Angry Blogger is Angry

If anyone that is reading this article lives in southwest Madison and has young children, I apologize for teaching them some new words tonight. I had, shall we say, an unpleasant reaction to another example of stunning incompetance by the NHL and its officials tonight.

With the score 0-0 late in the second period of Game 4 between the Red Wings and Stars, Datsyuk put a shot past Turco to give Detroit the lead. Or so we thought. Kelly Sutherland immediately waived the goal off, saying that Tomas Holmstrom interfered with Turco's ability to make the save--that his butt was in the crease. How can I put this gently....Sutherland was completely and utterly WRONG. Holmstrom was clearly outside the crease and Turco, despite his comments to the contrary, had every chance to make the save. The only bit of "interfering" that Holmstrom did was blocking Turco's view, which is kind of his job (and completely legal provided he's not in the crease or going Sean Avery on the goalie).

To add to the hilarity, the Stars scored just a couple minutes later when Loui Eriksson showed everybody what it really means to be in the crease. Not surprisingly--especially with Dan O'Halloran down at that end of the ice--no one seemed to care that he was basically on top of Osgood, or that they had waived off a goal for a man in the crease just a few moments earlier.

Where my anger at the NHL comes in is that the play with Holmstrom was not reviewable. Now, wait a minute....the NHL war room in Toronto reviews every single goal that is scored to make sure that it shouldn't be waived off, but a scenario exists where they can't review the flip side of that? The technology is there, the league clearly embraces video replay considering they've set up a system where every goal in every game is reviewed by a central location, and we're not letting them take a look at a call like that?

What's even more maddening is that this is at least the third time Holmstrom has had a goal waived off in the same fashion. Sure, there are plenty of times where his actions have warranted goals being waived off--one even happened in Game One and was ignored (and I'd really prefer that make-up calls not take place in a 0-0 game when the original would-be infraction made a game 3-0)--but this wasn't one of them. Nor was the would-be game-tying goal that Detroit scored against Anaheim late in the regular season. Good ole Dan O'Halloran was the person who effed up that ruling.

It is nice to know, however, that the NHL finally realized that they shouldn't allow goals to stand when the player simply knocks the goalie into the net with the puck as Datsyuk did with about 7 minutes to go. I fully acknowledge that that goal shouldn't have counted. I just wish Rob Schick was smart enough to realize it during Game Two of the conference final last year.

I don't suppose the mainstream media will make as big of a deal about Datsyuk's waived off goal as they did about Chauncey Billups's three-pointer which he had time to make due to the clock malfunction in Game Two of the Detroit/Orlando series. I mean, after all, that was three points in a game where the two teams combined for 193 and somehow that blown call was made out to be the sole deciding factor in the game.

The controversy tonight involved a goal in a game where the teams combined for four tallies and Datsyuk's shot was, without question, good. To put things in perspective, Datsyuk's goal being waived off accounted for 20% of the points which should have been scored in the game (one goal out of five). The damage to the Red Wings by having that goal waived off would be the equivalent of the damage to Orlando had Chauncey's shot counted for 38 points. The point is that it's really hard to score in hockey and, if we're waiving off goals, maybe we should make sure we get the call right.

A quick aside: It's also worth mentioning that Orlando got a call in their favor last night that was even more egregious than the one that went Detroit's way in Game Two. Bogans dribbled the ball out of bounds with about a minute and a half left in the game and Detroit up by four. No official noticed the ball hitting the sideline, even though pretty much every fan in the front row did. Orlando retained possession and Bogans missed a runner. Prince grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. The blown call didn't end up costing the Pistons, but it could have. Orlando went on to pull the game within one before having to start fouling after Detroit got an offensive rebound. But what if Bogans had made that shot? It's very possible Orlando would have won that game, largely in part because of a possession they didn't deserve very, very late in the game.

Stan Van Jeremy won't mention the huge break that went his way. The national media won't mention it either. But that three pointer that Billups hit? That cost Orlando Game Two by God. Never mind the fact that Billups still had to make the shot. And never mind the fact that had the clock been working properly, it's very likely Detroit would have still gotten a good look at the basket. Just not the same look. What it comes down to is that when they got an opportunity, the Pistons executed and the Magic didn't.

Back to hockey, I don't know that the call by Sutherland cost Detroit the game tonight. Dallas played their best game of the series. Turco played his best game of the series. And the Wings are back to being a one-line team with Franzen out of the lineup. The momentum of the game changed with that call, but Detroit had plenty of time to make it a non-factor and they didn't succeed. I just think it's asinine that a game-changing call like the one we saw tonight can be made without using the technology that the league has clearly embraced.

Why are they allowed to examine whether the puck was batted in with a high-stick or if the puck was kicked into the net? Those seem like very similar issues and the league goes upstairs to review them all the time. It seems really strange to me that reviewing if a player's butt was in the crease is a big no-no. Especially when the outcome of a review could fix an incorrect, potentially-game-changing call.

Then again, why am I surprised? This is the NHL. This is the same league that for the entire 1998-99 season waived off any goal where a player so much as had a toe in the crease and then allowed the Stanley Cup to be awarded on such a goal. Nothing they do should shock me anymore.

NHL, make the rule change. You were quick to outlaw Avery's actions. It's high time to allow the league office to review goalie interference/man in the crease calls so your dung-for-brains officals don't screw any more of them up. And while you're at it, make it reviewable as to if the puck hit the protective netting out of play.

A Look to the Future: Class of 2008

I hate to use the hammer on my "In Case of Emergency" glass case of article ideas this early in the offseason, but right now I've got nothing and I'm going to be out of town this weekend. Right now, there are twelve players who have committed to the Michigan program that have yet to suit up for the Maize and Blue. My first set of profiles will look at how the incoming class of 2008 fared this season.

