Michigan
Wisconsin
Wolverines Travel to Madison for B1G Weekend Clash at Wisconsin
11/15/2017 5:00:00 PM | Ice Hockey
THIS WEEK
Friday, Nov. 17 -- vs. No. 7 Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Listen | Watch | BTN Plus
Saturday, Nov. 18 -- vs. No. 7 Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Listen | Watch | BTN Plus
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Game Notes at Wisconsin (Nov. 18)
• Game Notes at Wisconsin (Nov. 17)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team hits the road to face No. 9-ranked Wisconsin in a weekend series on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 17-18) at the Kohl Center.
The Wisconsin Series
Michigan and Wisconsin meet for the 140th time in program history, with U-M holding a 72-57-10 record in the series. The two teams first met in Jan. 1923, as Michigan hosted Wisconsin for the first two varsity games in Wolverine program history. Michigan swept that series, 2-1 (2OT), 1-0, and went on to split the series in Wisconsin the next weekend.
Last season, U-M went 1-3 against the Badgers, with its lone win coming at home. Prior to last season, Michigan had not lost to the Badgers in its last 11 matchups, including eight wins, three ties and two B1G shootout wins.
Scouting the Badgers
Wisconsin is led by head coach Tony Granato, who is now in his second season behind the bench for his alma mater. He led Wisconsin to a 20-15-1 (12-8-0 Big Ten) record in his first season as head coach after the program had won just 12 of 70 games the two seasons prior to his arrival. The Badgers finished second in the Big Ten standings last season and lost to Penn State in overtime of the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Wisconsin finished last season with an 8-9-1 record at home and is off to a 3-3-1 record at the Kohl Center to start off this season.
The Badgers were picked to finish third in the Big Ten this season in the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Poll. Wisconsin had three players selected to the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Watch List, including sophomore forward Trent Fredric, grad transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton and senior forward Cameron Hughes. Frederic, the 29th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, was a unanimous selection for the Watch List.
Leading Wisconsin
Wisconsin is led by senior forward Ryan Wagner, who has six goals and five assists so far this season, and junior forward Will Johnson, who has four goals and seven assists. Frederic is also having a strong year for the Badgers with five goals and five assists.
Kyle Hayton has played 12 games in net this season for Wisconsin and has a 6-4-1 record, 2.47 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Sophomore goaltender Jack Berry is 1-1-0 on the season with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .818 save percentage.
Last Weekend's Comeback Kids
The Wolverines won, 5-4, in overtime in their first game against Minnesota on Friday after erasing a 3-0 second period deficit. The following night, Michigan came back after trailing 4-0 in the second period, tying the Golden Gophers, 6-6, after a scoreless overtime. Minnesota ended up winning the shootout, earning the extra Big Ten point.
On Friday, Michigan fell in a hole quickly as Minnesota scored three goals to open the second period. The Wolverines rallied back to within one after goals from sophomore Nick Pastujov and senior Tony Calderone. Michigan then opened the third period with the tying goal from senior Dexter Dancs at the 3:15 mark. Just over 30 seconds later, Minnesota scored to take a 4-3 lead. Sophomore Jake Slaker then put a shot past the goaltender to tie up the game at 4 heading into overtime. Grad transfer Alex Roos scored a power-play goal at the 3:24 mark of overtime to give the Wolverines the win. Sophomore Jack LaFontaine earned the win in net, recording 27 saves on the night.
In Saturday's game, Minnesota got out to an early lead after scoring three goals in the first period, followed by another goal to open the second period. Down 4-0, the Wolverines began to chip away at the deficit after a goal from Calderone and a shorthanded goal from sophomore Will Lockwood. Minnesota then added a goal to extend its lead to 5-2, but Slaker scored for Michigan shortly thereafter. Another goal for the Golden Gophers gave Minnesota a 6-3 lead early in the third period. Michigan then scored three goals in the final seven minutes of regulation to send the game to overtime, knotted at 6. The three goals were scored by junior Brendan Warren, sophomore Luke Martin and Calderone. The equalizer from Calderone came with just 1:12 left on the clock in regulation. Neither team could score in overtime, causing the game to result in a tie. Minnesota earned the extra Big Ten point after winning the shootout.
Free Hockey
Michigan's last three contests have gone into overtime. The last time this occurred was Jan. 26 - Feb. 2, 2008, when the Wolverines reached the extra frame against Michigan State and Northern Michigan in consecutive nights.
Comeback Kids
Friday's 5-4 OT, come-from-behind win was the Wolverines' first after trailing by three goals since Dec. 4, 2015, at Wisconsin (W, 6-4). On Saturday, Michigan again came from behind after trailing 4-0 to earn a 6-6 tie and secure a four-point weekend against No. 4 Minnesota.
Climbin' the Ranks
Michigan was ranked No. 17 in this week's USCHO.com poll, while receiving 41 votes in the USA Today poll. U-M sits ninth in the PairWise Rankings.
Run DMC
After Michigan's "DMC" line of Dexter Dancs, Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone totaled 15 points in the series at Penn State three weekends ago. The trio recorded nine points two weekends ago against Ferris State, and tallied 11 points last weekend against Minnesota. Calderone and Marody led the way with two goals and two assists each, while Dancs scored a goal and tallied two assists for the Wolverines.
