Michigan
Ohio State
No. 17 Wolverines to Host No. 15 Buckeyes for B1G Weekend Matchup
11/22/2017 11:41:00 AM | Ice Hockey
THIS WEEK
Friday, Nov. 24 -- vs. No. 15 Ohio State (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 6:30 p.m. EST
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Saturday, Nov. 25 -- vs. No. 15 Ohio State (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 7:30 p.m. ET
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team comes back home the day after Thanksgiving to face the No. 15-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in a weekend series on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 24-25) at Yost Ice Arena.
The Ohio State Series
Michigan and Ohio State will meet for the 133rd time in program history, with U-M holding a 81-38-13 record in the series. The two teams first met on Feb. 8, 1964, as Michigan beat Ohio State, 21-0, in Columbus. From 1990-1995, the Wolverines won 22 straight matchups over the Buckeyes.
Last season, U-M went 1-2-1 against the Buckeyes, with a win coming at Yost Ice Arena. Over the course of the history between these two teams, the Wolverines have a home record of 39-15-7.
Scouting the Buckeyes
Ohio State is led by head coach Steve Rohlik, who was named the ninth head coach in Ohio State history in 2013. Since 2013, Rohlik has led Ohio State to a 67-63-18 record, as well as having Ohio State be in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense in three out of the four years he has coached the team. Last season, he led the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009. Rohlik joined the Ohio State program in 2010. Last season, the Buckeyes posted an overall record of 21-12-6, including an away record of 13-2-3.
The Buckeyes were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten in the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Poll. Ohio State had two players selected to the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Watch List, including forward Mason Jobst and forward Matthew Weis. The Buckeyes come into this matchup following a weekend series (Nov. 10-11) against the Connecticut Huskies in which they won one game and tied the other.
Leading Ohio State
Ohio State is led by sophomore forward Tanner Laczynski and junior forward Mason Jobst who have combined for 25 points this season. Laczynski leads the Buckeyes with nine assists, while Jobst leads the Buckeyes with six goals. In total, Laczynski has scored 13 points, while Jobst has totaled 12.
Sean Romeo has played in 11 games, totaling 659 minutes for Ohio State. He has allowed 19 goals, an average of 1.73 per game and saved 230 shots, good for a 92.4 percentage. In addition, Tommy Nappier has made two appearances this season, with one start.
Recapping Madison
The Wolverines ended the weekend in Madison with one loss and a shootout win following a 4-4 tie.
On Friday, Michigan fell despite winning the shot battle, 37-26. Wisconsin was able to strike first, scoring the first two goals of the game. Michigan finally got on the board early in the second period, as senior Tony Calderone scored on a power play. Wisconsin then answered with two more goals to extend their lead to 4-1 during the second period. Michigan got in one more goal, scored again by Calderone to enter the third period down, 4-2. Wisconsin grabbed the momentum in the third period, extending their lead to 5-2 in the third period. The Wolverines tacked on one more goal from junior Joseph Cecconi, but the Badgers stormed right back scoring two more goals late in the third period. The game finally ended by a score of 7-3 with Wisconsin goalie Kyle Hayton coming away with the victory.
In Saturday's game, Michigan got out to an early lead, scoring two goals in the first period by junior Cooper Marody and Calderone, while allowing the Badgers just one goal. The Badgers took control of the second period, scoring two goals to take a 3-2 lead going into the third period. Michigan answered back, scoring two goals in the last period by sophomores Jake Slaker and Nick Pastujov. The game ended in a 4-4 tie after Wisconsin scored in the final two minutes of regulation to even the score. The Wolverines were able to gain the extra conference point by winning the shootout, where Marody and Calderone both scored.
Free Hockey
Four of the last five Michigan contests have gone into overtime and fifth total this season. This is the most overtime contests for the Wolverines since they played in nine during the 2015-16 season.
GOALLLLL
Michigan currently ranks third in the nation in goals per game, averaging 3.88 goals over its first 12 games.
Where We Rank
Michigan was ranked No. 17 in this week's USCHO.com poll for the second consecutive week, while receiving 23 votes in the USA Today poll. U-M sits 14th in the PairWise Rankings.
Block it Out
Michigan currently ranks first nationally with an average of 18.08 blocked shots per game and second in total blocked shots with 217 on the season.
Run DMC
After Michigan's "DMC" line of Dancs, Marody and Calderone totaled 15 points in the series at Penn State four weekends ago, nine points three weekends ago against Ferris State, 11 points two weekends ago against Minnesota, and eight points last weekend at Wisconsin.
The trio has combined for 45 points thus far through 12 games. In comparison, the iconic "CCM" line of JT Compher, Kyle Connor and Tyler Motte had a combined 38 points through 12 games in 2015-16.
Double Vision for Coop
Marody extended his multi-point streak to eight games after recording one goal and one assist in last Saturday's game against Wisconsin -- tallying 19 points (4G, 15A) over that span. He became the first Wolverine to record multiple points in eight consecutive games since Brian Wiseman did so during the 1993-94 season, when he tallied 21 points (6G, 15A) between Dec. 4, 1993-Jan. 7, 1994.
Climbin' the Ranks
Marody ranks fourth nationally with 20 points on the season and is tied for second with 17 assists. Calderone is tied for fifth nationally with 10 goals while Slaker is tied for 19th with seven goals.
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.
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. To honor 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.
• 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 ranks second behind Boston College (25).
• Michigan's 10 draft picks on the 2017-18 roster is 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 for the second oldest arena in NCAA DI Men's College Hockey, trailing Northeastern's Matthews Arena (1910) and is tied with Princeton's Baker Arena (1923).
• 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 travel to Plymouth, Michigan, next weekend to face off in an exhibition contest against the USA Hockey National Team Development U-18 team. Michigan takes on the U.S. NTDP U-18 Team for the 18th time in as many seasons, holding a 15-2-0 record all-time in the series. This will be the first time the Wolverines have played against the development team outside of Yost Ice Arena, and their first game at USA Hockey Arena -- the former home of the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Plymouth Whalers.
The NTDP has produced 47 Michigan players over the years, including juniors Nick Boka and Brendan Warren,sophomores Will Lockwood, Griffin Luce, Luke Martin, Nick Pastujov and James Sanchez, and freshman Quinn Hughes, Josh Norris and Nick Pastujov.
