So, after a one year hiatus, I'm back to a semi-regular status of posting—which basically means whenever I find time to actually write something. Since football has been beaten to death per usual, I'll instead devote the remainder of this post to hockey season, which is still one month away.

Following their thrilling run to the Frozen Four, Michigan will see a large piece of last year's roster depart. Gone are Louie Caporusso, Scooter Vaughn, Matt Rust, Brandon Burlon (a year early to the New Jersey Devils), Ben Winnett, Chad Langlais, Bryan Hogan, and resident Swede Carl Hagelin. Normally this would mean disaster, as Caporusso, Rust, and Hagelin were responsible for a sizable portion of Michigan's offense. However, Michigan managed to pull of a last minute steal from Princeton in Zach Hyman, who is hockey's equivalent of a 5-star recruit, and who should hopefully offset the loss of these players. Other newcomers include Mike Chiasson (D), the son of Steve Chiasson, Brennen Serville (D), who was drafted in the 3rd round by the Winnipeg Jets, Phil Di Giuseppe (F), Andrew Sinelli (F), Travis Lynch (F), Mike Szuma (D), and Alex Guptill (F). Guptill's rights are owned by the Dallas Stars, while Hyman's are owned by the Florida Panthers.

Returning players to watch will be David Wohlberg, Luke Glendening, Chris Brown, Jon Merrill, and, naturally, Shawn Hunwick. Glendening will be the team's captain, while Wohlburg, Pateryn, and Hunwick will serve as alternates. Goaltending, shockingly, will be the position to watch. With the abrupt defection of John Gibson to the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, the roster only has two goaltenders in Hunwick and Adam Janecyk. Look for Michigan to pick up another walk-on goaltender at some point this season.

Michigan's schedule this coming season is not as difficult as in years past. All out of conference games are at home this year, and none are against particularly difficult opponents. The toughest challenge (outside of the GLI, where Michigan faces Boston College) will be Union, which was ranked #1 for a time last year. Highlights in the CCHA schedule include 2 series with Miami, with the RedHawks traveling to Ann Arbor the first weekend of February; the usual two series with Michigan State, with the lone home game being December 10, and two series with Ohio State, which has the series at Yost on the same weekend as the football game against Nebraska—prepare to have no voice if you do all three games in two days—and also features the teams playing at Progressive Field (home of the Cleveland Indians) on January 15. Unfortunately, Michigan only plays Notre Dame in one series this year and it is in South Bend.

Overall, this shapes up to be an interesting year for Michigan's hockey program. The team has currently made the NCAA tournament 21 times in a row and the streak appeared to be in jeopardy after the departure of most of the team's offense. Retaining Hunwick and capturing Hyman late in the recruiting process are two key components to keeping this streak alive. If Hunwick goes down with injury, however, it could be a very long season barring the emergence of Janecyk. Look for questions on offense in the beginning of the season, but if the team manages to find it's footing offensively and Hunwick does not get injured during the season, Michigan should be able to keep the streak alive.

As for the rest of the CCHA, Western Michigan lost its coach to the Detroit Red Wings, but made an excellent hire in Andy Murray, who has coached in the NHL and is known for developing young teams. Western should have a decent season. Miami loses a sizable portion of its team including Hobey Baker winner Andy Miele and starting goaltender Cody Reichard. They also lost highly regarded recruit Connor Murphy to the OHL. They will still, however, be a title contender. Michigan State hired Tom Anastos as its new head coach following the retirement of Rick Comley, which stunned many people, as Anastos was the commissioner of the CCHA before he was hired. Look for Michigan State to reload and not pose a serious title challenge this season. Notre Dame returns much of its roster and is likely the favorite heading into the campaign.

Check back for more hockey news once the season begins—October 1 exhibition game against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, first real game against Bentley October 8.

That is all. Not snarling and slightly sad looking Wolverine is not happy. This will become this blog's otter (at least for hockey related stuff).

Our defense lapsed and then sucked. Result? After being up 4-0, we tied 4-4 officially, and then lost a useless shootout. I won't bother recapping it more than that, except to say that it was a horrible game to be at after the second period. The plus side? The student section was as great as ever and it might very well turn out better than last year's.