Brandon Burlon, defenseman, St. Michael's Buzzers, OPJHL:
During the regular season Burlon played in 32 games and had 7 goals, 17 assists, and 41 penalty minutes. He missed some time with an injury, costing him a chance to play in the CJAHL Prospect Game in December. The Buzzers had the best regular season in team history, going 35-0-2 over a 37 game stretch and only losing 4 times the entire year.

Come playoff time, he put up 2-4--6 in 10 games to go with 8 PIMs as the Buzzers were ousted in the South Division Final. By the looks of it, the Buzzers played 12 playoff games, so it's likely those playoff numbers aren't completely up to date.

Burlon was also selected to play in the World Junior A Challenge, where he fared very well. Canada East won the silver medal and in 5 games, Burlon had 2 assists and 14 PIMs. Despite not putting up a huge "Line", the blueliner drew rave reviews. Red Line is absolutely in love with him, writing the following after his performance in British Columbia:

As for Burlon, he did more to boost his stock than anyone in British Columbia last week, and we suspect he'll join a pair of fellow St. Michael's Buzzers alumni, Andrew Cogliano in 2005 and Brendan Smith in '07, as first round NHL picks when teams convene in Ottawa next June.

Burlon is ultra-smooth and the prototypical two-way defender in the post-lockout NHL landscape. He defends beautifully in his own end, seemingly never making a mistake in either his puck movement decisions, coverage down low or play diagnosis. He's big enough and competitive enough to duel against the big boys in front of the net and mobile and savvy enough to sniff out and breakup plays and lead quick-strike transition attacks, turning defense to offense in a heartbeat.

Rising:
Brandon Burlon— Turned in an absolutely dominant performance all week at the Jr. A Challenge, outshining the more highly touted Russian rearguards.

It isn't just Red Line that likes him, however. The Hockey News's Mark Seidel rated Burlon #20 overall (and the #10 defenseman) in his mock draft in Mid-March. He writes:

Intriguing prospect who plays Junior-A for the same team that produced Andrew Cogliano and Red Wings prospect Brendan Smith. Had a tremendous World Junior-A Challenge and has impressive offensive skills that will be good at any level.

In April, Seidel put out a revised list which ranked Burlon #23 overall and Czarnik #49 overall. Seidel is the chief scout for North American Central Scouting, for the record.

Highlights (Burlon is #6): A nice fake shot sets up a teammate for a goal at 1:38 of this clip. Apparently Burlon was outstanding that entire night.

Just a few days later, Burlon was once again said to be the Buzzers best player with a four-point night in a 7-4 win over Durham. In this clip, you'll see a Burlon goal three seconds in, a big hit at 20 seconds, a display of his physicality creating a goal at the 46 second mark, and another goal at 1:18.

No fun quotes from Red about him since they haven't officially announced his signing yet.

Robbie Czarnik, right wing, USA NTDP Under 18 Team:
For the season, Czarnik posted 19 goals and 20 assists for 39 points in 57 games. He ranked 4th on the team in goals (#1 had 22), 4th in assists, 3rd in points (1 point out of second), and 3rd in GWG. He also had 42 PIMs.

The NTDP plays in three important tournaments throughout the season. In USA's 1-2 effort in the Four Nations Tournament, Czarnik was held to just one assist. USA won the Five Nations Tournament (4-0 record) and Czarnik had two goals and an assist. The future Wolverine was at his best, however, in the all-important World Under 18 Championships. USA won the Bronze Medal with a 5-2 record. Czarnik tied for the team lead in points with 8 (three goals, five assists) and was +7 on the tournament. In the Bronze Medal Game, Czarnik put up a 2-1--3 line to help lead USA to the win. He also had two primary assists--including one on the game winning goal--in a key win over Finland.

Czarnik had the Game Winning Goal in a win over Harvard and also tallied USA's only goal against Michigan. After the former game Czarnik was profiled in a feature at usahockey.com. His former coach (at Detroit Honeybaked) quashed any notion that Czarnik struggles to play without the puck.

Both Mel Pearson and Red Berenson compared him, somewhat, to Chad Kolarik. Here's what Pearson had to say:

"Robbie Czarnik is a real high-end, talented player. I think he's going to add some offensive skill to our team. He's very good with the puck. He's always been a top scorer wherever he has played. We've had a chance to observe him for the last few years. We're really excited to get him into the program. He reminds me of Chad Kolarik in some regards, but at the same time I don't know if he is as pure a scorer as Chad. He skates well, handles the puck well, shoots it pretty well. He probably plays a little more physically than Chad. He's along those lines."

David Wohlberg, center, USA NTDP Under 18 Team:
If Czarnik has some Kolarik in him, then it's probably natural that Red Berenson said that David Wohlberg has some Kevin Porter in his game. Here's what Mel Pearson had to say about the incoming freshman:

"I don't know if we've anybody like David Wohlberg for the last little bit. He's an intriguing player with good size and he plays with a real edge to him. He has good skill -- good hands. He's the type of guy you could probably project to play against a lot of other teams' top centers because he is very defensive conscious in the zone. He's good on faceoffs. He plays with that little bit of nastiness that you like to see in a kid. At the same time, he has very good hands and good offensive instincts. We probably haven't had anybody in the center position like him in a while. I think it's going to be a mix and a benefit for us to have in the program. David is a good two-way player, where Czarnik is obviously more of an offensive-type player."

Sounds good, right? The name that jumps right to mind from reading that description is Matt Rust. Good size, good hands, defensively aware, good on draws, nasty, and likely a good penalty killer. I've never seen Wohlberg play (I don't think) but that's the image I'm getting. It sounds like the only thing missing is a Youtube video of him dancing in his underwear to a Fergie song.

