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Wolverines vs Broncos

R

Red Robin

New member
WOW! can anybody say GREAT MATCHUP!

Michigan is on a tear winning their last 6 games straight.
Western's barn always rocks! And a great team to boot.
Two great coaches.
Two great teams.
Teams have beaten each other this season

Your picks?

It'll be close, but I go with MICHIGAN in game three
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Red Robin said:
The way they are playing, Doubt anyone wants to play Michigan now.
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Maybe, but how Michigan is playing has been against 2 middle of the pack CCHA teams and the 10th place CCHA team. I'm glad we get Western, I think we stand a better chance, considering we went 1-4 against Western in the regular season and 0-4 against Notre Dame.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

wolverineTrumpet said:
Maybe, but how Michigan is playing has been against 2 middle of the pack CCHA teams and the 10th place CCHA team. I'm glad we get Western, I think we stand a better chance, considering we went 1-4 against Western in the regular season and 0-4 against Notre Dame.
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Western has better goaltending than ND, but ND has a slightly better offense. Both teams have 1+ lines. ND is struggling to just make the NCAA tourney, so they be more desperate right now. They'll get a match-up with BGSU that they probably are as concerned about as if it was Michigan. WMU has a little more wiggle room for the NCAA but is clearly a bubble team.

Western is probably more physical, but, like ND, is disciplined. Don't count a Jeff Jackson team out, especially in the playoffs. Andy Murray is similar in that he demands that his system is followed to the letter. I think WMU is a good team, but isn't infallible. The whole series will come down to forced errors and how they are taken advantage of. Michigan's goaltending has been good, but isn't the same caliber as WMU's.

Now, just a slight disagreement with wT- the Wolverines swept a decent OSU team in C'bus and made a pretty good goaltender look bad. They also handled FSU at home. Those are top five league teams. I like our team, but they can't afford to let adversity get them down. They also can't afford to lapse into the lulls or lack of intensity that sometimes plague them.

It's simple: win 2 of 3 or go home for the season for the first time in 22 seasons.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

streaker said:
Now, just a slight disagreement with wT- the Wolverines swept a decent OSU team in C'bus and made a pretty good goaltender look bad. They also handled FSU at home. Those are top five league teams. I like our team, but they can't afford to let adversity get them down. They also can't afford to lapse into the lulls or lack of intensity that sometimes plague them.

It's simple: win 2 of 3 or go home for the season for the first time in 22 seasons.
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What?! Someone has slight disagreement with me on a message board? :mad: I will not stand for this, and must turn it into an arguement (even though I usually agree with streaker and assume he is more knowledgable about hockey than I).

tOSU finished 4th and Ferris 5th. I call that middle of the pack in an 11 team conference. aOSU finished with 45 points, 9 points behind 3rd place Western. 9 points back from the *****eyes? 7th place Michigan. I went with 3 top teams, 3 bottom teams and call the middle 5 middle of the pack. If you want to call 4th place "decent", ok...but I'll state these wins are against non NCAA tournament caliber teams. With Ferris and aOSU tied for 26th and 28th in the pairwise, respectively, they are middle of the pack teams.

The purpose of my post was to show that greater challenges lie ahead (which we all know). Playing at Western is a significantly larger challenge than those we have just defeated. 3rd in the conference, 10th in the pairwise, and has been pointed out, a beast in net. But, considering what ease Notre Dame had in putting the puck in net during our match-up last month, I'm glad we drew Western (of the possible options).



Edit: I will grant that beating those middle of the road teams, and earning sweeps is a huge improvement from earlier in the season.
 
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Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

wolverineTrumpet said:
What?! Someone has slight disagreement with me on a message board? :mad: I will not stand for this, and must turn it into an arguement (even though I usually agree with streaker and assume he is more knowledgable about hockey than I).

tOSU finished 4th and Ferris 5th. I call that middle of the pack in an 11 team conference. aOSU finished with 45 points, 9 points behind 3rd place Western. 9 points back from the *****eyes? 7th place Michigan. I went with 3 top teams, 3 bottom teams and call the middle 5 middle of the pack. If you want to call 4th place "decent", ok...but I'll state these wins are against non NCAA tournament caliber teams. With Ferris and aOSU tied for 26th and 28th in the pairwise, respectively, they are middle of the pack teams.

