I was at Yost when they goon'ed Kampfer and participated in the FU State chant until I realized the crowd had changed tenor to something more dangerous than a simple chant. I genuinely thought it was on the precipice of an actual riot.
Having done ice maintenance for close to three decades, I'd say the humidity in the building was probably too high. It causes pucks to pick up fine bits of snow even when the ice appears completely dry. This makes pucks slow down and/or roll unpredictably. Edward's puck slowed down twice in the middle of his dribble. Most people think the Zam clears the snow to make the skaters faster. It mostly clears the snow to make the puck behave properly. Stadium ice is also notoriously soft in the first place, outside of the dead of winter, in all but a few buildings.
(But, yeah, he probably should have passed it sooner)
In the admittedly blurry thumbnail version it is not obvious. Expand it and it is clearly from behind. If he had taken a different angle and rubbed him into the boards they might have let it go. Based upon the angle (nearly perpendicular to the boards) and the level of impact it's impossible to not call that in the modern game.......at every level.
Watch that again. As soon as he realizes he isn't touching turf Winovich immediately unweights the foot. There was nothing dirty about the step and the Indiana player doesnt even flinch, simply looks around to see who stepped on him.
Well, I can tell you what that conversation looks like from a parent's point of view. I have a girl starting to field college hockey interest so I don't have to have that actual conversation. but if I did, and she knows this, it would look like this:
"Sit down junior, let's talk. You have two avenues here. School A want's you to play for them. They are offering you a scholarship and opportunity to represent them for four years. There will be good times and bad times. The other opportunity is Junior Team A also wants you just as badly. Both are excellent opportunities and both will develop you considerably on your journey to your dream of playing professional hockey."
"If you choose college, it is a four year committment. Outside of some significant internal turmoil I expect you to complete the four years you agree too. It is the right thing to do and failing to do so will reflect very poorly on you. Further, I will be extremely disappointed in you if you leave early. Your committment is to the team and your teammates. The expectations are not the same in Juniors."
"Juniors offers you the same development opportunity without the committment. I would expect you to get and give the same effort and development in juniors as I would in college but the long term committment is not part of the deal. I will expect you to complete full seasons, however, and depart in the off season."
"Now, I don't give a EFF which you choose. I want you to do what is best for you but remember; one comes with a considerable and binding committment from you. No go represent your team, yourself, and this family to the best of your ability."
If you want to do one to three years just go the junior route. If you commit to a college program you should actually be committing. I don't think enough parents of the talent, however, do have the talk. Like I said, I don't have to have that talk. I get to just sift through the interest emails and smile for now.
For three weeks, everytime someone has said, "OK, now we're in," a day or two later the mathletes go, "Well, we should be in but if this and that happen we could still not make the bubble.
I just told the wife, "Yes, we're in!" and her eye roll almost put her in crutches.
As an aside, the goalie pic is now my desktop background. Thank you Rapai.
But dammit man, going forward, which opponents do I root for in the last weekend of the season to help us move up? Now that we beat ND, I think we want them to win. Fk OSU regardless. Does it generally come down to anyone well rankd and who we've beaten we want to do well? How well do we need to do in the Big tourney to gurantee a slot in the regionals or are we already in?
Lastly, how cool is it that we get to ask such questions about M hockey again?
I was a little surprised we moved up in the PW with the three point weekend. Thought that could push us outside the bubble considering the strength of opponent. Splitting with ND is gonna be a huge need. Love to see it, though, and I am happy enough with the season considering the last three or four.
It was great to win, it was a great comeback and it was great to grab four points. It was not, however, a great performance. The numerous odd man rushes and going down three goals in any game cannot equate to greatness by any metric. There were several instances of lazy back checking on Saturday as well which directly influenced both scoring chances against and one goal.
While I do think we will finish slightly ahead of .500 and the offense is edging toward greatness, we need to tighten up considerably on all aspects of the defensive side of the puck. There are areas of accountability to the team/scheme that need addressing. As I have said, and will continue to say; this is a young team that is coming along nicely. To sustain these wins, though, we need to be better defensively and not rely so heavily on late game bursts.
It is not a vintage team yet. They are young and you can expect flashes of brilliance along with a few head scratchers as well. This was very true for the Ferris series I sat in on last week.
Pearson, while not vintage yet, is aging well and the cask will be worth cracking sooner rather than later. This win is, however, signature and should vault Michigan into the national rankings for the first time in a while. Here's hoping they continue to build from this. The system is clearly better than what we have had for the last four years or so and all of the guys seem to be buying in - also for the first time in five or six years.
Very pleased with the turn around in culture around that locker room. Even at .500 I will be pleased with the progress in the above mentioned items. They look like a team again and not a mishmash of talent. It's almost hard not to look forward to the future and just focus on the progress.
Although I realize you are not the committee, why did the original coaching search post limit itself to college and NHL coaches? What about up and comers in the USHL, the lower pro leagues (I, A, ECHL) and National Team coaches? There have to be more than a couple innovators with vision and coaching accumen who can run a clean program.
