Had they only played all season like this weekend
- Thread starter Woodson53
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It was a league wide issue in the early part of the season. I think that is why our conference was ranked so low.
I agree that the Michigan that played this weekend should be in the NCAAs. Great game Michigan!
I agree that the Michigan that played this weekend should be in the NCAAs. Great game Michigan!
Very frustrating, a lot of talent on that team
I think there were maybe only 4-5 teams more talented than UM, of course the goalie situation changes things a lot, but really only Minn, NoDak, BC, maybe BU had more talent than Michigan.
I think there were maybe only 4-5 teams more talented than UM, of course the goalie situation changes things a lot, but really only Minn, NoDak, BC, maybe BU had more talent than Michigan.
Penn State series killed them. PSU was 1-5 in six games before playing Michigan and went 0-3 after U-M, but somehow swept the Wolverines. Split there, split at Michigan Tech early in the season and Michigan is in. But everything you guys are saying is right on - could never put it together consistently. Even tonight, two really poor defensive plays by Kevin Lohan lead to a pair of Minnesota goals, and two unnecessary penalties (though Calderone's was pretty suspect) lead to two power plays that result in goals. Team just couldn't avoid really bad mistakes.
Some post-season questions:
1) Michigan is now 0-3 in getting to the NCAAs without assistant coach Mel Pearson - will Michigan court Mel to return as Head Coach once Red retires or does Michigan look elsewhere?
2) Brian Wiseman is now 0-3 in getting to the NCAAs as a Michigan assistant coach - he was a workhorse player, but for those who know his coaching ability, is he valuable enough as an assistant coach and recruiter or should Red look to replace him?
3) The last 3 years of goaltending play have been well below average - some talented prospects went elsewhere in the 11th hour - but given the lack of improvement, should Josh Blackburn remain as the volunteer goalie coach or should Red look to replace him?
4) Defensive struggles occurred throughout the year with our defensive corps - how much of this is due to youth, do you see this improving with another year / recruiting help, and do you think that volunteer assistant coach Mike Komisarek was helpful since he started mid-way through the year?
5) Early defections have plagued Michigan throughout the Berenson era - do we have any highly likely early exits this year or will we finally have every underclassman back?
6) How strong is our current recruiting class and how well will it fit with our current team, assuming the answer to #5?
7) Sure hope we get that UNH goalie transfer, although 30 credits is a lot to make up - in case we don't get him, are we looking at a similar goaltending situation next year?
8) Do we get back to the NCAAs next year?
Thanks in advance for any insight.
1) Michigan is now 0-3 in getting to the NCAAs without assistant coach Mel Pearson - will Michigan court Mel to return as Head Coach once Red retires or does Michigan look elsewhere?
2) Brian Wiseman is now 0-3 in getting to the NCAAs as a Michigan assistant coach - he was a workhorse player, but for those who know his coaching ability, is he valuable enough as an assistant coach and recruiter or should Red look to replace him?
3) The last 3 years of goaltending play have been well below average - some talented prospects went elsewhere in the 11th hour - but given the lack of improvement, should Josh Blackburn remain as the volunteer goalie coach or should Red look to replace him?
4) Defensive struggles occurred throughout the year with our defensive corps - how much of this is due to youth, do you see this improving with another year / recruiting help, and do you think that volunteer assistant coach Mike Komisarek was helpful since he started mid-way through the year?
5) Early defections have plagued Michigan throughout the Berenson era - do we have any highly likely early exits this year or will we finally have every underclassman back?
6) How strong is our current recruiting class and how well will it fit with our current team, assuming the answer to #5?
7) Sure hope we get that UNH goalie transfer, although 30 credits is a lot to make up - in case we don't get him, are we looking at a similar goaltending situation next year?
8) Do we get back to the NCAAs next year?
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Great questions. Love Red
but is it time for him to hang up his skates? Is next season definitely his last?
I don't think we've been the same program since Pearson left and I think he should be our #1 target, to replace Red once he retires. What he has done with a previously moribund Tech program has been incredible and he obviously has great familiarity with our program. Only obstacle IMHO is that he's a Tech alum.
