Midweek Roundup: February 3, 2022
Michigan earns an exhibition victory over the USNTDP; line combination vision boarding for life sans the Olympians; an update on the allegations against Mel Pearson
On a snowy Wednesday night in Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan men’s ice hockey team invited some guests from just down M-14 for a bit of friendly competition to help pass the time as it rode out the storm. In the end, the Wolverines earned a 4-3 overtime victory over the Plymouth-based United States National Team Development Program, a side featuring four committed future Wolverines.
At the end of the day, the result against the NTDP is trivial; this game won’t be marked down in the standings, so in some sense, skating away from it healthy is as important as anything else.
On the other hand, while the NTDP is of course not a Division 1 NCAA program, it did pose a meaningful challenge as the Wolverines prepare to embark down the home stretch of the Big Ten season, with the team’s top four scorers (Owen Power, Brendan Brisson, Kent Johnson, and Matty Beniers) off to Beijing for the Olympics.
What stood out about watching the NTDP Wednesday night most was its stylistic similarities to the Wolverines. Like Michigan, the young Americans pair a deep assortment of talented forwards with a blue line full of mobile puck movers. In combination, that array of skaters allows for a fast-paced attack with a greater emphasis on creativity in transition than dumping pucks in deep.
The NTDP made clear from the jump that they had not come to this exhibition to play the part of “Washington Generals,” instead committing to that speedy, attacking game from the jump and finding joy because of it for long stretches.
Thanks to that combination of talent and approach, the NTDP was an ideal test for the Wolverines as they steel themselves for the stretch run, sans their four top stars, and, in the end, Michigan got a come-from-behind victory thanks to a late third-period goal from Jack Summers and an overtime winner from Jimmy Lambert.
There would have been no shame in dropping a meaningless game to a team as talented as the NTDP. However, beginning the difficult month of February with a home win over stiff competition should provide a boost to the team’s collective confidence.
In this week’s special edition of the Gulo Gulo Midweek Roundup, we break down Wednesday night’s exhibition affair, do some vision boarding for life without the four new Olympians, and provide an update on Mel Pearson’s latest comments on the allegations revealed last week by an M-Live report.
Offense off the Forecheck
Without their four top scorers, Michigan will feel a certain pressure to re-define its offensive identity for this temporary February incarnation of the team. If Wednesday’s exhibition performance is any indicator of what that might look like as we move forward, a successful Michigan for at least this month will be a team that relies on forechecking.
For long stretches of Wednesday’s game, the Wolverines were a team that seemed to lack ideas offensively. It’s not as though they were playing horribly and hemorrhaging chances, but Michigan wasn’t creating much.
There were two spells where the Wolverines reversed that trend and put the NTDP under heavy pressure: one at the end of the first period and one at the end of the third.
In both cases, Michigan found success with an aggressive forecheck, with the aim of setting up opportunities for creation at the point from some combination of Nick Blankenburg, Luke Hughes, and Ethan Edwards, all three of whom impressed last night.
Not unlike the Wolverines, the NTDP was reluctant to exit their own end through a flip or dump that sacrificed possession, and Michigan exploited that tendency to force turnovers with an immediate eye for goal.
Some of the figures leading that forechecking charge were the players you’d expect: Garrett Van Whye, Nolan Moyle, and Mark Estapa to name a few.
Another player who seemed to thrive in this context might be less predictable: Thomas Bordeleau. Bordeleau is the Wolverines’ top scorer not named to an Olympic roster and will have to shoulder a heavier offensive burden with the Olympians out.
Last season’s leading scorer, Bordeleau is every bit as skilled as the four Olympians, but he is also an effective forechecker, thanks to his low center of gravity and timely interventions with his stick.
Though he can certainly thrive creating off the rush, making plays off the forecheck also suits Bordeleau’s skill set. Bordeleau needs minimal space to generate offense, and he thrives when under pressure for his opponent. For Bordeleau, a “man on” is not cause for alarm so much as it represents an opportunity.