Wohlberg played 53 games for the Under 18s this year and put up a 14-11--25 line to go with 71 PIMs (which led the team). His 14 goals ranked 5th on the roster. He had an assist in the Four Nations Tournament, a goal in the Five Nations Tournament and three goals in the World Under 18 Championships, including the game winner against Germany and a goal against Sweden where he "evaded several defenders".

He also skated in six games for the Under 17s and put up five goals and an assist. Very limited sample size for Wohlberg, but only Jeremy Morin had more points per game on the U17s.

His USA Hockey feature cites his great skating ability and his prowess at both ends of the ice. Like Czarnik, I fully expect Wohlberg to come in and be an effective player as a freshman. I love getting these NTDP guys.

Greg Pateryn, defenseman, Ohio Junior Blue Jackets, USHL:
Pateryn is signed for next year, but it's entirely possible that he'll end up playing another year in the USHL if no one bails on us.

He's a big boy, listed at 6'2" 195, and, well, he likes to hit people. Sometimes with his body, sometimes with his stick, occasionally with his fists. But he likes to hit. He was in the box for 145 minutes (led the team, 13th in the league) in 60 games and a look at his game log reveals that only ten of those PIMs were due to a misconduct and just five were due to a fight. That means he took a whopping 65 minor penalties this year. The concern is that in a quick sample of games with big penalty numbers, I didn't find a single coincidental penalty in the bunch. It's worth mentioning, however, that he's young (there were just two younger guys on his team that actually played) and came right out of the Michigan high school ranks, not the MWEHL. I'm sure there was a learning curve.

Despite the penalty minutes Pateryn was named to the USHL All-Star team. He had 3 goals and 24 assists, ranking tops on the Jr. Blue Jackets in points amongst defensemen. He also had a solid -1 rating on a team whose defensemen combined to be -50. Also, he was third on the team in shots on goal with 137. Not many found the net, but a defensemen that can get pucks on net (especially if he can keep them low) is nice to have around.

Like the state they play in, the Jr. Blue Jackets sucked, and thus didn't qualify for the playoffs.

Berenson seems to think that he could use another year of seasoning, but if we need him, he's available to come in. Pearson echoed those sentiments:

"Greg Pateryn is a big, strong, physical defenseman with really good offensive instincts. He's played a lot of the power play down in Ohio. He's putting up decent numbers for a first-year player right out of high school. He's going to come in and add some size to our defense. He's a smart defenseman with the puck, able to make that first outlet pass. He'll add some offensive instincts to our team. He's come a long way in one year from the high school ranks to juniors. Greg has always wanted to come to Michigan. He's a Brother Rice (High School) kid and he grew up here. He really has a love for Michigan and Michigan hockey. He's playing in Ohio and we have an agreement with him that we'll reevaluate him at the end of the year. It's a pretty big jump from Michigan high school hockey into college and I think that's one of the reason's he left his senior year and went down into the USHL -- he's played very well there. He might need another year, so we're going to reevaluate that at the end of the season and sit down with Greg and just see if another year would make sense for him and us."

Another year in the USHL playing heavy minutes would probably be beneficial to Pateryn. If he comes in now, he'll be fighting for ice-time with (minimum) one other guy and would likely be on the third pairing. If he can play in the USHL and develop for another year, he'd come in in 2009 immediately filling a hole created by the loss of Mark Mitera and some minutes would be available since chances are Summers would be gone too.

Either way, it sounds like we're getting a very-talented, physical defenseman at some point. And if you're so inclined, you can purchase his game-used jersey on ebay.

Also worth reading: MGoBlog took a look at the OHL Draft and what it means for Michigan. Good news for the most part. A couple of possible targets are OHL bound, but Merrill was kind of a flier pick by Plymouth, though there's a possibility he could bail, and Knight pretty much told everyone that he's headed for college. The goalie Michigan really wants went in the sixth round, so he's likely headed to the NCAA. Hopefully to Michigan.

Postseason Report Card: The Forwards (Part Three)

Time to take a look at the final batch of players:

#22 Brandon Naurato
34 GP, 7-11--18, +5, 22 PIMs

Honestly, this was just kind of a blah season. Nothing spectacular, nothing bad. His numbers dipped a bit from a year ago (5 fewer goals and points in 7 fewer games) but it was what you'd expect when he's playing in fewer games and maybe not seeing as much ice-time when he was in the lineup.

In 2006-07, he was held without a shot on goal on just two occasions and averaged three SOG per game. This year, he averaged two SOG per game and was held without a shot niiiiiiiiiiiiine tiiiiiiiiiiimes, including four straight in late January-early Feburary. He also had just three multi-point games after having seven the year before.

His points came in bunches. From December 8 until January 19, Naurato had a goal and six assists in a career-best six-game point streak. Then from February 23 to March 22, he had points in five out of seven games for a 5-1--6 line. The rest of the year? Five points. Fortunately those two streaks covered a big part of the second-half of the season and he was able to rebound from a slow start (3 points in his first 11 games) to finish the year 11th on the team in scoring (9th amongst forwards).

His biggest moment of the year was scoring the CCHA Championship-winning goal off a great feed from Tim Miller. He also one-touched the pass to Louie Caporusso for the game-winning goal against Notre Dame in that classic game at Yost.

I did notice him backchecking quite a bit more than I have in the past--and he did it well. He didn't have a great +/- (only Lebler, Fardig and Ciraulo were worse), but I do think he improved as a defensive player this season.

He wasn't just a shooter this year. He matched his career high in assists despite not playing nearly as much and as I said, I feel he improved defensively as well. And half a point a game from a third-line player is nothing to sneeze at.