The purpose of my post was to show that greater challenges lie ahead (which we all know). Playing at Western is a significantly larger challenge than those we have just defeated. 3rd in the conference, 10th in the pairwise, and has been pointed out, a beast in net. But, considering what ease Notre Dame had in putting the puck in net during our match-up last month, I'm glad we drew Western (of the possible options).



Edit: I will grant that beating those middle of the road teams, and earning sweeps is a huge improvement from earlier in the season.
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You make very valid arguments- and I am not arguing against the fact that the Bulldogs and Buckeyes are average teams (their record says so) in the face of where they stand nationally. I used that very argument in the Buckeye thread a few weeks back. BUT, in the context of the CCHA, they are in the upper half of the league, marginally better than teams 6-11- especially in net.
Let me counter that with the records that Ferris and OSU have against the top three teams. Ferris had a subpar 2-5-1 record against the top Miami, ND and WMU. OSU on the other hand had a 3-2-3 record against the top three, including 2 wins against Miami. They earned their positions in the league because they handled their business against most of the teams below them (except Michigan in OSU's case) and held water against the top teams. To me, that suggests that Michigan beat a couple of teams that played pretty well against the best of our league. This would be the only case I would present on their behalf. On the other hand, check and see what the Wolverines did against teams 6-11. It wasn't bad, but considering who they were, that is expected. 0-2 at home to Alaska. 1-1 at LSSU. 1-1 vs. BG, including the most embarrassing loss of the season. 2-1-1-1 vs. NMU (0-1-1-1 in Marquette) and 4-1 vs. MSU, with the only loss at Munn. They were a combined 5-9-2-2 against the top five teams.

I also think that Michigan would have lost to OSU/FSU earlier in the year (in FSU's case, they did.) and may have lost to them in January, too. But something happened in February after the bye week. The team changed up some system issues (I won't elaborate) and a goaltender found some confidence. That, my friends, is a dangerous thing. All of a sudden they are scoring. They are playing better defense. The goaltending is solid.

Yes, ND thrashed them in the misdt of this revelation (yet prior to the bye), but that isn't to say that another game would come out the same way. Take 2008 for instance when Michigan throttled the Irish all season until the FF game. The Irish got hot at the right time but couldn't close the deal against BC.

WMU is much better at home than on the road. Their defensive numbers and goaltending is smothering. Yet, Michigan has matched up better this season (except the last game in Kzoo) for some reason. Michigan blew a two goal lead on Friday and beat them in A2. The games have been close for the most part. Yes, don't remind the Bronco fans that they have a chance to knock Michigan out three years straight- they are already chirping about it. Now the bulleye is on them and their precarious T10 pairwise slot.

The Irish won a couple of tight games at Yost this season (in the last part of the 3rd period both games) and then blew them out in South Bend. It is hard to say that this wouldn't happen anyway, but at least the Michigan compass is pointing true north now which doesn't change the increasing challenge, but does give them a better chance no matter what top three team they are playing now.
 
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Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

The Broncos are anxious to put the final nail in Michigans coffin for the season.... Im sure the Walverines are just as anxious to put the final nail in Western's as well....

If the series must be decided by a third game this weekend, watch out.... Kalamazoo gets EXTRA classy on St. Patricks day!

My Prediction: WMU takes Fri, scUM takes Sat and Sun....
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Michigan showed last weekend that it can come out in any game and play good hockey. They have not shown that they can put together two quality games in a row. I think Michigan can get it to three games because they will play one good game on either Friday or Saturday, but the home barn works it's magic and Western Michigan moves on to the Joe on Sunday.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Well, Paula gave you guys the kiss of death this weekend. Although, I wouldn't be shocked seeing you guys take the series, I really see this series going 3 games. I don't think either team can sweep.

We literally haven't won a game on Saturday since you guys left Kalamazoo back in late January. And I think you guys are just a team of destiny this year.

Make it:
Fri - UM 3 - WMU 1
Sat - WMU 2 - UM 1 (OT)
Sun - UM 5 - WMU 2 (Two ENG for UM)

Time to go drown my sorrows
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

streaker said:
OSU on the other hand had a 3-2-3 record against the top three, including 2 wins against Miami.
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DuhOSU was 1-3-1 (with tie being a shootout loss) vs. Miami this year. Don't want to give the Buckeyes any more credit than they are rightfully due.

Back on topic, this should be a very interesting series and I think it will go all three games. I will definitely be checking my phone for updates while I am hopefully watching Miami take care of business against MSU.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

This is an amusing thread.... for the posters I mean. I know we didn't have a game thread back in January, but there were enough cross posts that the bravado was a lot more strong as was the depths of pessimism.

