Midweek Roundup 3.1.23
Translating the offensive formula against ND into success against UW, a CCWHA Tournament Review and ACHA Nationals preview with Jenna Trubiano, Fourth Line Focus, and a chat with Gavin Brindley
It’s March 1st, and postseason hockey is in the air in Ann Arbor.
On the women’s side, the playoffs began with last weekend’s CCWHA Tournament and will continue into March with ACHA Nationals.
For Brandon Naurato’s men, the playoffs begin with this weekend’s Big Ten quarterfinal series against Wisconsin, and, though seeding remains up in the air, their place in the NCAA Tournament is already secure.
We have no shortage of topics to discuss with you this week, so we won’t waste any more time with preamble.
Reflecting & Projecting: From Notre Dame to Wisconsin
Last Saturday night against Notre Dame, Michigan’s ability to sow chaos in the offensive zone delighted the Wolverines’ first-year head coach.
Stubborn defense and physicality constitute the Irish’s identity under Jeff Jackson. Where Brandon Naurato preaches attack and wants to force an opponent into disarray, Jackson advocates sitting back and waiting for an opponent to err. On Saturday, particularly after a defensive opening twenty minutes, Michigan didn’t err often; though the Wolverines reduced Notre Dame to a scramble, they couldn’t find the finishing touch.
As Naurato tells it: “In the second two periods, we delivered so many more pucks, and it wasn’t just wasting them to waste them. There’s people going to the net and shooting at the right time, so then you’re getting retrievals because they’re all compact, and then either you can attack again or possess. Everything we’ve talked about with the predictability and the chaos, I thought we did an unbelievable job with that Saturday; it just didn’t go in.”
With the impending Wisconsin series set to open the 2023 postseason, the Irish won’t be the last team that believes its best chance against the Wolverines lies in physicality and defense.
Whether that opponent is Notre Dame, Wisconsin, or some other foe later down the line, Naurato believes it will be essential for Michigan to “deliver pucks” with the simultaneous flow of bodies and the puck toward the net affording high quality offensive chances.
“We talked about attacking when they’re vulnerable or possessing when they’re in their structure, but if we have the puck outside the dots and nobody at the net, we’re not going to attack or we’re not going to deliver pucks,” explained Naurato after Monday’s practice. “I’m not promoting shot volume, it’s shots at the right time, but if people are traveling there, that’s the chaos: They’re traveling there, it gets bunched up, and you have a quick chance, but right after that, now someone’s got to leave those areas to go play the next puck. That’s where you have those little seam plays or opportunities to attack again.”
Consider this screencap from the moment Rutger McGroarty’s equalizer (Michigan’s lone goal on the evening) entered the net:
Three Maize jerseys are within a stick’s length of the crease. Seamus Casey, who has kept Jack Adams and Jake Boltmann at a tidy distance with his deceptive edges and stickhandling, delivered his feed to McGroarty as he crossed the goal line to Ryan Bischel’s immediate right. Zach Plucinski (#26 in blue) is fighting a losing battle in attempting to maintain leverage against Mackie Samoskevich, who has worked his way to the back post (in a legal position within the crease as he doesn’t obstruct Bischel). McGroarty—the goalscorer—re-directed Casey’s feed past Bischel in a single motion from close enough range for his stick to end up in the crease via his follow through.
When Wisconsin rolls into Ann Arbor this weekend, you can rest assured that they will do so with the intention of attempting to unsettle Michigan with physicality. It is the same strategy employed by every Friday night visitor to Yost.
Yes, the Badgers finished last in the Big Ten for a reason; this is not a team that covered itself in glory over the course of the regular season. Still, Wisconsin’s résumé may be as much a testament to the conference’s overall quality as it is to the Badgers’ limitations.
In the Big Ten, Wisconsin is 6-18-0; out of conference, it is 7-3-0. While they didn’t play the most difficult non-conference slate, out-of-league opponents include St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth, and Clarkson (numbers five, twenty-six, and thirty in the Pairwise).
Overall, the Badgers are about even in shots-for-versus-conceded (31.79 for and 31.41 against), but within the Big Ten, the numbers are quite a bit uglier (30.50 for, 33.50 against).In college hockey’s most talent-dense conference, somebody has to live in the cellar, and things won’t look too pretty for them.