2007-08 Grade: B-. Pretty much right in line with what I expected this year.

#24 Chad Kolarik
39 GP, 30-26--56, +28, 24 PIMs

Heart-and-Soul, Spirit-and-Guts. Fitting descriptions of our two seniors this season. Chad Kolarik wasn't in the Hobey Hat Trick. Wasn't even a Finalist. But in my book, he was probably the third-best forward in the country behind Porter and Gerbe.

He took to being a leader like no other player in recent memory (though I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple). After Red used the ole "Threaten to pull his scholarship" trick, Kolarik transformed himself into the ultimate team player. Could he have received more Hobey votes had he not pushed his support behind Kevin Porter? I don't doubt it. But he said his goal was to win Kevin Porter the Hobey, and damn if that duo didn't pull it off. I'm sure Porter would be the first to tell you that Chad Kolarik deserves a giant piece of that trophy.

He was huge when it mattered the most: 5 assists against Niagara, an assist against Clarkson, 2 goals in the Frozen Four (and was our best player), two points in the CCHA Semis against NMU, 6 points in the College Hockey Showcase. He also had a team-high seven game-winning goals.

Most shockingly, he became a top-notch defensive player. Porter was up for the CCHA's Best Defensive Forward award, but Kolarik was right there with him. In fact, I'd argue that Kolarik was probably our best penalty killer this season. Additionally, his previous career high in +/- was +13. This year he was +28. He took a career-low seven minor penalties the entire season despite being a top PKer and playing an absolute ton.

Kolarik was a minus in just three contests the entire season and had at least one SOG in every single game.

It's also worth pointing out that in his first three years, almost 50% of Kolarik's goals came with the man-advantage (23 out of 48). This year? Just 20% of his tallies came with Michigan on the power play (6 out of 30). Kolarik's 20 even-strength goals this season surpassed his career high for total goals in a year (he had just 22 even-strength goals in his first three years combined).

It was an absolute travesty that he wasn't a Hobey Finalist, but 2nd Team West All-America and 1st Team All-CCHA will have to do. He was an absolute joy to watch this season and became one of my favorites to ever put on a Michigan sweater.

He provided so many great memories that I can't pick just one, but if you need a lasting image of what he gave to this team, look no further than the game against LSSU when he got injured. Michigan was killing a 5 on 3 and Kolarik awkwardly stretched in an effort to block a pass. He hurt his hamstring and was clearly in severe pain. Play continued as LSSU retained possession, and Kolarik rolled around on the ice, trying to get in the way as best he could. Despite the injury, he broke up two passes, including one that would've led to a point-blank scoring opportunity.

I like to crack jokes about how he's a mirror image of how I play video game hockey--there's no such thing as a bad shot. I was hoping that this season he would cut down on a lot of the low-percentage shots that he would take and that his shooting percentage would be closer to the .158 that he had as a freshman than the .104 or .110 that he had in his next two years. Well, he shot, shot, and shot some more on his way to a career high (and incredible) 190 shots on goal this season. But! He also tacked 12 additional goals onto his previous career high. His final shooting percentage this season: .158. Identical to freshman year. Funny how that worked out.

2007-08 Grade: A+

#26 Danny Fardig
34 GP, 2-2--4, even, 20 PIMs

Like Naurato, Fardig's ice-time took a hit due to injury and the glut of freshman forwards making their way to Ann Arbor. He played a career-low 34 games this season, scored a career-low four points, and tied his career-low with an even +/- rating.

That's not to say he played poorly. He blocked 20 shots, which tied him for second amongst forwards. He took just ten minor penalties, including only two in the second half of the year.

He started the year off right with a goal in our season-opening win over the eventual National Champions. His line was outstanding--and he tallied two assists--in a win over LSSU. After that game (November 17) he had just one point the rest of the season. His line was pretty bad in the season-ending loss to Notre Dame. I still can't believe I had to type those last seven words...

I suppose it's not the worst thing in the world if your fourth-line checker who rarely scores is only a minus in five games. Still a strong penalty-killer.

2007-08 Grade: C+

#29 Louie Caporusso
33 GP, 12-9--21, +12, 18 PIMs

Caporusso is a good player. He was somewhat inconsistent this year but he did score some big goals. After scoring ten points in our first ten games, he cooled off somewhat, but still score more GWGs than anyone not named Kolarik or Porter despite missing a ton of time with an injury suffered in practice. Maybe not coincedentally he cooled off after he came back from the injury.

Still, he ended up tied for fifth in goals despite behind 12th in shots. His .218 shooting percentage was best on the team (aside from Ciraulo and his 2 goals on 9 shots) even though he also missed his fair share of golden opportunities. In Game 2 against UNO alone, I bet he had a half-dozen Grade A scoring chances that he failed to convert on. At this point, I'd say Caporusso is the favorite to center our top line next year. Between possibly moving to the first line, a year of experience, a chance to stay healthy, and hopefully burying more of his chances, I could see a relatively large jump in his numbers next year.

He was our best faceoff man amongst centers (Hagelin, Pacioretty, and Kolarik had higher percentages) having won 52.2% of his 490 draws.

Top moments of the season were his fluky game-winner against Boston College and his fantastic goal late in regulation to cap Michigan's comeback in their 3-2 win over Notre Dame.

In my season preview, I asked that he at least approach the 28 points Cogliano scored as a freshman. Caporusso scored 21, but also missed 10 games. That was .72 points per game for Cogliano and .64 for Caporusso. I'd say that's mission accomplished. Projected out over the 39 games Cogliano played as a freshman, that's 25 points. Right in the ballpark.

