Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

[mnstate0fhockey]

I thought I said that... Wilcox being the biggest difference. Truth is, your team didn't play with the same intensity b/c they had nothing to play for. It didn't mean they weren't dangerous... our goaltending was the difference early and we popped some goals that I think even Wilcox may not have stopped. But, keep telling yourself that you put out the 'B' team without Warning in the lineup and "let us win". We'll take it- the same way BC did when they lost at Yost.

Sorry, it was late and I probably misread your post. My bad.

Anyways, no matter how you slice it, your team played one heck of a good game last night. They deserved that win. Now we know how talented this Michigan squad is when they play to their potential.

Loving this rivalry already

 

[mnstate0fhockey]

It was nice of the gophers to let us win. The only thing I don't understand is why, when we were winning 1-0 after the first period, Lucia didn't just forfeit the game. That would have given his team a lot more rest. Or maybe just not let us score any more and walk away with a one goal loss. I don't know, but I will defer to tDon on that.

It was good to see the seniors all have good games. Everyone showed up in the boxscore (Deblois would probably liked to have something besides two penalties, though.)

On to St. Paul. Early game on Thursday. 2pm, I believe.

Please don't interpret what I said to mean that the Gophers let Michigan win. Not what I (and I assume others) were trying to say. Michigan absolutely deserved that win.

I just don't think the Gophers put their best foot forward yesterday, which led to the game getting out of control fairly fast.

When both of these teams are playing to their potential, I think they are two very evenly matched teams. I'd expect the norm to be more like Friday (close, hard fought games) then yesterday.

 

[streaker]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

Please don't interpret what I said to mean that the Gophers let Michigan win. Not what I (and I assume others) were trying to say. Michigan absolutely deserved that win.

I just don't think the Gophers put their best foot forward yesterday, which led to the game getting out of control fairly fast.

When both of these teams are playing to their potential, I think they are two very evenly matched teams. I'd expect the norm to be more like Friday (close, hard fought games) then yesterday.

Agreed. But to say that your team was suffering by taking one 20 pt scorer out of the lineup with seven more in the lineup is a bit disingenuous. Wilcox makes a huge difference but, even last night it probably wouldn't have mattered.

 

[mnstate0fhockey]

Agreed. But to say that your team was suffering by taking one 20 pt scorer out of the lineup with seven more in the lineup is a bit disingenuous. Wilcox makes a huge difference but, even last night it probably wouldn't have mattered.

Going to have to strongly disagree that not having Wilcox in made little difference. And it wasn't just taking Warning out of the lineup. They moved Cammarata to the 4th line and had him play a role he is completely unsuited to play and put Isackson (who has struggled mightily) in the lineup. Essentially, our top two lines were disrupted and showed little chemistry at times. And our fourth line had a 5'6" finesse player asked to play a checking role. Those changes were more significant than you're suggesting.

Long story short, I don't think the Gophers put their best foot forward at all. It was an ugly outcome. Not going to discount how well your team played (they played outstanding) or say that the Gophers would have definitely won that game had they not made the lineup changes they did (guessing they still would have lost), but the game probably would have been much closer to Friday night (close, hard fought game until the end).

Hope we get to meet again in the conference tourney final. Never a boring game when these two teams play!

 

[wolverineTrumpet]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

That was a fun weekend of hockey. Friday's game was close and exciting. Gophs needed an overtime power play to win that one. Dang, Minnesota is fast, but so much fun to watch these two teams skate against each other. Saturday night was just fun, and I'm glad that Senior Night went so well that we got to see Janecyk play a few minutes.

Once again we've seen this team can win against anyone (yes, I know the Gophers Saturday lineup wasn't their strongest, but I think Friday proved enough). Now we just need to be consistent. It was fun watching the team play defense. Even Guptill was putting in effort on both ends of the rink.

I think the team played one of the best games of the season but couldn't find that 3rd goal they needed. They played too cautious and late in the 2nd it cost them. Kloos' goal was a result of speed allowed through the neutral zone that pushed the defense back, without any backcheck support. It was a great shot.

