Exit: Jacob Trouba
Your nightmares. (Keith Srakocic/AP via CBCSports)
NHL reporter EJ Hradek just tweeted an awful thing:
Daily's Matt Slovin appears to have confirmed. With him and Merrill leaving that's a top line of…? Bennett-Downing? I don't want to think about it. At least when he's next-Pronger (except not the worst person ever) we can beat our chests and such. Good luck to him. I'm gonna go pout or…oh hey look basketball!
There's so much front-page content, you guys may need to put those "after the jump" links in a little earlier in some of these articles. The articles are getting shoved down within hours.
I've let all of M's scholarship athletes know they can only depart on light days from now on.
It's not the number of articles that's the issue, but how much of them you're putting on the front page. Maybe there shouldn't be more than one paragraph per story on the front page during high-traffic periods.
Articles such as UV and Thursday recruiting should have more real estate than say "This Week in Twitter" or bumped Diaries.
(for the record I love TWIT)
There are only ever 5 articles on the front page. 1 paragraph per story means that the sidebars are longer than the front page content.
Returning: Mac Bennett, Mike Sumza, Mike Chiasson, Brennan Serville, Kevin Clare(?)
Incoming: Michael Downing, Nolan De Jong, Spencer Hyman, Kevin Lohan(?)
Not even the biggest optimist could put a positive spin on this.
The biggest optimist would point out that Copp was unheralded coming into Ann Arbor. That's the best I've got...
All the freshmen will be awesome.
When you look at it from a numbers perspective, Michigan loses two guys who could skate for 20-25 minutes a game. We don't really have a replacement for that.
Now we have no choice but to squeeze minutes out of low usage players and freshman. It will either work, or it will be a disaster.
And the best two or three will leave after one season for the NHL, and Red will never get to reap the reward for the coaching efforts he and his staff put in on these one-and-dones. You don't truly get that return on your coaching investment until a player is a junior or senior.
Phaneuf? He plays like Pronger except without the cheap attempts to injure and whatnot. Uses his size, huge reach, speed, even the way he bangs off of things before he moves in the other direction. Pronger minus the asshattery is the best way I can describe his potential.
Feels good to finally say "Oh look, baskeball!" during late March/Spring
This wasn't really a shock and I also can't say I'm disappointed. Trouba was clearly NHL-ready and it's the right move for him. The defense is in a bit of tough spot next year, but maybe someone will make a leap or someone will respond to the pressure or maybe a forward will move back and be awesome. It's too early to tell and it's not like having Trouba and Merrill this year was the magic key.
I feel like we've become victims of our own success in some ways. Lots of highly recruited kids coming in and then leaving early because they have the talent to go pro quickly. I have to wonder if perhaps we should have taken a few more sleepers/developmental prospects in previous classes. Four years of a good player who plays on a stable line might be better than a year or two of a great player.
This isn't really a surprise at all. He's a fantastic player, and it's not like Michigan appears primed for a championship run or anything (they could have surprised with him, of course, but this roster won't be mistaken for '96-'97). He's pro-ready, he played a solid year, he's about to get seriously paid.
I'm glad we got him for a year. I'm sorry it had to be this year.
The Final Four Gods required a bloody sacrifice in ACL's and exitings in other major sports.
Cue the anti-Muppets! Which I guess would just be kittens....
Either way, I guess Trouba and Merrill are sorta like Muppets in that you can't have one without the other.
He was a stud at the World Juniors, was one of our best players this year and he is ready for the pros. The fact that Jacob is a right-handed shot is also huge given the dearth of defensement with his skill set.
I'm proud to be signing with the @nhljets. Looking forward to starting my career with a great organization. #gojetsgo
— Jacob Trouba (@JacobTrouba) April 3, 2013
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Thank you to @umichhockey, my coaches, and my teammates for a great year. It has been a blast. Forever a Wolverine. #goblue
— Jacob Trouba (@JacobTrouba) April 3, 2013
And why do you think that is? Would it have anything to do with the fact that those teams were led by guys like Morrison, Madden, Luhning, and Botterill (to just name a few) who didn't leave after their freshman season?
i wish him the best, hopefully some other players step up next season
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