Holiday Roundup 2: GLI and WJC (Kind Of)
Unpacking the consequences of cancellations at the GLI and WJC, and considering the uncertain future of the 21-22 season
In a harbinger of increasingly likely unpleasant developments to come, Michigan hockey’s holiday slate was cut short on two fronts. First, Michigan cancelled one of its two games in the Great Lakes Invitational (a tournament already operating under a new abridged format); then, after a widespread outbreak of COVID positive tests (attributed to a wedding based out of the Red Deer, Alberta hotel where the American and Swedish teams were staying), the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) canceled the men’s World Junior Championship.
In this roundup, we will touch briefly on the hockey that was played at these events, then take on the murky path forward for the 2021-22 NCAA hockey season.
The Hockey
We begin with last night’s game in Ann Arbor, in which the Wolverines played the Michigan Tech Huskies to a 0-0 draw. Given that scoreline, it will come as no surprise that the game’s standout performer was goaltender Erik Portillo. The game’s highlight came in overtime when Portillo stonewalled Tech’s Justin Misiak on a penalty shot, an opportunity awarded after what appeared to be an outstanding backchecking effort by Jimmy Lambert. Portillo punctuated the stop with a rare show of emotion, pumping his fist before settling back into his crease for the ensuing face off.
Michigan had a few alluring chances to score in the overtime period, with Garrett Van Whye and Brendan Brisson each generating a pair of menacing looks at the Husky net, but in the end, there was no decisive result to be earned.
While it is tricky to know how much stock to put into this game given the unusual circumstances surrounding it, I see no reason for Michigan fans to be displeased with the result. All told, hanging tough while severely undermanned against a Michigan Tech team that would find itself in the tournament if the season ended today is an impressive result.
On the international front, Michigan’s five-man WJC delegation made its presence felt in the supernova that was the 2022 World Juniors.
Owen Power opened the tournament with a major statement, scoring a hat trick in Canada’s victory over Czechia. As a brief aside, I would argue that the most compelling story of a bizarre tournament was the Czechs’ decision to go by Czechia rather than the Czech Republic (despite still wearing jerseys with “Czech Republic” written on their front). Nomenclature aside, Power became the first ever Canadian defenseman to notch a WJC hat trick.
In the buildup to that hat-trick goal, you may have noticed a slick behind-the-back pass from Kent Johnson, who was up to his usual tricks in the two games Canada did play.
In the U.S.’s only game of the tournament (a 3-2 win over Slovakia), Mackie Samoskevich made a statement with this Platonic ideal of a wrist shot—lightning release, rocket through the air, pinpoint top corner placement.
In sum, this World Juniors, which evidently may be revived this Summer, was an unequivocal disappointment, but the Michigan Wolverines involved still had a little fun.
The Other Stuff
So we’ve talked about the hockey, now what?
Let’s start with TSN’s Ray Ferraro, Patron Saint of the World Juniors.
Ferraro, describing the WJC but with a message that could just as easily transfer over to college hockey, does a wonderful job of making clear the stakes of these cancellations.
What has become incredibly clear in the aftermath of the WJC is that the tournament was doomed to fail thanks to disastrous leadership and organization from the IIHF, an organization that had already embarrassed itself before the tournament began when it shamelessly canceled the women’s U-18 worlds while allowing the men’s U-20 tournament to proceed despite otherwise identical conditions with respect to COVID. Check out the below article from SportsNet’s Jeff Marek for more on this massive institutional failure.
Making matters worse, once the tournament began, it became clear that the on-the-ground conditions in Alberta made the tournament’s cancellation inevitable. Reporters like Chris Peters did excellent work to expose the fact that, despite the players best efforts to make play possible, a lack of a true “bubble” made an outbreak a certainty.
There is a cruel willingness amongst sports fans to attribute positive COVID tests to irresponsibility, and, while in some cases that may be fair, what we have seen far more often (in sports and beyond) is the failure of institutional leadership to protect the safety and interests of the people they are supposed to support.
That brings us to the GLI. On Monday, Michigan issued a statement that the game originally scheduled for today (Dec. 30) against Western Michigan would be canceled. The statement cited “health and welfare protocols within the Wolverines' program” as the cause for the cancellation; notably absent was the word “COVID.” This prompted immediate questions as to how Michigan was healthy enough to play the day prior against Tech but not the Broncos.
Because this is the insane world of college sports, the immediate allegation was that Michigan was scared of Western, who handed the Wolverines their first loss of the season earlier this year.
Connor Earegood of the Michigan Daily confirmed through a team spokesperson that the cancellations were not about COVID but instead the wear and tear the
Wolverines undermanned lineup would suffer in a back-to-back.
I understand why this might irk some people, given that the conditions necessitating the cancellation had been in place well prior to its announcement. Even if rosters were not finalized for the WJC until this month, it was a safe bet that Michigan would have to contend with significant absences at the GLI from the moment the puck dropped this season.
Nonetheless, the explanation the school offered is perfectly reasonable, assuming you are willing to accept a world in which player welfare receives a greater priority than plowing ahead with a packed schedule for the benefit of television.
The obvious parallel here is college football’s bowl season, whose normal delightful chaos has been replaced by a much-less-fun chaos brought about by COVID-related cancellations and reshufflings.
The common denominator between the WJC (and women’s U-18 worlds) cancellation, Michigan’s muted GLI appearance, and bowl season is a lack of effective leadership. In the IIHF’s case, the relevant governing body has proven itself hapless and ineffectual. In the case of those two NCAA showcases, it is altogether absent.
How often were Michigan’s players tested in the run-up to their playoff match-up with Georgia? We don’t know, because there is no one in charge of setting that standard.
As we move into the second half of what should be the most exciting season in the storied history of Michigan hockey, it is impossible not to feel major apprehension. The uncertainty of the Olympics still hangs over the month of February. A lack of clarity with regard to testing protocols and consequences remains. The idea of playing games in front of fans appears in serious jeopardy. Most importantly, even if the athletes are young, healthy, and vaccinated, their health (and in some cases future earning potential) is being wagered.
As with any analysis of NCAA athletics, it must be highlighted the labor force is unpaid. Even with NIL, many college hockey players are international students who are (inexplicably) unable to profit from this new system. They assume 100% of the risk, with minimal financial gain.
When the season began, I was all smiles. Michigan appeared a juggernaut, and I was thrilled at my own personal return to attending live sports. Now, this season somehow feels more like March of 2020 than even last year’s did. The possibility that, like last year, Michigan may find its season end not because of its own shortcomings on the ice but because of institutional failures off it, hovers undeniably on the horizon.
But who knows? Maybe the NCAA will finally do something right.