Some other idle partisan views:

The officiating seems to be targeting Downing. He is looking around now every time he hits an opponent and got another penalty (for charging) on what was a legitimate hit. Coasted into the guy and never left his feet.

McInchak and Hunt swallowed their whistles the entire 3rd period, allowing both teams to get away with interference and other minor infractions, then has the gonads to make that hooking call in OT. Berenson admitted that the PK broke down on the coverage, but he was saying something else as he walked off the ice. He was offering daggers at McInchak. I had added my own .02 to Piotrowski after the game. Both teams deserved something out of this game and IMO, that was denied on a cheap call.

I have the same partisan view, so I agree with this. I was surprised that the officials would make a call in overtime with what they were letting go late in the third. And Downing does seem to be targeted. I thought there was a questionable call on him at Munn as well.
(please note the tone of this post is not, "OMG the refs screwed us!" but rather, "huh, that sucks")

Rumor has it that student ticket prices are coming way down for next year. Down to $150 from $215 this year.

How about regular season tickets? I am beyond sick of getting promo e-mails from Michigan about hockey tickets that were cheaper than my season tickets. I'm considering just buying single games next year. Was the OSU Thanksgiving weekend the only sell out? Certainly it was the only game that by the time I got to the rink it was sold out.

 

[bluevox]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

Please don't interpret what I said to mean that the Gophers let Michigan win.

I didn't necessarily mean you or even this thread. My comment was more about the games thread that the Michigan posters have boycotted. I think some of your Gopher friends feel like Michigan didn't win the game, Minnesota let them win.

The difference in the game on Saturday was goaltending. Nagelvoort made some tremendous saves in the first to keep Michigan in the game. Shibrowski was not able to make the same types of saves in the second period. Things got away from the Gophers from that point. Would Wilcox have been able to make those saves, I don't know. Would it have made a difference if he had played, yes. Would Michigan have won the game, I think so, but we don't know.

I do agree that watching the games between these two teams are fun and fast paced. Good luck in the tournament.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

It's now about believing what they did was real. As much as people will po-po the win, the fact that they played hard all weekend, was able to control the game during significant stretches during the game reminds us what we have. They CAN beat anyone. It's a matter of if they really believe it.

Friday was obviously close the entire game, and Satuday was not so much. Both game, both teams got the ice slanted in their direction a few times, and managed to sustain good pressure. Even up in St. Paul, much of the games, they were in them- skating evenly.

So remember the game you played against the current #1 and #2 teams in the country. You can do that. Getting one or two close goals and perhaps one pretty one- and we can win.

Hopefully Downing will not let the ref's get to his head too much- since there wasn't much else to be even called, they are going to keep an eye on the guy who has gotten in trouble. The charge he was called- I even thought he wiffed on the check more than he hit the guy, lol.... We can remind ourselves that even one guy getting 3 consecutive penalties can still result in a national championship, as we saw back in '96. Just play the game that got you there.

We can hope, now.

 

[UMICH]

How about regular season tickets? I am beyond sick of getting promo e-mails from Michigan about hockey tickets that were cheaper than my season tickets. I'm considering just buying single games next year. Was the OSU Thanksgiving weekend the only sell out? Certainly it was the only game that by the time I got to the rink it was sold out.

I did that the year after I graduated. Of course that was at the previous version of Yost and i still went with the students. By big game tickets from the box office, the others get to know the scalpors. You can find a ticket for $10 or less.

 

[streaker]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

I didn't necessarily mean you or even this thread. My comment was more about the games thread that the Michigan posters have boycotted. I think some of your Gopher friends feel like Michigan didn't win the game, Minnesota let them win.

The difference in the game on Saturday was goaltending. Nagelvoort made some tremendous saves in the first to keep Michigan in the game. Shibrowski was not able to make the same types of saves in the second period. Things got away from the Gophers from that point. Would Wilcox have been able to make those saves, I don't know. Would it have made a difference if he had played, yes. Would Michigan have won the game, I think so, but we don't know.