Who: Mercyhurst College
Where: Yost Ice Arena
When: 7:35 PM on Saturday

Mercyhurst overview:
Conference: Atlantic Hockey Association
Last year's record: 15 - 20 - 3
Common Opponent: Western Michigan (Western won both games)

Mercyhurst returns starting goaltender Ryan Zapolski, who had a 15-17-3 record with a .918 save percentage and a 2.78 goals against average last year. Head Coach Rick Gotkin has 399 career wins, which is the 9th most in NCAA hockey among active coaches. Meanwhile, Michigan will start Shawn Hunwick, who returns after somehow guiding the team through the CCHA playoffs and into the NCAA tournament for the 20th consecutive year. Also, Red Berenson will be looking for his 700th career win. One important thing to note: Michigan will return every single member of the team from last year that was not a senior or did not leave halfway through the year.

Prediction: Look for Michigan to come out on top with a victory, 3-1.

Thanks to http://hurstathletics.com/index.aspx for roster and schedule information.

Programming note: There will be no previews for Western Ontario or the National Development Team. Not enough information exists for both, and I will be busy during this time anyways. Previews will return for Bowling Green and I will try and do a review of this weekend's game against Mercyhurst.

Ok, so now that tickets have arrived, here is a brief overview of what the highlights are for the season:

Everyone knows the schedule by now, so there's no point in reviewing that. The one item of note from the season is that there is only one Maize Out and it is for the Michigan State game.

As for the Big Chill, as CMR has noted, the Children of Yost have gotten screwed and put into section 33, which is one of the worst spots possible (endzone, nowhere near distracting enough for State players). Congrats Michigan AD, you completely dropped the ball on this one. Now figure out a way to fix it before you get a massive flood of emails complaining about this. /end rant

Team: Notre Dame
Record: 8-11-7 (CCHA) 12-14-8 (Overall)
Time: Thursday February 25 and Saturday February 27, 7:35 PM EST (Thursday), 7:05 EST (Saturday)
Where: Yost Ice Arena (Thurs.), Joyce Center (South Bend, IN) (Saturday)
Television: FSD (Thursday), BTN (Saturday)

Well, this is the final regular season series for Michigan and it cannot come a better time. This season has been brutal to say the least, but not much of a better way to wrap it up than against a rival.

Notre Dame currently sits in 10th and Michigan currently sits in 7th. Michigan must sweep the series in order to have any hope of moving up in the standings and the highest they can move is 4th place, assuming Northern does not win both of its games against Lake Superior State. Alaska and UNO have both completed their CCHA seasons.

Notre Dame is backstopped by Mike Johnson, who has started the majority of games as a Freshman. Johnson sports a 2.48 GAA and a .919 save %. Look for him to start both games.

It is all but set in stone that Michigan must now win the CCHA tournament in order to make the NCAA tournament.

As a side note, Thursday's game is senior night at Yost, so look for some festivities involving the seniors on this team.

There will not be a review for Notre Dame, I apologize for the inconvenience. Check CCHA.com for the score of Saturday's game. Michigan won Thursday 4-0.

Game 1: Northern Michigan 3 Michigan 1
Scoring Summary: Hanson (Olver, Brown, 1st, 1-0 NMU) PP, Fox (Brown, Butcher, 1st, 2-0 NMU), Hagelin (Rust, Glendening, 1st, NMU 2-0), Brown (Unassisted, 3rd, 3-0 NMU) EN

Game 2: Michigan 5 Northern Michigan 4
Scoring Summary: Hanson (Unassisted, 1st, 1-0 NMU), Glendening (Caporusso, Moffie, 2nd, 1-1), Lynch (Unassisted, 2nd, 2-1 M), Florek (Olver, Cherniwchen, 2nd 2-2), Winnet (Rust, Hagelin, 2nd, 3-2 M) PP, Gustafsson (Cherniwchen, 3rd, 3-3), Brown (Fernandez, Spady, 3rd, 4-3 NMU), Langlais (Lebler, Caporusso, 3rd, 4-4) PP, Pateryn (Caporusso, 3rd, 5-4 M)

All stats courtesy of CCHA.com

Game 1 was just a frustrating exhibition of bad hockey combined with a couple of other things. Hogan gave up two soft goals to open the game while Hagelin got one when Stewart practically knocked the puck into his own net after misplaying the shot. Second Period consisted of practically nothing, while the third consisted of a bunch of frustration. Michigan was unable to capitalize on a number of chances, including a 33 second 5-3. After the first penalty expired, both refs inexplicably missed a blatant interference call, and then called Kevin Lynch for boarding on a somewhat suspect call. NMU put away the game with an empty netter as Hogan left just as Michigan gave the puck back to NMU. Overall a disaster, especially considering Michigan had 8 power play opportunities and failed to capitalize on every single one.

