? Okay!

Nazar with an unreal assist and Brindley makes it 4-2 Michigan pic.twitter.com/DNnLC5zyCr

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 1, 2024

• Now we just need the most iconic fight in college hockey history to have the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
• Ira: Most satisfying playoff win? Seth & Brian: Hell no! [both start naming bangers at Yost].
• Seth: I don't hate MSU hockey fans. Brian: You must have a short memory. But rivalry doesn't feel hateful right now because MSU was so bad.
• Can they win the Frozen Four? They're facing the three best one seeds after knocking off #4 and #5 in the country, have a puncher's chance but the Boston schools are loaded to the gills with NHL prospects and Denver is Denver. Twenty percent? Will take it.

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Things Discussed:

• Favorite basketball candidates. Craig has some off-the-wall ideas (Cornell's HC, Eli Brooks) but we have four we're mostly focused on, plus a pipe dream. Lavall Jordan: no, but floated the idea (Sam's) of Beilein doing a year with Lavall as AHC. Seth: don't like that. Let's get a coach in and start building a program, because that's a long-term deal.
• The four gettables (in probable order):
  • May: We may be competing with L'ville? Downside is you'd like to see it go longer.
  • Medved: Seth & Brian like. Efficient from 2 vs Virginia: that's coaching.
  • Devries: Comes with his best player (his son). Has been doing more with less a long time.
  • Abdur-Rahim. Think he's an interesting idea, but after Devries, which is the "You can get that guy" line.
• McDermott? Sam thinks you kick the tires, make him say no. Seth & Brian: Okay, and then he'll say no. But maybe not says Sam.
• A fifth: Jerome Tang.
• Our brackets: Seth likes Creighton, Brian thinks Purdue breaks through (that's what happens when you lose to a 16 seed right?), Sam hasn't made his picks yet, Craig believes in McNeese State.

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