I would be willing to roll the dice on Leaman if we are going outside the program. If we are going with Legacy/Michigan men, I'd like to get Mel and Muckalt back for 3-5 before passing the torch a second time. Make sure Bill has the recruiting and strategic chops while he is in house before handing him the Yost keys.
Recent Comments
I was at Yost when they goon'ed Kampfer and participated in the FU State chant until I realized the crowd had changed tenor to something more dangerous than a simple chant. I genuinely thought it was on the precipice of an actual riot.
Anyone have video of the Fantilli penalty? I watched it live but can't find a recording.
…
re: the Edwards bobble,
Having done ice maintenance for close to three decades, I'd say the humidity in the building was probably too high. It causes pucks to pick up fine bits of snow even when the ice appears completely dry. This makes pucks slow down and/or roll unpredictably. Edward's puck slowed down twice in the middle of his dribble. Most people think the Zam clears the snow to make the skaters faster. It mostly clears the snow to make the puck behave properly. Stadium ice is also notoriously soft in the first place, outside of the dead of winter, in all but a few buildings.
(But, yeah, he probably should have passed it sooner)
In the admittedly blurry thumbnail version it is not obvious. Expand it and it is clearly from behind. If he had taken a different angle and rubbed him into the boards they might have let it go. Based upon the angle (nearly perpendicular to the boards) and the level of impact it's impossible to not call that in the modern game.......at every level.
Watch that again. As soon as he realizes he isn't touching turf Winovich immediately unweights the foot. There was nothing dirty about the step and the Indiana player doesnt even flinch, simply looks around to see who stepped on him.
My daughter is an ICE HOCKEY player on a AA boys travel team. Try again.
Fortunately, I am also a helicopter pilot but that has no affect on my parenting.
Your anger and judgement are both wholly misplaced.
Want to develop with no committments? Go Juniors. It's the better route for you.
Well, I can tell you what that conversation looks like from a parent's point of view. I have a girl starting to field college hockey interest so I don't have to have that actual conversation. but if I did, and she knows this, it would look like this:
"Sit down junior, let's talk. You have two avenues here. School A want's you to play for them. They are offering you a scholarship and opportunity to represent them for four years. There will be good times and bad times. The other opportunity is Junior Team A also wants you just as badly. Both are excellent opportunities and both will develop you considerably on your journey to your dream of playing professional hockey."
"If you choose college, it is a four year committment. Outside of some significant internal turmoil I expect you to complete the four years you agree too. It is the right thing to do and failing to do so will reflect very poorly on you. Further, I will be extremely disappointed in you if you leave early. Your committment is to the team and your teammates. The expectations are not the same in Juniors."
"Juniors offers you the same development opportunity without the committment. I would expect you to get and give the same effort and development in juniors as I would in college but the long term committment is not part of the deal. I will expect you to complete full seasons, however, and depart in the off season."
"Now, I don't give a EFF which you choose. I want you to do what is best for you but remember; one comes with a considerable and binding committment from you. No go represent your team, yourself, and this family to the best of your ability."
If you want to do one to three years just go the junior route. If you commit to a college program you should actually be committing. I don't think enough parents of the talent, however, do have the talk. Like I said, I don't have to have that talk. I get to just sift through the interest emails and smile for now.
Are we truly and finally in?
For three weeks, everytime someone has said, "OK, now we're in," a day or two later the mathletes go, "Well, we should be in but if this and that happen we could still not make the bubble.
I just told the wife, "Yes, we're in!" and her eye roll almost put her in crutches.
As an aside, the goalie pic is now my desktop background. Thank you Rapai.
I thought this was gonna be for the second game only. I was thinking, "How is he gonna get more than a paragraph out of this?"
Hey Mom, we're in the show!!!
But dammit man, going forward, which opponents do I root for in the last weekend of the season to help us move up? Now that we beat ND, I think we want them to win. Fk OSU regardless. Does it generally come down to anyone well rankd and who we've beaten we want to do well? How well do we need to do in the Big tourney to gurantee a slot in the regionals or are we already in?
Lastly, how cool is it that we get to ask such questions about M hockey again?
I was a little surprised we moved up in the PW with the three point weekend. Thought that could push us outside the bubble considering the strength of opponent. Splitting with ND is gonna be a huge need. Love to see it, though, and I am happy enough with the season considering the last three or four.
Welcome aboard!
It is not a vintage team yet. They are young and you can expect flashes of brilliance along with a few head scratchers as well. This was very true for the Ferris series I sat in on last week.
Pearson, while not vintage yet, is aging well and the cask will be worth cracking sooner rather than later. This win is, however, signature and should vault Michigan into the national rankings for the first time in a while. Here's hoping they continue to build from this. The system is clearly better than what we have had for the last four years or so and all of the guys seem to be buying in - also for the first time in five or six years.
Very pleased with the turn around in culture around that locker room. Even at .500 I will be pleased with the progress in the above mentioned items. They look like a team again and not a mishmash of talent. It's almost hard not to look forward to the future and just focus on the progress.
Yup, please include the Michigan entry in the appropriate position/rank in next years edition.