Its so hard to say because with such a short season with unbalanced schedules everyone is kind of "in it". Michigan is a fringe tournament team with a few different results over the course of the season, ie if some of those ties are wins. Outside of the top 5-6 in the pairwise its pretty fluid.
If I had to bet I would say 15-20th in pairwise. I think the goalies will improve a little (Mann has another level from what we saw, if they go with him) and I think they will have better results in the close games. Making the tournament isn't out of the question. Being a surefire national title contender seems like a stretch, however.
I am not sure if Miletic's scholarship offer was publicized but if he was only getting a partial it can be an expensive proposition to play at Michigan.
At London he will be given up to 10K per season that he plays. The actual amount depends on the cost of the university closest to his home, that is how the CHL determines the tuition reimbusement. This amount can also be negotiated when signing the contract. He will then get 2 full seasons after his eligibility expires to play in the pros before the reimbursement is nullified.
If a player does not go pro they could go straight to the CIS and go to school (canadian university sports, like the teams UM plays in the preseason). A lot of those players are former CHL players who are also getting scholarships to play. They can essentially cash out one of the scholarships they are receiving.
For an american playing CHL i would imagine its kind of a tossup. Canadian universities can be expensive for international students. If a Canadian player plays 4 years of CHL they have a sweet deal, as even elite schools like McGill or UToronto are 6-10K per year for Canadians.
We don't know how much Miletic was due to get from Michigan and what he was offered from London. London could have guaranteed him a 40K package to sign. In that case it would likely be more than Michigan would offer on a partial scholarship. There is no way to know how good or bad of a deal he's getting by playing CHL.
I remember thinking after that game that it would probably be best if he retires. Its been all downhill since, and will probably be really ugly next season. I wouldn't be shocked if Werenski leaves, the London Knights own his CHL rights.
The argument is that you can't charge people for season tickets, make them pay, then take away one of the 2 or 3 most appealing games on the schedule.
It sucks they're playing State in Chicago but its really not that big of a deal compared to what the bait-and-switch does to the value of the season tickets.
Its appalling that they intentionally bait-and-switched their customers, there is no reason that they couldn't have announced this in advance, or at least been up front about losing a big game against MSU. Its inexcuaable.
Consider that this effectively means that the tickets have increased in price coming off the program's 2 worst seasons in 20 years. Thats also bad business.
I have friends who WANT to take their kids to Michigan hockey games but since its such an expensive ticket and Yost isn't exactly easy to get to for a 7PM (not to mention 6:30) from metro detroit they find themselves going to Whalers games instead. Whats the difference to a 5 year old? The difference to the parents is 100 bucks or so and a lot less driving.
Michigan hockey's popularity isn't a given, especially when you treat your current customers like shit and price out future customers.
One last thing, people who can't get to Yost like going to the Joe and taking that away in lieu of the B10 championship hurts fan accessibility long-term as well.
If its an even strength goal where there was an uncontested one-timer from the blueline and a guy left open in front until late in the sequence, how is it "defended well"? There looks to be a couple mistakes on that play for that to happen.
You see it become an issue quite a bit. Also putting forwards back there can be bad news as they are slower to react and don't have the instincts around the offensive blue line, as that are is key in transition.
I think it was OSU's first goal on monday but their guy got behind Sinelli on the dump-in, that was almost completely his fault. The flick of the puck over Racine is a really hard shot to stop as chipping a rolling puck is impossible to read. Either it hits the goalie or it doesn't. Sinelli lost his man badly.
Other than that I like him I like him and agree that he should be ahead of Serville and Clare at least until they can get a better feel for what they have with him. As of right now 4 and 6 are known quantities and that "known" isn't very good.
Also I don't think Chaisson's failure to break up that pass is too big of a mistake, its difficult to take away that pass when approaching the passer without putting yourself in a bad position. Its possible he was slow to react but as far as costing the team a goal its lower on the list. Someone could have bothered to cover the shooter?
Reegardless this team is good and they play hard. The D will hopefully sort itself out as Lohan will come back and Downing and De Jong will get comfortable.
