Fab 5. Fresh 5. Now the Frozen 5?
I like it.
Ahhh, no.
Hang the banners.
? ??
They aren't all from the same class. Last year's class, that had Power, Berniers and Johnson, had 10 guys in it, almost all very highly rated. The wtka morning show with Sam & Ira coined them, "The X Men," which I thought was pretty good.
“Yeah but the Fab 5 never won a natty, what a waste of talent” — someone in here, I’m sure
?♂️
There’s been a few hockey teams that should have won the whole thing. ‘93-94, ‘96-97, and a few years ago where we lost in OT or 2OT immediately come to mind.
96-97...??
I know. 35-4-4. I still have no idea how BU beat them in the semis. Winning in '96 and '98 does smooth that over a little bit, though.
they would have if they stayed.
which worries me about this group. How much time do we have with them?
I think it would be cool for Powers, Beniers and Johnson to come back next year to try to win a National Championship, especially after seeing Wisconsin win last year....and teaming up with Samoskevich and Hughes
Not sure of the status of the other upper classmen, but goalie is really the only question mark I can think of with Strauss Mann moving on
Wisconsin didn’t win last year though? They lost their first game in the tournament to Bemidji State.
hmmm you are right... for some reason i thought they had won something recently? I'll have to look into that
UMass won their first I think
Would be nice to see it translate on the ice. Team was still maddeningly inconsistent last season. I am sure Covid didn’t help but there was just too much sloppy play. Unfortunately reminds me of the 2018 MSU basketball team. I think they had 2 lottery picks and yet still found a way to underachieve.
Freshmen are always inconsistent. When 5 of your 6 best players are freshmen, that’s going to translate to inconsistent play. Add in the World Juniors tournament where you lost a few of those guys for an entire month, and that’s going to have an effect on consistency and chemistry as well.
Despite all of those factors, this was still a top 10 team nationally. In no way, shape, or form did they underachieve.
I'm not the world's closest follower of college hockey, but it's my impression that college hockey is the kind of sport where a well-coached team run by a core of 23 year olds who a year later can be found playing in the ECHL or the Austrian league usually beats a team whose best players are 18-19 year old NHL 1st round picks.
What I'm saying is we probably need to temper our expectations regarding the correlation between high draft picks and team success.
What is this “temper your expectations” you speak of?
Well you’d be correct. 18 year olds aren’t typically developed fully physically. They’re drafted more for their upside and how good theyre expected to be. While they’re playing against guys that are much further along physically (though their ceiling is low to prevent them from being on the NHL radar). So that physical maturity and experience balances out with the raw talent.
A similar comparison would be a highly ranked freshman recruit compared to a mid-3star 5th year senior. The freshman has more upside long term and is more athletically gifted. But the experience and physical maturity of the 5th year senior is there to cancel out that athletic advantage. While that freshman may have enough skill and talent to see the field, rarely are they going to be the force that carries your team. Which is what Michigan relied on last year.
Simply put, you can have all the talent in the world. But if it isn’t polished talent yet, then it’s still incredibly difficult to go out there and dominate guys who are 3-6 years older than you. Many of which were also drafted to the NHL, though maybe not taken as high in the draft. Minnesota and Wisconsin are both veteran teams full of NHL draft picks. But you have Cole Caufield two years after being drafted in the first round playing for Wisconsin compared to pre-draft guys at UM. Michigan is certainly talented but they’re also not head and shoulders ahead of their peers using young freshmen either.
If all start at the same time, then yes, they's be like the Fab 5.
my apologies if this has been answered but How strong was the draft class?
Depends on how you define “strong.”
This draft class is viewed as lacking anyone with the generational talent potential. You won’t find any Crosby/McDavid/Ovi/Matthews type players in this draft. The top few guys in this draft would be found in picks 5-10 or so in a normal draft year. Still some very good players, but not expected to produce elite elite talent either.
But, it IS viewed as an incredibly deep draft. There’s not a huge gap between guys who were top 10ish and guys who were picked in the late 1st. Guys who will go early to mid 2nd aren’t far off from the guys who went late 1st.
So there’s a lot of quality players in this draft. But they don’t foresee any real superstar types to emerge either.
Thanks. It gives more validity to the program and type of players that Mel is bringing to Michigan. Hopefully the results will help Mel lure more top talent to the program and get Michigan back winning national titles in college hockey.
If they dominate like none other then yes. It'll require them getting at least to the final. Otherwise it diminishes the greatness of the Fab Five.
The Flying V
Is this like being Kentucky BB, great at recruiting but not translating into championships because they are gone after one year?
Sounds cold.
As a UM fan of many many many years the Fab 5 was overrated.