The most prominent news of the week in the CCHA has been the announcement of “The Big Chill” game that will pit Michigan against Michigan State at the 100,000-plus seat Michigan Stadium next December. But before the two teams get wrapped up in trying to top the Cold War game that inspired the frenzy of outdoor hockey, the Spartans and Wolverines are set to face each other in a momentous two-game series beginning Friday in East Lansing and concluding Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
As the CCHA teams enter the final push for the postseason, Michigan State has the upper hand in one of college hockey’s fiercest rivalries, riding a November sweep of the Wolverines to a second place standing in the conference, 10 points ahead of seventh place Michigan, which has two games in hand.
Considering those two games in hand, regular season series don’t come much bigger than this one. Two wins for the Wolverines could put them back in the mix for a first-round bye and begin to threaten the excellent chances Michigan State has to lock down a bye. Two wins for the Spartans and Michigan could be all but doomed to playing a road playoff series for the first time ever.
Trying to avoid that fate and after struggling through much of the first half of the year, the Wolverines seem to be headed towards the right track, going 4-1-1 in the New Year, including a sweep of Western Michigan and wins over Alaska and Ferris State, helping to inspire some confidence that the Wolverines are over the hump.
“Obviously winning some games makes a difference,” Michigan assistant coach Billy Powers said after the Wolverines 6-0 drubbing of Alaska on Jan. 9. “If you look at a couple of losses late in the first half and of course the RPI game, the puck wasn’t going in. We were playing well and doubling teams up in shots and carrying big territorial advantages. We really have been, I think, on the verge of getting into some kind of streak, but you can’t talk about it anymore, you have to do it. It’s good to see us putting some wins together because we have no room for error, and we realize that.”
A key for Michigan will be to work towards completing sweeps, especially when facing the teams ahead of them in the standings. While the wins against Alaska and Ferris State helped make up some ground, the shootout loss to Alaska and the heart-breaking end to the game at Ferris State – the Bulldogs answered Michigan’s late game-tying goal with a winner in the final thirty seconds – have prevented the Wolverines from really eating up some of the ground between themselves and the teams ahead of them.
In order to win consistently, Michigan knows it needs to find a way to score on a more consistent basis. While the goals came easily in the first three games in January against Western Michigan and during the win against Alaska – the Wolverines averaged 5.33 per game – Michigan’s team goals for per game average dropped to just 2.33 goals for per game in the second game against the Nanooks and in the Ferris State series.
Those struggles are nothing new to a team that couldn’t find the back of the net despite consistently outshooting opponents all year long. But despite the lack of positive puck luck, the team is focused on continuing its turnaround by continuing to do the things they have done right even in its most frustrating moments.
“Along with the frustration (of not scoring consistently) we kept a positive spin on it because our team was battling and out-competing teams,” Powers said. “We’re doing so many positive things, but it just really wasn’t showing up on the scoreboard and in the win-loss column. And that’s where it matters, but at the same time, as a coach, when your team is going out and executing your game plan and playing great second-effort hockey, we’ve got to stay with it and know we’re doing a lot more good.”