I'm only going because Saturday will be my last game as a season ticket holder and I want to Enjoy the view one last time. I'm also looking forward to saying goodbye to some of the folks that I've sat near for a long time but as I am writing this I've realized they're probably smarter than I am and will have sold their tickets. Oh well. I can only hope all the OSU fans aren't too awful.
Its going to be miserable. Those who stayed are chumps!
I agree about addition by subtraction but I still count 3 wingers on that depth chart that can't be bothered to play defense or backcheck regularily so I still have my doubts. The biggest difference is that they have 5 good centers (Hyman can play C too) and they are all very responsible. Also, with Copp being so prominent I don't think they'll get into funks like they did last year and in 09-10.
Defense is what concerns me, there is no depth. I have zero concerns about goaltending as Racine was very good last year. People don't realize how bad they were defensively in the first half of the season, he was still solid then as well. I think he's ready for the heavy load.
I like the depth. I feel like Selman and Hyman are more well rounded than Lynch and Moffatt. You're not going to see Hyman get lazy clearing the puck or losing too many battles on the boards, and Selman seems to play well in all 3 zones. If Motte is as described those two would make a really formidable 3rd line with him.
I think Lynch is solid but Moffatt really doesn't work as hard as he needs to off the puck or in the defensive end.
Brian didn't miss a home game. There's a difference between refusing to cover a team because their play is so bad you can't say something nice and not supporting them.
- Maybe? The team hasn't imroved or slipped in any specific areas since he left, the issues that led to the do-or-die run in 2010 still exist and Pearson was on the bench for that season.
- College hockey has changed so Michigan won't ever have a superteam like they did from 96-98 again, there is much more parity. Relative to the rest of the NCAA Michigan is in the top 5 almost every year. They also have the best recruiting advantage in the country, with the USNDT 3 minutes away and they are the closest power conference school to Toronto. Think Texas or Ohio State's natural recruiting advantages in football.
- Its not uncommon for top players to leave early in hockey. Trouba leaving wouldn't be a sign of any negativity in the program. He should leave, actually, he's too good to be playing college hockey next year would impede his development. He's a man amongst boys out there.
The thing is that Hyman is very good at being a center but also one of the only forwards willing to go into the corners, I think they were forced into playing him on the wing for that reason.
I think he's a dynamic player and the only thing be really lacks is offensive touch. He's going to be a valuable 4 year player.
I think the key is avoiding having to play a series at Notre Dame. I think it would take an upset in one of the first round series but Michigan can take Western at Lawson, I don't think they can take ND in South Bend.
I do think Racine will be solid going forward. Played both games without allowing a goal straight up - the Friday goal was heavily assisted by a guy interfering with him on a PP from a BS penalty and the Saturday goal appeared to be a strange deflection. For a guy seeing the puck so well to not react on that its pretty safe to assume it didn't beat him clean.
My main concern is that when Michigan plays Miami or ND and they inevitably give up the 3-5 grade A scoring chances from sloppy back checking or defensive giveaways will Racine stop those and will Michigan be able to score enough to win.
I'd still give a CCHA title about a 10% chance, they're still the most talented team in the conference, it's just a matter of working out of the position of disadvantage and being able to make less mistakes against potentially 3 different well-coached teams. Highly unlikely but I wouldn't be shocked.
Sparks leaving is totally understandable, if the staff wants to play Rohrkemper instead of him, its probably not the best place for him to be playing.
If Nieves is talked about as being "AHL ready" as one of the quotes that was put up here a couple weeks ago said, he's probably going to slide right onto the first line, expecially with the size he has.
I don't think Iles is an "ECAC Hunwick". He's got a solid background. He was on the U18s and was Campbell's backup at the 2011 WJC. He's probably capable of stealing a game if he gets in the zone and is probably a big factor in Cornell's low GAA.
In a year after Holden has had a good Premiership season and good Gold Cup we're going to look back and realize he only played 1 minute in the World Cup.
Kind of like Charlie Davies playing 20 minutes in the Olympics, an Under-23 tournament and 10 months later playing great in the Confed Cup and 2 months after that scoring in Azteca.