As for the goalie situation, I definitely think we need to replace Blackburn. Neither goalie has improved, again IMHO, in two years and actually seemed to regress. In addition to that, who is identifying these goalie prospects? The two we have now are struggling, and the kid they signed is struggling. Is this an issue?
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but is it time for him to hang up his skates? Is next season definitely his last?
I don't think we've been the same program since Pearson left and I think he should be our #1 target, to replace Red once he retires. What he has done with a previously moribund Tech program has been incredible and he obviously has great familiarity with our program. Only obstacle IMHO is that he's a Tech alum.
As for the goalie situation, I definitely think we need to replace Blackburn. Neither goalie has improved, again IMHO, in two years and actually seemed to regress. In addition to that, who is identifying these goalie prospects? The two we have now are struggling, and the kid they signed is struggling. Is this an issue?
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Here's the question I have.
To the captains- two questions:
1) what do you plan to do off season to improve the consistency issue? You seemed to address it recently by the play, but the teams need to be there all season.
2) this team does have a lot of talent. How do you translate that play to raise the play of the whole team?
Posted from Rivals Mobile
To the captains- two questions:
1) what do you plan to do off season to improve the consistency issue? You seemed to address it recently by the play, but the teams need to be there all season.
2) this team does have a lot of talent. How do you translate that play to raise the play of the whole team?
Posted from Rivals Mobile
I'm headed to Chicago today for my six-month checkup so give me 24 hours and I'll do my best to respond to all of these. I'll also look to have a sit-down with Red midweek after I return and can ask some of these a little more subtly.
Actually it was the OSU loss that was the killer
win that game and one of the PSU games, and UM is in.
win that game and one of the PSU games, and UM is in.
The last 3 paragraphs of Spath's story says it all for me
"finally got a sense of urgency," and "and ending they thought wouldn't come" - during the last few years of the NCAA run, I think our teams got into the mindset of "somehow, we'll make the NCAAs because Michigan makes the NCAAs." Except for 2007-2008, we had some inconsistency issues in the last 5 or 6 years of the streak too (sometimes due to a rash of injuries), but we were always able to right the ship, usually in the Jan-March part of the season, and have a good enough sustained streak of wins to make the tourney. But the last 3 years, either our talent is not up to par with the past, or there is more "parity," or the most recent generation of players doesn't know and hasn't had it passed on to them how you have to be focused all season in order to make the NCAAs.
In terms of a season breakdown (no pun intended), I go back to something I posted a couple of weeks ago: In our 22-15 overall record, we were 4-7 (including last night's loss) against teams that finished ahead of us in the PWR - which is not good, but not awful; 9-0 against 3 teams that finished in the last 14 of the PWR (including 7-0 against 2 teams in the bottom 5 of the PWR); and 9-8 vs teams that finished between 28-37 in the PWR (which is numerous slots below us). It's the 9-8 against those mediocre teams that killed us, and that record shows how often we showed up not ready to play. Consider a quite plausible 12-5 record in those 17 games and we would have finished 24-12 (I have removed one of our playoff wins because if we had won one more B1G game we would have had a first round bye), which almost certainly would have us in the NCAAs.
(I suppose the other thing we can "blame" our failure to make the NCAAs on was Wisconsin being so abysmal - not only did 5 games against the #55 team in RPI not help our RPI, it didn't help the RPI of any of our other B1G opponents against whom we played a total of 19 games, or half our schedule. In fact, Wisconsin being terrible may be the single biggest reason that only 1 B1G team made the tourney.)
"finally got a sense of urgency," and "and ending they thought wouldn't come" - during the last few years of the NCAA run, I think our teams got into the mindset of "somehow, we'll make the NCAAs because Michigan makes the NCAAs." Except for 2007-2008, we had some inconsistency issues in the last 5 or 6 years of the streak too (sometimes due to a rash of injuries), but we were always able to right the ship, usually in the Jan-March part of the season, and have a good enough sustained streak of wins to make the tourney. But the last 3 years, either our talent is not up to par with the past, or there is more "parity," or the most recent generation of players doesn't know and hasn't had it passed on to them how you have to be focused all season in order to make the NCAAs.
