Michigan dropped their season opener by a 2-0 score to the Alaska Nanooks. I didn't get to catch all the game on the radio, but it sounded like a combination of not many scoring chances and Scott Greenham being there when they needed him. Michigan outshot Alaska 23-13, but couldn't solve the Nanook netminder.
The next night, Michigan took out their frustrations on the WCHA's Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves. The Wolverines scored three in the first and two in the second en route to a 5-0 lead before cruising to a 6-1 victory. Chris Brown, Matt Rust, and Carl Hagelin combined for four goals in an outstanding performance out of that line. Brown and Hagelin were each +3 on the night and Rust was +2.
Another positive was that the power play was 2-3 on the night, with one goal for Hagelin and one for Lebler. Hogan made 15 saves in the victory. MHNet has some goal descriptions.
Michigan will take on Niagara Thursday night before heading to Boston to take on the defending National Champions on Saturday. Hopefully we'll have a better performance than we did in Beantown last year.
I've heard that the Niagara game will be televised on Fox College Sports. Sadly, I don't think the BU game is going to be televised, though I think BU has pay per view on their website. There's a "Watch" hyperlink on BU's site for the game, as well.
Other stuff:
MHNet has a story about high-level talks within the Big Ten about starting a Big Ten Hockey Conference. Ohio State is said to be in favor of it and Wisconsin sounds to be in favor as well. A point that was made that's a very good one is that starting a BTHC would open college hockey up to further expansion. Right now, the CCHA has one slot open but that's the only conference that has any room for another team. Spreading out the teams would open the sport to expansion. That's something at least.
Derek DeBlois is off to a good start in the USHL. After seven games, DeBlois ranks 7th in league scoring and is tops in +/-, with a 2-4--6 line and a +7 ranking.
JMFC was stellar in defeat against the defending champion Terriers, making 39 stops (!) in a 3-2 loss. He also made 27 saves in a 7-2 win over BGSU.
Campbell was profiled in an article on NHL.com about the top prospects playing in the USHL this year.
"His demeanor and how he carries himself in practice and off the ice says a lot about how he plays the game when he gets on the ice," said Ron Rolston, who coached Campbell on the U.S. U-17 team last season. "He just showed a lot of poise, especially in those big games with big crowds against excellent opponents."
Lucas Lessio has a 12-13--25 line in 13 games, along with 3 game-winners for St. Michael's.
Alex Guptill has a 5-5--10 line in 7 games for the Brampton Capitals, including a 3-1--4 line in a 6-5 win last week. He's two points out of the team lead in scoring, despite having played seven fewer games.
Mac Bennett has 1-1--2 for Cedar Rapids, and is +2 in five games.
That's all for now. I'm on a business trip for a week and a half starting on Friday, so I don't know what kind of coverage there will be for the upcoming weekend or the CCHA-openers against LSSU. We'll see. Things should calm down after that.
3 comments:
Tim:
One thing you didn't mention about the BTHC discussion is the adamant disapproval by U-Minn's A.D. who defiantly proclaimed that they would not support a BTHC. That's huge, considering the stick the Gopher nation carries in this sport.
Personally, it may make for a better revenue stream for the haves, but it will destroy the have nots. It still remains a largely disapproved notion by college hockey fans.
i think the BTHC is a bad idea for now at least. it'll make one power conference, a few second tier conferences (wcha, ccha, HE?) and then the usual bottom tier conferences. plus it will ruin the ccha is we take out michigan, MSU, OSU and possibly notre dame
FYI, the UofM website says that the game vs. Niagra is not televised and the BU site requires that you pay a $7.95 charge to watch the game
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