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University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

wolverineTrumpet said:
Hockey tonight vs. Sparty. Anyone with insight as to why this is a Thursday/Friday series?
Please let us at least win at home, but preferably sweep.
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Can we get Jim and Mark to lace 'em up and go at it?
I would pay B-I-G money to see that!
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

Nice win, and great hat trick for Tony, and great shutout for Hayden!
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

MaizeRage said:
Basketball game vs. Southern Utah was a higher priority for Sparty on Saturday night.
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Are you saying they do not have enough parking in the area to have both events at the same time?
It can't be any worse than when there is a basketball game at Crisler at the same time there is a hockey game in Yost.
We have to deal with that a couple of times every season.


That said, even if that was the reason I'm pretty sure they could have just flipped venues, Friday in EL, Saturday in A2.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

alfablue said:
Nice win, and great hat trick for Tony, and great shutout for Hayden!
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Lavigne actually looked respectable. There were 3 or 4 nice saves along with the routine ones.
So will Mel put him back in net tonight or continue to alternate with Lafontaine?
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

JoeZ said:
Are you saying they do not have enough parking in the area to have both events at the same time?
It can't be any worse than when there is a basketball game at Crisler at the same time there is a hockey game in Yost.
We have to deal with that a couple of times every season.


That said, even if that was the reason I'm pretty sure they could have just flipped venues, Friday in EL, Saturday in A2.
Click to expand...
I wonder ... who would have jurisdiction over that decision? Or is it simply a standing agreement to rotate the home-home order each season?
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

JoeZ said:
Are you saying they do not have enough parking in the area to have both events at the same time?
It can't be any worse than when there is a basketball game at Crisler at the same time there is a hockey game in Yost.
We have to deal with that a couple of times every season.


That said, even if that was the reason I'm pretty sure they could have just flipped venues, Friday in EL, Saturday in A2.
Click to expand...

sparty engineering is that adept...
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

owslachief said:
I wonder ... who would have jurisdiction over that decision? Or is it simply a standing agreement to rotate the home-home order each season?
Click to expand...

As far as I know (which means nothing) yes it is a standing agreement between the two institutions....

It's been that way for as long as I've been following (which isn't as long as most people).
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

I know that we're on the Holiday break so there isn't much traffic right now but what does everyone think about the team this year?

IMHO they are young, very young. The upper-classmen seem to be doing the best job at leadership that they can but they are lacking a proven leader like Nystrom. Porter was a great leader as well but he led in a different way, by example. Plus he had a lot of talent on the team. Kolarik was also the vocal leader on that team. This will sound strange given the regular season of the 2010 team but I liked Summers as captain as well. Hard to believe that I look back on that year fondly. The season absolutely sucked but that playoff run was the most fun that I've ever had watching Michigan Hockey. I like Marody but he just seems to play. Granted he had the hat trick against sparty on Thursday night but there was absolutely zero carryover to Friday's game. Unfortunately I think that we're still a year or two away. Here's to hoping that I'm wrong and they come back from the break on fire but I'm not expecting it.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

I'm not sure what to think of this team. There are nights they look great. Shifts where the hard work is obvious and pays off. Then there are bad passes that result in goals. Lackluster efforts that get us behind a few goals. It's inconsistent. Teams in the past few years you could see certain players who might focus too much on the offensive side and allow the defensive side of play to slip. We know there have been locker room attitude problems on past teams and captains that couldn't overcome those. I don't believe that's the issue this year, but I don't know what is. Perhaps it is the youth. Perhaps it's struggle to reload talent when the top talent comes in for a year or two before finding success in the NHL.

I miss having a guy like Ortmeyer or Fardig, who works his butt off every shift. A guy that pressures so well he can kill 20 seconds of a penalty by himself.

All that said, anything can still happen in the rest of the season. The youth continues to gain experience, and we've seen plenty of Michigan teams turn it around after the GLI.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

I'd like to think that the problems are solvable. But it's hard to really see massive progress since we started seeing the issues.

Like we've seen in past years, both goaltenders are not exactly steady- both seem to have a problem with high and accurate shots. And both can have some amazing games, too. So I'm not sure what the root cause of this area continues to be.

One big improvement from last season- shots- fewer are getting through, and more are being shot by our guys. But that still has not translated into a huge goals for and against change for some reason.

They are passing better and worse at the same time, too. Some great passes and quick exits from our zone are offset by totally blind dumps that result in actual goals.

