hockey bludgeons buckeyes

If last weekend was your first time ever watching Michigan Hockey, it was a good weekend to begin. Michigan took on a rebuilding OSU team that looks to be Steve Rohlik's first in five years not to make the NCAA tourney and absolutely blasted them back to Columbus, posting the dominant weekend sweep we'd been waiting awhile for. The Wolverines outscored the Buckeyes 9-2 in the two games combined and finally put together a wire-to-wire weekend of consistent excellence for the first time since mid-November. What does it all mean, especially with Notre Dame coming up? Let's dive right in. 

Michigan was just faster, man 

The number one thing that popped out from this weekend was the massive gap in athleticism between Michigan and Ohio State, which, unlike football, is a good thing to say in the context of hockey. When it comes to the ice, OSU simply doesn't hold a candle to Michigan in terms of skating-talent and that was quickly evident in the Friday night game. Sure, Michigan's got a ton of NHL-level skaters in all the top end talent they have, but Mel has stocked the non-NHL prospect part of the roster with guys who can move, too. Nick Blankenburg is an undrafted guy, yet he can fly up and down the ice. Luke Morgan is a transfer from Lake State whose career will almost certainly not include a major pro stint, but he too can really burn by guys. Michigan has elite professional talent that few other teams have, but they also recruit top skaters in their non blue chip guys too. 

Some teams, like Michigan State and Notre Dame, play a certain style designed to mitigate those athletic issues (although ND often has a good bit of skating talent). OSU is generally a defensive team but they don't sit back into their shell to the same extent. Rather, they try to engage you on the boards and coax you into taking bad penalties so that they can then murder you on special teams. Each of the last two seasons when the Buckeyes traveled to Yost, the series included at least one violence-related game misconduct penalty. They play mean, but as Ohio State learned this weekend, it's harder to be mean when you can't get your hands on the opponent. Time and time again Michigan wingers would come screaming down the boards and burn right by Buckeye defenders. The Maize & Blue skated circles around the Scarlet & Gray and their ability to win races into the offensive zone let the forechecking pressure be relentless. OSU seemed overmatched all weekend long. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Ohio State probably sucks, Notre Dame doesn't]