A lot of the development of Sparks and Treais would depend on who their linemates are. If they are paired with a good passer who can open space for them to dangle and snipe, they would likely be more productive.
http://airconsumer.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm#overbooking
I am super paranoid of stuff like this to the point where I will intentionally book extra segments on trips and longer flights just to get me to elite status. Airlines are the freaking devil.
FWIW I regularily book flights for family members who aren't travel savvy and I won't ever book Spirit again based on your recommendation. Avoid US Airways as well they have done similar stuff to me in the past.
...Michigan spent 230 million to basically rebuild the stadium, trumps up the fact they are going to do a home and home with a big school to christen said stadium, and the team to do this is UConn?
Comerica Park holds more people than UConn's stadium does. This is kind of silly.
The switcheasy capsule rebel, or the speck candyshell. Both are among the highest spoken of at iLounge.
I've owned the switcheasy and it was great, Just bought the candyshell because its supposed to be even better. Haven't used it yet though.
If there was ever a game for the administration to bust out the pocketbook and pay a team enough to not have to give a return trip, the re-opening of the stadium is the game. They could easily get a beatable team with name cache and history if they wanted. Its insulting to the fans who will pay for the stadium upgrades to have to watch UMASS in the first game in the new stadium. I'm disappointed that the AD sees UMASS as a fitting opponent to open the stadium. Awful.
Shots in volume that aren't particularly difficult to stop just make the goalie hotter. Michigan didn't have too many chances that were side-to-side or screens. This definitely wasn't like the goaltending performance we saw in the 2 Western games last week.
...but last time I checked Brian can do whatever the hell he wants with his website.
And while I am being frank, that was the basketball equivalent of the Alamo Bowl. Michigan went cold for 5 minutes but so did Oklahoma at times. Everyone makes runs. Michigan played good enough to win, nevermind the fact that Manny played 21 minutes because of cheap fouls and Sims had to miss significant time after getting raked in the face.
Rewatch the game and count how many times Griffin is in the lane 6 seconds, let alone 3.
People have the right to feel ripped off in this one.
The Selection show is on at 11:30 am on ESPN2
I also want to say Shaq Gibson is awesome. He's become a legit backup center, and improved drastically since he got to Michigan. Hard work and good coaching FTW.
...it will forever serve as a reference of who should not be taken seriously on this site.
The joke couldn't have been any more apparent than it was. Good Lord.
...in the 5 years preceding this one, only one team has made it with an at-large bid and an RPI over 60 (Air Force made it with a 60 RPI in '06 and a 70 RPI in '04)
I may be wrong, but PSU splitting their final 2 games would leave them pretty close to 60, and Michigan's would be close to 40 if they split.
I'd be pissed too if PSU got in ahead of Michigan in those circumstances. Playing a cake non-conference schedule should be penalized. I don't think PSU has earned it.
Hogan had the flu, and played pretty well with it. Of the 3 goals, one was on a 5-3, and the other 2 were on cross-ice one timers when the Defense took part of the second period off.
Sauer was good, but Hogan wasn't even close to bad.
If the NCAA gave a damn about anything other than exploiting student athletes for monetary gain they would pay their refs enough to make it a full-time job and hold them accountable. College sports are a disgraceful money grab and the best team isn't going to win as much as it should with the way it is currently constructed. This weekend was a microcosm of the larger issue.
When is the last time the best team won in hockey? Minnesota a few years back?
When is the last time the best team won in CBB?
The fact is that the NCAA doesn't care about the best team winning. They care about money and not much else.
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Its so hard to say because with such a short season with unbalanced schedules everyone is kind of "in it". Michigan is a fringe tournament team with a few different results over the course of the season, ie if some of those ties are wins. Outside of the top 5-6 in the pairwise its pretty fluid.
If I had to bet I would say 15-20th in pairwise. I think the goalies will improve a little (Mann has another level from what we saw, if they go with him) and I think they will have better results in the close games. Making the tournament isn't out of the question. Being a surefire national title contender seems like a stretch, however.
Thanks for the kind words!
Server issues and too many mouse clicks.
I am not sure if Miletic's scholarship offer was publicized but if he was only getting a partial it can be an expensive proposition to play at Michigan.