Game 2 was much better than game 1 to say the least. Michigan winning definitely helped that, but it was also a much better game overall in terms of play. While making the same irritating mistakes from game 1, Michigan at least this time continued to play hard and actually score in response to Northern's goals. Michigan gave up the first goal, scored the next two, gave up the next goal, scored again, then gave up two, and then scored two. Basically a back and forth game that depended on which team either played worse or who had the breaks go their way. A much better game played by Michigan than game 1 in terms of offense.

The crowd in Game 1 was somewhat lackluster. The cowbells didn't show up until after the game had started, so the horns at the top of section 17 filled in for the cowbell's job in the pregame.
For the phone chant, Mom, Dad, Rich Rod, MGoBrian (that Brian), and the Cookie Monster all phoned in. During the third period, someone started an "Oliver" chant, to which the crowd responded "Twist." While this was amusing, the person leading the chant continued it for way too long, annoying a good chunk of the section. There was also a "Dirty Yoopers" chant, which also offended some in the section. Overall, not a great crowd, but at least there were people, unlike Bowling Green last week.

The crowd in Game 2 was infinitely better than the first game. The usual leader of the "Goalie Sieve" chant was back, so the chant went off much better than the last game. The "Oliver Twist" chant never got going, much to the joy of most of the section.
For the phone chant, Mom, Dad, Gordon Bombay (Mighty Ducks Films), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Jolly Green Giant, the Girl Scouts of America, Tom Izzo, and the John Deere Tractor company all phoned in to say that Stewart sucked. A very well done selection overall. The one exception to the norm in the section was that the Swedish flag was not in attendance. Look for it to most likely be back during Notre Dame.

In terms of the NCAA tournament, Michigan must now win the CCHA tournament to make it in after splitting this series. Don't look for an at large bid even with a run in the CCHA tournament.

Look for a Notre Dame preview on Wednesday.

Game 1: Northern Michigan 3 Michigan 1
Scoring Summary: Hanson (Olver, Brown, 1st, 1-0 NMU) PP, Fox (Brown, Butcher, 1st, 2-0 NMU), Hagelin (Rust, Glendening, 1st, NMU 2-0), Brown (Unassisted, 3rd, 3-0 NMU) EN

Game 2: Michigan 5 Northern Michigan 4
Scoring Summary: Hanson (Unassisted, 1st, 1-0 NMU), Glendening (Caporusso, Moffie, 2nd, 1-1), Lynch (Unassisted, 2nd, 2-1 M), Florek (Olver, Cherniwchen, 2nd 2-2), Winnet (Rust, Hagelin, 2nd, 3-2 M) PP, Gustafsson (Cherniwchen, 3rd, 3-3), Brown (Fernandez, Spady, 3rd, 4-3 NMU), Langlais (Lebler, Caporusso, 3rd, 4-4) PP, Pateryn (Caporusso, 3rd, 5-4 M)

All stats courtesy of CCHA.com

Game 1 was just a frustrating exhibition of bad hockey combined with a couple of other things. Hogan gave up two soft goals to open the game while Hagelin got one when Stewart practically knocked the puck into his own net after misplaying the shot. Second Period consisted of practically nothing, while the third consisted of a bunch of frustration. Michigan was unable to capitalize on a number of chances, including a 33 second 5-3. After the first penalty expired, both refs inexplicably missed a blatant interference call, and then called Kevin Lynch for boarding on a somewhat suspect call. NMU put away the game with an empty netter as Hogan left just as Michigan gave the puck back to NMU. Overall a disaster, especially considering Michigan had 8 power play opportunities and failed to capitalize on every single one.

Game 2 was much better than game 1 to say the least. Michigan winning definitely helped that, but it was also a much better game overall in terms of play. While making the same irritating mistakes from game 1, Michigan at least this time continued to play hard and actually score in response to Northern's goals. Michigan gave up the first goal, scored the next two, gave up the next goal, scored again, then gave up two, and then scored two. Basically a back and forth game that depended on which team either played worse or who had the breaks go their way. A much better game played by Michigan than game 1 in terms of offense.