Whatever the reason for Wisconsin’s shortcomings this season, it isn’t a lack of elite talent. Badgers freshman center Cruz Lucius would probably be the most talented forward on any of Notre Dame, Penn State, or Michigan State’s rosters.
Michigan did incredible work in the second half of the season to recover ground and secure the second seed in the Big Ten Tournament, but in a conference this deep, nothing is a given. For the Wolverines, the path to success this weekend will, more than likely, be paved once again through delivering pucks and sewing chaos to overcome an opponent’s physicality.
WoHo Wednesday: ACHA Nationals
Over the weekend, the University of Michigan women’s hockey team traveled north to Burton’s Crystal Fieldhouse for the CCWHA Tournament. The Wolverines blanked Grand Valley State 3-0 on Friday to advance to a semifinal date with Indiana Tech, where they fell 3-2.
Still, Monday morning brought good news with the announcement of the ACHA’s decisive final rankings: The Wolverines finished ninth and thus qualified for Nationals at Marlborough, Massachusetts’ New England Sports Center in mid-March.
“It was one of our goals for this year, and I think it’s a true testament to our leadership group, especially to our seniors that have been with our program for four years,” said head coach Jenna Trubiano over the phone Tuesday. “Even just from last year, we had fifteen new players, so just seeing the growth of the team and the culture and how the players are willing to work hard for each other, led by our captains, it’s just really exciting to see the growth of the program. I think moving forward the expectation is for us to make the national tournament every year.”
When asked where she has seen the most growth from her team over the course of the season, Trubiano responded, “I think the word that comes to mind is resiliency. Obviously in Arizona, we had a couple of major injuries, and [Maria] Di Cresce still hasn’t been able to return, but we’ve had other players step up and fill those roles.”
As for last weekend’s CCWHA Tournament, Trubiano believes her team didn’t so much lose to Indiana Tech as run out of time: “This past weekend, obviously we lost against Indiana Tech, but we didn’t give up. We scored in the third period, we won the third period. It was just unfortunate that there wasn’t five more minutes left in the game, because I think we would have tied it up or won.”
Throughout the second half, Trubiano’s top line has flourished, and last weekend was no exception as they accounted for three of the team’s five goals. To Trubiano, their second half success is less about skill development and more about finding the right means of deploying the team’s talent:
“Our top line of [Kelsey] Swanson, [Emily] Maliszewski, and [Julia] Lindahl—at the start of the season, we knew they were all super talented, but we didn’t know how to apply them, and obviously, we try something that Penn State weekend, and it just kind of worked. The coaching staff has done a great job, outside of myself, learning which players work well together, and I think they’re building their chemistry off the ice, which is important.”
On the back end, Trubiano points to Cara Kolwich and Katie German as key difference makers for the Wolverines:
“I think both are offensive-minded defensemen, which I love, but [we have to focus on] protecting Sandrine and taking care of our zone first. If we’re able to take care of our zone, those offensive opportunities will come. I think Kolwich, she’s already a leader on our team, and it’s super exciting to see her with such command as a freshman. Katie German, she’s a sophomore, but she’s one of our more vocal leaders, and she also leads by example. She always gives it 110% on the ice, so yeah, having those two being offensive minded, but also, when they’re in the defensive zone, in those defensive responsibilities, they’re both very skilled players.”
In the short-term, the Maize and Blue will enjoy a well-deserved week of rest and relaxation before the intensive preparations for Nationals commence next week.
“Our students, they’re students first, and with Spring Break, we want them to relax, have fun, enjoy themselves, but we’ll have practice next Monday,” explained Trubiano. “So we’ll have a normal week of practice [next week]; we might try to get an extra sheet of ice if we can, and then we’ll leave Tuesday [the 14th] to go out to Massachusetts. I think especially after a long weekend and a long season that the break is really going to help us reset and rejuvenate, and the team is going to come back hungry.”
That tournament will commence Thursday March 16th, and it is a double elimination joint, with the top two overall seeds (Liberty and Midland) earning byes to the semifinals. For the Wolverines, that journey will begin with fourth-seed Adrian, with the winner earning a day off Friday and the loser facing an elimination game.
