Michigan Hockey 22-23, new coach, new players, new era

[ICECAT1811]

You are missing another thing- do you want to be in the FF once in a while, or on a regular basis? Union, Yale, and Providence managed to stick their one chance, but other than that... And QU- when they graduate all of these players, are they reloading or rebuilding? I'd rather have a 7 chances in 25 years than one.

And why are you bringing up the portal? Michigan only loses players via the portal, not bring them in.

Anyway, it's not my choice to make, and we have a brand new coach. Before I start to lay into him in terms of recruiting, it's better to give him a few seasons to work out a system. It's pretty shocking how few people understand the issues that this program faced coming into the season- Naurato had to recruit the current team to stay, for crying out loud. Forced coaching turnovers are rarely smooth like that.

But you feel bad that your program can't get the same caliber of players that Michigan can get. That's fine. Forgive me for dismissing the opinion of a person who is clearly not a fan of Michigan. Or not, as I think it would be foolish to listen to haters.

What are you talking about? Qpac will have ONE chance at a Natty in 25 years? They’ve been to 30% of all the National Championship games in the last decade. We don’t rebuild fella…..we reload.

[MichVandal]

What are you talking about? Qpac will have ONE chance at a Natty in 25 years? They’ve been to 30% of all the National Championship games in last 10 years. We don’t rebuild fella…..we reload.

Just using you as an example. If I read your roster right, you will be replacing 11 players between grad students and seniors. Not exactly a simple reload.

[alnike]

Unless their players turn pro after winning a title, the Qpac model will be to have its seniors come back for their Covid bonus year and be fifth year players and get other portal grad students to replace the ones who depart now.

[QU/UM]

Unless their players turn pro after winning a title, the Qpac model will be to have its seniors come back for their Covid bonus year and be fifth year players and get other portal grad students to replace the ones who depart now.

I believe QU has already picked up 2 transfers. They may or may not win another natty but they should be a perennial tournament team at the very least.

[MichVandal]

Unless their players turn pro after winning a title, the Qpac model will be to have its seniors come back for their Covid bonus year and be fifth year players and get other portal grad students to replace the ones who depart now.

It's not really relevant to what I was getting at, but good to know.

There are teams that have come and gone from the FF, and who knows if they will be back- once senior laden teams get there, sometimes they can't backfill the graduating players. It happens.

Still, Michigan has more than a handful of older players- a good chunk of the freshmen are 21, the team isn't just made of U18 team players- if CHN is right, we have two 21 year old incoming freshmen and two 20 year old (at season start). And we still need to give Naurato some space and time to define what he thinks is the right path.

[Puckstopper467]

So thinking about it more- how do you predict who is going early and who isn't? There have been quite a few players go early when nobody expected them to, and some that stayed 4 seasons when they could have gone. Like Copp on one hand and Kevin Porter on the other- Copp left when nobody expected it (and Red was really angry about it) whereas Porter could have left with other teammates but stayed to lead the team to an unlikely semi final.

Let alone the times players committed and didn't even come. We've had multiple goalies that said they would come and not at the last possible moment.

BTW, of the three players you posted, the only one that I thought would leave after one season was Connor. Larkin didn't look quite solid enough to go, but he clearly had a great off season to have a great rookie seasons. If there was one thing I wished I said to Kyle was that he should see whoever Larkin did after the season.

And Blankenburg stayed 4 seasons because he wasn't even on anyone's NHL radar until his senior season. We have those kind of players, too- given Steve Holtz's major, there's no way he's planning on leaving early- you don't choose engineering when you plan on leaving early.

I've been watching Michigan Hockey since 1990, and that's been a pretty common thing happening all the time. Aaron Ward left a season early back when that rarely ever happened.

Keep thinking the way and MSU is going to make UM Hockey their little brother

[MichVandal]

Keep thinking the way and MSU is going to make UM Hockey their little brother

I honestly have no idea what you are trying to get at, everything I posted happened- those were not opinions (other than what I wanted to tell Kyle Conner). And in spite of all of that happening, we still managed to make two frozen fours in a row.

Which I don't expect your team managed for a while. So go ahead an pretend to bury your head in the sand, that's clearly worked out for your team.

Maybe your post is a clue why your team is so "successful".

[wolverineTrumpet]

I am proud of this season. The team overcame a lot early on. To make the Frozen Four is great.
One of the great things in hockey is anyone can win a game. I'm not saying that's what happened in Tampa, we were out played and out coached. There were defensive lapses that we saw throughout the season. Sometimes you get away with them, but top teams will make you pay for it, and Q did.

As for older 4 year players or one and done ( or 2 and done) recruits, a balance would be good. A strong captain or assistant captains helps. Getting the team to gel is important. Having consistency in your lineup helps too, guys knowing what their linemates are likely to do. Illnesses and injuries made that extra challenging this year.

While I do often ponder during the post season things like, "can you imagine this team with Matty Beniers and Owen Power", I'm mostly happy to get to watch the top talent for however many years we get them.

[wolverineTrumpet]

Luke Hughes signed, Portillo signed. 3 in the transfer portal (will they stay or go, to be determined)....we'll see what more will follow.

Is West ready for the starting job? Are we gonna try to nab a transfer goalie?

[MichVandal]

Luke Hughes signed, Portillo signed. 3 in the transfer portal (will they stay or go, to be determined)....we'll see what more will follow.

Is West ready for the starting job? Are we gonna try to nab a transfer goalie?

According to CHN's list, we have Tyler Shea who was a freshman this year, and then Marcus Brannman coming in for the goaltender. That would give us the normal three. And 9 more players coming in- three of those just turned 18, whereas 4 more will be over 20.

[wolverineTrumpet]

According to CHN's list, we have Tyler Shea who was a freshman this year, and then Marcus Brannman coming in for the goaltender. That would give us the normal three. And 9 more players coming in- three of those just turned 18, whereas 4 more will be over 20.

I get that Shea's a goalie, but he has more game time as a skater this year than as a goalie. What an interesting season it was.

[MichVandal]

I get that Shea's a goalie, but he has more game time as a skater this year than as a goalie. What an interesting season it was.

Indeed. I wonder how much that month affected the whole team's fitness over the season.

[MichVandal]

I get that Shea's a goalie, but he has more game time as a skater this year than as a goalie. What an interesting season it was.

Something is up with the goaltenders. Portillo signed a tryout agreement, not a full contract agreement. As if he either wanted to go or was asked to leave. Curious. And I recall that Noah West is in the portal. Must be some kind of plan by the coaching staff.

[wolverineTrumpet]

The article mentioning Portillo leaving also mentioned 3 guys in the portal (Ciccolini, Granowicz, Pherson) mentioned West had entered the portal a month ago but withdrew following Portillo leaving.


Samoskevich gone. Interesting that guys are leaving for AHL deals.

[DLG]

The article mentioning Portillo leaving also mentioned 3 guys in the portal (Ciccolini, Granowicz, Pherson) mentioned West had entered the portal a month ago but withdrew following Portillo leaving.


Samoskevich gone. Interesting that guys are leaving for AHL deals.

I think you will find ahl deals are to finish out year then start nhl contract
In many cases teams have maximum 50 players under contract or have salary cap issue