wmu hockey

The heartbeat of a new line, and a future Olympian [James Coller]
Comment Count

8

Hockey Weekly Is Going To The Olympics
Alex.Drain • January 11, 2022 • 1:54pm

It's been close to a month since our last Hockey Weekly, and Michigan Hockey is fully back in the swing of things. Since we were away, the hockey team caused a college hockey-wide controversy over canceling a game against Western Michigan, the World Juniors crumbled before our eyes, the NHL pulled out of the Olympics, meaning that Michigan players could be headed to Beijing in a few weeks, and the team swept UMass at home this weekend. It's been busy, despite only three games being played, and so we've got plenty to talk about. 

 

The beginning of the annual Mel Pearson Second Half Improvement?

Last Hockey Weekly we talked about how Michigan consistently improves under Mel in the second half of the season. We saw some early signs of that this weekend as Michigan bulldozed a good UMass team on consecutive nights, winning 3-1 and then 4-2. Those scores are comfortable, yet possession was more lopsided, with the Wolverines posting 60%+ Corsi at even strength both games, and it was the stellar play of Minutemen goalie Matt Murray (not that one) who kept this from being the kind of beatdown that UMass' football team suffers each Saturday in the fall.

Michigan skated circles around a decently talented UMass team, dominating possession, suppressing chances against and generating chances for in gobs, suffocating the Minutemen on the forecheck. The Maize & Blue men on ice haven't looked this sharp since October in Duluth. The version of the Michigan Hockey team we saw this weekend is the favorite for the national title... we just haven't seen it enough.

The biggest revelation from this weekend was the emergence of the Kent Johnson-Matty Beniers-Brendan Brisson line. I've been decently critical of how Pearson has routinely fired up the line blender week after week, but this seems like one line that cannot be broken up. They tilted the ice in their favor every time they were out there and generated five of Michigan's six non-empty netter goals on the weekend. Yes, they benefited from UMass' sloppy zone exits, but they were also the group turning them into goals: 

Johnson's passing, Beniers' puck retrieval (and shooting), and Brisson's finishing ability is a combo made in heaven. If they could do that against a team as good as UMass, it's worth pondering what they can do against the mid-tier B1G teams. There will be bumps in the road against a more physical team like OSU (UMass plays the kind of game Michigan wants to play), but this line needs to be cohesive. 

David remarked to me that Michigan needed more offense this weekend from forwards not on that line. That's probably true, but being without Thomas Bordeleau for ~undisclosed~ reasons is a big deal because he's your #2 engine. Leave the KJ-Beniers-Brisson line together, then build a second line of Samoskevich-Bordeleau-Pastujov and I think you'd have legit scoring depth. Then some combination of Morgan-Beecher-Duke and Moyle-GVW-Estapa or something in the bottom six. That's how I'd build it at least. But keep the big boys together. 

Erik Portillo also deserves a shoutout since we last did this column for allowing just three goals in 185 minutes of hockey, two of which coming after Michigan had a win locked up on Sunday. With a massively shorthanded roster facing Michigan Tech on Dec. 29, Portillo had a marvelous game to keep it scoreless, including stopping a penalty shot in OT to force a tie. Michigan's team defense has been improved the last three games, but Portillo continues to do his part on Grade-A chances against. You need that to win in the postseason, and you'll probably need it to win the conference regular season crown given the pieces you're gonna lose to the Olympics, but more on that in a second. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Olympics and Cancelation Controversy]

Read More