Michigan Hockey Preview: Wolverines set for Top-5 clash vs WMU

SB Nation

The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines (6-0-0) are a certified wagon! Head coach Brandon Naurato’s squad has come out of the gates on a war path, as the Wolverines are off to their best start since 1979 and are outscoring

their opponents 40-7. Moreover, this is Michigan’s best offensive start to a season since 1990.

Unsurprisingly, Michigan’s offense leads the nation in several categories, including scoring offense, scoring margin, short-handed goals and power play percentage. The Wolverines are averaging 6.67 goals per game, 1.92 ahead of the next closest team, and have scored 13 more goals than any other team in the country. Michigan’s average margin of victory is 5.5 goals per game, nearly double that of the second-ranked team (2.75).

Will Horcoff leads the team with six goals, Michael Hage (the team’s points leader with 11) is right behind with five and Josh Eernisse rounds out the top three with four. Eernisse — an overqualified fourth-liner who is built like a Toyota Tacoma, but moves like Brian Boitano — leads the nation with a pair of short-handed goals, contributing to Michigan’s national-lead with four shorties.

On the power play, Michigan is the best in the country, converting at a 45.8 percent clip. Michigan is the only team to score over 40 percent on more than 20 power-play opportunities.

As gaudy as the offensive numbers are, what really jumps out about this team are the defensive metrics. The Wolverines are the top-ranked scoring defense in college hockey, allowing a putrid 1.17 goals per game. This is Michigan’s best defensive start to a season since 1926. This is what was going on in 1926:

Calvin Coolidge was president.
The United States Numbered Highway System was introduced, replacing the informal system of color-coded auto trails.
David Attenborough was born.
Benny Friedman, Bennie Oosterbaan and the Michigan football team finished 7-1.

Michigan’s blue line is playing more connected than any team in recent memory. Junior Cornell transfer Ben Robertson is tied for second on the team with nine points and leads the team in plus/minus (plus-10). Sophomore Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen continues to put his added muscle to good use by blocking a team-leading 13 shots and helping out his true freshman goaltender. Not that he needs it, though.

Jack Ivankovic is 10th nationally with a .942 save percentage and is one of only three goalies in the Top-10 with more than 100 saves so far this season. He is the nation’s leader in goals against average (1.169) for any goalie who has played more than 200 minutes. The true freshman has played 359 minutes and has emerged as an old-school bell cow for this team between the pipes.

Michigan is the hottest team in the country. Now, the Wolverines have to prepare to play the hottest team from last year — the defending national champions.

Getting to know Western Michigan

The No. 2 Western Michigan Broncos (3-1-0) are not looking to rest on their laurels from last season’s surprise title run. After an inauspicious start to the campaign — a 3-2 loss at home to Ferris State — the Broncos have responded by winning three straight by a combined score of 14-5.

Michigan and Western Michigan split the season series last year. The Broncos dominated at Lawson, 4-1, while the Wolverines protected home ice the following night, 2-1. Each team has reshuffled in the offseason, but a few familiar faces remain.

The Broncos are led by forward Owen Michaels and defenseman Joona Väisänen, who combined for 62 points last season and both were named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament team. Michaels is off to a slower start this season (one goal, two assists), but Väisänen has picked up where he left off, currently leading the team with six points. While not familiar in the brown and gold, the Broncos’ leading scorer will also be a familiar, but less-than-friendly face.

Transfer forward William Whitelaw leads Western Michigan with four goals. He delivered an underwhelming season for the Wolverines last year after transferring in from Wisconsin, finishing his lone season in Ann Arbor sixth on the team with 18 points in 35 games before taking his talents to Kalamazoo in the offseason.

In net, sophomore Hampton Slukynsky’s overall numbers won’t blow anyone away. His .890 save percentage is No. 47 out of 50 qualified goalies, and his 2.024 goals against average is No. 21. However, the LA Kings’ draft pick is as hot as anyone at the moment following a sweep over UMass-Lowell, where he posted a .973 save percentage and 0.5 goals against average.

Key to the Game

Physicality. In what could be a potential NCAA Tournament preview, this is Michigan’s opportunity to send a message to the entire country. Sure, the Wolverines swept Providence on the road, but the Friars have fallen to No. 15 in the polls and could have been overrated.

Western Michigan is the defending national champion — a win or sweep will put a stop to all of the “ifs” and “buts” surrounding Naurato’s team. And the best way to do that is through physicality. Michigan placed an emphasis on hard skill in the offseason, and now it is time to put that to good use. A punishing forecheck will wear down the Broncos by forcing their star defenseman and forwards to backcheck and play 200 feet.

Even if Michigan is called for a penalty or two establishing its presence, Western Michigan’s power play is the second-worst in all of college hockey. Translation: just another opportunity for Big Ern to add his third shorty of the season.