Sadly the streak is over.  Two decades of work, 22 teams blood, sweat, and tears, swept away by a team that just can't seem to find their way.  It would be one thing if the team were at least competitive, but the thing that stands out the most is that this team has just seemed to quit.  Maybe that's unfair and maybe it's inaccurate, but from the outside looking in (read, from what we see on the ice), This team has been mauled at home for four straight games, including the exhibition game against the US-NTDP.  They are talented, but they are still essentially a high school team and even they schooled this Michigan squad.

Got no answer for the goalies, I don't think anyone does.  Janecyk doesn't look like the same player he had been in a couple of earlier games.  He was looking at least steady, wasn't going to be a world beater, but he had a decent GAA and seemed to be holding teams to at least numbers that Michigan could out score (read 2 or less). Since playing more that has all gone out the window as the GAA has gone up and frankly some of the goals he has given up were very stoppable.  Just a day late and a dollar short.  Racine, can't figure him out at all.  He seems a bit slow at times, other times he makes a play, and other times he lets in a goal that you just say "HUH".  Rutledge, a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma (yea, I know WWII quotes and s**t).  Anyway, I know the argument about giving him the job and after this weekend maybe that's the way to go, but I just can't get past the downside to just giving a guy the job without any competition guiding things (not that that has seemed to make a bit of difference so far this year).  My main worry of that is just that if the players even sense that the coaches have given up on the season, they lose the team, and then where do we go from there?

The offense has been a huge disappointment.  Where are the Seniors on this team?  Treais and Moffie both have letters on their jerseys and they have either been invisible (Treais) or a complete disaster (Moffie, I just don't see what people see in him, at least this year, he has been just awful - turnovers, lost battles, you name it, he has failed).  Lynch was one that everyone hoped would one day put it together for an entire season and not just the playoffs and it looks like this year he won't get his playoff chance.  He battles hard and that would be OK if he was a fourth line guy, but he's a Senior and they need so much more out of him this year.  Sparks, what can you say, this season is like every season for him.  Great wheels, flashes of talent, but no consistency at all.  Rohrkemper is what he is, he's played some solid hockey and he 's tried hard when being put in positions he's not used to, but well, he has been out of position the last couple of games. Of all the Seniors he's probably been the one that has been most where he was expected to be.  

The Juniors haven't been much better, but there are some reasons there.  Merrill has only been really back for two weeks and he is getting better.   He barely saw the ice against the NTDP, he was extremely hesitant against Bowling Green, shying away from contact under most circumstances, was still a little hesitant against Alaska, but not as much.  He has a way of getting the outlet pass out of the zone, without making it look like the most difficult thing in the world.  I fully understand the hesitancy after his injury, it's not just being physically OK'd to play, it's getting past the mental stuff that goes with an injury like that.  He's getting over it, but it's going to take a few weeks.

Moffatt has been a huge disappointment.  I thought he would break out this year and finally start putting some pucks in the net, but that certainly hasn't happened.  He's been working pretty hard, but has little to show for it and has had some games where he has been utterly off.  

DeBlois is exactly what I expected him to be, he is a great penalty killer and he battles hard on the ice.  I have never looked to him to be a scorer.

Clare, I'm just not sure.  I expected him to be a solid D-man after how he finished last year and at times he was looking like that.  Nothing flashy, just solid, but he's been hurt and out the lineup since November or something so it's hard to tell what's really going on there.

Bennett was probably the best player for the first month, at least on the D side of the puck, but even he has fallen off since November.  I can't tell if it's him or if he's torn between trying to do more and not stepping on the "C"s toes.  

The sophomores are a more mixed lot.  Chiasson seems to have gotten better, but he was a third pairing D-man from the get go.  I wasn't and am not expecting him to be a world beater, just don't give up the puck in bad situations - just play D. Serville seemed to be playing OK, but here is another guy missing games from injury, just as he seems to get going he gets hurt again and is out of the lineup.  I like the potential and as a sophomore I wasn't expecting him to be the leader on D or anything, just do the job and don't make mistakes.

