Odd facts you forgot or never knew: Michigan Hockey playing at Minnesota right now

Submitted by stephenrjking on

The state of the Michigan Hockey program is perhaps well symbolized by the complete silence regarding this weekend's, uh, key series at Minnesota.

The board, on the front page and on the threads, hasn't mentioned the team at all. You'd be forgiven for not knowing that they were playing.

My twitter feed, which usually includes two or three guys that will actively tweet about the game plus a few others who may occasionally tweet about it, has been dead silence except for the official, bot-like Michigan Hockey feed itself. 

The team is losing 3-1 after one period, being outshot (again) 17-9, and any lingering feelings of disappointment that I didn't make the trip down this year are gently wafting away.

One might be tempted to say this is a "key series" because Michigan can set itself up for a strong second half and a postseason push of some kind. It is, in fact, no such thing. Michigan's a game below .500 and it will take a miracle to stay anywhere close to that.

Discuss. Or, like the rest of the Michigan fanbase, forget to Discuss.

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lhglrkwg

January 13th, 2017 at 9:57 PM ^

Saw they were up 1-0, not surprised they're already down 3-1. I just feel worn down by watching the last 5 years of Michigan hockey. Like watching Hoke's 3rd & 4th seasons go on for 3 more years. Im just tired of seeing all that talent go to waste (not that this year's team has a ton)

Its sad to see Penn State at #1 and even OSU looking like a tournament team. Hopefully the next coach can pull us out of this mess

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lhglrkwg

January 13th, 2017 at 10:18 PM ^

and it's still amazing to me how good the program was through the 90's. The great 2007 team was 33-6-4 and was our best team of the decade

Starting in 91-92 we went 32-9-3, 30-7-3, 33-7-1, 30-8-1, 34-7-2, 35-4-4, and 34-11-1 culminating in the 98 title. A ridiculous run. I'll always wonder what happened with Red's program where the 90's were bonkers good, the 00's were just very good, and the 10's have been meh. Just age?

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Save Us Mel

January 13th, 2017 at 10:57 PM ^

6 Frozen Fours in 7 years - 2 championships and 4 semi-final losses.  And the year we didn't make it, we got screwed by the NCAA by getting paired in the Regionals with a very good Lake Superior St. team that we had went 4-0 against during the season.  They beat us in overrtime at a very hostile Munn Arena and went on to win it all.  The talent was incredible and the coaching was great.  

The 00's was more of a normal decade for what was still one of the best programs in the country every year.  

The 10's is very simple - Mel Pearson left to become head coach at Michigan Tech.   

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pz

January 13th, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^

Guess I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling so blah about the hockey season. Even the official account is tough to follow. Hopefully it improves next year...



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stephenrjking

January 13th, 2017 at 10:09 PM ^

There are serious fans and there are, I think, a lot of sorta casual fans who will pay attention if it's worth paying attention to. We did, after all, sell out the Big House, and as recently as last year UM-MSU sold out the Joe.

This year is the lowest the program has been in 30 years, though, so even those with serious interest are having trouble finding the energy to pay close attention. A pity, because when the basketball team is flagging (as it is) a good hockey team can be a great outlet for hungry fans, and has been in the past.

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Skiptoomylou22

January 13th, 2017 at 10:26 PM ^

Even though were down this year, it's not nearly as bad as Wisconsin, a program no stranger to 20 win seasons, going 4-24-5 in 2014.  I agree with everything you've said though, it's just not great hockey this year. 

They are certainly a frustrating team to watch, the talent just isn't as profound as it's been in the past. Also don't think anyone was expecting Connor and Werenski to depart as soon as they did. It also doesn't help having Will Lockwood out, I like his game a lot. Watching the World Juniors last week I kept thinking about how UM (and MSU for that matter) used to always be missing a few guys due to making their countries rosters and only Joe Cecconi made it this year. In addition to that, it's crazy how much talent Boston University has. 

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Skiptoomylou22

January 13th, 2017 at 10:07 PM ^

I think a new board topic label has been created. But HEY, as i'm typing Brendan Warren scores. it's a 3-2 game now. 

In other college hockey news, this happened in the Colgate - Quinnipiac game

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trueblueintexas

January 13th, 2017 at 10:12 PM ^

Apparently I've decided to become a masochist because I'll watch the basketball game tomorrow and then going to the hockey game with a Gopher fan. Primarily watching the game tonight so I can speak more intelligently about the Gophers tomorrow.

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Winchester Wolverine

January 13th, 2017 at 10:14 PM ^

I'm an EXTREMELY casual fan of the hockey program. I admittedly don't know all that much about the game either. But if I see Michigan on tv, I'll watch, and for the past few seasons it's been exciting most of the time. Generally, I use Michigan hockey, baseball, softball, etc. to fill the void of football and basketball. Hopefully the baseball team does good things this year. We're in for a long wait for football, guys.

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stephenrjking

January 13th, 2017 at 10:41 PM ^

Fun with stats: Guess how many times Michigan has outshot its opponent in an official game this season?

C'mon, you can do it.

Just guess a number.

It won't hurt.

The answer is...

Three!

Yeah, I was surprised it was that high, too. They outshot Arizona State in their trip down there, and outshot LSSU in both games of that series (one of which they lost, amusingly). 

They've been outshot in every other official game, sometimes horrendously. Somehow they've managed to win 6 of those games and except for the PSU series haven't really even been embarrassed yet.

(For advanced stat guys, my recollection is that the CORSI numbers are even worse).

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BigOzzy86

January 13th, 2017 at 10:50 PM ^

are both struggling. I think it has to do with the best players in both hockey and basketball being able to basically skip college all together and join pro teams...

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stephenrjking

January 13th, 2017 at 11:04 PM ^

Michigan has, in the past, been hurt by guys leaving early and guys going to the OHL instead, but there are plenty of quality players that want to play in college that aren't coming to Michigan.

And, on the basketball side, we got a big break when Caris came back... and that didn't work out well for anybody.

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steve sharik

January 14th, 2017 at 1:48 AM ^

The first round picks argument doesn't work. Beilein recruited 4 1st round NBA picks in 2 drafts (2013, 2014--THJ, Burke, McGary, Stauskas) and another in 2016 (LeVert). And he has to do it while everyone else is paying players, something Red doesn't have to compete with in college hockey. Sure, he loses players to the OHL, but he doesn't have to compete against them.

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stephenrjking

January 13th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^

5-2 Minnesota midway through the third. They have a five minute major and just converted a 5-on-3 to get to the current score.

Don't think Michigan's coming back here.

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lhglrkwg

January 14th, 2017 at 8:09 AM ^

I think the issue has been that Red hasn't wanted to retire. It's been an on going debate around here and elsewhere on what you do with this situation. He's obviously not up to par nowadays but you don't want to force out one of the greatest NCAA hockey coaches of all time so we're just waiting for when Red feels like stepping aside

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cjm

January 13th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^

I'll be in Ann Arbor next week visiting with my son. Any chance to get tickets cheap to the game vs MSU? (been unemployed for over a yr) Can I get tickets put front?



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