He's going to be a productive player for Michigan. He's good offensively, pretty solid defensively and a great faceoff guy. I expect great things in the future out of #29 if he can stay healthy and start having more of those close calls light the lamp (seriously, run a search on my blog for Caporusso and count the number of times he had near misses this season). I'm a big fan of this kid.

2007-08 Grade: B

#39 Max Pacioretty
37 GP, 15-24--39, +31, 59 PIMs

I hope everyone enjoyed seeing Pacioretty this year, because there's probably not going to be too much more of him in a Michigan jersey. Rumors have been going around about Montreal's desire to sign him, but the smart money is on him being back for one more season. I'd be shocked if we get more than that out of him.

And if this year ends up being the end, what a year it was! Take out the first couple weeks of the season when he was severly limited by a broken hand, and Pacioretty had points in all but six games (including a 9 game point streak immediately after he got healthy). His +31 is the third-highest total by a Michigan player in the last 10 years (Porter's +34 this year, and Rohlfs's +33 last year).

Pacioretty was a force on the top line. He could create space for our two unbelievable seniors, and late in the year he became quite the sniper from the slot on the top power play unit. He finished the year with 9 PPGs, second to Porter.

He had just 5 goals in his first 20 games, but scored 10 over the final 17. He won't be playing with Porter and Kolarik if he returns next year, but the potential is there for him to be one of the top players in the conference.

He was a minus on just two occasions, one of which was the first game of the season. Pretty impressive for a first-year player. He also was great on faceoffs, winning 53.8% of his 119 draws, tying him with Hagelin for the top spot on the team. With his passing ability and prowess on faceoffs, I don't think it would be the most shocking thing to see him at center next year. In his draft profile, he was cited as one of the best play-makers available. I would bank on either he or Carl Hagelin moving to center and I don't think we can go wrong either way. No matter who is playing center, I have to say I could really go for a Palushaj-Pacioretty-Hagelin line.

Aside from a couple of nagging injuries, the only downer to Pacioretty's season was the stupid decision to get into a fight during the second game of Michigan's series with Nebraska-Omaha. No matter what the situation, you have to be smarter than that and not let a complete and utter scrub goad you into taking yourself out for a potential Game 3 (or as it turned out, the CCHA Semifinals).

Patch was at his best during the huge series with the Miami Redhawks. He had 3 goals and an assist on the weekend and was one of the best players on the ice.

I really hope he doesn't change his mind and head to the pros, because I would love to see another season out of him at Michigan. He's an absolute beast and even without Kolarik and Porter, he could have a huge season next year.

2007-08 Grade: A

That does it for the Postseason Report Card (finally).

Other Stuff:
The Hockey News covered the Under 18 Championships and had some praise for incoming freshman Robbie Czarnik, who may have helped his stock:

The University of Michigan recruit was a plus-7 at the Under-18s, but more importantly had a hat trick and an assist in Team USA’s bronze medal win over Sweden. Draft eligible in 2008.

Czarnik finished the tournament with a line of 3-5--8 in seven games. His 8 points and +7 rating tied for the team lead. David Wohlberg had 3 goals and was +3.

Peter Forsberg vs. Jim Carty

This week has brought two hilarious instances of one person calling another out in the media.

The first involved Peter Forsberg, who postponed his regularly scheduled injury for a few minutes so that he could high-stick Mikael Samuelsson. Samuelsson lost a tooth in the incident and Forsberg was assessed a double-minor penalty.

When asked after the game if Samuelsson embellished the contact, Forsberg said, "Definitely. He's laying there on the ice and I barely touched him."

Gotcha. I bet Samuelsson also loosened that tooth before the game so that if someone happened to "barely touch him" in the mouth with a stick, he could quickly pop the tooth out and draw a crucial penalty.

Diving? Pssh. What an embarrassment to the game. Lord knows Forsberg would never do such a thing (the replay at the 41 second mark is kind of amazing):


Just a reminder, this is the guy whose Swedish nickname, Foppa, has been amended to Floppa by fans everywhere to better suit his diving prowess.

And if he's going to crack on someone for diving, at least crack on them for a legit dive. He knocked out Samuelsson's tooth with his stick. There's a reason Sammy was on the ice. If someone knocked out one of Forsberg's teeth, not only would he miss a week but he'd come back with a Dan Cleary-style mask on. The only way this could possibly be better is if Robbie Earl, Paul Kariya, or Sidney Crosby chimed in in support of Forsberg's comments.

Samuelsson also never punched a goalie in the balls, but that's another story.

The hilarity of Forsberg's comments, however, may have been topped by something that Jim Carty wrote earlier in the week. He was responding to Bill Simonson's "obsession" with him (don't flatter yourself there too much) by ripping on The Huge Show as well as a column that Simonson wrote, in which Simonson criticized a Lions' draftee who is allowed to play football (and be an Army recruiter) rather than fulfill his service commitment to the Army as has been the method of operation in the past.

In the column, Carty says that his refusal to go on Simonson's program any longer...

"Didn't have to be a big deal, but Simonson - probably desperate for a topic - then blew the whole thing up into a two-day jihad, first claiming it was part of a conspiracy to get him off the air, then changing the story and claiming he banned me from the show."

He then writes that the Lions' draft pick's commitment to the country shouldn't be questioned, "Not for a minute. Not by anyone, let alone a guy doing it just to get people to notice a third-rate local radio show."

Because, you know, Carty would never take something that really wasn't a big deal, blow it up into a multi-day "jihad" and take a controversial stance in a pathetic attempt to get someone to notice a fourth-rate columnist at a third-rate local newspaper. He's above doing things like that.

He also threatened to publish Simonson's "whiny email, bad spelling and all". I guess once you've gone ahead and illegally published GPAs and information from transcripts it's not really a step forward to publish personal emails.