In terms of a season breakdown (no pun intended), I go back to something I posted a couple of weeks ago: In our 22-15 overall record, we were 4-7 (including last night's loss) against teams that finished ahead of us in the PWR - which is not good, but not awful; 9-0 against 3 teams that finished in the last 14 of the PWR (including 7-0 against 2 teams in the bottom 5 of the PWR); and 9-8 vs teams that finished between 28-37 in the PWR (which is numerous slots below us). It's the 9-8 against those mediocre teams that killed us, and that record shows how often we showed up not ready to play. Consider a quite plausible 12-5 record in those 17 games and we would have finished 24-12 (I have removed one of our playoff wins because if we had won one more B1G game we would have had a first round bye), which almost certainly would have us in the NCAAs.
(I suppose the other thing we can "blame" our failure to make the NCAAs on was Wisconsin being so abysmal - not only did 5 games against the #55 team in RPI not help our RPI, it didn't help the RPI of any of our other B1G opponents against whom we played a total of 19 games, or half our schedule. In fact, Wisconsin being terrible may be the single biggest reason that only 1 B1G team made the tourney.)
It wasn't Wisconsin, it was the poor non-conference record
Colorado College is as bad as Wisconsin, and six teams got in from its conference, similarly, Princeton was worse than Wisconsin, and three teams from its conference got in.
Colorado College is as bad as Wisconsin, and six teams got in from its conference, similarly, Princeton was worse than Wisconsin, and three teams from its conference got in.
Eh, Wisconsin was a culprit there too
along with OSU - Wisconsin had a 2-10-2 NC record. I agree that the B1G's overall NC was not good, but Minny, U-M and PSU had winning NC records.
Wisconsin's poor record is just a double whammy on the RPIs of the other conference members. Further, the NCHC has 8 teams and the ECAC has 12 teams so in those leagues, the impact of one bad team on everyone else's RPI is more attenuated.
(BTW I'm assuming that if Wisconsin had been mediocre, not terrible, we still could have gone 4-0 against them - but our aggregate 6-6 conference record against MSU, PSU and OSU doesn't necessarily support that assumption . . . .)
along with OSU - Wisconsin had a 2-10-2 NC record. I agree that the B1G's overall NC was not good, but Minny, U-M and PSU had winning NC records.
Wisconsin's poor record is just a double whammy on the RPIs of the other conference members. Further, the NCHC has 8 teams and the ECAC has 12 teams so in those leagues, the impact of one bad team on everyone else's RPI is more attenuated.
(BTW I'm assuming that if Wisconsin had been mediocre, not terrible, we still could have gone 4-0 against them - but our aggregate 6-6 conference record against MSU, PSU and OSU doesn't necessarily support that assumption . . . .)
It's not anyone else's fault but our own. We just need to start the season off a lot better than we did.
That focus is something that they can talk about, and make sure they are ready when the season starts. Just like losing focus when part of the team has a breakdown.
Sure, we are not as talented at Minnesota- but close enough. IMHO, most of our problems are mental. Something that I would hope someone asks Copp and Red about- not accusing them of anything, but what kind of things do they plan to do this off season to make it better.
The goalie situation will be interesting- Copp and Nagelvoort are going to share a house near Yost.
That focus is something that they can talk about, and make sure they are ready when the season starts. Just like losing focus when part of the team has a breakdown.
Sure, we are not as talented at Minnesota- but close enough. IMHO, most of our problems are mental. Something that I would hope someone asks Copp and Red about- not accusing them of anything, but what kind of things do they plan to do this off season to make it better.
The goalie situation will be interesting- Copp and Nagelvoort are going to share a house near Yost.
Re: So STPGopherFan
Bring it!
Seriously, yes it does. Haven't followed either team too much yet, but from the few box scores I saw, things looked pretty good. Now if we can only get a baseball team to a super regional...
Bring it!
