Week 0: An Introduction to a New Era
Week 0: An Introduction to a New Era
Michigan routs Windsor 8-2 to win its exhibition opener. We walk through everything from a new-look warmup routine to exciting freshman debuts and a dazzling Nick Granowicz punctuation mark
On Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena, the University of Michigan men’s hockey team routed the overmatched University of Windsor Lancers 8-2 in the season’s exhibition opener. The game marked the unofficial start to the Brandon Naurato era in Ann Arbor, and the first-time head coach made his presence felt before the puck even dropped on the first period.
When the Wolverines emerged for their first warmup of the 2022-23 season, they opened the proceedings with a drill inspired by the rondo. Rondos—a common soccer drill made famous by Catalan manager Pep Guardiola as he revolutionized the European game first at Barcelona, then Bayern Munich and Manchester City—are a game of keep away, with a group of players passing to one another in a ring while one or two defenders attempt to dispossess them.
The drill requires quick decision-making and tests a player’s ability to send and receive passes. Meanwhile, the defender or defenders on the interior of the ring sharpen the efficiency of the defensive pressure they apply, trying to seal off passing lanes and anticipate their opposition’s next move. It is an exercise favored by teams that intend to dominate games through possession, and it forces players to get comfortable operating in tight spaces.
According to friend of the newsletter Drew Van Drese, the new pregame approach represented the first alteration to the team’s warm-up routine in more than a decade. A year ago, you would see the Wolverines use a more traditional pattern of looping from the corner into the slot to receive a pass and take an uncontested shot as a warmup. Unlike the rondo, that drill does nothing to force players into processing information and reacting at speeds that compare to game pace. While the frenetic pace of the rondo acclimates a player to what they will experience in a game, the aforementioned traditional warmup conditions players for situations that will not exist in live action.
Johan Cruyff—who was Guardiola’s coach at Barcelona and can claim the title of soccer’s patron saint of a possession-based attacking style—said of the drill "Everything that goes on in a match, except shooting, you can do in a rondo. The competitive aspect, fighting to make space, what to do when in possession and what to do when you haven’t got the ball, how to play ‘one touch’ soccer, how to counteract the tight marking and how to win the ball back."
It might be a subtle change from one warm-up exercise to another, but in making it, Brandon Naurato demonstrated the way his commitment to player development sets his players up to thrive once the drills give way and the puck drops.
On Saturday night, once the puck dropped, the Wolverines built an insurmountable lead in the game’s first twenty minutes thanks to poor discipline from the Lancers and an effective power play.
Windsor managed to kill off Michigan’s first power play bid, but accumulating twenty-one penalty minutes in the first period was a doomed formula. On the Wolverines second power play, a five-man unit of Adam Fantilli, Jacob Truscott, Mackie Samoskevich, Dylan Duke, and Rutger McGroarty maintained nearly a minute-and-a-half of zone time before a long-range wrister from Samoskevich opened the scoring. A subtle cradle toward his body just before the release helped the Connecticutian winger find the lane he needed to beat Lancer netminder Nathan Torchia.
Samoskevich is a player who figures to play major power play minutes throughout his sophomore season in Ann Arbor, but the other two first-period scorers with the extra man were less likely candidates.
Junior defenseman Steve Holtz, who didn’t score once as a sophomore, doubled the Wolverines lead off an impressive rink-wide pass from freshman Kienan Draper, before sophomore Mark Estapa made it three with a lethal one timer from a severe angle.
The Wolverines’ lone even strength goal of the opening period came through Dylan Duke. Adam Fantilli helped set up the tally with some shiftiness off the rush, before pirouetting to feed Samoskevich whose wrister struck iron this time, only for Duke to clean up the mess. It might not have been the most dominant performance from Michigan’s top line, but the trio flashed more than subtle signs that it could prove formidable if it sticks together throughout the season.
In the second period, the Lancers mustered more resistance than they had managed in the first. In particular, Windsor took advantage of its four power play opportunities in the frame. Though they converted just once (on a five-on-three with Estapa and Nolan Moyle in the box), the Lancers were able to sustain time in Erik Portillo’s neighborhood for long stretches throughout their time up a man. If there is one area of concern to emerge from this exhibition contest, it is probably the way Windsor managed to sustain offensive zone possession on the power play.
Of course, we are still describing a second period in which Michigan matched the Lancers’ two goals and outshot them twelve to nine.
In the game’s final twenty minutes, the Wolverines slammed the door on Windsor in the third not by sitting back and defending but by hemming the Lancers into their own end. Michigan managed twenty shots and two goals in the third period, while surrendering just seven shots to their opponents from north of the border.
Nick Granowicz ended the period with a flourish when he scored an unconventional breakaway goal with just over a minute to play. You may have seen the Datsyukian deke or the Kucherov no-move, but there’s no precedent for the Grano leg kick.
