You may not know this, but Michigan hockey is 8-1-0 (4-0-0 at home) this season and is currently ranked No. 2 nationally. The Wolverines have arguably the most talented roster in college hockey, with 16 current NHL draft picks, and are legit national championship contenders this year. The problem is, most Michigan football fans have no idea.
Unfortunately, Michigan football has been pretty disappointing this year, to say the least. They are 5-4, 2-4 in the Big Ten, and they just had a very brutal loss to their rival Michigan State, where the entire team looked like it had zero life, no fire, no passion, no drive, no effort.
That falls 100% on head coach Kyle Whittingham, who has shown no care, respect, or even knowledge of the rivalries or traditions at Michigan. I can see why he chose to retire before coming to Michigan because it is visibly obvious he has no drive to coach left in him. It was an absolutely pathetic showing on offense where only six total points were scored that came in garbage time, leading to offensive coordinator, Jason Beck’s firing the very next day.
Here’s the bigger issue: it only gets harder for Michigan from here who only needs one more game to become bowl eligible and even that will be a tough challenge as they have to go to Oregon, home against undefeated UCLA, and will then face Ohio State in Columbus.
Time to hop on the Michigan hockey bandwagon, Wolverine fans
However, just because we lost Paul Bunyan doesn’t mean we can't settle the score another way. There is a chance to get some sort of redemption on the ice as Michigan hockey hosts the Spartans at Yost on Nov. 20th, followed by a game in East Lansing on Nov. 21st. So if you’re a Michigan football fan looking for anything positive right now, maybe now is the time to hop on the bandwagon and actually root for a Michigan team that wins.
Currently sitting at 8-1-0, Michigan hockey started their season lightning hot, winning their first seven in a row, including two massive wins on the road against No. 1 Denver and outscoring their opponents 39-14. This hot start led to a No. 1 ranking for Michigan, but unfortunately it didn’t last long. They hit a small road bump and split a two-game away series with Ohio State as they were outscored 9-7, dropping them down to the No. 2 ranking. Although they struggled on the road against Ohio State, there is still a ton of optimism surrounding this team. The regular season in college hockey is 34 games, so there are still plenty of games left to play. This team is loaded with NHL talent all over the roster, with 16 current NHL draft picks, including 5 first-rounders, along with multiple prospects for next year’s NHL draft.
A few of the standouts: Michael Hage, the 21st overall pick for the Canadiens in 2024, decided to return for his junior season, opting not to sign with Montreal for this season. He currently leads the NCAA in points with 20 in 9 games after coming off a season where he led the nation in assists last year with 39. Michigan’s leading goal scorer, Jayden Perron, has 10 goals in 9 games and is looking like a steal in the 2023 NHL draft where he was picked by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 3rd round, 94th overall. Another 1st-round pick for Michigan, Will Horcoff, Mr. Clutch, who was selected 24th overall by the Penguins in 2025, had 25 total goals and led the nation in game-winning goals last season with 7, and already added another to his career this season when he scored in the final second to beat Western Michigan.
Michigan even has a possible future NHL goaltender in net in Jack Ivankovic, who was a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award last year, which is given to the top goaltender in college hockey after going 25-8-1 as the starter with only a 2.15 goals-against average. He was selected in the 2nd round of the 2025 NHL draft by the Nashville Predators and is currently 8-1-0 with a .921 save percentage. Even with 5 first-rounders, Michigan has one guy who hasn’t been drafted yet that has even more potential than all of them. The projected No. 1 pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, Landon DuPont, is the youngest player in NCAA hockey at just 17 years old. The freshman defenseman committed to U of M in June this year, coming over from the WHL where he put up 73 points in 63 games last season, and is already off to a great start in college with 8 points in 8 games at Michigan.
College hockey has historically not caught many eyes and it never gets talked about in national sports media. But with NIL now dominating college sports, college hockey has significantly leveled up. In the past, young hockey prospects faced a dilemma where they had to choose college hockey or the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), where they could join as young as 15 and be paid early on in their careers. Obviously, players couldn’t play college hockey until they were 18, so many opted to go the CHL route.
However, in the past, the NCAA classified the CHL as a professional league, and if players even took one shift on the ice, they would forfeit their eligibility and were no longer allowed to go play college hockey, often before they were even of the age to decide. Because of this, almost every single top NHL prospect decided to play in the CHL over waiting another two to three years for the NCAA. Thankfully, a new rule was put into place in November 2024 that went into effect in August 2025, allowing CHL players to play college hockey without losing their eligibility, so they can now make money and earn a degree as well. In fact, 397 former CHL players are on college hockey rosters this season, up from 174 at the start of last season.
Although there are many negative aspects of NIL (conversations are for another day), they have allowed sports like college hockey to make massive steps forward in improving their talent in such a short amount of time, thus drastically improving the level of the game. Top NHL prospects are now able to transfer to the NCAA after playing in the CHL. Gavin McKenna chose to play college hockey at Penn State on a reported ~$700k deal, then went No. 1 overall in the 2026 draft. Landon DuPont followed in his footsteps the following year, coming from the CHL, to commit to and play at Michigan before he likely gets selected No. 1 overall as well.
If you’re looking to get into Michigan hockey, they host a struggling Penn State team at Yost on November 13th and 14th at 7 pm. With Gavin McKenna gone, the Nittany Lions are 2-7-1, 0-3-1 in the Big Ten, and they just got swept in a two-game series by Notre Dame. On top of that, Michigan beat Penn State last March in the Big Ten semifinal, 5-2, and that was with McKenna on the ice. This weekend should be a perfect opportunity for Michigan hockey to get back on track after the struggles at Ohio State.
Unfortunately, Michigan football hasn’t even come close to their expectations this year, and my optimism for the team dwindles by the day. However, there is a team in Ann Arbor that has actually lived up to their lofty expectations. Not only do they deserve our support, we, as Michigan fans, but also deserve to root for a Wolverines team that actually plays with passion, physicality, and toughness. They have talent everywhere, but they also have the results to match.
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