Michigan Hockey...

[MichVandal]

Since threads are now forever, and the number of Michigan posters has really gotten fewer over the years- no year specific thread.

This was our first weekend seeing them, as we've been out for a while doing other things.

A pair of lopsided wins over Lindenwood- hard to really tell if the team is good or the other team is bad. Past weekends had dominant wins followed by close losses to UMass and OSU, and a tough split weekend against Providence. Which kind of feeds the- not sure what the team can do- sentiment.

They can certainly score, but with adjustments, it seems that they can also be defended.

Naurato's second season will be interesting to watch- normally the talent changes as students observe what the coach can do before committing to Michigan. Although the transfers that did come in are playing well. So hope that trend shows potential players what Coach Naurato can do.

Being still early in the season- the sloppiness with the passing has been seen many times over the years we've watched Michigan hockey. The upcoming weekend in Wisconsin will be really interesting, that's for sure.

[wolverineTrumpet]

Big test on the road this weekend. I'm a bit shocked that 'sconnie swept the gophers in MN. We'll see how we stack up. Sounds like ticket sales picked up at UW after their performance last weekend, so it could be a fun environment instead of a mostly empty basketball arena.

[umichjim]

MichVandal - Thanks for starting a thread. Mich has one glaring problem that needs to be fixed if this season is to be a success - the PK. Get that down to a reasonable percentage and more wins will come.

[Timothy A]

What did you think of your coach's challenge at the end of game 2?

[MichVandal]

What did you think of your coach's challenge at the end of game 2?

Don't know anything about it. Missed the whole game except for just after that and the radio people were pretty upset.

[Maznblu]

What did you think of your coach's challenge at the end of game 2?

Terrible decision. Do I think that shot went in before the net came off? Yes. But it was a bang/bang play and it wasn't definitive on replay. If you have a timeout, you absolutely challenge it. But you can't make that challenge if you don't have the timeout. Gave Wisconsin the game.

[jwilli]

Terrible decision. Do I think that shot went in before the net came off? Yes. But it was a bang/bang play and it wasn't definitive on replay. If you have a timeout, you absolutely challenge it. But you can't make that challenge if you don't have the timeout. Gave Wisconsin the game.

The slow motion replay clearly showed the puck went off the crossbar and never went in. The Michigan coaching staff may not have had someone to relay that information to them before they had to issue their challenge. Putting Wisconsin on the power play wasn't a certain goal against (they were 1 for 5 at that point), so they made a percentage call. Not the worst thing they'll do this season.

[MichVandal]

MichVandal - Thanks for starting a thread. Mich has one glaring problem that needs to be fixed if this season is to be a success - the PK. Get that down to a reasonable percentage and more wins will come.

Granted, I've only seen one game weekend- but one concern I had last year was how long it took the team to figure out how to play D. Once they did, it was pretty good- up until a superior D just let the pretty good not be good enough... But the point is that it took a pretty long time for the coaching staff to either figure out what was going on, or communicate with the players to get it right.

So hopefully, Coach Naurato and his team have figured out a way to communicate how to fix problems like that quicker. Or figure out how to fix it quicker- whichever it is.

Only going to the Friday game this week, but it will be interesting how they look after last week. And I hope a good report how Saturday turns out, one way or another.

edit- after 40 years of calling coaches by 3 letter names- we need to figure something out now.... Would Brandon be ok?

[MichVandal]

Well, the PK was not bad.

Too bad the defensive zone entry back checking was so, so, so very bad. I can't imagine how frustrated the team is to work that hard and let Minnesota score that easily. I guess I can imagine it, I'm pretty frustrated.

[wolverineTrumpet]

Defense could use some work. These 1 goal loses hurt.

[MichVandal]

Just read a blog article about the game- so they had 7 D men, but two of them were forwards. And midway through the 2nd, one of them moved to forward (did Lapointe get hurt?) and cycled 5 for the rest of the game. So they are still working out how to work with each other.

While that makes sense, it seems that some of the first things they work on is how to cover a rush into the zone. And especially the forwards covering a person in front of the net. Those were some really simple goals that they let in.

[MichVandal]

Well, we won a pretty good game, other than the two injuries. Did anyone see the one in the corner? We could not even see who it was.

BTW, it sure seems that tomorrow is going to be a rough game- they were getting really heated out there at the end.

[MichVandal]

Well, when you are short 4 of your best players.... Pretty tough to see them play so tired.

[wolverineTrumpet]

Agreed it's tough to be down players. I was hopeful this weekend. I'd like to see this team put together a sweep one weekend. Lindenwood games are the only time we got 2 Ws so far this season.

[MichVandal]

Don’t know much about the games other than reading some reports. But I interpret that as the D making some changes that helped getting the shutout Friday, but out short bench had them too tired Saturday to finish the game from ahead. Sounded like the extra forwards got more ice time than the extra defensemen.

Hope coach N uses this period to get some depth on the team. Can be very helpful for a long run.