Postseason Report Card: The Forwards (Part Two)

First off, the San Antonio Rampage were able to force a Game 7 by defeating Toronto 3-0 last night. Chad Kolarik had the game-winning goal on an assist from Kevin Porter. Kolarik also assisted on SA's third goal of the game. Chad has a 4-2--6 line in six playoff games and Porter has put up 0-4--4. Game 7 is tonight.

Now onto the second batch of forwards:
#14 Brian Lebler
29 GP, 3-5--8, +1, 52 PIMs

With the influx of talented forwards, Lebler's playing time was down from a year ago and, fittingly, so were his numbers. In 2006-07 he played 37 games and put up 7 goals and 11 points. His power play goals dropped from 3 to 0 as his power play time was very limited this season.

I kind of liken him to a Zac MacVoy type. I don't think he's a bad player by any means, but I don't know that he's a great fit for this team. I could see him putting up pretty good numbers on a team like LSSU (like MacVoy is) but his skating ability, or lack thereof, really limits the effectiveness he'll ever be able to have on a talented team like Michigan.

I criticized him quite a bit at the beginning of the season for dumb penalties (42 PIMs in his first 13 games, 22 if you take out the minutes "credited" for game misconducts--which is still too many for a 3rd/4th line player). He was much better the rest of the way, only taking five minors in his other 17 appearances. The worst penalty he took was probably in the loss to Ohio State. Michigan was down 1-0 late in the second period and he smoked someone well after he played the puck. That penalty negated a Michigan power play as well as an extra chance for them to even the game.

He had his first multi-point game against LSSU (when the Lebler-Fardig-Ciraulo line was outstanding) and I thought he was really strong in the 3-2 win over Notre Dame at Yost as well as against Providence in the GLI.

Overall, what we got this season was pretty much what I expected in my breakdown of him before the year. His numbers dipped slightly due to less ice time and less power play time and he played around 30 games.

2007-8 Grade: C

#15 Anthony Ciraulo
13 GP, 2-1--3, +2, 8 PIMs

Ciraulo didn't see the ice all that often, but I don't think he ever really hurt us. He played just 13 games, but I can think of at least three great performances off the top of my head. His line was stellar in one game against LSSU (they combined for 2 goals and 4 assists in the contest) and he was awesome in the GLI. He scored a short-handed goal on a beautiful shot against Providence. Against Michigan Tech, he was out there in some critical situations and played really well.

In a complete 180 from a year ago, he played more in the beginning of the season and barely saw the ice in the second half, which surprised me because I thought he might get some additional minutes after his performance in the GLI.

I can't complain. He was a minus in just one of the thirteen games he played (and that was the loss to Ferris when we didn't remotely care) and put us a man down on just three occasions.

Maybe I just have an affinity for little guys (I'm 5'5") but I think he's capable of helping this team. He's just caught up in a numbers game at forward.

2007-08 Grade: B

#16 Ben Winnett
41 GP, 6-5--11, +6, 12 PIMs

Winnett did absolutely nothing for me for a good portion of the season but I thought later in the year there were more and more instances where he was noticeable (and in a good way). He had a 4 game point streak in Feburary, scored a gorgeous goal against MSU in an otherwise dismal game for the Wolverines, and was really good in the CCHA At The Joe, despite only tallying an empty-netter on the weekend.

Winnett was one of the few players that I truly missed on with my pre-season expectations (I predicted high 20s, low 30s in points, though I did amend those expectations downward after some initial reports). He clearly had an adjustment period to the college game and I don't think his speed was quite as good as advertised, but I do think he could be a pretty good player for us eventually. He's got decent size, pretty good speed, and he's got some skill offensively. That move he had against MSU was beautiful and he unleashed a rocket of a shot against Providence on his goal in the GLI.

The most shocking thing was that he saw quite a bit of time on the penalty kill (right out of the gate, too. They had him on the PK against BC) and did pretty well. His defense wasn't a quality cited in any of the articles that I had read about him, but the fact that they played him on the PK as a freshman is a pretty good indicator that he's not bad at it.

In his initial year, he didn't live up to his draft status as a 4th round pick of the Leafs, but indications were that he was going to have an adjustment period and he did play better toward the end of the season.

2007-08 Grade: B- (Would've probably been a C+ but for the fact that he unexpectedly was a pretty decent penalty killer.)

#18 Tim Miller
43 GP, 4-13--17, +8, 26 PIMs

It was a weird season for Tim Miller. After scoring 7 goals and 24 points as a sophomore he was completely snake-bitten for most of the year. He didn't score under his 34th game of the season (a huge goal in a win over Spartina) and had just eight points at the time. Starting with the win over MSU, he had four goals and eight points over his next seven games and was named the MVP of the CCHA Championships due to his 2-2--4 line in the games against NMU and Miami.

If you count the game at the Palace against Notre Dame, all four of his goals and 11 of his 17 points came in neutral site games. That's kind of weird.

His best play of the year was for the CCHA Championship winning goal. He tapped an offensive-zone faceoff forward, danced around Nathan Davis and fed Brandon Naurato for an easy goal.

His shots on goal were down this year, his blocked shots were down, and he clearly had a disappointing year offensively. Part of the downturn was likely due to being named an alternate captain before the season. Berenson indicated that some players play better when you give them a letter and some don't, so he took the A off Miller's jersey and gave it to Mitera. One thing that was consistent, however, was his penalty killing. He does a really nice job.

2007-08 Grade: B-. Very disappointing year offensively but he was solid at the other end of the ice and he gets a bump because he made some huge plays in a couple of our biggest wins of the season. Without him in the lineup we probably don't win a game against MSU this year and we probably don't win the CCHA Tournament.