The Macomb, Michigan native somehow managed to beat Dakota Lund-Cornish while leaping into the air before crashing back down to the ice in a maneuver that bore a faint resemblance to a jackknife dive. It was similar to Bobby Orr’s legendary Cup-winning goal against the St. Louis Blues, except unlike Orr, Granowicz jumped before he shot.
Even if an exhibition game against a Canadian U Sports opponent probably isn’t very instructive as to the rigors Michigan can expect over the course of the coming season, it did provide the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with its gifted crop of freshmen.
Seamus Casey in particular made a memorable first impression on the Children of Yost. The Miami-born blue liner scored twice, both times from close range demonstrating a total willingness to activate in the offensive zone.
Beyond the two goals, Casey was impressive all over the ice against Windsor with his deception. With subtle headfakes and sudden changes of direction, the New Jersey Devils draft pick looked elusive with every stride he took on Saturday night.
Luca Fantilli made a compelling case toward claiming a regular spot in Michigan’s lineup thanks to excellent vision and skating, as well of a command of the game that you might expect from an upperclassmen. Unlike his blue chip younger brother, Fantilli was not expected to play a major role for the Wolverines this season. If his exhibition audition is any indicator, the elder Fantilli may force Naurato into defying that expectation.
Meanwhile, up front, Gavin Brindley and Rutger McGroarty comprised two-thirds of what was arguably Michigan’s most consistent line at even strength along with Nolan Moyle. McGroarty and Moyle both brought a physical and relentless presence in keeping pucks alive along the boards, while Brindley provided dynamism as a puck carrier. As a unit, the trio flashed the ability to create for one another both off the rush in transition and off the cycle in the offensive zone.
All things considered, it was the ideal start to Michigan’s ‘22-23 campaign. The head coach offered a small insight into his development ethos via a new-look warmup, a retooled power play unit inspired fear and garnered results, the freshmen debutants made an immediate impact, and, most importantly, nobody sustained an injury.
The Wolverines will return to action on Friday night, when they host Lindenwood at Yost. The Lions will travel to Ann Arbor having dropped their first ever game as a Division I program six days prior to Minnesota by a score of 4-0.
Odds & Ends
Special Teams usage
Beyond the line combinations and the debuting freshmen, one of the things we were most looking out for in the Windsor game was the Wolverines’ deployment on both specialty teams.
As discussed above, Michigan utilized a top power play unit of Adam Fantilli, Duke, McGroarty, Samoskevich, and Jacob Truscott. The second unit Naurato turned to was composed of Brindley, Casey, Eric Ciccolini, TJ Hughes, and Jackson Hallum.
Because of the Lancers’ incessant first-period penalties, Naurato also gave power play ice time to a number of Michigan’s depth players due to a shortage of even strength minutes available. For the second and third goals of the game, Holtz, Granowicz, Philippe LaPointe, Moyle, Kienan Draper, Luca Fantilli, and Estapa joined the fray.
None of Frank Nazar, Luke Hughes, or Ethan Edwards played against the Lancers, and all three will figure into the power play fold once they enter the lineup. As such, their introduction is liable to cause some type of shake-up to these two units, even if all proved effective on night one.
Meanwhile, we were struck by the number of forwards who earned minutes on the penalty kill against Windsor. By our count, nine of the thirteen Wolverine forwards dressed for the game saw some action down a man.
Naurato led off Michigan’s first penalty kill with the duo of Mark Estapa and Nolan Moyle, before spelling them with Adam Fantilli and Samoskevich. Samoskevich—who did not kill penalties with any regularity as a freshman—was a particularly intriguing inclusion, with his selection lending credence to the idea of building a power kill intended to apply offensive pressure.
The other forwards we detected shorthanded were Granowicz, Ciccolini, Brindley, Duke, and McGroarty.
West Cameo
Just passed the game’s midway mark, Brandon Naurato replaced Erik Portillo with backup Noah West. To that point, Portillo looked reasonably sharp throughout a modest workload, stopping six of seven shots that came his way in just over a half-hour of action. In relief, West offered a similarly steady presence, eleven of the twelve Lancer shots that came his way. Freshman Tyler Shea did not see any action between the pipes.
Josh Luedtke
Before closing, we wanted to briefly call attention to a scary situation in last night’s game between St. Thomas and St. Cloud State. Sophomore St. Cloud defenseman Josh Luedtke took an ugly hit straight into the glass and ended up on the ice for about fifteen minutes before being stretechered off. Fortunately, Tom Chorske reports that after the terrifying incident, Luedtke has only a serious concussion, but no spinal injuries or fractures. We will be thinking of Luedtke and the rest of the Huskies as he embarks on the rehab process.
Thank you as always for reading Gulo Gulo Hockey. This week’s preview image comes courtesy of Bill Rapai (@BRapai on Twitter). If you’d like to support our work, you can do so by subscribing or by donating to our KoFi.