Seems like the single thing that you can see improved- speed. It's just that they are not capable of really using that speed at the moment.

We talked at some length to one player about being a captain, and mooching as much as possible from Porter. Mostly because he had faced a similar issue of huge freshman and sophomore classes after a season the freshmen were largely ignored by the leaders. Turns out that they had been able to talk to Kevin for a long time as well. Kevin's key was the ability to bring the team really together- while he did a lot on the ice, I think his off ice leadership was far more important.

And it's really hard to find people who can lead like that- some of the players are actually pretty shy (not naming names, as it's kind of pointless), so relying on them isn't going to work all that well.

It will be interesting to see how the GLI turns out, and then the REALLY quick turn around to host Notre Dame. If we can win and split, it would be amazing.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

I agree with both of you. One minute they're an offensive force and responsible on the D-end. The next minute they can't find a shot to save their lives and they are making bad passes in front of their own goal. Those issues are correctable but will they be? You've gotta think that they are. The goalies, while better, are inconsistent. To me it has got to be a leadership issue but my feeling (being on the outside of things) is that isn't the issue. alfa, you talk to some of the guys. See what you can find out. Michigan has the talent, they just can't put it together. Another possibility is that it's Mel. I can't see that as look at what he did for Tech. Maybe Mel's style doesn't gel with Blue-chip prospects? But Mel was an assistant here for 20 some years.

I dunno, it's frustrating. Best case scenario is that Michigan has returned to their old ways of struggling before the GLI but springboarding off of a GLI championship to dominate the second half.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

This is in NO WAY inspired by Trump but Merry Christmas.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

Often teams have an issue with playing a full 60 minutes, but typically it's the end of the game that suffers. After watching us give up 2 goals on the first 3 shots and thinking about how often this season the team has fallen behind, perhaps it's the first 20 minutes that need to be of concern.

Last night hurt. But, we continue to see the team fight to the end of the game, which is great.
Anyone going to today's game? 2:30 on a workday...awesome scheduling.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

wolverineTrumpet said:
Often teams have an issue with playing a full 60 minutes, but typically it's the end of the game that suffers. After watching us give up 2 goals on the first 3 shots and thinking about how often this season the team has fallen behind, perhaps it's the first 20 minutes that need to be of concern.

Last night hurt. But, we continue to see the team fight to the end of the game, which is great.
Anyone going to today's game? 2:30 on a workday...awesome scheduling.
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Nah, was it on TV? I doubt it...

But yes it looks like we have a team full of millennials. Well technically everyone does but ours take it a step further. They only play when they want to. But hey, we're never out of it. I remember hearing on the radio that Michigan was down 2-0 early in the first. I became depressed but then later I heard that they won. That made me happier.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

Why does this always happen to us? We'll be without 3 of our top players due to World Juniors on Friday and of course we're playing a good team (Notre Dame). I think that it's very possible that we'll be without them Saturday as well.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

UMICH said:
Why does this always happen to us? We'll be without 3 of our top players due to World Juniors on Friday and of course we're playing a good team (Notre Dame). I think that it's very possible that we'll be without them Saturday as well.
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Not sure how well we'd match up against Notre Dame even with all our players. Short turn around between games too.
My cousin (a State fan) was talking about how she's pretty sure the team gets a rest day after 2 games. I expect the schedule to have been Mon & Tues GLI games. Wednesday day off (no on ice practice). Thursday pre gameday practice (expect not to be as full out). Friday game. So, not much prep time for this game either.

Oh, and don't forget the game is at 6:30 on Friday. I especially love the, "fans are encouraged to arrive early" for rink dedication to Red Berensen (and he's doing a ceremonial puck drop. Have the people scheduling these things never been to an early game on a weeknight? The crowd is always sparse at the beginning. It's almost as if people need to have jobs to afford hockey tickets.

Also, the game at Notre Dame is on Sunday. My husband hasn't been to South Bend, so we were looking for tickets...$47 for SRO. I think we'll just stay here. I wish UM would sell away hockey tickets like they used to, though I understand there's only around 10 people that regularly go to away hockey games.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

wT, thanks for the reminder of the 6:30 puck drop on Friday. I don't think we registered that what so ever.

Maybe we stick around after the game to talk to some players, since it's an early ending.
 
Re: University of Michigan, 2017-2018, a new era starts

Tough loss, but because they actually played well instead of playing badly for a bad loss.
 
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