UM Press Release:
University of Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein has announced today (Monday, May 5), forward Ekpe Udoh (Edmond, Okla./Santa Fe HS) has made the decision to leave the Wolverines basketball program and transfer to another school. Udoh has not yet made a decision on which school he will attend.

“Ekpe is a fine young man and we thought he made tremendous improvements throughout the season,” said Beilein. “I will miss Ekpe as a person and as a player and we hope success will follow him in his future endeavors.”

“This was a very difficult decision for me,” said Udoh. “I just feel I need to explore other options right now. I had a wonderful experience at Michigan and I want to thank everyone for helping me the last two years. I wish them nothing but success in the future.”

In two seasons in Ann Arbor, Udoh did not miss a game playing in 67 consecutive contests, with 31 starts. He averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game for the Wolverines. After leading the Big Ten in blocked shots in 2007-08 with 92, Udoh compiled 159 blocks in two seasons ranking him fifth all-time at U-M.

Posted under Basketball

…but our coaches aren’t. On top of Rich Rodriguez’s ongoing lawsuit deliberations with West Virginia University, Coach John Beilein is also paying the Mountaineers for his departure to Crisler Arena.

Don’t believe me? The Wizard of Odds has some proof (which they got from West By God Virginia, who, presumably got it from the source).

Perhaps interesting to note: The Bank of Ann Arbor, the institution that allows Beilein to write checks for more than a quarter-million dollars, is owned by Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin.

Posted under Basketball

With a sucky game against Notre Dame last night, the Michigan hockey team’s season has come to an end. It appears as though their scoring explosion in the NCAA tournament may have been a true trend, rather than an aberration based on a 7-goal game.

If Notre Dame and Michigan State win NCAA championships in back-to-back years, my mental health will take a huge hit.

Posted under Hockey

Michigan’s matchup against Notre Dame won’t be the first this year. The two CCHA squads met up in a home-and-“home” series back in January, with Michigan winning their home game 3-2 and the “away”game at the Palace 5-1. How did each team do this season before and since that series? Let’s take a look.

Michigan seemed to get a bit worse as the year progressed, though it is important to note that they played far more games against tournament teams in the second half of the year (including all games against MSU and Miami, against whom Michigan went 1-2-1 and 2-0-1, accounting for almost half of their non-wins on the season).

Note: “Condra” is leading scorer Erik Condra. All of ND’s games in the final column are a subset of the “since Michigan” column, and Condra will miss the game tonight. Against Michigan, Condra had 3 shots, and a +/- of -1. All year, he was 15-23-48 in 41 games (.91 ppg). Notre Dame’s second leading scorer is Ryan Thang, 17-13-30 in 45 games (.73 ppg).

Notre Dame’s statistics went way down in the scoring department, and remained about constant in the goals against department. The offensive stats are even helped by a 7-goal goame against New Hampshire, which included 2 empty netters as the Wildcats tried to get back into the game (and as Michigan fans groaned that they’d rather be watching their game against Niagara than a blowout. Thanks, ESPNU!).

The majority of Notre Dame’s positive stats came in the beginning of the season, when they actually faced off against more teams that made the NCAA tournament. Since their better stats in the second half came from the New Hampshire game (offensively, at least), it may stand to reason that the Irish got worse offensively – even before they lost Condra.

My prediction is that neither Michigan’s 3-2 nailbiter over the Irish at Yost, nor their 5-1 shellacking in the Palace will repeat itself. Michigan will win this game by a 4-1 score that is aided by a late empty-netter.

For more Frozen Four hockey coverage, check out the Blog That Yost Built.

Posted under Hockey

Kevin Porter was announced today as a finalist for the 2008 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, honoring college hockey’s top player. The winner of the Hobey Baker award will be announced live on ESPNU Friday the 11th at 7:30 Eastern. Here’s what the Hobey Baker Foundation had to say about Porter:

Kevin Porter of Michigan is a senior forward who almost single-handedly helped Michigan to their national record 23rd Frozen Four. Last weekend in two games at the East Regional, Porter had a hand in six of the seven Michigan goals, bagging five goals and one assist, including four goals in a 5-1 win over Niagara. He is the nation’s scoring leader in points and goals with 33 goals, 29 assists for 62 points in 42 games. Porter sits second in the nation with 15 power-play goals; has recorded 18 multiple-point games and has a plus-minus of +33. His steady, consistent two-way play didn’t go unnoticed as he was named the CCHA Player of the Year and was a finalist for the league’s Best Defensive Forward. The First Team CCHA honoree was named the Hockey Commissioners January National Player of the Month. From Northville, Michigan, Porter is a draft pick of Phoenix. A general studies major, Kevin spends time with visits to Mott Children’s Hospital and volunteers for various Make-A-Wish Foundation activities.

If Porter doesn’t win the award, it’s an even worse sham than Hensick not making the Hat Trick last year.

Posted under Hockey

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

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

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

…a post about a team that wasn’t even close to getting there!

Michigan’s 2007-08 season was a disappointment by almost any standards. Not only did Michigan not make the postseason, but the Wolverines were well below .500, and lost to opponents both superior and inferior. A lack of senior leadership (Ron Coleman was the team’s only graduating player) and overall depth (Michigan had only 9ish scholarship players after several Wolverines left the program) were key factors leading to the poor outcome for the team. A lack of players who were capable of running John Beilein’s offensive system, which is heavy on three pointers, was also a stumbling block.

The future, however, is much brighter. Michigan loses only Ronald Coleman as a scholarship player, and has three incoming freshmen who are better fits for the Beilein offense than the players left behind by Tommy Amaker. Ben Cronin, a big man who can shoot, and a pair of shooting guards with long range capabilities in Stu Douglass and Zach Novak spell a brighter future for the team. Additionally, Arizona transfer Laval Lucas-Perry will bring additional talent. Losing Coleman is not a big hit. Though he was recruited as a shooter, he could not hit from the outside consistently enough for Beilein’s system.

Roster Analysis – 2008-09

With 13 scholarships allowed for the team, Michigan will either be able to take one more freshman next year, or bank the schollie for the following recruiting class and give it to preferred walkon Eric Puls. Please note that the roster on MGoBlue is terrible, so this may not be entirely accurate.

Minutes Played: Top 4 return. (Harris, Sims, Udoh, Grady).
Points Scored: Top 6 return. (Harris, Sims, Udoh, Grady, Gibson, Wright).
Steals: Top 5 return. (Harris, Sims, Udoh, Lee, Grady).
Blocks: Top 6 return. (Udoh, Sims, Gibson, Harris, Wright, Shepherd).
Assists: Top 3 return. (Grady, Harris, Lee).

The main scary part is assist-to-turnover ratio. While the top two (Kelvin Grady and C.J. Lee) return, Coleman was third, and at 1.25 the only other player with more than one assist per turnover. Fans can take heart in the fact that two of the top three Michigan players in terms of turnovers (Manny Harris and Kelvin Grady) were just freshman, and it stands to reason that they have nowhere to go but up.

Posted under Basketball