Goon goes five hole (NCAA round up)

Here is an article that I wrote for Sean Leahy's Going Five Hole.

Match up of the week --- Michigan 8-4-0 vs 6-3-3

The Michigan Wolverines by their standards are having an OK season so far this year. The Wolverines record the past four games is 2-2. During those four games the Michigan Wolverines have lost two games to Western Michigan University and University of Alaska (Fairbanks). Some of these struggles could be the key personnel that Michigan is missing from last year’s squad that went an impressive 33-6-4 before bowing out in the semifinal game of the Frozen Four.

It has been well documented that Michigan has also suffered some pretty significant injuries on the blue line this season. The Wolverines are missing senior Mark Mitera (knee) and junior Steve Kampfer (neck) and these two players are going to be gone for significant amount of time. Mitera may or may not make it back this season.

Offensively, Michigan has some big holes to fill losing a trio of key forwards Kevin Porter (graduation), Chad Kolarik (graduation), Max Pacioretty (NHL). That dynamic trio of forwards scored 158 points in offense last season and is now missing from the Michigan line up. Also, if you add the 40 points from the two injured blue liners you‘re missing a grand total of about 200 points from the line up. That is a big hole to fill. The fact that the Wolverines are 8-4-0 after 12 games is impressive. Most teams would have a tough time recovering from those losses.

Miami also has suffered some key personnel losses but not quite as significant as Michigan. Miami lost all-American forward Ryan Jones (graduation) and junior goaltender Jeff Zatkoff (NHL). The Miami Redhawks are leading the CCHA with 5-3-0 record and are 6-2-2 overall. Michigan is 5-3-0 and sitting in second place.
Series record: Michigan is 10-4-1 the last 15 games against the Redhawks.

Goon’ s Top Ten
1. Minnesota
2. Boston University
3. Colorado College
4. Boston College
5. Northeastern
6. Miami
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan
9. Denver
10. Minnesota State

Going Five Hole: NCAA round up

Here is the latest NCAA round up.

Goon’s Match up of the weekend:

Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the Hockey East Power University of New Hampshire Wildcats. The Wild Cats from New Hampshire travel west to face another WCHA team for a second year in a row. Last year, the Wildcats made the trip to North Dakota for a two game series. The Gophers are led up front by junior forward Ryan Stoa 6-4-10 and super freshman Jordan Schroeder 2-6-8. Both players have been nothing short of phenomenal early on. The Wildcats are led by sophomore James van Riemsdyk who is 4-3-7 in seven games so far this season.

In goal, the Gophers are led by sophomore Alex Kangas who has 4-0-2 record and goals against average 2.11, with a save percentage of .922. The Wildcats are led by junior goaltender Brian Foster who has a 4-1-1 record. His, goals against average 1.49 with a gaudy save percentage of .951. Goals could be hard to come by this weekend, proving to be a low scoring weekend for hockey. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Net.
Prediction: Tie Friday and UNH wins 3-2 on Saturday.

Goon’s top 10 College hockey teams

1.)Boston College
2.)Colorado College
3.)Boston University
4.)Minnesota
5.)New Hampshire
6.)Denver
7.)Northeastern
8.)Michigan
9.)Michigan State
10.)Miami