GBMWolverine: Michigan Hockey -- Michigan at Ohio State -- Also Frozen Diamond Classic -- Part II

Posted at 4:00pm — 1/13/2012

GBMWolverine: Michigan Hockey — Michigan at Ohio State — Also Frozen Diamond Classic — Part II

#13 Michigan (11-8-4, 6-6-4-1 7th CCHA) vs. #2 Ohio State (14-4-3, 10-3-3-1 1st CCHA)
7:35 p.m. Friday 1/13 (Columbus, Value City Arena)
5:05 pm Sunday 1/15 Cleveland, Progressive Field) Frozen Diamond Classic
TV: Friday — BTN — DirecTV Channel 610
TV: Sunday — FSD+/DirecTV Channel 664 — FSN Ohio/DirecTV Channel 660 … FSN Cin/DirecTV Channel 661
TV: Sunday — Replay on BTN — 9:00pm – 11:00pm

Charting The Wolverines:

Michigan is entering the gauntlet now, playing teams above them in the standings the next four weeks. Lake State was a test they almost passed, save for a few untimely injuries and a letdown on Saturday night. Still, the Wolverines can continue to work their way up the standings by taking more points out of Ohio. It isn’t as if Notre Dame, Miami, LSSU or Ohio’s schedules are any easier. They all seem to be playing each other and none of them will pull away even with a run of sweeps.

Michigan must win this series to prove that Ohio is not much better on the ice going down the stretch and to redeem valuable points lost in November. The earlier games showed that Michigan can play a tight checking or high scoring game- they just came out on the short end of both. The offense was carried predominantly by one line last week and must get other production this weekend. Michigan’s offense (3.50 GPG 6th in the country) will always keep opponents concerned. The defensive play will be sounder (2.54 GPG, 19th) than the last time the teams met, but not on account of anything other than 5×5 play. Special teams have been miserable- even the butt of coach Berenson’s jokes after last weekend- where the PP is still 42nd in the nation at 15.6%. The PK yielded nothing last weekend improving it to 80.8% (36th). Penalties do not seem to be a huge concern- at least the dumb variety- as the team is averaging 12.4 penalty minutes per game which is a slight improvement to 38th.

Michigan’s offense is led by the trio of Chris Brown (8-13-21, +8), David Wohlberg (10-11-21, +10) and Alex Guptill (10-10-20, +10). Three other Wolverines contributed last weekend- Phil DiGiuseppe (8-7-15, +10) needs to produce like earlier in the season, as does AJ Treais (7-7-14, +15). Travis Lynch (6-7-13) popped a huge goal last Friday. Lee Moffie (2-16-18, +15) and Mac Bennett (3-11-14) have been steady point producers from the blue line. Jon Merrill contributed two assists in Friday’s game and finished +3 for the weekend. He was a steady force on defense and broke up numerous Laker scoring opportunities. He also seemed to smooth out the breakouts for Michigan, which has hampered them all season.

Shawn Hunwick’s health is now a concern for Maize and Blue fans. Although the senior netminder practiced lightly this week, his lingering symptoms may affect the coaching staff’s decision to start him this weekend. That could produce huge implications if Janecyk is forced back into action. Hunwick is 12-7-3 with a 2.38 GAA and a .918 save %. Janecyk checks in now at 0-1-1 with a 3.17 GAA and a .897 save %. Hunwick is 2-3 against the Bucks with a 2.80 GAA and a .911 save %.

Expectation:

Michigan’s dobber took a hit in that shootout loss, although the net effect was four points on the weekend. Worse yet, the sudden health of key players are in question. I discussed Hunwick and Guptill (who are expected to play) but apparently both Lindsay Sparks (hip) and AJ Treais (puck to the arm in practice) are nursing bumps as well. Hard to say if Sparks will enter the lineup after being out several games by either coaches decision or injury. Andrew Sinelli replaced Sparks and has been a real catalyst on the fourth line. It will be interesting to see what direction Berenson goes with his lineup. Jon Merrill’s insertion also meant that a defense-man rotated out. Both Brennan Serville and Mike Chiasson sat out games last weekend and between the two, Chiasson has been the most effective.

I can’t say that this is the biggest weekend of the season, because I said that prior to the break when Michigan played MSU. I will say that EVERY weekend is huge now. I expect the Wolverines to battle hard and take points in Ohio. BUT, I caution that the Buckeyes are for real and could also derail Michigan’s effort to get back into the top four conference race. Three things need to happen: 1. Balanced scoring in the lineup and from the defense 2. Whomever is in goal needs to outplay Heeter- a tall task this season and 3. The special teams MUST make a positive impact in both games.

Friday: 3-2 Michigan.
Sunday: 3-2 Buckeyes.

Yost Bits:

-Yost fans NOTE: Anyone that uses Crisler arena parking is advised to take Main Street to Stadium Blvd. to access parking lots due to construction. Stadium Blvd. will be closed east of Crisler Arena until next November.

-Alex Guptill (CCHA Rookie of the week, 1-3-4) and David Wohlberg (CCHA Offensive Player of the week, 2-3-5) received honors this week for their outstanding contributions last weekend. That is two weeks in a row that Michigan has captured CCHA honors.

-Chris Brown leads all current Wolverines with a 3-5-8 line against the Buckeyes in eight career games.

-Michigan is trying to avoid their first three game losing streak against Ohio since the period of March, 1998- February, 1999 when they were 0-3-1 against the Buckeyes. Michigan’s only four game losing string against OSU was from November, 1985-February, 1986.

-FYI Dept: those of you still entertaining the idea of going to Cleveland can pick up tickets now on the secondary market for $5-10.00 versus the advertised $50.00 prices that the Indians organization was charging.

-Michigan will stay on the road next weekend when they travel to #4 ranked Notre Dame. This will be the first visit to the Irish’s new arena.

-Too Much Hockey Left Dept: As of today, seven CCHA teams would qualify for the NCAA tournament. Look for half that many in March. Some say it is parity- I say the CCHA is strong this season. We’ll see. Michigan would be 10th overall, a 3 seed at one of the four regions. More on this as we draw closer to the playoffs.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — YostMeister

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