A patient and devastating one-on-one player, Bordeleau excels at inviting an opponent to come to him before beating that defender and creating a scoring chance with the ice he’s just opened up. Off the rush, it’s an effective formula, but when Bordeleau begins that process as a forechecker in the offensive zone, he can get the puck to a dangerous area even more quickly.
To bring this rambling note to a close, we don’t yet have a definitive sense of what this team will look like without its Olympians, but we saw a little preview Wednesday night. The NTDP was able to put Michigan into difficulty for prolonged stretches thanks to its speed and skill, but the Wolverines were able to turn the screws against their youthful opposition through an assertive forecheck.
Dylan and Tyler Put up their Dukes
In many ways, the highlight of what was a fun, fast-paced affair between Michigan and the NTDP was the matchup between the Wolverines’ Dylan Duke and his younger brother Tyler, a defenseman for the NTDP who has committed to playing at Ohio State next season.
The Children of Yost welcomed Tyler to Ann Arbor with a sign that read “Mom likes Dylan better,” setting the tone for what would prove a fractious night between the younger Duke and the Wolverines.
The two Dukes were matched up with one another often, and Tyler earned temporary bragging rights when he knocked an already off-balance Dylan to the ice.
Even when it wasn’t directed at his brother, Tyler embraced the role of “future Buckeye defenseman visiting Yost,” playing a truculent game that also included a shoving match with Mackie Samoskevich.
For Tyler Duke, it was an excellent coming out party as a heel the Wolverines will have to deal with in the years to come.
Finishing from New Faces
All four Michigan goals came from unlikely sources, with Jay Keranen, Johnny Beecher, and Summers scoring in regulation before Lambert’s OT winner. Summers, Keranen, and Lambert entered the game with zero, one, and two goals on the season, while Beecher’s only two goals since November were both empty netters. Seeing all four on the scoresheet was another welcome sign
When I think about Jimmy Lambert, I always return to his comments back in October expressing excitement for the physicality and nastiness that accompany the B1G season, before he spent the duration of the first Wisconsin series (which opened Big Ten play) engaged in close-range post-whistle conversations with the Badgers.
As such, my first association with the Saskatoon native is not his offensive game, but Lambert showed an impressive craftiness to set up the game winner. In the end, a collision between two NTDP defenders led to a surplus of space in front of the net for a simple forehand-backhand finish. Just before that though, Lambert opened up the American defense by changing speeds to open up space for a chance that nearly ended the game moments earlier.
Meanwhile, Beecher has been playing great hockey for the Wolverines at five-on-five and on the penalty kill, but that hasn’t shown up much on the scoreboard in some time. Here, Beecher finally found a goal on a yawning net, but it was his movement that helped open up that shooting lane.
As we move forward, I would love to keep seeing Mackie Samoskevich on Beecher’s wing, since the former’s ability to open up space through his size and speed pairs wonderfully with the latter’s lethal shot.
LaPointe Continues to Impress
Philippe LaPointe continued his strong run of form with his performance Wednesday. LaPointe’s intelligent movement continues to stand out, and he has a knack for simultaneously finding open ice while collapsing toward the opposing net. LaPointe also has the requisite puck skills to take advantage of any opportunities that come his way once he gets there.
Future Wolverines
Beyond the Duke family reunion, the highlight of Wednesday’s game was watching the four Michigan commits suiting up for the NTDP. Forwards Frank Nazar III and Rutger McGroaty, along with defensemen Seamus Casey and Hunter Brzustewicz will all wear maize and blue next season.
Of that group, the stand out on the night was Nazar who potted a pair of goals and stood out all night thanks to his outstanding skating.
Three Goalies Feature
Michigan featured three different goaltenders during the exhibition, with Erik Portillo taking the first period, Noah West taking the second, and Jack Leavy closing the game. Each surrendered one goal, while Portillo made twelve saves, West seven, and Leavy eight.