Now- we've got nervously optimistic Michigan fans not willing to go to deep vs. nervously pessimistic Western fans almost ready to call it a season.

Each being reminded- 3rd is 3rd, and that's darned good. 7th is 7th and sucks, and one can quickly question wins.

I know I'm not going to predict a darn thing, nor will I get into the face of anyone who will (one way or the other). This can be some entertaining hockey.

All I will say- the kind of hockey Michigan is playing right now is ACTUALLY ENTERTAINING! It was a lot of fun to watch last week, and a lot around us mentioned the same thing against Ferris- more for the tie game than the win.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

SweeneyHawksHockey said:
DuhOSU was 1-3-1 (with tie being a shootout loss) vs. Miami this year. Don't want to give the Buckeyes any more credit than they are rightfully due.

Back on topic, this should be a very interesting series and I think it will go all three games. I will definitely be checking my phone for updates while I am hopefully watching Miami take care of business against MSU.
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Okay you win.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

alfablue said:
This is an amusing thread.... for the posters I mean. I know we didn't have a game thread back in January, but there were enough cross posts that the bravado was a lot more strong as was the depths of pessimism.

Now- we've got nervously optimistic Michigan fans not willing to go to deep vs. nervously pessimistic Western fans almost ready to call it a season.

Each being reminded- 3rd is 3rd, and that's darned good. 7th is 7th and sucks, and one can quickly question wins.

I know I'm not going to predict a darn thing, nor will I get into the face of anyone who will (one way or the other). This can be some entertaining hockey.

All I will say- the kind of hockey Michigan is playing right now is ACTUALLY ENTERTAINING! It was a lot of fun to watch last week, and a lot around us mentioned the same thing against Ferris- more for the tie game than the win.
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Michigan can't score against really good defensive teams.
WMU can't score more than 2-3 goals a game on average, but doesn't need to.
Michigan's offense is irratic, especially the PP.
WMU's defense and goaltending is better.
Special teams favor WMU.

So, Michigan either has to overcome the trends or WMU has to realy shart the bed, I think.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Will anyone be making the trip to the Zoo? If you are I suggest maybe thinking about a hotel room for tonight.... Weather looks to make the drive back to Ann Arbor pretty nasty.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Not to go into a lot of detail, but I've seen both WMU and tUoM (in person) several times this season, and, of course on the tube & Internet a few times as well.

The first WMU "in person" experience this season was a Saturday night 1 - 0 WMU win over NMU - both teams anemic on offense. The second time was a Saturday night 4 - 0 Miami win over WMU in which McKay played fabulous and the WMU offense was again lackluster and the WMU defense atypical. However, that game followed a 2 - 0 win by WMU on Friday night.

The first "in person" games watching tUoM were just this past weekend against NMU. Friday nights game, after Michigan's strong first period (although the goals were 2 PPs and a shorty), really could have gone either way as NMU outplayed tUoM in the 2nd and 3rd periods--we just don't know how to score. On Saturday night, Michigan dominated both ends of the ice and showed their strengths offensively and defensively against a floundering and maybe deflated and dispirited NMU squad.

I think if WMU plays the solid, disciplined defense that they are capable of they will win this series. If tUoM can explode on offense (2nd in the CCHA in team offense this season) they will give WMU problems and this series could go either way if it goes 3 games. Should be a good, close series and I look forward to watching game 1 on FSD tonight.
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Lawson_lunatic27 said:
Will anyone be making the trip to the Zoo? If you are I suggest maybe thinking about a hotel room for tonight.... Weather looks to make the drive back to Ann Arbor pretty nasty.
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Yeah, the forecast worries me. I despise this rain during the day, freezes then snow covered crap. We were planning to drive back to A^2 tonight, and back out Saturday. Since I'm leaving straight from work, no chance to gather an overnight bag.

Here's hoping the fire alarm doesn't go off during the game this time. Is the popcorn machine or whatever it was fixed yet?
 
Re: Wolverines vs Broncos

Game one done- Michigan 4, Western 3.

Heck of a game- Michigan all first, Western second, and enough of Michigan in the third. Wow.


Side question- Bronco fans- why do you think you are not so popular in KZoo? You are a good team, have excellent student support, and are last year's CCHA champ. On top of that for this season, this loss is just your third of the season. I know the past, Lawson has been packed- what changed?
 
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