PDG, add him to the list of guys who have been sorely under performing.  His confidence seems to be completely gone.  He looks to pass first, pass second, and shoot third, and when he does decide to shoot he has waited to long and the goalie is in excellent position to make the stop.  

Hyman is a battler, that's for sure.  He does so many things on the ice, pretty much everything but score.  If he could get that part of his game going it would be a boost, but again sophomore, not expected to lead the team here, but a few more goals would be really nice.

Sinelli, doesn't see the ice often, but when he does he is a ball of energy.  He is probably never going to be a scoring threat, but when he's out there he is driving the other side nuts.  He's one of those guys that seems to be everywhere all at once.

Lynch (Travis) is a solid player.  Not going to light the lamp a lot, but he is a solid grinder type guy who plays his role to perfection.  Throw in a goal every now and then and it would be even better, but even he has missed some really great chances.

Szuma is one of those guys that hadn't seen much ice time, but circumstances have forced him to take a bigger role.  He was a little shaky to start with, but the more he plays the better he gets.  He's not going to be Merrill or Trouba, but he's playing solid D for a guy that wasn't called on to much before this season.

Guptill, I just don't know about the Guppie.  Sometimes he plays very hard, this past weekend he looked like he should have been benched, again.  His effort has been lacking, especially on Saturday for a recent example.  Just can't figure the guy out.

I have seen the best out of the freshmen, goalies out of the equation, I've already talked about them.  Trouba is a beast and you can tell he gets frustrated from some of the calls.  Example is Saturday night, he is off his skates, jumping up to knock a puck down, an Alaska skater skates into him and his elbow contacts his head coming down.  Trouba gets called for an elbow to the head.  What's he supposed to do?  Shorter guy skates into me, I'm up in the air, when I come down my elbow makes contact with this helmet.  There is no intent, it's hardly a knock out blow, but now i'm in the box.  I fully understand the desire to protect these players from concussion, but I think it has reached the point of absurdity with some of these incidental contact to the head penalties.  Anyway, he's a solid player, still young and making a mistake here and there, but he's having a pretty damn good season for a freshman. 

Selman has been up and down.  I like his work ethic and all, but sometimes he can be a bit off.  Well actually he plays like a freshman so how can you complain to much.  I really like Nieves, he has hockey smarts.  He anticipates plays, knows where the puck is going to be, not just where it is.  He isn't always getting rewarded for the work he puts in, but he keeps working.  Same could be said for Copp.  Probably not going to be a big scorer, but he will knock in his share of goals, but he has size, he creates plays and he disrupts the other team.  Besides I'm a softie for the local kids.  I like to see them make the Michigan team and I like to see them do well.

All of that boils down to I don't know what.  Treais, Moffatt, Sparks, Lynch (Kevin), PDG, Guptill, these are the guys who should be leading this team on the score sheet.  None of them are, well Treais leads the team in points, but he is nowhere near where I think everyone expected him to be and most of what he did was in October and early November before the real meat of the CCHA schedule kicked in.  None of the other guys are even in the conversation when it comes to goal scoring.

I guess I have two real fears for this team. First, that the freshmen collectively get broken by this season.  I hope they can survive and become the nucleus of a team tested by adversity (I know cliche) and use that to lead the next three years of teams.  To be battle hardened and ready for everything that comes their way.

Second, that because of this season, a bunch of players unexpectedly decide to leave.  Nobody on this team has done anything that should make them think they are ready for the NHL, but the lockout is over, a new CBA is in effect and a season like this could push a player who might otherwise not consider leaving to just get out of dodge while the getting is good, maybe not to the NHL, but the OHL is always there and it's not like we haven't seen players decide to go that route in the past.

The bottom line, since this part was supposed to be about the forwards, is that a lot of guys aren't doing what they were expected to do and it doesn't look like they will for this season.  Will it carry forward, at least for those players that come back, who knows, let's hope not.  This is difficult, I haven't seen a Michigan team like this for 30+ years and I guess I never thought I would see one as long as Red was here, but here we are.  Murphy's law has finally caught up.  Let's hope it's a one season thing and done, but what happens the remainder of this season, and in the off season could set the tone for the next decade of Michigan hockey (sorry, not trying to be overly dramatic).