“We’re going to be playing Adrian, our first game on Thursday,” said Trubiano. “Obviously, we played them twice already, which is to our advantage…We’ve always been a team that peaks at the right times, so I’m super excited to play them again.”
Trubiano sees Michigan’s return to Nationals for the first time since 2016 as carrying with it the opportunity for massive “growth and exposure” for the program. “With all the attention we’ve gotten this past year, I think it’s pretty incredible what our athletes have been able to do with little to no university support,” she notes. “The hours they’re putting in, we’re gonna miss about a week of school after Spring Break to go to the national tournament, so students are going to have to work that out with their professors, and it’s something that they want to do.”
In zooming out, Trubiano sees getting back to Nationals as the first step in establishing her program amongst the ACHA’s elite:
“I think in the bigger picture, in my mind, we should be contending for the national championship every year. I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be. We’ve gotten a lot of interest in our program from [perspective] athletes, but the recruiting process is quite difficult because the students have to get into Michigan first, and this application round I’ve heard was the most competitive ever.
“I’m excited about the future, and I think that with our team doing so well, our social media is obviously fantastic, and the players that we have returning, we’re just gonna continue to build on the momentum…I think that the possibilities are endless in my mind if we continue to win and do the small things right and hold ourselves to the highest standard for an ACHA Division 1 program.”
Fourth Line Focus: Heavy Metal Hockey with Nick Granowicz, Mark Estapa, and Nolan Moyle
On Sunday evening, the Tampa Bay Lighting traded for then-Nashville Predators forward Tanner Jeannot. The Lightning bolstering their roster with a depth piece at the trade deadline is nothing new, even when that comes at a premium. Still, the Preds’ return (five draft picks with the headliner a 2025 1st rounder plus defenseman Cal Foote) for a player with just five goals on the season produced major sticker shock.
Normally, we wouldn’t be too worried about an NHL trade in this forum, but in this case, we’ve got a reason. Tampa’s active run of three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final (the former two of which produced Cups); in other words, we are talking about a team with as vivid a picture of what the postseason will demand as any around the league.
As far as forwards are concerned, that means beautiful hockey and elite talent in the top six: Kucherov, Point, Palat, Stamkos. In the bottom six, it means a heavier, more forecheck-dependent game: Maroon, Coleman, Gourde, and now Jeannot. That ability to blend styles becomes even more important down the stretch.
In discussing the way his system varies from the top of the lineup to the bottom, Brandon Naurato offered the analogy of a symphony versus heavy metal. For the ‘22-23 Michigan Wolverines, that heavy metal hockey manifests most directly in the fourth line of Nick Granowicz, Mark Estapa, and Nolan Moyle.
“The last six games, they’ve really gotten a lot better, and maybe they didn’t play as much as they deserve to in different games,” says Naurato of that unit. “Last game, we were doubling them up in that third period, especially Nolan and Grano being seniors, and they just had it. They wanted to win so bad, and they were awesome, so I’m expecting really good things from them [in the postseason].”
In the following compilation, you’ll see that trio (at times playing with other forwards as Naurato had to improvise Saturday following Adam Fantilli’s game misconduct in the first) putting Notre Dame into major discomfort. Over and over, you’ll see one of the three coming up with a loose puck from a disadvantageous position relative to their Irish checker(s). You’ll see their presence at the net front occupying defenders, creating space for playmaking in high ice for the likes of Casey, and eventually opportunities around the net. You’ll see them extend possession and offensive zone time with their efficiency in retrieving rebounds.
Winning in the postseason requires multiplicity. A team that can only find joy off the rush will inevitably run into an opponent that forces dump-ins. A team that likes to sit back and defend will be lured into a track meet somewhere along the line.
For Michigan, that is good news. This season has been defined by the slow process of developing sustainable offense beyond the power play and rush. The Wolverines’ elite talent can still produce those moments of flair; Frank Nazar as a third center would be most coaches' fever dream.
However, Naurato has added different layers to Michigan’s arsenal. The Wolverines’ ability to score goals from within the offensive zone has been lethal throughout the second half of the season. Their ability to command possession of the puck helps them control games in ways an “all gas, no brakes” attacking mentality does not afford. Beyond that, a fiersome, chaos-inducing forecheck lurks in the Michigan bottom six.