At London he will be given up to 10K per season that he plays. The actual amount depends on the cost of the university closest to his home, that is how the CHL determines the tuition reimbusement. This amount can also be negotiated when signing the contract. He will then get 2 full seasons after his eligibility expires to play in the pros before the reimbursement is nullified.
If a player does not go pro they could go straight to the CIS and go to school (canadian university sports, like the teams UM plays in the preseason). A lot of those players are former CHL players who are also getting scholarships to play. They can essentially cash out one of the scholarships they are receiving.
For an american playing CHL i would imagine its kind of a tossup. Canadian universities can be expensive for international students. If a Canadian player plays 4 years of CHL they have a sweet deal, as even elite schools like McGill or UToronto are 6-10K per year for Canadians.
We don't know how much Miletic was due to get from Michigan and what he was offered from London. London could have guaranteed him a 40K package to sign. In that case it would likely be more than Michigan would offer on a partial scholarship. There is no way to know how good or bad of a deal he's getting by playing CHL.
I remember thinking after that game that it would probably be best if he retires. Its been all downhill since, and will probably be really ugly next season. I wouldn't be shocked if Werenski leaves, the London Knights own his CHL rights.
The argument is that you can't charge people for season tickets, make them pay, then take away one of the 2 or 3 most appealing games on the schedule.
It sucks they're playing State in Chicago but its really not that big of a deal compared to what the bait-and-switch does to the value of the season tickets.
Its appalling that they intentionally bait-and-switched their customers, there is no reason that they couldn't have announced this in advance, or at least been up front about losing a big game against MSU. Its inexcuaable.
Consider that this effectively means that the tickets have increased in price coming off the program's 2 worst seasons in 20 years. Thats also bad business.
I have friends who WANT to take their kids to Michigan hockey games but since its such an expensive ticket and Yost isn't exactly easy to get to for a 7PM (not to mention 6:30) from metro detroit they find themselves going to Whalers games instead. Whats the difference to a 5 year old? The difference to the parents is 100 bucks or so and a lot less driving.
Michigan hockey's popularity isn't a given, especially when you treat your current customers like shit and price out future customers.
One last thing, people who can't get to Yost like going to the Joe and taking that away in lieu of the B10 championship hurts fan accessibility long-term as well.
This whole thing has been grossly mismanaged.
Can someone please photoshop this onto a picture of ICP? This seems like something they'd wear.
If its an even strength goal where there was an uncontested one-timer from the blueline and a guy left open in front until late in the sequence, how is it "defended well"? There looks to be a couple mistakes on that play for that to happen.
Totally agree.
You see it become an issue quite a bit. Also putting forwards back there can be bad news as they are slower to react and don't have the instincts around the offensive blue line, as that are is key in transition.
I think it was OSU's first goal on monday but their guy got behind Sinelli on the dump-in, that was almost completely his fault. The flick of the puck over Racine is a really hard shot to stop as chipping a rolling puck is impossible to read. Either it hits the goalie or it doesn't. Sinelli lost his man badly.
Other than that I like him I like him and agree that he should be ahead of Serville and Clare at least until they can get a better feel for what they have with him. As of right now 4 and 6 are known quantities and that "known" isn't very good.
Also I don't think Chaisson's failure to break up that pass is too big of a mistake, its difficult to take away that pass when approaching the passer without putting yourself in a bad position. Its possible he was slow to react but as far as costing the team a goal its lower on the list. Someone could have bothered to cover the shooter?
Reegardless this team is good and they play hard. The D will hopefully sort itself out as Lohan will come back and Downing and De Jong will get comfortable.
I'm only going because Saturday will be my last game as a season ticket holder and I want to Enjoy the view one last time. I'm also looking forward to saying goodbye to some of the folks that I've sat near for a long time but as I am writing this I've realized they're probably smarter than I am and will have sold their tickets. Oh well. I can only hope all the OSU fans aren't too awful.
Its going to be miserable. Those who stayed are chumps!
I agree about addition by subtraction but I still count 3 wingers on that depth chart that can't be bothered to play defense or backcheck regularily so I still have my doubts. The biggest difference is that they have 5 good centers (Hyman can play C too) and they are all very responsible. Also, with Copp being so prominent I don't think they'll get into funks like they did last year and in 09-10.