Marody is riding a six-game point streak during which he has recorded 15 points (3G, 12A). Dancs is also riding a six-game point streak which has seen him total 10 points (5G, 5A). Calderone has posted a point in five of his last six games (6G, 4A), including a goal in four of his last five.
Marody is now tied for second nationally with 13 assists on the season and tied for seventh with 16 points. Calderone is tied for 12th nationally with seven goals and Slaker is tied for 20th with six goals.
Double Vision
Marody has recorded multiple points in his last six games -- the longest multi-point games since Tyler Motte tallied multiple points in seven games Jan. 15 - Feb. 12, 2016 (12G, 8A).
Stars Align for the Captain
Calderone was named B1G Second Star of the Week after recording a pair of multi-point games on the weekend to help U-M claim four points over No. 4 Minnesota.
The ROOSter!
Graduate student Alex Roos recorded the first multi-point games of his U-M career during the weekend series against Minnesota. On Friday, he assisted on the Wolverines first goal -- which kick-started Michigan's comeback from a three-goal deficit -- then capped off the night with the game-winning goal in overtime. On Saturday, he recorded two assists in the third period. His assist on Friday came in at No. 2 in NCAA Plays of the Week.
Block it Out
Michigan ranks second nationally with an average of 17.70 blocked shots per game and fourth in total blocked shots with 177 on the season.
Senior Superlative
U-M senior defenseman Sam Piazza is one of 20 NCAA men's ice hockey student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award as individuals who excel both on and off the ice. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Pro Blue Update
Wolverine alum Mike Cammalleri was traded to the Edmonton Oilers from the LA Kings (11/14). Phil Di Giuseppe was recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes (11/13), becoming the 22nd Pro Blue to have made an appearance on an NHL roster during the 2017-18 season -- the most of any program.
Captain Calderone and Co.
The University of Michigan hockey team elected senior forward Tony Calderone as captain for the 2017-18 campaign, while classmate Sam Piazza will serve as alternate captain alongside junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi and sophomores Griffin Luce and Jake Slaker.
Calderone becomes the 98th captain in the program's history, joining the likes of Al Renfrew, Red Berenson, Mel Wakabayashi, Brendan Morrison, Kevin Porter and JT Compher, to name a few.
Deker HOF Induction
Michigan hockey team celebrated the induction of its seven-member 2017 Dekers Hall of Fame class. Jason Boterill, Matt Herr, Brendan Morrison, Bill Muckalt and Marty Turco were at the newly minted Red Berenson Rink to celebrate their induction into the most prestigious group of Michigan hockey alumni. Denny Felsner and John Madden were also honored, but could not attend.
Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena
Red Berenson was honored for his 33 seasons of coaching Michigan hockey when the ice rink inside Yost Arena was officially named the Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.
The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved on Thursday, Oct. 19, an addition to the naming structure at historic Yost Arena at its monthly meeting. In honor of a legendary figure, the regents formally approved the designation of the ice rink as the Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.
Did you know?
• Michigan is 226-148-23 (.598) in the month of November, while going 128-67-6 (.652) at home.
• Michigan's average age of 20 years, 324 days, is the third youngest in NCAA DI Men's Hockey, ranking only behind Boston College (20 years, 125 days) and Boston University (20 years, 127 days)
• Michigan freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes is the youngest player in NCAA DI Men's Hockey (Oct. 14, 1999), while fellow classmate Michael Pastujov is the fourth youngest (Aug. 11, 1999).
• With an average weight of 191.52 pounds, Michigan ranks as the ninth biggest team in NCAA DI Men's Hockey according to weight, with the biggest being UMass Lowell (199.66).
• Mel Pearson is one of nine new head coaches in NCAA DI Men's Hockey this season.
• Michigan had 17 alums make an NHL opening night roster, second most amongst NCAA DI Men's Hockey programs behind Boston College (19). U-M had 22 alums make at least one appearance in the NHL last season, ranking only behind BC (24) and tied with North Dakota (22).
• With Carl Hagelin and Kevin Porter raising the Stanley Cup last spring with the Pittsburgh Penguins, U-M alums have now raised the cup 16 times, which is tied for third most amongst NCAA DI Men's Hockey programs (Wisconsin 19, Boston College 18, North Dakota 16).
• Michigan's 36 NCAA Tournament appearances rank second behind Minnesota (37), while ranking tied for fourth with six appearances in the last 10 years.
• Michigan's 24 Frozen Four appearances rank second behind Boston College (25).
• Michigan's 10 draft picks on the 2017-18 roster are the third most of any NCAA DI Men's Hockey program, trailing Minnesota (13) and Boston University (12).
• Built in 1923, Yost Ice Arena is tied with Princeton's Baker Arena for the second oldest arena in NCAA DI Men's College Hockey (1923), and trails on Northeastern's Matthews Arena (1910).
• Jason Botterill '97 was named the General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres on May 11, 2017, becoming 12th GM of an NHL organization who played collegiate hockey.
Up Ahead
The Maize and Blue will return to Ann Arbor next weekend for a two-game series with rival Ohio State (Nov. 24-25). The Wolverines went 2-2 against the Buckeyes last season, bringing Michigan's record in the all-time series to 81-38-13. The Wolverines are 40-16-7 all-time against Ohio State at home.
