Quick Hockey Note

Miami, the only team that can catch Michigan for the CCHA regular-season title, has a rare Tuesday game against OSU in Columbus tonight at 7pm. An OSU victory would seal the CCHA championship for Michigan, so dig deep and (gulp) root for the Nuts tonight. If you're so inclined, here's a link to the CSTV Gametracker page.

I'll have the result up later, and a preview of Michigan's weekend series against Ferris on Thursday morning.

UPDATE: It was a close one, but Miami scored halfway through the 3rd period to win 2-1. Miami is one point behind and Michigan has one game in hand. Any combination of a Michigan win, two Michigan ties, or a Miami loss Friday night will give Michigan the CCHA title.

That's More Like It

I guess my pessimism following Friday night's game was misplaced. It turns out that all Michigan needed to do was score first...and then again, and again. Michigan scored the first three goals, and scored a goal in the last minute of each period to win 5-2. Game video can be found here and pictures can be found here.

Defenseman Chris Summers set up the first goal of the game when he carried the puck end-to-end. Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg stopped his shot, but Tim Miller put in the rebound.

Five minutes later, the Spartans made an uncharacteristic defensive mistake, clearing the puck directly to Aaron Palushaj right in front of their net. Palushaj scored to make it 2-0.

Just before the end of the first period, Brandon Naurato put Michigan up 3-0, with the goal once again coming off a rebound given up by Lerg.

After nearly 30 minutes of solid defensive play by Michigan, the Wolverines fell asleep for the middle of the second period, giving up two goals in the space of about three minutes, energizing the Spartans and their fans. One hopes the Michigan coaching staff spends some time with the team this week in practice reminding them that leaving opposing players unguarded in the slot is a bad idea.

Just as things seemed to have turned the Spartans' way (after allowing those goals, Michigan goalie Billy Sauer suddenly looked uncertain and tentative), Michigan scored in the final minute of the period to seize the momentum going in to the locker room, as Max Pacioretty deflected in a harmless-looking wrist shot from the point by defenseman Mark Mitera.

Michigan played a solid third period, committing no penalties, and limiting the Spartans' scoring chances. In the final minute, MSU pulled its goalie, but Tim Miller put the puck into the empty net to seal the victory.

With the victory, Michigan eliminated MSU from the race for the regular-season CCHA title. Miami beat Western Michigan, leaving the Wolverines 3 points ahead with two games remaining. Michigan has a home-and-home with Ferris State next weekend, and Miami plays Ohio State in Columbus on Tuesday night before playing its finale in Oxford on Friday night. A Michigan win (or two ties) or a Miami loss clinches the CCHA title for Michigan. The teams could tie for the regular season title if Michigan loses one to Ferris St. and ties the other, and Miami sweeps OSU. In that event, the first tie-breaker is conference wins, and Miami would have more wins if that happens. Here's hoping Michigan puts away Ferris Friday on Senior Night to end the suspense.

I'll have a preview of the final series of the regular season up later in the week.

Notes

• Michigan scored more goals on Saturday than in its first three games combined (4) against MSU.
• The goalies in the game presented quite a contrast. Billy Sauer stands 6-2, whereas Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg is 5-6.
• Michigan coach Red Berenson was honored for coaching his 1000th college game (all at Michigan), although the ceremony was marred a bit by the on-ice host's malfunctioning microphone.
• Michigan improved its record when scoring first to 22-0-3.
• Although Kevin Porter went without a goal for the fourth game in a row, he tallied two assists to take the team lead at 26.
• For the first time in the last four regular-season games at the Joe, the game was a sellout. Michigan fans appeared to slightly outnumber MSU fans, though both schools were well-represented.
• Whoever built the Joe Louis Arena parking garage should be sentenced to an eternity of trying to exit from the top level after a sold-out event.

Other Sports

• The Michigan baseball team improved to 2-0 with a 16-6 win over Villanova. The series finale is today at noon. The teams are playing in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Michigan next plays the Mets on Tuesday.
• The Ladies' softball team followed up on an 8-0 win over Birmingham Southern yesterday (featuring a perfect game from pitcher Nikki Nemitz) with a 9-0 win over Auburn in the UCF Tournament in Orlando this morning. Michigan wraps up the tournament with a 4pm game against UCF this afternoon. The 12th-ranked ladies are 10-2 on the young season.