Defense is what concerns me, there is no depth. I have zero concerns about goaltending as Racine was very good last year. People don't realize how bad they were defensively in the first half of the season, he was still solid then as well. I think he's ready for the heavy load.
I like the depth. I feel like Selman and Hyman are more well rounded than Lynch and Moffatt. You're not going to see Hyman get lazy clearing the puck or losing too many battles on the boards, and Selman seems to play well in all 3 zones. If Motte is as described those two would make a really formidable 3rd line with him.
I think Lynch is solid but Moffatt really doesn't work as hard as he needs to off the puck or in the defensive end.
The State of Michigan has the 2nd most hockey talent, to Minnesota.
Michigan has this, the USNDP, and Southern Ontario. Minnesota only has their state in their backyard.
Brian didn't miss a home game. There's a difference between refusing to cover a team because their play is so bad you can't say something nice and not supporting them.
He called a spade a spade, and only spent half the article doing so. He spent the other half talking about the positives for next year.
The team with the most talent in the NCAA finished in the 50th percentile in RPI and finished 7th in a weak conference. What is he supposed to say?
Thats the position the team put themselves in, do or die. They didn't "do".
- Maybe? The team hasn't imroved or slipped in any specific areas since he left, the issues that led to the do-or-die run in 2010 still exist and Pearson was on the bench for that season.
- College hockey has changed so Michigan won't ever have a superteam like they did from 96-98 again, there is much more parity. Relative to the rest of the NCAA Michigan is in the top 5 almost every year. They also have the best recruiting advantage in the country, with the USNDT 3 minutes away and they are the closest power conference school to Toronto. Think Texas or Ohio State's natural recruiting advantages in football.
- Its not uncommon for top players to leave early in hockey. Trouba leaving wouldn't be a sign of any negativity in the program. He should leave, actually, he's too good to be playing college hockey next year would impede his development. He's a man amongst boys out there.
The thing is that Hyman is very good at being a center but also one of the only forwards willing to go into the corners, I think they were forced into playing him on the wing for that reason.
I think he's a dynamic player and the only thing be really lacks is offensive touch. He's going to be a valuable 4 year player.
I do think Racine will be solid going forward. Played both games without allowing a goal straight up - the Friday goal was heavily assisted by a guy interfering with him on a PP from a BS penalty and the Saturday goal appeared to be a strange deflection. For a guy seeing the puck so well to not react on that its pretty safe to assume it didn't beat him clean.
My main concern is that when Michigan plays Miami or ND and they inevitably give up the 3-5 grade A scoring chances from sloppy back checking or defensive giveaways will Racine stop those and will Michigan be able to score enough to win.
I'd still give a CCHA title about a 10% chance, they're still the most talented team in the conference, it's just a matter of working out of the position of disadvantage and being able to make less mistakes against potentially 3 different well-coached teams. Highly unlikely but I wouldn't be shocked.
Congratulations to Brian and the rest of the staff. A great accomplishment.
I think Hyman will be a center next year.
Sparks leaving is totally understandable, if the staff wants to play Rohrkemper instead of him, its probably not the best place for him to be playing.
If Nieves is talked about as being "AHL ready" as one of the quotes that was put up here a couple weeks ago said, he's probably going to slide right onto the first line, expecially with the size he has.
I don't think Iles is an "ECAC Hunwick". He's got a solid background. He was on the U18s and was Campbell's backup at the 2011 WJC. He's probably capable of stealing a game if he gets in the zone and is probably a big factor in Cornell's low GAA.
You're forgetting about the Gold Cup final
We got sold out.
He actually kicked that ball straight into the ground, not the goalie.
In a year after Holden has had a good Premiership season and good Gold Cup we're going to look back and realize he only played 1 minute in the World Cup.
Kind of like Charlie Davies playing 20 minutes in the Olympics, an Under-23 tournament and 10 months later playing great in the Confed Cup and 2 months after that scoring in Azteca.
Blah.
A lot of the development of Sparks and Treais would depend on who their linemates are. If they are paired with a good passer who can open space for them to dangle and snipe, they would likely be more productive.