I do agree that watching the games between these two teams are fun and fast paced. Good luck in the tournament.

Agree all the way around. And have to add that I loved the announcer's little twist to the "thank you" on Saturday.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

Agree all the way around. And have to add that I loved the announcer's little twist to the "thank you" on Saturday.

+1 in a very big manner.

The season ended at Yost in a very nice manner.

 

[Tiggsy]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

I didn't necessarily mean you or even this thread. My comment was more about the games thread that the Michigan posters have boycotted. I think some of your Gopher friends feel like Michigan didn't win the game, Minnesota let them win.

The difference in the game on Saturday was goaltending. Nagelvoort made some tremendous saves in the first to keep Michigan in the game. Shibrowski was not able to make the same types of saves in the second period. Things got away from the Gophers from that point. Would Wilcox have been able to make those saves, I don't know. Would it have made a difference if he had played, yes. Would Michigan have won the game, I think so, but we don't know.

I do agree that watching the games between these two teams are fun and fast paced. Good luck in the tournament.

Sorry but I have to but in here as well. I think mnstate0fhockey said it correctly. The Gophers did mix up several lines when they didn't necessarily need to. Warning is a big part of that and the chemistry of the top of the lineup that has developped this year. So if Lucia was going to do that anyways, he should have gone even further and sat a few more players who may have been a bit hung over from winning the title. Get our scratches like R. Riley and Michaelson some more ice time. Guys that have more to prove and might give that extra effort that sure looked like may have been lacking. Not on purpose, but just a natural let down in that game.

Also do you guys really think that we all believe that we let you win the game? Yes, it comes off that way but we are playing up the stereotype of the tArrogance that we've always been accused of having. We have fought it for a while and realize that is how people see us no matter what, so we just embraced it. Don't take it so seriously and boycot the thread. To me, that's the fun part of being here. Mixing it up with other fan bases. If we didn't want to do that, we'd just stick to our own team's board. You guys don't want to participate, I guess that's your choice. We were obviously disappointed no one wanted to engage with us, but please don't complain about it.

That's all. Good luck and maybe see you again.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

FWIW, the "boycotting" of the thread for me was 100% about the lack of actual hockey talk.

I was hoping to learn about your team some, but signal to noise ratio made it impossible.

tArrogace isn't a big deal- we are accused of it all the time- heck, I got a nice negative rep from my little rant in the game thread. Which I was confused about- since I thought I was pointing out the pointlessness of the bantering and wanting more hockey talk. I really don't care if you hate us- just another in a long line of haters.

I also was taken aback with some reference to being a rival. I never thought we were rivals, in the real sense of it. Very strong competitors, sure. Other schools seem to take offense that we don't consider them rivals. IMHO, our real hockey rival is MSU- and even there we try to make it more fun. The fans do recognize the quality of hockey that Minnesota brings to Yost, and that's really cool.

 

[Tiggsy]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

I also was taken aback with some reference to being a rival. I never thought we were rivals, in the real sense of it. Very strong competitors, sure. Other schools seem to take offense that we don't consider them rivals. IMHO, our real hockey rival is MSU- and even there we try to make it more fun. The fans do recognize the quality of hockey that Minnesota brings to Yost, and that's really cool.

Not even with the Showcase? They were an annual event and always very spirited games. The expectation is that we would quickly become rivals and I expect that is happening and will continue to grow. Obviously our rival, if we were only allowed one is WI. But I expect MI to gain to a UND type level soon.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

Not even with the Showcase? They were an annual event and always very spirited games. The expectation is that we would quickly become rivals and I expect that is happening and will continue to grow. Obviously our rival, if we were only allowed one is WI. But I expect MI to gain to a UND type level soon.

No, not even with the showcase. I don't see that many players that were cross recruited between out two schools- which happend in all sports with MSU and a lot with OSU. If it's just about playing a lot- every CCHA team would be our rival. And they are not, in spite of the attempts by their fans.