The crowd in Game 1 was somewhat lackluster. The cowbells didn't show up until after the game had started, so the horns at the top of section 17 filled in for the cowbell's job in the pregame.
For the phone chant, Mom, Dad, Rich Rod, MGoBrian (that Brian), and the Cookie Monster all phoned in. During the third period, someone started an "Oliver" chant, to which the crowd responded "Twist." While this was amusing, the person leading the chant continued it for way too long, annoying a good chunk of the section. There was also a "Dirty Yoopers" chant, which also offended some in the section. Overall, not a great crowd, but at least there were people, unlike Bowling Green last week.

The crowd in Game 2 was infinitely better than the first game. The usual leader of the "Goalie Sieve" chant was back, so the chant went off much better than the last game. The "Oliver Twist" chant never got going, much to the joy of most of the section.
For the phone chant, Mom, Dad, Gordon Bombay (Mighty Ducks Films), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Jolly Green Giant, the Girl Scouts of America, Tom Izzo, and the John Deere Tractor company all phoned in to say that Stewart sucked. A very well done selection overall. The one exception to the norm in the section was that the Swedish flag was not in attendance. Look for it to most likely be back during Notre Dame.

In terms of the NCAA tournament, Michigan must now win the CCHA tournament to make it in after splitting this series. Don't look for an at large bid even with a run in the CCHA tournament.

Look for a Notre Dame preview on Wednesday.

Team: Northern Michigan
Record: 10-8-6 (CCHA) 14-10-8 (Overall)
Time: Friday February 19 and Saturday February 20, 7:35 PM EST
Where: Yost Ice Arena
Television: FSD+ (Friday), Comcast (Saturday)

Well, Michigan basically blew its chances of making the NCAA tournament without winning the CCHA tournament; however, the last few games are still crucial, as Michigan can still secure 4th place and a 1st round bye. Michigan currently sits 2 points back of Northern Michigan. Northern Michigan is currently in 5th place, tied with Alaska, while Michigan sits in 7th. Basically, Michigan needs to sweep this series and Notre Dame in order to have a secure grasp on 4th place.

Northern Michigan is backstopped by Brian Stewart, who sports a 2.49 GAA and a .923 save %. Look for him to start both games this weekend, as he has started the majority of the games for Northern this season.

Tune in on Sunday for a recap of this series as well as the happenings in the student section.

Anyone some of you may know, I sit in Section 17 during games at Yost this year. I am trying to provide insight into how we operate as a section in my reviews of the games, providing some of the more interesting chants, not just the ones that we use on a regular basis. Today, I'm going to give a complete overview of how the section works.

Pregame:
I usually arrive about 7:10 to listen to the band warm up and maybe catch the end of the pregame skate. Most of the students don't begin to arrive until about 7:20 to 7:25. A few students will bring in giant stacks of newspapers for the student section to read. Students are supposed to hide their faces while the opposing team's starting lineup is announced, because old news is much more interesting than the starting lineup of the opposing team. Once the lineup for the opposing team is finished, students crumple of their newspaper into a ball and throw it into the air, preferably at the nearest opposing fan in the section (if there is one). Michigan's lineup is introduced (occasionally accompanied by the giant Swedish flag), and the anthem is played (with some students doing the fist pump on the "hailed" of the anthem). The band plays "Let's Go Blue" and the game is underway.

1st Period:
Right after the band finishes their part of "Let's Go Blue" the cowbells are brought out for their segment. This is followed by someone in the section shouting the opposing goalie's name really loud, followed by the section chanting "Sieve!" For example, in the Bowling Green game, it went "Eno," "Sieve." This is done three times, and then done very fast three or four times, and then done once very drawn out, the objective being to shout as long as possible. Later on in the period, someone will start the other version of the sieve chant, which goes "Hey (goalie's name here), you're not a goalie, you're a sieve! You're not a sieve, you're a funnel! You're not a funnel, you're a vacuum! You're not a vacuum, you're a black hole! You're not a black hole, you just suck, you just suck, you just suck, you suck!" Chant "Ugly Goalie" if the opposing team's goalie takes his mask off and cheer when he puts it back on. As the teams exit after the first period, the band play "The Victors" and everyone sits down.

1st Intermission:
Attempt to get the little kids on the Zambonis to throw their shoes onto the ice

2nd Period:
Band plays "The Victors" as the teams come onto the ice and the same version of "Let's Go Blue" as the beginning of the game. Not much occurs here, as the opposing goaltender is on the opposite side of the ice. Chant "Handsome Goalie" if Hogan takes his mask off and make an upset noise when he puts it back on. If the band plays the William Tell Overture, everyone holds out a hand like they are riding a horse and rides to the music. Ending is the same as the 1st period.

