garrett van whye

CLICK HERE for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Alex described this as a 60 Minute Power Play for Michigan. While that was clearly an enjoyable use of hyperbole, it was not that far from the truth. Michigan swatted the Yellow Jackets early and often, getting out to a plural goal lead in under five minutes. The crazy thing is that they had multiple more Grade A chances that could easily have gone in, including a couple of rings of the iron. Michigan would score, get bored, give up a goal, score more, get bored, and give up another goal. Then, they would score more. AIC had FIVE attempts on net when this was defined as a close game. While there are nits to be picked, Michigan had a multiple goal lead for 47:33 of this game. 

-Brendan Brisson was the best player on the ice on Friday afternoon. He's been known for his great shot all season and it was no different against AIC. Power dropped the puck to him BELOW the dot and his just buried it from a tough angle. Beyond that, his passing was #eyeballemoji. He made multiple unbelievable passes putting teammates into scoring positions. 

-One of the more telling takeaways from this game was the offensive chance creation from the fourth line. Garrett Van Whye and Nolan Moyle got a handful of very good chances in the first period, alone. GVW was able to bury his first good look to give the Wolverines an early lead. Moyle had a chance even earlier, cutting his way to the net. Nolan also got in tight with the puck several more times, drawing the penalty that would lead to Michigan's power play goal. The fact that Michigan's "Grinder" line was able to create offense as well as their skill lines only reinforces the skill differential between the two teams in this game.

Ethan Edwards finished a filthy Brendan Brisson pass(David Wilcomes)

[More Exterminating after THE JUMP]

After a long holiday break, Michigan Hockey returned to the ice last weekend against the rival MSU Spartans. For about the first 116 of 120 minutes between the weekend's two games, there was one coherent story. Michigan was the better team, outshooting MSU and generally controlling play at even strength with consistency. They had run the Spartans out of the building on Friday and then were locked in a more characteristic-for-MSU tight, low scoring affair on Saturday, but one they seemed on track to win. With a narrow 2-1 lead and less than 4 minutes to go, Michigan just needed to close out a dreadful State offense to get a big sweep and the opening series of the second half we were looking for. That ... didn't happen. Two all-too-familiar defensive breakdowns later and Michigan got an incredibly bitter pill to swallow in the form of a weekend sweep for a series where they outscored the opponent 11-3. What to make of this? Let's dive right in, as Hockey Weekly returns from a break. 

Speed and skill back on display? 

Again, 97% of the weekend was good, it's just that the final 3% was so bad it erased about half of the good stuff. What was the good stuff? Well, Michigan finally got to flash their speed and skill again, which was nice to see after the dull Minnesota series at the end of the first half. Yes, I know that most of Michigan's big guns had to miss that series due to the World Juniors, so that team wasn't a representative of the whole, but it was a nice refresher that when Michigan clicks, it can be really special. Take the first goal on Saturday: 

Johnny Beecher knots this one at 1-1 with helpers to Eric Ciccolini and Nick Granowicz pic.twitter.com/QrXaHlU6cb

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) January 9, 2021

Granowicz goes on the forecheck and puts a hint of pressure on the Spartans, gets a bit fortunate when one of the defenders blows a tire, snags the loose puck, then hits Ciccolini with a pass, who then makes an extrasensory no-look backhand pass to Beecher for the easy tic-tac-toe goal. That's stuff we saw a lot of in the first four games of the season and haven't seen as much of since then. Good to know it still exists. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More Good Stuff- Also the Bad Stuff]

D Bode Wilde is the headliner

THE SPOTS

There's no way around the fact that Michigan has too many guys coming in to fit on one hockey roster. I'm not sure if this is in fact oversigning since hockey is not a headcount sport so you can split scholarships. Some incoming commits might be on half or a quarter scholarship; a few are probably pure walk-ons. And it's common to offer guys a "yes, but" in which they might come in in year X or might have to take another year in junior, depending on what ravages your roster sustains.

So: Michigan has six seniors who will definitely exit. Four are forwards; two are defensemen. Two of those forwards (Porikos and Roos) are probably not getting much, if any scholarship money, FWIW. They open up a roster slot but not a scholarship one. Cooper Marody has also left for the NHL.

Nick Boka, Joe Cecconi, and Brendan Warren are all draftees entering their final year of eligibility. NHL teams often try to sign those players since a player who stays four years at college can become a free agent. Warren probably hasn't done enough to warrant a contract; Boka is iffy; Cecconi probably has.

Michigan also has a few underclass departure threats: Luke Martin and Will Lockwood were second round picks and Quinn Hughes is about to go top ten—possibly top five. Lockwood got hurt the second half of the year and Hughes seems unlikely to bolt immediately, if only because he's a wee gent who could use a second year in Ann Arbor before attempting to crack an NHL roster. Martin is tough to tell since he's not much of an offensive threat.

Michigan needs somewhere between seven and ten guys unless this year's Michigan Hockey Summer is especially severe.

THE GONE

Since the last time we looked at the 2018 class, Michigan lost Mattias Samuelsson to WMU, Alec Regula to the OHL, and Gustaf Westlund to Ohio State. They plugged in probable top 15 draft pick Bode Wilde at D so the D losses won't hurt Michigan much. Westlund is a '97 with 34 points in 54 USHL games and is probably not a huge loss.

FWIW, I remain skeptical that Kenny Johnson is actually going to play for Michigan.

THE OLD

The three longstanding commits in the class who are still in it are all midlevel prospects; they're not sure things but they come with some reasons for optimism. None figure to have much immediate impact.

Randl drives action

Jack Randl is in his second year with the USHL's Omaha Lancers. He's got 32 points in 49 games, which is sixth on his team. A couple caveats: he's second in goals and he's the top 2000-born player on the team; only one of the guys in front of him is even a '99. HS-age guys who are close to a PPG in the USHL project as scoring line players, at least down the road. He's a bit borderline in that department. Possibly helpful: a hockey analytics guy named Will Scouch compiles numbers for the draft and Randl leads everyone in the USHL or CHL in % of goals where he either scores or has the primary assist.

P1IPP?

1) Jack Randl - 82.6%
2) Andrei Svechnikov - 82.1%
3) Tristen Nielsen - 73.9%
4) Serron Noel - 72.2%
5) Ryan O'Reilly - 72.2%
6) Sampo Ranta - 72.2%
7) Blade Jenkins - 70.7%
8) Hunter Holmes - 68.8%
9) Filip Zadina - 67.7%
10) Allan McShane - 67.4%

— Will Scouch (@Scouching) February 25, 2018

This means that he's driving most of the play when he's on the ice. USHR did like him quite a bit in a prospects game where he slotted in just behind a variety of high draft picks:

7. Jack Randl -- Michigan recruit had a goal and two assists, made plays consistently. Strong skater.

Randl got called up to the U18s to play at the Five Nations tourney in February, which is also a pretty good sign. He might go late in the NHL draft. He's ranked 158th by the CSB.

[After the JUMP: a lot more guys. Also a nine year old's absurd shootout goal.]