college hockey

Michigan men represent excellence academically and athletically. At least that's what they represent if you believe the two statues above the doors to the Union. Milford men, on the other hand, are adept at being neither seen nor heard. Buster Bluth was a Milford man. The 2012-13 Michigan hockey team played like one.

The 2012-13 Michigan Wolverines took the ice in October ranked #3 in the country by USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine. That preseason poll was the highlight of the season. Things went downhill quickly, and if you've been reading this blog for a while you'll remember that this team didn't do much to endear itself to the Michigan faithful. Now that we've had time to let the healing power of the basketball team's run to the title game and football recruiting goodness to soak in I think it's time to go back and try to figure out what went wrong for the team that broke The Streak™.

For comparison, let's look at the stats of the 2011-12 Wolverines versus those of the 2012-13 squad. This idea was inspired by Ron Utah's excellent post comparing the 2011 and 2012 football teams. The 11-12 hockey team lost in the first round, so we aren't exactly starting with high expectations for success here. Shawn Hunwick, Luke Glendening and David Wohlberg were the most significant departures from the 11-12 team.

2011-12 Michigan Hockey: 24-13-4 overall. 15-9-4 conference

Home: 15-5-1, Away: 4-6-3. Neutral: 5-2-0

2012-13 Michigan Hockey: 18-19-3 overall, 10-15-3 conference

Home: 10-8-1. Away: 5-8-2, Neutral: 3-3-0

What happened?

I highlighted the things that really stood out to me. Everything is open for interpretation, but let's start with the basics. The 11-12 team scored 43 more goals than they allowed, while the 12-13 team scored one fewer goal than they allowed. Ouch. If you're wondering how shot volume impacted things, it doesn't get any prettier. Michigan had very similar offensive output in 11-12 and 12-13; their total shots were about the same and their scoring percentage was an identical 9.6%. The real fluctuation from year-to-year occurs when you look at the opponent's shots; 1242 allowed in 11-12 versus 1126 in 12-13. Even though the 11-12 team allowed more shots opponents only scored on 7.2% of them, compared with 11.5% in 12-13.

Special teams can't be used to explain away the year-to-year differences. Michigan actually scored more power play goals in 12-13 (31) than they did in 11-12 (23). Looking at it from the perspective of the penatly kill, MIchigan allowed fewer power play goals in 12-13 (24) than they did in 11-12 (27). Michigan spent less time on the penalty kill in 12-13, but they also spent almost two minutes less per game on the power play that season. It appears as though Michigan was outmatched at even strength throughout the 12-13 season, so much so that they missed the tournament and won six fewer games. 

What does it mean for next season?

I wish I knew. Steven Racine established himself as the starter going into 2013-14, and that's more than you can say for the 12-13 team. There are some good prospects coming in (highlighted by former US NTDP forward JT Compher), but is that enough to replace the mass exodus of point scoring that Michigan will suffer this offseason? It doesn't seem likely. Michigan loses AJ Treais' 31 points, Jacob Trouba's 29 points, and Kevin Lynch's 27 points. Those were three of Michigan's top six pointgetters in 12-13. On the other hand, Michigan's problem in 12-13 was clearly one of defense and not offense so anything is possible. All it takes are guys who are willing and able to forecheck and backcheck, and as a sport hockey still lacks the sophisticated statistics that are able to capture the more esoteric elements of the game.

Katie Baker, Grantland's hockey writer, headed to the Twin Cities to take in Minnesota vs. Wisconsin. She talks about a lot of stuff, and it's a good (long) read.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8684840/a-visit-eden-minnesota-where-college-hockey-endures

Michigan is barely mentioned, but she does discuss B1G hockey and how NCAA hockey is on the rise in general.

When the Big Ten announced in March 2011 that it would be formally adding hockey to its slate of conference-sponsored sports beginning in 2013-14, the news triggered a seismic shift in a historic, if increasingly precarious, landscape. Gone from the storied WCHA next year will be the two teams I traveled to see: Minnesota, one of its founding members, and Wisconsin, one of its most successful. The Gophers and the Badgers will no longer share an intraconference rivalry with heated rival North Dakota.9 Instead, they'll be doing battle against traditional football foes like Michigan, which has a storied hockey history to rival their own — as well as Penn State, whose D-I hockey program, funded to the tune of over $100 million by PSU alum and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, just made its debut this fall.

We are just a few minutes away from puck drop in Tampa for the 2012 Frozen Four.

Our 4:30 game is Union vs Ferris State (ESPNU) and the 8:00 pm game will be Boston College vs Minnesota (ESPN2). Should be another day of great hockey so tune in if you get the chance.

And so starts the defection watch for college hockey players.  hopefully the UM watch does not start for a couple weeks.

Sheahan will start out in Grand Rapids while a contract is being ironed out with the wings.

Seems like a kid that can help the wings pretty soon.  Wings lack size up front, he does not.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/03/riley_sheahan_red_wings_...

Link: http://www.uscho.com/2012/03/15/finalists-for-2012-hobey-baker-award-unveiled/

It's official, Shawn Hunwick is in the top 10! The only other goalie is Troy Grosenick from Union, and the other CCHA finalists are Reilly Smith (Miami) and Torey Krug (FYS aka MSU). Wisconsin's Justin Schultz is also a finalist.

In other news, Ferris State must be demanding a recount since their first-team all-CCHA goalie didn't make it. 

Also, for the trivia buffs, only 2 goalies have won the Hobey Baker award. In 1988 Robb Stauber won it, followed by Ryan Miller in 2001. 

UPDATE: And news from the CCHA Awards is Knapp has been named Goaltender of the Year. Apparently it's "based on a formula." 

UPDATE UPDATE: Vote for Shawn! Right now he's at 3rd behind Spencer Abbott and Austin Smith. http://www.hobeybakeraward.com/page/show/485291

EDIT:  Thanks to our amazing donors, including a generous Mr. Aaron Ward, our goal has been reached! Thanks to everyone who contributed, we will keep you posted on the status of the flags!

If you've been to Yost Ice Arena for a Michigan hockey game in the past two years, you're probably familiar with the student sections' giant Swedish and Texan flags. Next season, we plan on adding two more giant flags to our arsenal, and we would greatly appreciate your support in our fundraising efforts. 

Because we are not, and never will be, a University-sponsored student group, we cannot seek funds through the Student Activities Fund. We are very grateful to the Eckert family, who handmade the Swedish flag and donated the Texas flag, but now we seek support from the entire Michigan family for these next two flags. 

Below (in the first comment) is a link to our Paypal account. Our fundraising goal is $600, which will cover both flags (one of which will be a custom design) and shipping. We had issues setting up on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, so we're just going to keep it simple with a Paypal account. We'll keep you posted on our progress via @ChildrenOfYost on the Twitters. 

Thank you, and Go Blue!