College Hockey News Rips Into U-M Hockey

Yeah, I mean college hockey social media is filled with jabronis so I'm not surprised people are 'outraged' - college hockey fans love taking shots at Big Ten teams because everyone is still collectively mad that the Big Ten was formed. It's constant. So it's 0% surprising that everyone is acting outraged about this because the small schools love any chance they get to mock the big schools.

Having said that- I wish they'd just cancelled both games because the optics are terrible. I don't know if this is Mel honestly still trying to play a game? Or trying to be kind to his former employer by still playing Tech? Cancelling one and playing the other just looks weird

If Michigan keeps recruiting at a high level, I think it's time to stop playing winter break games. The GLI has some nice history, but it's nothing special.

While I get why we would want to do this with all the guys we have at the WJC stacked with the injuries we racked up in the OSU series... still too soft for my taste. It's hockey, play the game and see what happens. Or at least cancel both and save a little bit of face.

Frankly I'd rather we had kept Western if we were only going to play one game. Looking at it purely from a Pairwise perspective, losing to Western is a lot less harmful than losing to Tech. (and I assume we probably will lose; again anything can happen but Tech doesn't exactly suck either and nobody will ever be deep enough to put a Top 20 team on the ice with all that we are missing) I would assume though that Mel's ties to Tech and the fact that we have at least already had a home-and-home with Western was the deciding factor.

It's probably BS.  It will also be quickly forgotten by anyone who isn't from Western Michigan.

I have zero inside information, and Michigan isn't saying anything. But it looks really bad to me, and sure doesn't look justifiable. Ya know, I get kinda tired of fans always justifying the behavior and decision of their own team, and smearing the decisions of rival teams. Call it what it is.

Well, that's just, like, his opinion, man. 

I like that he said WMU players agreed with him on Twitter 

...uh yeah, no shit. They almost certainly don't know any more than we do, and OF COURSE they were revved up to play Michigan's club team this week. 

If it's a game that counts toward the Pairwise Rankings we should forfeit and take the L. If it's an exhibition then cancelling is fine. Pretty sure it's not an exhibition.

I hate to say it, but Michigan wouldn't be in this predicament if it wasn't approaching roster building in this sport in a way much more suitable to basketball or football. We don't get to hang banners for having 1st round draft picks and yet sometimes I wonder if our staff are aware of that.

This could be yet another Michigan hockey team celebrated more for the names on the roster than the championships won at the end of the year.

They should have cancelled both games; it's dumb to play one and not the other because it absolutely looks like they're ducking a harder opponent.  At the same time, it's going to be forgotten in a hot minute and so I guess the thinking is just take the public shaming and move on.  The fact he claims WMU players agree with him isn't surprising and not particularly noteworthy; OSU fans and players thought UM was ducking them last year with COVID-19 and then spent a month complaining about the flu this year (and UM responded like OSU fans with the tables turned).  Biased people are going to be biased

This is a difficult year because of WJC and COVID gutting rosters right now; I'm sure if WMU was down a half-dozen top players they'd be seeking a break as well.  UM should have cancelled both games and the fact they didn't is the biggest problem, even if you buy the argument that they don't think they'd have enough healthy bodies to play short-handed in back-to-back games. 

World Juniors to be cancelled… looks like COVID beats another one 

With this new variant Omicron....    I expect many more games to be cancelled.    Whatever your opinion, as a trusted place of learning first and foremost....   I don't see any other way to go about it.   All of sports is going to favor in loss of $ as opposed to loss of life or questioning the *importance* of any given game.

I don't agree, and its sad.    But I understand.   :(

They don't have the players to play two games back to back.

This is a full contact, smash your body game. Without the players to sub in, they risk not just losing, but their players will get physically pounded and the risk of injury increases.

Anyone that has played pick-up hockey on the Fuller rinks knows this.

We can field a team for the first game, but won't have enough left for two in a row.

Can you imagine if they had canceled the 1st game to play the second?

When they cancel the juniors, we may be able to play.

It is a different time and the things that would have been unthinkable in the past: Cancelling a Bowl Game? Hockey, NFL? Crazy times.

Stupid take by College Hockey News. Covid exploding everywhere.

Obviously weren't paying attention when Kirk Herbstreit had to eat his words, too.

If UM is deciding to take the "if you have nothing nice to say, best say nothing at all," I'm okay with that.