I had a dream on Saturday night that I somehow got a password for MGoBlog, wrote a game wrap-up because I was so jacked about the Big Ten Tournament title, and then saw a post on Twitter from a (non-real) mod that said something to the effect of "Just a reminder that MGoBlog is for current bloggers only" and I had to apologize to Brian, Alex, and David for doing that.  Anyway, I've been on a bit of a Hobey kick lately and I looked up a ton of stats, so I figured I'd share with the masses and make my every-couple-of-years post. I don't really mean this post to knock any of the other c ..read more

I have a challenge for Michigan hockey fans, inspired by Down Goes Brown's article in The Athletic today: Michigan Hockey Sudoku. Make the best 6 man team you can (G, F, F, F, D, D - don't worry about C/W) using all ten digits in the jersey numbers (0-9), but using each digit only one time. So you can't pick Porter because 11 uses 1 multiple times. If you pick Red/Morrison then you can't pick Pacioretty/Comrie because 9 and 39 both use 9. Got it? You get their whole college career.  The obvious place to start was using 9 as one of my two single-digit numbers. Red/Morrison, take your pick ..read more

Should I write something? Maybe I'll write something. Don't get used to it. But if I'm going to post thoughts on the message boards I might as well just do it here. A season that began with (optimistic, IMO, since I wanted to see who would score for this team) national title aspirations on the heels of a Frozen Four appearance last season ended with a whimper, with the Wolverines getting swept out of the first round of the Big Ten Tournament by the Minnesota Golden Gophers. So ends one of the strangest seasons that I can remember. Out of the gate, the Wolverines put a ton of pucks in the ne ..read more

Michigan has been busy on the recruiting front over the past month, picking up three new commitments. The most recent--and the one that I'm actually writing about in a timely fashion--is defenseman Nicholas Boka, who just announced his commitment via Twitter. Boka was among the first seven players to commit to the NTDP U-17 team for the 2013-14 season. He joined fellow Michigan commitment Brendan Warren in that first group. That would make him a 2015 commitment. He's also a former Spartan commitment. Boka is listed at 6'0", 175.  Russ Bitely called him a "B-Player" (abo ..read more

There was a fair amount of Michigan hockey news today, starting with the news that Jared Rutledge will not be with the Michigan hockey team next year, according to a report on The Wolverine ($ link). The Daily cited this report on their website as well, before amending their story to reflect that Rutledge told them, via text, that he will be returning next season.  Spath said on the Yost Post message board that he can "100% guarantee" that Rutledge won't be back next year and told me on Twitter that his source is "impeccable". He also mentioned that Rutledge "could return in 20 ..read more

Even with the emergence of Steve Racine down the stretch, there was speculation that the Wolverines would look to bring in a goalie next season. They've done so, picking up a commitment from Zach Nagelvoort today. Nagelvoort played this season for Aberdeen in the NAHL (he started the season with the Soo before being traded at his request to gain some more playing time). On the season he is 17-6-2 with an impressive 2.10/.936. Since being acquired by Aberdeen, Nagelvoort is 8-1-1 with a 1.66/.949. He ranks 3rd in the league in both GAA and save percentage (though his save percentage is only 2 p ..read more

Jacob Trouba will forego his final three seasons. Photo: Bill Rapai The Wolverines have suffered their second defection of the offseason as Jacob Trouba has signed with the Winnipeg Jets.  The freshman defenseman won Best Offensive Defenseman and was named first team All-CCHA. He was also a finalist for CCHA Rookie of the Year and won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships. Only Alex Guptill and AJ Treais had more points than his 12-17--29 line, and only Guptill had more goals. He also blocked a team-high 53 shots and led the team in penalty minutes with 8 ..read more