#19 Matt Rust
38 GP, 12-11--23, +13, 69 PIMs

I love Rust. You can play him in pretty much any situation, he's a great penalty killer, he's a strong faceoff guy (50.4%, but only Porter took more draws), he can put the puck in the net, and he's strong defensively. He's also probably the toughest guy on our team.

He was probably our best player not named Chad Kolarik against Notre Dame in the Frozen Four.

Goal-scoring-wise, he was fairly streaky. He put in six of his 12 in a nine game span during December and January and then had just one over his next 14 games. He also had a nine-game goalless drought early in the season.

Even though his +/- isn't overly high, he was a minus in just four games the entire season and worse than -1 just once. He was tied for second amongst forwards in blocked shots, with 20.

The only knock I have against him is that he takes too many penalties. His 22 minors led all forwards and his 69 penalty minutes led the team. He took a penalty in six straight games during the stretch run, which is too many. Early in the season he also ended up in the box at the worst possible times. There were at least 3 or 4 games where he took a penalty in the last 3 minutes.

I've got really high expectations for him moving forward. I don't think it's unfair to compare him to a less-stupid version of Justin Abdelkader (good speed, some offensive skill, gritty, great defensively, great on the PK, penchant for absolute retarded penalties sometimes--Rust may have had 22 minors this year but Abdelkader had something like 41). Their numbers as freshmen were almost identical (Abdelkader had 10-12--22 as a freshman, Rust ended up with 23 points despite not playing on the power play all that often). They have the same work ethic.

I think my favorite Rust moment from the season was his short-handed goal against Boston University. He knocked the puck away from a BU player by the Michigan blue line and was absolutely gone. It's not often that you see a player with a breakaway from their own zone, but Rust had one and he buried the shot.

One comparison that I have to make:
Porter's freshman year: 39 GP, 11-13--24, +11, 51 PIMs

Not that I think he has quite that kind of offensive upside, but it's just kind of interesting to see since their numbers were virtually identical as freshmen. I could easily see Rust becoming a high 30s/low 40s player (Abdelkader scored 33 and 40 as a sophomore and junior). It's also worth mentioning that of the guys who played, only Porter and Caporusso had a higher shooting percentage than Rust's 19.4% (halfway through the season he was scoring on a third of his shots). He's another guy that should benefit from the extra pucks made available by Kolarik and Porter graduation.

2007-08 Grade: A-. I was going to give him a B+ due to the penalties, but he gets a bump for playing on a broken friggin leg at the end of the season. And for being phenomenal in the Frozen Four. At least someone was....

And Now For Something Completely Different

Part Two of the postseason report card for the forwards isn't done yet,but here are a few Michigan-relevant things from around the internet (and maybe a couple that aren't related to the Wolverines):

The finalists for the Selke Trophy have been announced and rest assured, the trophy will be going to a good home. The finalists are Pavel Datsyuk (who is a lock to win it, IMO), Henrik Zetterberg, and Michigan's John Madden.

A reader passed this along: The NHL has released their final rankings for the upcoming draft. Burlon, Czarnik, Pateryn, and Wohlberg all made the list. Burlon is ranked 41st amongst North American skaters, Czarnik is 88th, Pateryn is 146th and Wohlberg is 172nd. At the midterm, they were 57th, 116th, 162nd, and 189th respectively, so the draft stock of all four of our incoming freshmen has gone up.

Edit: Bob Miller pointed out that 2009 commit Lee Moffie is also on the list as the 181st ranked North American skater.

San Antonio lost Game 4 to the Toronto Marlies, so the best-of-seven series is now even at 2. Neither Porter nor Kolarik managed a point in the loss.

Edit: They also lost Game 5 2-1. Kolarik had an assist. They're now down 3-2 in the series.

Blog Posts That I Liked and Haven't Linked Yet:
Genuinely Sarcastic, a glaring omission from the Blogroll which has since been corrected, posted a slew of Red Wings/Avs videos from Youtube which got me all fired up for our second round series with the Avs.

Hoover Street Rag had a recap of their trip to Denver, which sounded only slightly better than our drive out there. I'm a big fan that the next few Frozen Fours are very doable: DC (next year) and Tampa (2012) usually have cheap flights and the Detroit and St. Paul Frozen Fours in 2010 and 2011 are very, very drivable.

SpliceToday had an article about the Michigan/Notre Dame game which reflected on "the pain of relevance". It pondered the question: Is it better to be a high-profile program, knowing that if you lose to, say, Appalachian State, you're never going to hear the end of it, or a fan of a team that is largely irrelevant in the eyes of the world? I'm with the author, taking crap from people after a loss isn't fun, but it would be a lot less fun to not be mentioned at all. Apart from The Horror, in which case I would much prefer toiling in obscurity. It was a pretty good read.

Other Stuff:
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Also, WDFN has partnered with some sites around the blogosphere in an effort to give the fans a bigger voice and they asked if I would like to be a part of it. I've been listening to that station since it first came on the air (I miss Damon "The Dog" Perry), so it was flattering to hear that they like my site and will be adding a link to TBTYB on their Michigan page shortly. I've added a link to the sidebar and will be trying to give a heads up when they've got Michigan content I think you might enjoy

Postseason Report Card: The Forwards (Part One)

Now comes the first in my three-part series grading the forwards for this season.

#8 Aaron Palushaj
43 GP, 10-34--44, +10, 22 PIMs

Wow. We had heard a lot of good things about Palushaj in the offseason, but I don't think anyone expected him to come in and be top 15 nationally in scoring and second in assists. He had points in 29 of Michigan's 43 games and had 12 multi-point contests.

For the season as a whole, he finished third on the team in scoring and (barring something unforeseen) will be Michigan's top returning scorer next season.