I don't anticipate having a brawl with Minnesota, or a ton of cheap penalties, etc. I barely recall many penalties for both the weekends we played. If it goes down the UND path, that would suck, I think. I've seen too much of the history between you and them- that's not fun, just mean.

I do anticipate a lot of hard competetive play, much like we had with Lake State in the early-mid 90's. That was a great series with a lot of hard play, and a lot of respect, and fun. And I know the fans will enjoy the game a lot.

But rival? nah.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

So, an hour from face off.

I still think Nagelvoort will start. Hopefully, Gups will be fully out of whatever funk he had back against Penn State- his play certainly has gotten better.

It would sure be nice if some of the sophomores start scoring like they did as freshman. Nieves- mostly you. The speed you have is awesome. Just harness that....

Oh, for the minny fans, substitute 35 for Nagelvoort, 27 for Gups, and 12 for Nieves, and the post may make more sense.

 

[4four4]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

FWIW, the "boycotting" of the thread for me was 100% about the lack of actual hockey talk.

I was hoping to learn about your team some, but signal to noise ratio made it impossible.

tArrogace isn't a big deal- we are accused of it all the time- heck, I got a nice negative rep from my little rant in the game thread. Which I was confused about- since I thought I was pointing out the pointlessness of the bantering and wanting more hockey talk. I really don't care if you hate us- just another in a long line of haters.

I also was taken aback with some reference to being a rival. I never thought we were rivals, in the real sense of it. Very strong competitors, sure. Other schools seem to take offense that we don't consider them rivals. IMHO, our real hockey rival is MSU- and even there we try to make it more fun. The fans do recognize the quality of hockey that Minnesota brings to Yost, and that's really cool.

When I was growing up the 70's and early 80's Minnesota's big rivals were Wisconsin, North Dakota and Michigan. IMO, the best part Minnesota won more than it lost against the big three.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

When I was growing up the 70's and early 80's Minnesota's big rivals were Wisconsin, North Dakota and Michigan. IMO, the best part Minnesota won more than it lost against the big three.

30 years is a long gap. I started watching Michigan in 1990, and never through that Minnesota was an actual rival. Wanted to win, for sure. But not much more than that....

Again, I very much look forward to playing Minnesota, for sure. But it's not as if I'm focused on you losing every game.

 

[4four4]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

30 years is a long gap. I started watching Michigan in 1990, and never through that Minnesota was an actual rival. Wanted to win, for sure. But not much more than that....

Again, I very much look forward to playing Minnesota, for sure. But it's not as if I'm focused on you losing every game.

Today I really don't think of Michigan as a rival anymore but since the Big Ten started up in a short time that will change.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

Today I really don't think of Michigan as a rival anymore but since the Big Ten started up in a short time that will change.

How about rival vs. arch rival? eveyrone in a conference is a rival you want to win against.

But I think only state I want to see lose non conference games. I would root for minnesota against all HE teams.

 

[Tiggsy]

Re: Michigan Wolverines 2013-14 Season Thread: The B1G Time

No, not even with the showcase. I don't see that many players that were cross recruited between out two schools- which happend in all sports with MSU and a lot with OSU. If it's just about playing a lot- every CCHA team would be our rival. And they are not, in spite of the attempts by their fans.

Yeah, can totally relate there. Just ask Jan.

I don't anticipate having a brawl with Minnesota, or a ton of cheap penalties, etc. I barely recall many penalties for both the weekends we played. If it goes down the UND path, that would suck, I think. I've seen too much of the history between you and them- that's not fun, just mean.

So Downing must be out for this weekend?

I do anticipate a lot of hard competetive play, much like we had with Lake State in the early-mid 90's. That was a great series with a lot of hard play, and a lot of respect, and fun. And I know the fans will enjoy the game a lot.

But rival? nah.[/QUOTE]

Seems like you have a pretty rigid definition of a rival. But as I said, I expect this one to grow.