"I Think to Be Great, You Just Gotta Do Things a Lot"

On Michael Hage, Garrett Schifsky, T.J. Hughes, and a forward corps under construction for the '24-25 Wolverines

Through two weekends, there can be no denying the University of Michigan men’s hockey team has another talismanic star.  “I don’t think it’s been too bad honestly,” said freshman center Michael Hage last week on the subject of his acclimation period to NCAA hockey.  “It’s obviously different, but it’s still the same game, and I just try to be creative and play my game.”  Given that he said it between factoring in on every non-empty net Wolverine goal over the season’s opening weekend and scoring in each game during last weekend’s trip to Arizona State, it’s hard to dispute his assessment.  Now with six points through four games played, Hage has stepped into the shoes Adam Fantilli occupied two years ago—a Ontarian freshman center from the Chicago Steel, wearing jersey number nineteen, and pacing Michigan offensively at eighteen years old.

“He’s a special player,” said Nick Moldenhauer, who played for the Steel with both Fantilli and Hage, Tuesday.  “Just coming in right away and making an impact for us, he’s been great, but I think the biggest thing has just been his attitude.  He comes into the rink every day with a smile and he’s ready to work.  So I think he’s just taking that into the games as well, ready for each one.  He’s not overthinking it either…He’s sticking to the way he knows how he can play, and it’s working out for him, so I’m excited for the rest of his year.”

Moldenhauer sees confidence as a key area where Hage’s game has grown in since their time in Chicago.  “He looks like when he has the puck, he’s got a lot of control with it,” he says of Hage.  “He’s ready to take risks offensively, and he weighs the risk/reward factor really well…He’s always been able to see the game really well and been really good at puck protection and all that stuff, but I think he’s just grown as a player.”

To Tyler Duke, what stands out most about Hage is the fluidity of his skating.  “I think the biggest think with him is he can skate so well,” Duke said Tuesday.  “It’s like he’s floating on the ice.  When you can skate that well and have the skill he has, it’s pretty special.  He’s a young kid, and he’s got a lot of potential, so I’m super proud to be on the same team with him, and I think he can really do well this year.”

Meanwhile, Wolverines head coach Brandon Naurato appreciates most the speed with which Hage incorporates feedback into his play.  “He’s really smart,” Naurato observed Tuesday.  “You tell him stuff, and he understands it.  It’s in his game.  It’s not that he doesn’t make the same mistake twice, but he definitely doesn’t make it a third time.  He adjusts quickly.”

What makes the start even more exciting to Naurato is that sense that Hage isn’t simply on a heater, nor has he approached what he can become at the collegiate level.  “I don’t think he’s on a hot streak,” Naurato said.  “I think it’s what he is…but he hasn’t taken off yet at all.  And taking off is having that predictable line mate or chemistry, I don’t think he has that.  I don’t know who’s playing with who.  I don’t think we have one line where your like, ‘oh my gosh, they’re phenomenal together.’  I don’t think there’s plays on the power play where he’s gotten easy points and easy goals around him.  I think it’s him making plays.”

In this sentiment, Naurato alludes to a reality of the now 2-1-1 Wolverines, after a win Friday night and fifty-nine minutes and one second of good hockey giving way to a 3-3 draw (and shootout defeat) Saturday night at Mullett Arena in Tempe.  With respect to the forward group in particular, it’s clear that there is a superstar in the Maize and Blue ranks.  It’s too soon yet to say whether Hage can sustain this level of play to the degree necessary to follow Fantilli’s footsteps to the Hobey Baker, but it’s obvious number nineteen is once again a high-impact player in Ann Arbor.  

Behind Hage, things get a bit murkier.  Garrett Schifsky is off to an excellent start, including a hat trick in Friday night’s win.  Through four games, he has four goals and an assist.  His start to the year drew rave reviews from Naurato Tuesday, when the coach said of Schifsky, “He’s a hockey player.  Everything’s hard skill.  He’s a hockey player.  He can play on the fourth line.  He can play on the first line.  He can play on the penalty kill.  He can play on the power play.  The more he can take on, the more we can put him out…He’s a coach’s dream…and he’s a line mate’s dream, because he does everything the right way.  When he doesn’t make a play, he still does it the right way.  He doesn’t cheat the game at all.”

Junior centerman T.J. Hughes ranks third on the Wolverines in scoring (three assists, awaiting his first goal).  As he sees it, even with all the turnover of the past summer, his own responsibilities look just about the same.  “I think my role is to play big minutes and to produce offensively, and then also to play hard defensively and just be hard on other teams’ lines,” Hughes said Tuesday.  “Just be hard and when I have a chance to score, score and make plays.  That would be making plays defensively and offensively, all over the ice…I think nothing really changes with my role, from this year to last year.”

It’s early yet, and there is intrigue in the options behind those three, but no other Wolverine has more than three points.  Hage is a clear star atop the lineup.  Schifsky is a valuable and versatile chess piece.  Hughes is a proven commodity as a scorer and postseason performer.  However, how those three pieces fit into a maximally functional collective remains to be seen.

In Jackson Hallum, Evan Werner, William Whitelaw, and Moldenhauer, Naurato has four players with a serious blend of speed, skill, and finishing.  Josh Eernisse continues to provide his trademark “linebacker on skates” physicality, willing to absorb and administer hard contact to help his team.  Philippe Lapointe, Mark Estapa, and Kienan Draper have matured into effective grinders. The strength of this year’s team lies in depth, but the question of how it all fits and who can be counted upon for what in service of consistently winning hockey remains to be answered.

To Naurato, that doesn’t need to be cause for pessimism, particularly with the calendar still showing October.  “It’s the fun part of it—them learning and growing.  But you’re going into every weekend and you’re totally prepared and then you’re like, ‘what’s gonna come today?’ because there’s not enough scope of work to know what people bring,” he said Tuesday.

To that point, in reference to a power play still looking to discover its rhythm, Hughes pointed out that perhaps, solving the question of fit, hierarchy, and chemistry is simply a matter of time.  “A lot of time together, a lot of repetition, a lot of talks, a lot of meetings with Nar,” Hughes said of the two-year cohesion process that went into last year’s power play finishing at 33.6%.  “I think to be great, you just gotta do things a lot, so if we just keep on working together and talking to each other when we see stuff on the ice, it’s gonna be really successful for us.”

A Closing Note: Tonight’s game against St. Cloud State will be the Wolverines’ annual Pink Game, to support Breast Cancer Awareness. That’s an especially personal cause this season, because Kelly Deschamps, wife of Michigan assistant Matt Deschamps, was recently diagnosed with stage III inflammatory breast cancer. If you are able, please consider donating to help the Deschamps family during this incredibly difficult time via this link.

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