Michigan Hockey Continues Its Road Trip Against Ohio State

Michigan hockey continues its road trip by traveling to Value City Arena in Columbus to take on Ohio State, this time on the ice.

Michigan hockey wraps up its tour of the multipurpose arena wing of the Big Ten this weekend. The Wolverines kept both games at Wisconsin tied into the third period but fell both nights. Their record is now 2-10-2 in the conference.

This week is an easier task. The Badgers pack in well over 10,000 fans into the Kohl Center. The Buckeyes do not. The Value City Arena has a capacity of 19,000 and is lucky to get a third of that filled for an Ohio State hockey game.

Even when tarping off the upper deck, hockey games in Columbus struggle to create a top notch atmosphere.

The Wolverines should have good vibes after their split with the Buckeyes three weeks ago at Yost. Michigan led wire to wire that Friday, even with a bad third period, and jumped out to an early lead on Saturday. Michigan allowed the Buckeyes to crawl out of a 5-3 hole as they eventually hit the game winner with 30 seconds left.

More from GBMWolverine

Michigan has struggled to finish since. Early in the year the problem was a bad period. Now it is consistently the last frame or the back end of the series. Michigan State dominated the Wolverines at Yost on Feb. 10.

Wisconsin pulled away with bursts in the third, even after coach Red Berenson challenged his team to show more fight. The Wolverines are a young team and burnout is starting to appear late in the season. With the team’s disappointing record, the temptation to throw in the towel is strong.

Remember back to the Boston University series in November where several players, including captain Alex Kile, sat out for disciplinary reasons. This season has been challenging from a cultural standpoint in ways not seen since the 1980s.

Not having the right mix or missing a key piece can keep teams from gelling. In hockey those effects seem to be more acute than other collegiate sports. Western Michigan won just eight games last year, but now it’s one of the nation’s best teams with an NCAA tournament berth all but sewn up coming off a sweep of the defending national champs.

Things have a habit of looking worse in this sport than they truly are.

With games against Ohio State, Penn St and Minnesota left, it is so easy to throw in the towel here. Michigan must avoid that temptation.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

The Wolverines can not only compete against those schools, they can beat them.

Home/Michigan Wolverines News