He didn't play on the top line this year, but his shrewd passing ability on our top power play unit was a big reason that Michigan's power play was so effective for much of the season. Additionally, he was at his best when the lights were on. In Michigan's three NCAA Tournament games he tallied a goal and five assists, including three helpers against Notre Dame.

He became Michigan's first 40-point-scoring freshman since Hensick did it in 03-04, and he and Pacioretty were the first duo to each record 30 points as freshmen since Kosick and Langfeld. His 34 assists tied TJ Hensick for the second-most ever by a Michigan freshman.

All in all, it was a great season out of any forward, but particularly a freshman. If you're looking for a player with major potential to increase his goal total next season, look at this guy right here. Palushaj scored 10 goals on the season, but took just 98 shots. With Porter and Kolarik leaving, out goes more than 25% of the shots taken by the team as a whole. There will be a lot more pucks to go around and who better to shoot some of them than the guy who was rated as the #5 Goal Scorer in last year's draft by Max Giese.

Since 1999-2000, just three of Michigan's freshman forwards have reached 1 point per game: TJ Hensick, Jeff Tambellini, and Mike Comrie. So you've got a guy that should have won the Hobey, a guy who would've been the favorite to win the Hobey had he returned for his senior season, and a big-time scorer who has gone on to a nice NHL career. I'd say the expectations are going to be pretty high moving forward.

The one knock on his game coming in was that he wasn't great in his own end. His +10 rating was on the low-end of the scale for our forwards but I didn't ever really notice him lagging in our own end. And when you usually play with Hagelin and/or Rust, chances are that the back-checking is taken care of anyway in a lot of cases.

2007-08 Grade: A. When a freshman puts up the numbers he put up, what else could you give him?

#9 Travis Turnbull
43 GP, 15-12--27, +17, 48 PIMs

After 18 points as a freshman and 17 points as a sophomore, Turnbull had a breakout season offensively, piling up 27 points and finishing tied for third on the team in goals. Also, after taking 21 minor penalties in each of his first two seasons, he took just 14 this year.

I really think he should have a letter on his jersey next year. He's a kid that has improved during his time at Michigan and keeps getting better mainly due to hard work. Run a search on "Turnbull" in the search box at the top and see how many times I mentioned his "effort plays" that don't necessarily show up on a scoresheet but were crucial to us winning games. There were a lot. Sometimes, like on Caporusso's game-winner against LSSU, they did show up in the box score, but a lot of times they did not.

He also provided one of the most memorable moments of the season by tipping in a Scooter Vaughan shot to give Michigan the GLI Championship.

He's gritty, good defensively, and you can play him in any situation.

2007-08 Grade: A-. When a third-liner finishes third on the team in goals without the benefit of playing on the top power play unit, increases his point total by 10, and decreases his penalty minutes, I'd say that's a job well done. He was the leading scorer amongst players not on our top PP unit. I wouldn't have bet on that.

#10 Chris Fragner:
2 GP, 0-0--0, even, 0 PIMs

Only saw action during the GLI and didn't do anything to hurt us.

2007-08 Grade: Incomplete

#11 Kevin Porter:
43 GP, 33-30--63, +34, 18 PIMs, Hobey Baker Award Winner

He was ok this year.

Where to start? He captained the most unheralded Michigan team in recent memory to the Frozen Four, became just the second Wolverine to win the Hobey, finished second in goals, second in points, second in power play goals, sixth in assists, was the CCHA Player of the Year, was a West First-Team All American, was the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA East Regional, set an NCAA Regional Record for goals in a game (4 against Niagara), was the first Michigan player to hit 30 goals since Bill Muckalt, played center on the most dangerous line in the country, was held off the score sheet just nine times in 43 games, was a "minus" on just three occasions the entire season, and truth be told probably should've won the CCHA Best Defensive Forward award since he can play defense without taking a penalty every single game.

The only bad thing I can say about him is that he sucks at faceoffs (42.4%) and, as our top-line center, he took a lot of them.

His performance this year will go down as one of the great ones in the history of Michigan hockey and he put himself in some great company by winning the Hobey Baker. It made me happy that I was able to see him in Denver and thank him for everything that he did for Michigan Hockey this season. I've followed the team religously since 2000-01 and this was probably the most fun I've had watching the Wolverines.

2007-08 Grade: A+. And I'm tempted to make like Ralphie's teacher in A Christmas Story and just keep adding plusses on there.

#12 Carl Hagelin:
41 GP, 11-11--22, +18, 28 PIMs

Off-ice, Hagelin earned a reputation as the hardest worker on the team and things were no different on the ice. His relentless forechecking, hard backchecking, strong penalty killing and top-notch speed made him a favorite of Yost Built. It seemed like any time I rewound the DVR to see who made that great defensive play while backchecking, it was always #12.

He deserves a lot of credit for the improved defensive play of the team. When you've got a forward that works as hard as he does, it can make the life a lot easier on the defensemen and goalie. His 20 blocked shots tied Rust and Fardig for second amongst forwards (Porter, 22).

Hagelin also had one of the prettiest goals of the year when he swept around the net and then roofed one up over Jared Kaufmann in the thrashing of UNO in the CCHA Playoffs.

One of the most intriguing thoughts as we head into the offseason is will Hagelin move to center? He played there in the aforementioned series against Omaha when Matt Rust was out with a broken leg and was fantastic. It seems that all his best qualities are amplified when he plays in the middle and he was our best faceoff man this season (53.8% of 184 draws). Michigan has a ton of options at center, but it wouldn't shock me a bit to see Hagelin centering our top line next season.

2007-08 Grade: A. Yes there are a lot of high grades, but when the team loses 6 games the entire year, these things happen. It's hard to not absolutely love Carl Hagelin's game and the thought of what he'll bring to the team in the future.