The Wolverines head to Las Vegas riding a 31-7-1 campaign, Big Ten Tournament championship, and most recently held off Minnesota-Duluth to win the Albany Regional. It was mostly smooth sailing for head coach Brandon Naurato’s crew this winter as — despite a couple weekends without freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic and an early tendency to drop the second game of a series — Michigan has not lost consecutive games.
That consistency has breathed a new level of confidence into a fanbase starved for a national
championship, and perhaps this is the Wolverines’ best chance in years.
A skilled group of forwards feels like a given at this point in Naurato’s tenure, and his top dogs once again delivered stellar outputs. Senior captain T.J. Hughes led the way with 21 goals and 56 points en route to winning Big Ten Player of the Year; he is also one of 1- finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.
Sophomores Michael Hage and Will Horcoff continued to excite their future NHL franchises (the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively) with dynamic playmaking and timely scoring, and serving as focal points of the opposing defense’s game plan. Hage has 13 goals and a team-high 38 assists, while Horcoff, despite slumping later in the season, ended with a team-high 25 goals and 38 points.
Junior forward transfer Jayden Perron was a revelation from North Dakota, going for 17 goals and 40 points and adding to that lethal, five-forward top-unit power play. Veterans like junior Nick Moldenhauer (15 goals, 31 points), junior Garrett Schifsky (14 goals, 27 points) and senior Josh Eernisse (10 goals, 18 points) complement those more teammates forwards nicely and simultaneously provide offense and responsible, hard, veteran play.
Naturally, Naurato had a strong freshman class of forward contributors. Adam Valentini (11 goals, 26 points), Malcolm Spence (10 goals, 24 points), Cole McKinney (eight goals, 20 points) and Aidan Park (eight goals, 16 points) play wise beyond their years, though Denver and the Frozen Four will be a new level of difficulty. And don’t forget about senior Kienan Draper or freshman Kason Muscutt (who joined the team midway through the season), either, as both play with the tenacity necessary to win a title.
There were questions about this back end heading into the campaign, but all six of the primary blue-liners have delivered.
The top, senior duo of Tyler Duke and Luca Fantilli moves the puck well, plays with an edge and have, for the most part, more than held their own against top talent. Junior Cornell transfer Ben Robertson fits in seamlessly and adds another calming presence, while sophomore Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen continues to impress. The freshmen, Drew Schock and Asher Barnett, do not play like your typical freshmen defensemen.
Yet, for all the skaters have done to fuel this team and run to the Frozen Four, likely none of the success comes without Ivankovic. The freshman goaltender has been one of the best in the nation, notching a 25-7-1 record, 2.13 goals allowed average and 0.923 save percentage. He has plenty of structure, skill and toughness in front of him, but when that structure does break down, he has been there to bail out his team.
This is still a younger team — one of the few reasons for doubt — but this is also Naurato’s deepest team to date, and it has enough experience to combat the likes of Denver. Plus, this is not one of those Wolverine groups that needs to win 6-5 every night. They can rely on the d-core and Ivankovic, but can also strike in a flash.
It’s been a magical season; can the Wolverines win two more games?