Portillo has played every game this year for the Wolverines, spelled only for the third period of December’s home loss to Minnesota. As such, it was nice to see his two back ups get a chance to take on some in-game action, where they availed themselves perfectly well against difficult competition. Even still, we’ll be hoping it’s all Portillo down the stretch for the Wolverines, which is a near certainty barring injury.
Line Combination Vision Boarding
First, a word on methodology. Our process here was simple. We wanted to think through some new look line combinations and defense pairs with the Olympians out of action, and we started down the middle. With those four stars out of the fold, the logical four centers (as we saw Wednesday) are Bordeleau, Beecher, Lambert, and Van Whye (in that order).
From there, we elected to think about pairing up the available wingers with the aim of creating complimentary skill sets. In other words, we wanted to balance out players proficient on the forecheck with scorers. That led to four winger combinations of Estapa-LaPointe, Duke-Samoskevich, Pastujov-Moyle, and Granowicz-Morgan (who hasn’t appeared since last Friday’s Wisconsin game due to injury).
Then, we matched up those winger pairings with the centers, where our aim was mostly to preserve continuity and chemistry. That left us with the following:
Estapa Bordeleau LaPointe
Duke Beecher Samoskevich
Pastujov Lambert Moyle
Granowicz Van Whye Morgan (if healthy)
On defense, the challenge is simple yet profound: Michigan must find a way to replace its ultra-reliable, all situations dominator in Owen Power. For the Wolverines, Power is the ultimate fixer: capable of cleaning up any mistake made in front of him thanks to his exceptional skating and long reach. Meanwhile, Power’s gifts on the puck have made him an essential contributor to the Wolverine attack this season.
Our feeling here is that the answer for the Wolverines is to evenly distribute its three key creators from the back end across the three defense pairs. As we mentioned above, Blankenburg, Hughes, and Edwards were an essential part of Michigan’s offense last night, so having one of that trio on the ice at all times feels like the best way to keep that creativity alive in Power’s absence. That led us to the following pairings:
Truscott Hughes
Summers Blankenburg
Edwards Pehrson
This would leave the versatile Jay Keranen, comfortable taking shifts as a forward or defenseman, as the extra skater.
Pearson Update
Before closing, we must dedicate a moment to an update on the allegations first revealed by last Saturday’s report in the Ann Arbor News, suggesting the cultivation of a toxic work environment within Michigan’s program that begins with Coach Mel Pearson.
In speaking with Connor Earegood and Paul Nasr of the Michigan Daily, Pearson was adamant that the allegations against him are baseless.
In that same conversation, Pearson remained evasive on the subject of December’s GLI cancellation.
Pearson had characterized the decision to cancel the Western Michigan leg of that showcase as “completely out of his hands,” a statement directly contradicted by an email obtained via FOIA by the website Tech Hockey guide.
In this latest conversation with Earegood and Nasr, Pearson appears to walk that proclamation back a bit, instead claiming not to recall exactly who first suggested cancelling the game though allowing that it was “probably him.”
As we wrote over the weekend, the stakes of the GLI cancellation should not be conflated with those of the broader investigation. The latter is clearly far more serious.
Pearson is also well within his rights to deny the allegations, and, frankly, it would be great if it turned out that the toxic culture alleged in the initial reporting by the Ann Arbor News proved false.
However, the inconsistencies in Pearson’s narrative of the GLI cancellation make it difficult to take his staunch denial of the Ann Arbor News’ reported allegations at face value. Pearson claims that the allegations are the fabrications of a disgruntled employee, and, until the full report comes out, we cannot say definitively whether that claim holds up.
With that said, we will be sure to remember Pearson’s statement when the report does eventually lay the facts bare to gauge its veracity then. For now, it feels flimsy at best.
For a more thorough breakdown of the alleged scandal and its fallout, check out last weekend’s emergency edition of Gulo Gulo: