Michigan hockey heads to Madison for first two-game series against Badgers since 1981

Fouad Egbaria

The No. 8 Michigan Wolverines (10-4-2) head to Madison tonight to take on the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers (11-6-1) for the first game of a weekend double-header. This weekend marks the beginning of the Big Ten schedule for the Wolverines; if you're still holding onto any CCHA nostalgia, this weekend might be a good time to let it go.

The puck drops at 9 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

After spending time in the top 5, the Wolverines dropped down to No. 8 after losing both games at the Great Lakes Invitational against Western Michigan and Michigan State, two unranked teams. It's a long season and letdowns are bound to happen, but this weekend's series at the Kohl Center will go a long way toward restoring the good feelings Michigan had before the GLI.

On the bright side, Michigan does get Andrew Copp back; he missed the GLI while he represented the United States at the World Junior Championship in Sweden. Copp leads the Wolverines with nine goals this season.

Meanwhile, the Badgers started the season being predicted by most to finish second in the new Big Ten hockey league, ahead of Michigan but behind Minnesota. Unfortunately for Mike Eaves and Co., the season to date hasn't gone as smoothly as expected.

The Badgers kicked off the season with a pair of wins against Northern Michigan but then took a pair of brutal losses in Massachusetts on consecutive nights, losing to BC 9-2 and to BU 7-3.

They then lost three of four games at Miami and Minnesota. However, things have turned up for the Badgers since then. Since the 4-3 loss at Minnesota on Nov. 30, the Badgers have won seven of eight, facing Penn State, Colorado College, Alabama-Huntsville and Alaska-Anchorage. In that span, the Badgers did drop their first home game of the season, a 3-2 loss against Alaska-Anchorage.

Just like on the hardwood, the Badgers are a tough out on the Kohl Center ice, and Michigan will certainly have its hands full. On the injury front, Wisconsin will be without sophomore Nic Kerdiles, who is third on the squad in goals with eight (17 points). Senior F Sean Little is also out. Kerdiles' absence is an unfortunate one, as you'd always like to face a quality opponent when they're at their best.

Senior F Mark Zengerle leads the the team in points (20), but has just two goals to his name. Senior F Michael Mersch leads the squad with 11 goals; senior F Tyler Barnes is second on the team with eight goals.

According to Bucky's 5th Quarter, Joel Rumpel is likely to get the nod in net. Rumpel has started nine games (appeared in 10) and boasts a GAA of 1.93 and a save percentage of .928.

Michigan boasts a 4-1-1 record on the road this season, but this weekend's trip to Wisconsin's capital city will present their toughest test yet.
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For more, check out Bucky's 5th Quarter's excellent preview. Also check out this MGoBlue piece on the renewal of the rivalry. 

Michigan knocks off UNH in overtime, 3-2

Amid all the great football today, I decided to pay the $10 on the UNH website to watch the game online. After taking a 1-1 tie last night, the Wolverines once again went to overtime tonight; this time, Tyler Motte, who scored Michigan's lone goal yesterday, gave Michigan the 3-2 win in overtime.

Alex Guptill notched Michigan's first goal--assisted by Nieves and PDG--in the first period on the power play. In the second, Guptill was initially credited with another power play goal, but it looks like it was eventually credited to Luke Moffatt (assisted by PDG and Nieves).

The pace picked up down the stretch in the third period, and both Zach Nagelvoort and Michigan's blue line were equal to the challenge. UNH had several opportunities to put the game away in regulation, but Nagelvoort stood tall.

It's probably a little early (and slightly unfair) to call for Nagelvoort to assume injured Steve Racine's starting role, but he was pretty impressive tonight from what I was able to catch, even though he didn't really get that much work, especially early on. Additionally, he didn't concede a goal last night after coming in for Racine in the third period. Tonight, Nagelvoort tallied 22 saves, including eight in the third period.

Either way, this was a tremendous pair of results for this young team, on the road against the No. 13 team in the country. With Wisconsin taking another rough loss tonight against BU and MSU again losing to UMass, the Wolverines come out of this weekend looking pretty good.

Michigan returns to Ann Arbor next weekend, where they'll face BU on Friday and a struggling Lowell squad on Saturday.

Michigan hockey jumps to No. 5, joins Minnesota, Wisconsin in top 5

Given the nature of college hockey, the rankings are fairly fluid and don't seem to mean a whole lot on a game by game basis. With that said, after an impressive 2-0 start for the Wolverines, Michigan jumped up to No. 5 in the polls.

Forward Alex Guptill returned from a suspension that saw him miss the opener against Boston College, notching two first period helpers against RIT in the 7-4 victory.

Joining Michigan in the top 5 are Notre Dame (No. 4), Minnesota (No. 3), Wisconsin (No. 2) and Miami (No. 1). So far so good for the Big Ten hockey conference. Ohio State and Michigan State are in the receiving votes category, with three and one, respectively.

Michigan returns to the ice this Friday, once again on the road, when the Wolverines will take on the 1-1-0 New Hampshire Wildcats. New Hampshire was up on Minnesota, 2-1, about halfway through the game on Saturday, but two Gopher goals later in the second period saddled the Wildcats with the 3-2 loss. That's not much to go off of, but it does prove that they are dangerous (they're currently No. 13 in the country). A split on the road this coming weekend would be a solid accomplishment.

Al Montoya posts shutout in first start of the season

The Penn State recap will be linked to here tomorrow morning, but in hockey news, Al Montoya notched a shutout tonight for the Winnipeg Jets, blanking the New Jersey Devils in a 3-0 victory. Highlights are here:



Montoya stopped 24 Devils shots while New Jersey went 0/5 on the power play. Elsewhere, blue liner Jacob Trouba led the Jets in TOI with 26:36 of ice time, his highest total of the season thus far. Despite the fact that he's 19, it's crazy to think that that guy was playing college hockey last season.

With the Wolverines moving to 2-0 on the young season--after a 7-4 victory against RIT Saturday night--things are looking pretty good in the Michigan hockey universe.

Big Ten Network to air 27 hockey games in 2013-14

SOURCE: Jeff Wilcox

Everyone's mind is still focused on the gridiron, but Big Ten hockey isn't too far away, and the the Big Ten Network released its 2013-14 slate of games yesterday: 

BTN will provide unprecedented coverage of men’s ice hockey in 2013-14, the inaugural Big Ten Hockey season, including eight straight weeks of “Frozen Friday” doubleheaders in January and February and the 2014 Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

BTN also will televise the entire Big Ten Hockey Tournament, set for March 20-22, 2014, at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. Men’s Ice Hockey on BTN is presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

Of the 27 games, Michigan is featured in eight; only Minnesota gets more TV time (nine pre-tournament BTN games). Wisconsin has six, including a Jan. 10 meeting against Michigan in Madison and the same matchup Jan. 31 in Ann Arbor. The Big Ten basketball season will be underway by then, but if you're looking for something to whet your appetite in the week or so after the bowl game, this is a great way to do it. 

In case you missed it, College Hockey News's preseason rankings includes three Big Ten squads: Wisconsin (No. 3), Minnesota (No. 6) and Michigan (No. 8). 

As an admittedly casual college hockey fan, I'm excited to see what this "new" conference arrangement holds. Michigan being in the same conference as Minnesota and Wisconsin is without a doubt a great thing. Of course, Michigan State and Ohio State remain on the schedule, and you can add a fledgling Penn State to the mix this season. Whether Michigan can bounce back and start another tournament streak remains to be seen, but, either way, I think Big Ten hockey will be a little more accessible to the casual fan (such as myself) than the CCHA sometimes felt. Losing Notre Dame and Miami as regular opponents is unfortunate, but I'd personally rather play Minnesota and Wisconsin, anyway. 

For takes elsewhere (especially ones more informed than mine), Bucky's 5th Quarter isn't too happy about the schedule.