2nd Intermission:
Dance (if you want to) to whatever music the band is playing before the band plays "I Can't Turn You Loose," known colloquially as the Blues Brothers Theme. Everyone at that point dances to the song.

3rd Period: Intro is the same as the 2nd period, while the chants are similar to the 1st period. The band will play "Temptation" at some point, and the section points at Hogan saying "Goalie" and the opposing goalie saying "Sieve" in tune to the song. Later on, the band will play the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Theme" in which everyone takes their hands and places them on their heads like antlers and dances to the music. Followed by a "Moose, Sieve!" chant. Chant either "On your feet" or "Stand up old people" if the team is winning toward the end of the game. Cowbell will count down the dying seconds of the game. Sing "The Victors" at the end.

Postgame:
Gather in a circle and sing The Victors and the Alma Mater.

Other chants throughout the game (not listed above):
C-Ya: Probably the most famous of Yost Chants, it consists of a string of obscenities as an opposing player is sent to the penalty box. Begins after the player steps in the box.
Goal Count: After Michigan scores, students hold up the number of fingers that relates to the number of times Michigan has scored. After the PA announcer finishes the summary, someone in the band shouts "Goal Count!" At which points the students respond "Ready, 1" or 1- however many goals Michigan has scored and then continues with "We want moooore goals, Sieve (x7), it's all your fault (x4)" and then the cowbells play Go Blue.
Go Blue on Cowbells: Cowbells play a tune in which everyone claps along and responds "Go Blue!"
Let's Go Blue (without band): Everyone chants this as the cowbells are hit on the off beat (when no one is speaking). Need to see it live to really understand what it is.
Penalty Over: As a power play winds down for an opponent, someone will start a slow clap with the cowbell at the 20 second mark, and speed it up until the powerplay is over, leading into the Go Blue on Cowbells.
Phone Chant: Someone will shout out, "Hey (Goalie or player name here), you're mom called and she said..." followed by the students chanting "You Suck!" Can get very drawn out. Look for listings of the phone chant in my reviews of games at Yost. Ended with "Hey (name here), you just suck (x5)."
Ref You Suck (main version) and Ref You Suck (alternate version): Ref you suck (main version) consists of the cowbells being played in an alternate fashion followed by students saying "Ref You Suck." The alternate version consists of the same tune as Let's Go Blue (without the band) but instead of saying "Let's Go Blue" the students will say "Ref You Suck."
Ugly Parents: Students will chant "Ugly Parents" after the opposing team has scored, pointing toward the only section that stands after the opposing team has scored, which is where the opposing team's parents/fans sit.
Whoop Chant: When the puck is in the opposing team's zone on a power play for them, the entire student section will make a whooping sound until the puck is cleared out of the zone.

There are other chants that can be used, and I will list them in reviews of games as they come up, but these are the main ones that will not be listed in reviews of games. Do not hesitate to correct me if I have forgotten something.

Greetings from the newest member of Midnight Maize. I will be responsible for all things hockey from now until the end of the season. I hope to improve on this concept, so please be patient as I tweak these posts and try to see what works best.

Team: Bowling Green
Record: 3-14-3 (CCHA Record) 4-19-4 (Overall Record)
Time: Tuesday February 9, 7:35 PM
Where: Yost Ice Arena
Television: Comcast

Michigan will play Bowling Green in the second half of a series that started on Thursday at Bowling Green. Michigan won that game 2-1. After Saturday's loss to Wisconsin, Michigan now sits in 6th place with 34 points, one point back of the teams tied for 4th. Michigan has 3 games in hand against these teams.

Basically, this is a must win game for Michigan, as the rest of the schedule consists of Nebraska-Omaha (currently in 4th place, tied with Alaska-Fairbanks), Northern Michigan (7th), and Notre Dame (also 7th). Bowling Green currently sits in 12th. If Michigan wants any shot at making the tournament, they need to beat teams lower in the standings than them.

The last time Bowling visited Yost, they scored 3 times in the 3rd Period to win 4-2, while Michigan won the next game 4-1 in Toledo. Bowling Green is backstopped by Nick Eno, who was quite sharp in his outing against Michigan back in November at Yost. He sports a 3.13 goals against average and a .899 save %.

A review of the game itself will be posted sometime shortly after the game is over.