Michigan-Mercyhurst mini preview
The puck drops on the 2015-16 Michigan Hockey season tomorrow, Red Berenson's final. This is the final year on the contract that Red himself said was going to be his final contract.
So a tournament bid at the very least would be nice.
Michigan killed overmatched Toronto in exhibtion two weeks ago, 8-1. All 3 goalies played for Michigan, but the talk during the game on commentary was that Racine had a bad summer and Nagelvoort did better.
So.....it looks like he'll be in net tomorrow based on that and that only.
#11 Michigan opens the season against Mercyhurst, from the Atlantic Hockey Association (the first of....sigh.....3 AHA opponents on the schedule) in a Friday/Sunday series.
Mercyhurst enters the series with a 3-1-0 record. Mercyhurst split their season opening series with Colgate, losing the opener 5-2 but winning the second game 9-7(!!). They swept conference foe Bentley Historical Library the following weekend.
Key players to watch out for on Mercyhurst are leading scorer Taylor Best (4-1-5) and Elliott Kane (2-2-4, +5)
Their goalie, Brandon Wildung, has allowed 11 goals, stopped 103 shots for a 3.00 GAA. His save percentage is uh, not good.
It is crucial that Michigan sweeps this series. They cannot afford a loss to any of these tomato cans that make up virtually the entire non-conference slate. I know that's a lot to ask for since hockey can be a weird game and Michigan's track record hasn't been great in these games against AHA teams, but the B1G being so bad allows very little margin for error.
Plus, Michigan has a tough pair of games next weekend on the road. One of them is at Union who just upset then-#3 Boston University (another team Michigan faces on the road this year), 5-3. Cannot head into those games with a frustrating loss to a team you should easily roll.
As for the history between these two teams, Michigan leads the all-time series 2-0-1. Their last meeting was the 2010-11 season opener, in a game where Michigan blew a large lead allowing three 3rd period goals for Mercyhurst to leave with a tie.
October 15th, 2015 at 7:38 PM ^
F*ing Michigan Hockey is back! Excited watch Kyle Connor this season.
October 15th, 2015 at 8:15 PM ^
Go Blue
October 15th, 2015 at 9:26 PM ^
GO BLUE.
October 15th, 2015 at 9:32 PM ^
Just bought tickets, first trip to Yost in 10 years. That statement makes me feel so, so old.
October 15th, 2015 at 11:14 PM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 11:23 PM ^
he is from ypsi and went to school at milan and is a freshman defenseman .his name is lester lancaster. plays for mercyhurst. he will be playing.
October 16th, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^
quick hits:
- Nagelvoort's mechanics looked worlds better last week.. competition, first game, lets see how he does against Minnesota, granted. But I will say I was watching his positioning and play tracking, and it just looks better.
- Our offense this year will be as good as last year, and we will be rollling 3 scoring lines. Raback it.
- At tonight's (FRI) game, Little WInEx-ette will be riding the zamboni between 1st & 2nd period. She really wants to throw her shoes. Please do not taunt Happy Fun Ball, err Little WInEx-ette.