Michigan 4, UNO 2

My thoughts from last night:

-My group caught it, Brian from mgoblog caught it, and the Yost Post caught it...that play with Johnson and Hunwick at the end of the game was almost a carbon copy of Wisconsin. Can't have breakdowns like that when you're nursing a one goal lead.

-If our defensemen all return next year Cook just isn't going to play. He. Is. AWFUL. I made it a point to watch him every time he was out there last night (to make sure I wasn't piling on the kid). I'm not. The first goal, him and Dest just stood around while Billy made about 3 saves before the goal. He had another play where he let the puck get between his legs and the forward got around to the outside and had a great scoring chance. Then in the third period I feel like every time he was out there, he whiffed on a clearing attempt or gave the puck away. He's scared of contact from other players and he doesn't use his size at all. JUST HIT SOMEONE. He needs to watch a tape of Mark Mitera and see how to play defense even if he's not going to go around killing people. Mitera was in position the entire night.

-I think they need to split up Johnson and Hunwick. Yeah they're probably our two best dmen, but they're also our two best offensive dmen, and there's not a ton of production out there from the other guys. One of them would look great with Mitera because he's always in position on defense. Put the other with Dest or Rohlfs. I don't understand why Dest and Cook were out there in the last 4 minutes. They're brutal. Dest doesn't even hit anymore...not sure what his deal is. Honest to God I'd move Fardig back to D and put MacVoy in the lineup instead of Cook...at least give it a shot. Digger couldn't do any worse, and he'll at least try to move people!

-Sauer was excellent again last night. First goal wasn't his fault at all (way to stand there and watch, guys) and the second was tipped in by our defenseman, I believe. Kid's a good goalie, we just hang him out to dry wayyyy too much.

-Odd game in that Pio called everything in the first period and then pretty much swallowed the whistle. There was only 1 PP the rest of the game.

-Kolarik was pretty much invisible last night. And where was Joe Grimaldi for UNO?? He didn't play...not sure why.

-I like watching Miller, Turnbull and Naurato. Those guys are always giving good solid efforts out there.

-Probably Bailey's best game as a Wolverine last night. He was out there doing the things that I remember watching him do at USA. Just nailing people.

-Ebbett and Kal were excellent and it showed up on the scoresheet for em.

-Jack Johnson...he nails a shot off the goalie's mask again and then he busts his butt to get back on D and nails the guy who never saw him coming. Whoever that was went off the ice real slow. He also killed someone after they got off a shot on goal. If Cook had even a third of the tenacity of Johnson we'd be pretty well off....

-I thought they did a very nice job overall on Thomas and Parse. Neither one had a point (I believe that's the first time this year Parse hasn't netted a point and only the 2nd time for Thomas) and they were pretty quiet overall. Parse had a couple nice rushes, but they defended them very well.

It wasn't an awe-inspiring effort last night, but I'll take the win to get back on track. Sauer was excellent again, and they did some good things. They just need to be better about getting the puck out of the darn zone, but we've been saying that for a long time now.