As Naurato says, “The heavy metal part would be the chaos and just sending pucks to the net and continuously attacking versus the possession, and every line can do that, but the third and fourth line, they can really set a standard for that, especially the fourth line.”
Put it all together, and you’re talking about a team that has myriad alternatives should any one form of attack falter, and that’s an awfully good formula.
“I think our line has done a great job of it, and individually I feel like I’ve been one of the best players in college hockey since I’ve been back”: In Conversation with Gavin Brindley
For most college freshmen, Spring Break evokes images of depravity and all-inclusive resorts, Perhaps Punta Cana or Cabo, but Gavin Brindley is keeping it a bit more low key.
“I watched Outer Banks last weekend, so got that out of the way, and now a lot of time with the guys, just focused on the playoffs,” Brindley says of his plans for the week off. “All’s we think about right now is hockey, so it’s pretty nice having no class and just hanging all the time every day. Just take the time to soak it in and be with the guys until it’s gonna be over in a month.”
In the second half, the Floridian freshman enjoyed a breakout, with his waterbug offensive dynamism translating onto the score sheet in a way it did not in the first half. For Brindley, that success comes down to an increased comfort with mounting experience on the collegiate stage:
“I just think being in places to succeed all the time has helped me a ton in just trying myself and having the confidence to do anything out there. And I think ever since I got back from World Juniors, just clicked and kind of dominating every night. I think our line has done a great job of it, and individually I feel like I’ve been one of the best players in college hockey since I’ve been back, so it’s been pretty fun, and hopefully we get a good playoff push going here.”
Whether your preferred evidence is numerical or comes from the eye test, Brindley’s claim is not a difficult one to support. His nine goals and nine assists put him tied for twelfth in the nation in scoring since the calendar year turned over, and watching him night in and night out reveals an electrifying talent who constantly puts defenders into trouble. His chemistry with Adam Fantilli was instant, and the pair have terrorized opponents since their union early in the second half.
As for what it’s taken to get to that place, Brindley attributes his success to finding the confidence to fully express his talents after an acclimation period at a new level. “I think when you come to Michigan, you’re seventeen-years-old, and it’s pretty crazy. You play against guys that are twenty-six-years-old sometimes, so it’s almost like you’re playing in the NHL already, but I just think being yourself and having the confidence to do what you did last year, here at Michigan was probably the biggest thing.”
Among Brindley’s various gifts is his skating. As The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler put it in a piece that ranked the freshman the 25th best prospect available at this spring’s draft: “Brindley’s a plus-level skater who gets through his extensions quickly (including from a standstill), excels on his edges, rounds corners sharply, and darts around the ice, hunting pucks and pushing through holes.”
When asked about the sources of his speed, Brindley contended that there can be no substitute for on-ice training, but he also believes that his diversity of athletic endeavors growing up contributes to his aptitude as a skater today.
“Skating is not like anything else in the world,” Brindley says. “You can’t practice skating outside of the rink really. You can rollerblade, but it’s just not the same. I think a lot of kids that play a lot of sports growing up just tend to be faster—the quick-twitch muscle thing and playing all these different sports like soccer, lacrosse, football. I played pretty much every sport growing up, so I was just lucky and fortunate to always be doing something outside, so maybe that’s why.”
Brindley adds that he played volleyball and lacrosse through middle school, five years of baseball, and ran track up until he had to specialize in high school. Beyond that, summer roller hockey offered a change of pace from the standard on-ice experience.
“There’s a big tournament back home, they call it NARCh [the North American Roller Hockey Championship], so I played that,” Brindley recounts. “I never played roller hockey before, just like street hockey, and then my dad’s best friend asked me to play one time, and I ended up being the leading scorer, and I was like ‘Man, I should just keep playing every summer.’ I never played during the year, but just throw it on during the summer, and it’s a totally different crowd than hockey, so it’s a lot of fun.”
As for his short-term focus, Brindley has his eyes set on what he expects to be a fiercely competitive series with Wisconsin:
“Anything can happen in the playoffs; you see it at every level in every sport, so you can’t overlook any team. I think they’re a great team, and we’ve got to be ready to go if we’re playing Minnesota or playing Wisconsin it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to be ready to go from puck drop because anything can happen, and it’s a game within sixty minutes.”
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