Michigan
Minnesota
Michigan to Face Off Against No. 4 Minnesota in Weekend Series
11/8/2017 4:33:00 PM | Ice Hockey
THIS WEEK
Friday, Nov. 10 -- vs. No. 4 Minnesota (Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena), 7:30 p.m.
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Saturday, Nov. 11 -- vs. No. 4 Minnesota (Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena), 7:30 p.m.
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The Minnesota Series
Michigan went 1-3 against the Golden Gophers last season, with its lone win coming at home. The Wolverines are 122-136-15 in the all-time series against Minnesota and hold a 67-50-7 record at home. Michigan has won five of the last seven home games against the Golden Gophers.
Scouting the Gophers
Minnesota is led by head coach Don Lucia, who is now in his 19th season behind the bench for the Golden Gophers. With 438 victories, Lucia is the winningest coach in program history and has a 717-386-100 career record. Minnesota is coming off a 23-12-3 (14-5-1 Big Ten) season that culminated in an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It marked the sixth consecutive year that Lucia's Minnesota squad tallied 20 or more wins. The Golden Gophers finished first in the Big Ten standings last season and were upset in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament by Penn State, the eventual champion. Minnesota finished last season with a 10-6-1 record on the road.
The Golden Gophers were picked to finish first in the Big Ten this season in the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Poll. Minnesota had four players selected to the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Watch List including junior forward Tyler Sheehy, sophomore defenseman Ryan Lindgren, sophomore forward Rem Pitlick and freshman forward Casey Mittelstadt. Sheehy was a unanimous selection for the Watch List after winning Big Ten Player of the Year and being a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season.
Leading Minny
Minnesota is led by Pitlick, who has four goals and six assists so far this season. Mittelstadt is also having a strong year for the Golden Gophers with three goals and six assists. Minnesota is led in assists by junior forward Tommy Novak with seven.
Junior goaltender Eric Schierhorn has started all 10 games this season for Minnesota and has a 7-3-0 record, 1.80 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
Series Split Last Weekend
The Wolverines split their two-game series at home against Ferris State. Michigan won Thursday's game, 7-2, but fell, 3-2, in overtime the following day.
On Friday, Michigan was led by junior Cooper Marody who scored a goal while tallying two assists. Taking a 3-2 lead into the second intermission, Michigan's offense exploded for four goals in the third period including two from sophomore Jake Slaker. The forward also added an assist for a career-high three points. Sophomore Jack LaFontaine picked up the win in net after saving 28 shots.
In Saturday's game, Michigan opened the scoring with a power-play goal from Marody early in the first period. Ferris State then tied the game less than six minutes later. Neither team was able to light the lamp in the second period. Senior Dexter Dancs gave Michigan a 2-1 lead at the 7:00 mark of the third period on a power-play goal. The Bulldogs tied the game at 2 shortly thereafter before scoring the game-winner at the 2:26 mark in overtime. Sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne saved 20 shots in the loss.
Run DMC
After Michigan's "DMC" line of Dexter Dancs, Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone totaled 15 points in the series at Penn State two weekends ago and the trio recorded nine points last weekend against Ferris State. Marody led the way with five points (2G, 3A), while Dancs and Calderone each scored a goal and tallied an assist for the Wolverines.
On a Roll
Cooper Marody and Dexter Dancs are both riding four-game point streaks. Marody has totaled two or more points in each game over that span for 11 points, including three goals and eight assists. Dancs has seven points on four goals and three assists on his streak.
Marody is currently tied for fifth nationally with nine assists on the season and tied for 11th with 12 points.
Coop There It Is
Cooper Marody was named B1G Third Star of the Week after registering five points (2G, 3A) to help U-M to a weekend split over Ferris State. He netted the game-winning goal and two assists on Thursday's 7-2 win, and then a goal and an assist on Friday -- extending his point streak to four games. This was his second career weekly B1G honor and first of 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.
Block It Out
Michigan currently ranks second nationally with an average of 17.88 blocked shots per game and fifth in total blocked shots with 143 on the season.
Pro Blue Update
Wolverine alum Tyler Motte was called up by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, Oct. 30, becoming the 21st U-M product to be on an NHL roster this season -- later scoring in his debut that night.
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 became the 98th captain in the program's history, and joined the likes of Al Renfrew, Red Berenson, Mel Wakabayashi, Brendan Morrison, Kevin Porter and JT Compher, to name a few.
Deker HOF Induction
During intermission of this past Friday's contest, the 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 ranks 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 tied with Princeton's Baker Arena.
• 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 hit the road next weekend for a weekend series with Wisconsin (Nov. 17-18). The Wolverines went 1-3 against the Badgers last season, bringing Michigan's record in the all-time series to 72-57-10. The Wolverines are 22-35-2 all-time against Wisconsin on the road. Prior to last season, Michigan had not lost to the Badgers in 11 consecutive matchups dating back to January 2014, a streak which included eight wins and three ties.
