A Michigan hockey game simply wouldn’t be the same without its raucous fans. The atmosphere inside Yost Ice Arena is famous. The commissioner of Michigan’s conference, the CCHA, praises the Yost crowd as well.

“I just think it captures the entire college atmosphere. The stands are right on top of you, and the fans are active and vocal.”

Even more impressive is that Commissioner Tom Anastos is an alumnus of Michigan State, one of the Wolverines’ greatest rivals. As famous as Yost Ice Arena has become for its spectacular reputation as a hockey venue, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, Yost Field house was originally designed to accommodate nearly every sport – with the notable exception of hockey. However, over the course of its existence, Yost has served many roles in Michigan athletics, and is now known as one of college hockey’s premier venues. It may not be the most advanced facility, but according to Michigan coach Red Berenson,

“if you want to play in a rink with a great environment and a lot of history, then you should come to Michigan, because Yost is a player’s rink.”

It is that history, in fact, that gives Yost its special place in college sports history. While other college venues may be older, or bigger, or more high-tech, Yost Ice Arena is the one that most accurately captures the history of college athletics.

Posted under Hockey

It’s been a busy week, what with the hockey things and all these football commitments. Here’s what I have coming up in the next couple of weeks:

• 8(ish) part series on the history of Yost Ice Arena, culminating on Thursday, Michigan’s date in the Frozen Four.
• More recruiting, so as to annoy those who don’t follow it religiously.
• Congratulatory post after Kevin Porter wins the Hobey Baker Award on Friday.
• Maybe some football chalk talk if I get around to it.

Posted under Blog News, Hockey

With all the regional games completed, the 2008 Frozen Four is now set. Both Sunday games turned out the way Michigan fans didn’t want them to, but for now, that’s too far in the future to worry about.

Thursday, April 10 6:00 PM Michigan v. Notre Dame. (ESPN2)
Thursday, April 10 9:00 PM Boston College v. North Dakota (ESPN2)

Michigan v. Notre Dame
CCHA foes meet up in the first national semifinal game. Michigan went 2-0 against the Irish this year, with a 3-2 come-from-behind win at Yost, and a 5-1 pasting the next night at The Palace. Michigan finished 1st in the conference to Notre Dame’s 4th place finish. Top performers for Michigan against Notre Dame this year were Kevin Porter (2 goals), Travis Turnbull (1 goal, 2 assists), and goalie Billy Sauer (1.5 GAA). Michigan shouldn’t expect to replicate either performance, and will likely split the difference between the two. 4-2 Michigan.

BC v. North Dakota
The Sioux are always a team that gives the Wolverines trouble, so Michigan fans should be pulling for Boston College. In one game against the Eagles this year, Michigan notched a 4-3 overtime win in St. Paul, behind a 5-point night from the Caporusso-Hagelin-Turnbull line. In this matchup, both teams had 2-goal deficits in their regional finals, before coming up victors in overtime. North Dakota was given trouble by sub-.500 Wisconsin, but they are a team with championship experience. They will likely come up as winners, facing Michigan in the national title game. 3-1 North Dakota.

Posted under Hockey

Behind the spectacular play of netminder Billy Sauer, and another solid performance from soon-to-be Hobey Baker winner Kevin Porter (vote here), Michigan defeated Clarkson Saturday night to advance to the Frozen Four. Aaron Palushaj and Porter gave Michigan two goals, which would up being more than enough to get them the victory. Even a 6-on-3 advantage for the Golden Knights late in the third could not help them decode Sauer, who made 27 saves on the night.

The east regional team consists of four Wolverines, with Sauer and Porter (obvious choices) representing the Wolverines along with teammates Chad Kolarik and Mark Mitera. The Wolverines will advance from the regional to play in the Frozen Four in Denver on April 10th.

Also advancing to the Frozen Four are the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. They defeated Michigan State by a 3-1 count in the West Regional. Michigan will face them in the semifinal game. This works out best for Michigan, as State was one of the few teams that managed to give them trouble over the course of the year (Michigan went 1-2-1 against the Spartans on the season).

On the other side of the Frozen Four, tonight’s games will determine whether North Dakota or Wisconsin and Miami or Boston College will advance to Denver. Michigan fans will probably be pulling for Wisconsin on the one side (a much worse team than North Dakota, and the Sioux have been a Michigan-killer over the past couple years), and Miami on the other (Michigan had a lot of success against Miami this year, with the only non-win being a Shegos-reffed tie). Michigan also beat Boston College in October, but did not have a chance to develop consistency in beating them.