Uggghhh...

5-2 bad guys. Just ugly. The Sparties are the masters of just waiting for mistakes by the other team. Unfortunately, so far this season, this is a Michigan team that makes too many mistakes. As a result, MSU is a terrible matchup for us.

Try again tomorrow, I guess, but there's not much reason for optimism. MSU has dominated the three games to date this year. I've never seen UM beat MSU in person, so here's hoping.

Miami won as well, so Michigan's lead is now 3 points with 3 games to go.

Welcome to Adam, and great first story!

Getting Started

Thanks to Austin for the warm words of welcome.

So, what's a guy in Columbus doing writing on a Michigan sports blog? I've often wondered about life's twists and turns that have brought me here myself. It's a long story, but suffice it to say I fell in love with Michigan from my first campus visit in 1984. I went to Ann Arbor in 1986 and graduated in 1990. Six years later, I found myself in Columbus, and it has been home since then.

I have attended Michigan sporting events with crowds of under a hundred (who decided that night baseball in March is a good idea?) and as large as 112,000 in the Big House. Along the way, I had the fortune of attending 1/2 of Bo's Rose Bowl wins, his last game in Michigan Stadium, and many other unforgettable (and a few very forgettable) Michigan sporting events.

I am a die-hard Michigan fan, but I also love college sports of all kinds. I've been to baseball games in Austin, Texas, and water polo matches in Berkeley, California. I spent a day at the Frozen Four here in Columbus in 2005, and spent 20 hours watching basketball when the first round of the NCAA tournament was here last year.

As the blog develops, I'll probably share some thoughts on life in Columbus as a Wolverine. We have a hardy band of brave souls living here behind enemy lines. For the moment, though, let's talk about Michigan hockey, which will be my focus, at least for the next two months.

The history and tradition of Michigan football is well known. What is not as well known is the history and tradition of Michigan hockey, although the record has been just as successful. Michigan boasts more NCAA hockey championships (9) than any other school, and played a huge role in the creation and establishment of the NCAA hockey tournament. Michigan also plays its home games at Yost Ice Arena, a classic old barn which housed the basketball team until Crisler Arena opened in 1972. I can only imagine how intimidating a venue for basketball it must have been.

Back in my days on campus, Michigan basketball was a tougher ticket than Michigan hockey. When I started attending games at Yost in 1987, a crowd of 3,000 was a big deal, and the hockey band was anyone who showed up carrying an instrument. By the time I left Ann Arbor in 1990, Michigan had reached respectability, and the next decade and a half would prove wildly successful.

As I said at the outset, Michigan has more national titles than anyone else. Michigan dominated the early days of the NCAA tournament, winning 7 titles from 1947 to 1964. The next 25 years were the dark days of Michigan hockey, punctuated only by a runner-up finish in 1977. That season marked Michigan's only appearance in the NCAA tournament from 1965 to 1991. 1983 saw the hiring of Gordon "Red" Berenson, a former star at Michigan who also starred in the NHL. Under Berenson, the team began a slow but steady climb from perennial doormat back to prominence as a national power.

It would take 6 seasons of frustration, but from 1991 to the present, Michigan has reached the NCAA tournament every season. Over that span, Michigan has won 8 regular-season CCHA titles and 7 postseason CCHA tournament titles, never finishing lower than 3rd in the conference. Michigan won the 1996 and 1998 NCAA titles, and made it to the Frozen Four six additional times. Along the way, Yost Ice Arena has become one of the most intimidating venues in all of college sports.

But history is the province of old fogies like me (quick - how many Michigan alums does it take to change a light bulb? Nine - one to actually change it and eight to talk about how good the old one was). Today, Michigan hockey is ranked at the top of the national polls, and is two wins away from clinching the 9th regular season CCHA title of the Berenson era.

Coming up this weekend: a "road and Joe" series with arch-rival Michigan State. Friday night's game will be at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing; Saturday night's game will be at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. If you've been waiting to check them out, there are plenty of tickets still available for Saturday night's game at the Joe. You can find ticket information here.

That's enough for this intro. Look for a preview of this weekend's series on Thursday! Thanks again to Austin for inviting me to join this endeavor, and bear with me as a figure this blogging thing out.

Go Blue!