Posted under Hockey

Tonight, Michigan kicks off its 2008 NCAA tournament quest, taking on the #16-overall seed in Niagara. For a full preview of the tournament, check out the Blog that Yost Built.

Don’t forget to vote for Kevin Porter in the Hobey Baker balloting, though he is in a pretty deep hole.

Finally, to get hyped up for the game tonight (and tomorrow if Michigan wins), accept my offering of the highlights from every game that was on WOLV this year:
Western Ontario
Alaska
Bowling Green
NTDP
Western Michigan
Northern Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha

Oooooooooooooooooooooh, see ya.

Posted under Hockey, Video

Michigan Senior Kevin Porter has been named to this list of Ten semi-finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s top individual honor. Porter leads the nation in scoring. Here’s what the Hobey Baker folks have to say about Kevin:

Kevin Porter – Michigan, Senior, Forward, Northville, Michigan
Consistency defines the nation’s leading scorer as the Wolverine captain has produced points in all but six of the 38 games he’s played. Porter helped guide his team to the CCHA regular season title and is a finalist for the league’s Player of the Year award and Best Defensive Forward award. He was also named to the CCHA First Team.

• In 38 games, has 28 goals, 28 assists for 56 points – 14 PPG is third in nation
• Second in the country in goals and tied for ninth in assists – 16 multi-point games
• Was third in the nation in scoring last year – Phoenix draft pick

To vote for Porter in the Hobey Baker semifinals, visit the official website. Porter and the Wolverines will take on Miami in the CCHA finals tonight at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Fans can catch the game on FSN Detroit at 7:35.

Posted under Hockey

Highlight.

Also, “sideline” reporter Charles Clinton’s now-famous work at the game.

Charlie’s work prompted this reaction from a UNO message board:

I don’t think Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek in their prime could have saved UNO tonight. In fact, I think the Weasels could have pulled Sauer at the start, gone 6-on-5 the whole night and won 18-5. UNO’s only hope was that Sauer would have switched places with Charles, the WOLV-TV “sideline” reporter. Sauer probably would have been more informative on the webcast, and UNO might have scored enough goals against the reporter to make the game a little more competitive.

The Blog that Yost Built offered the following reaction:

Poor Charles. He did kind of have “Boom goes the dynamite” potential though. At one point, I believe his report was, “Eric Elmblad is playing in his first game tonight. He had a nice hip check, though a penalty was called on the play. He really hasn’t done anything else. Back to you.”

Poor Charles, indeed. If you want to see better examples of his work, check out his blog.

Posted under Hockey, Video

The injury Chad Kolarik sustained in the third period against Lake State on Saturday is hamstring-related, according to Antoine Pitts of the Ann Arbor News.

Kolarik is expected to be out until the final round of the CCHA playoffs, assuming his rehab moves along according to schedule. Kolarik is certainly going to be scratched in Michigan’s next two series, against Michigan State and Ferris State.

Last time against State, Kolarik had an assist and was +1 on Saturday. He didn’t take a penalty either night. According to the stats, he was not a huge factor in either game, but he is certainly an important player for the Wolverines. He is tied for 2nd on the team in +/- (with Mark Mitera), and is second in points with 43.

Will Kolarik’s absence hurt the Wolverines? Michigan would like to sweep State, though his absence will probably be one of the factors that prevents that from happening. Ferris, despite being a lower-tier CCHA team, managed to sweep Miami this weekend.

Even without Kolarik, Michigan should lock up the #1 seed in the CCHA tournament. The first-round bye will give Michigan a chance to get some rest, and Kolarik should be able to return by the Championship round.

Even without Kolarik, Michigan should be able to have enough success to lock up a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and are still likely to get the overall #1.

Posted under Hockey

The Blog that Yost Built (consistently excellent. If you care about hockey at all, I’d suggest visiting it regularly) has uncovered newspaper reports detailing Kevin Quick’s alleged reason for getting dismissed from the Michigan hockey team.

In happier hockey news, the team took 3 points from Miami over the weekend, returning them to the top of the CCHA (now with a guaranteed CCHA playoff bye), and the country. They face off against Lake State for 2 games in The Old Barn this weekend.

Sadly, no more WOLV games until the CCHA playoffs. I’ll keep you updated.

Posted under Blog News, Hockey

Highlight.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkQihjmvExI&rel=1]
Big games against Miami this weekend. Tonight’s is on CSTV, and tomorrow’s contest will be covered by FSN Detroit.

Posted under Hockey, Video