The last time Michigan played Notre Dame in hockey, the Fighting Irish beat U-M in the 2013 CCHA finals, ending the Wolverines’ 22-year NCAA Tournament run as Michigan failed to receive an at-large bid.
They haven’t played since but the rivalry should rekindle quickly this Friday when they meet in the NCAA Midwest Regional 2-3 matchup in Cincinnati (5:30pm ESPNU).
“We know there is a rivalry,” said sophomore right wing Tony Calderone. “It has obviously faded because we haven’t played them in a few years, but some of the seniors played them in the CCHA finals, and we know there is a history between the two schools so it will be fun bringing it back.”
Michigan hasn’t beaten ND, which is headed for the Big Ten starting in 2017-18, since March 9-10 2012, in a CCHA quarterfinal round at Yost Ice Arena. The Maize and Blue have lost five straight since then, all during the rookie seasons for seniors Steve Racine, Justin Selman and Boo Nieves.
“We didn’t beat Notre Dame once our freshman year and then they knocked us out of the CCHA finals and ended our season so there’s some incentive there, but most of their guys are new and most of our guys so it’s not like it’s a revenge game,” Nieves said. “But it will be fun to go there and try to take back what belongs to Michigan.”
For the Wolverines to beat Notre Dame, and win two games this weekend to advance to the Frozen Four April 7-9 in Tampa, they will need more then their CCM line. Here are the X-factors according to votes from U-M coaches, players, staffers and members of the media.
Goalie Steve Racine (10 votes): Though he boasts a career 2.85 goals against average and .907 save percentage – both pedestrian numbers in today’s hockey landscape – Racine has been a different goalie in the postseason, going 9-2-0 in 11 games during his career with a 2.05 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
Racine has never before played in an NCAA Tournament game, and there may be some nerves, but if he competes with the consistency of previous playoff contests, Michigan should be in good shape.
“You can’t go into a one-and-done tournament without your goalie being an X-factor so let’s start there,” associate head coach Billy Powers said. “If you have success, usually your goalie outplayed the other three goalies in the regional, and we feel that Steve is capable of putting together two really solid games, and giving us a chance to win both.”
Defenseman Michael Downing (8 votes): While a capable offensive defenseman, Downing has really blossomed this season as a defense-first blue liner, recording a career-best plus/minus of plus-17 in 32 games. He is big, strong (6-2, 200), a very good skater, and he’s done a better job in the second half of the year picking up opposing forwards.
Downing is an X-factor, however, because he takes unnecessary and, sometimes, damaging penalties that have forced him to miss three games this season due to suspension.
Most recently, Downing cross-checked a Penn State forward in the head during last weekend’s Big Ten semifinals, earning a five-minute major (that U-M had to kill leading 5-1) in receiving a suspension from the Big Ten that held him out of the finals.
Michigan has depth on its blue line in the form of sophomore Sam Piazza ready to jump into the lineup if needed – he had four points and was plus-3 in the three games Downing missed – but to beat Notre Dame and North Dakota/Northeastern, U-M needs its best players, and definitely needs to avoid five-minute penalty kills.
“He’s been playing his best hockey this last month, but he has to keep the emotions in check,” Powers said. “The 20-22 minutes he’s logging each game this last month have been lights out and he’s a guy that is going to play a big role on our penalty killing, and against a team’s top line, and we can’t afford him to be in the box or to miss a game.”
Forward Boo Nieves (8 votes): The most experienced player on the team, with 141 games played, Nieves will be making his NCAA Tournament debut on Friday, and he can’t wait.
“It’s been really exciting. Ever since last weekend when we won Big Tens, every day this week has been waking up knowing that we’re playing Friday and could play for the national title in a couple of weeks,” said Nieves.
The 6-3, 200-pound second-line center played with more aggressiveness and physicality at the Big Ten Tournament, mirroring an effort we first saw at Big Tens in 2014-15.
In fact, in those five games total over two seasons, he notched three goals and three assists, a point per game average of 1.20 that is significantly better than the 0.76 he has averaged in 129 career regular-season contests.
Michigan needs that Boo Nieves to show up - the guy that gets it done on both ends of the rink.
“With the attention the top line gets, and especially this weekend you know every team in our regional is going to be dialed in on stopping JT, Tyler and Kyle, we really need our second line to be a difference for us,” said Powers.
“Boo has taken a big step forward these past few weeks, and we need to see him take even another step forward, which he’s capable of.”
Forward Cooper Marody (6 votes): Michigan’s top line of junior center JT Compher, junior right wing Tyler Motte and freshman left wing Kyle Connor have accounted for more than half of U-M’s total goals (67 of 131) in the past 25 games, however, the Wolverines will need contributions from its second, third and fourth lines to advance to the Frozen Four.
Since Marody’s return from mono, the third line has produced four goals and 10 assists in nine games (mostly Marody himself, with a 2-8-10 stat line) and a plus/minus of minus-1. That’s not good enough.
Both Calderone and freshman left wing Brendan Warren need to be plus players for the Maize and Blue, especially if they advance to the regional final and play either a Fighting Sioux team or a Huskies team that can roll three competent lines.
Marody is the key. He can sometimes try to do a little too much on his own, not involving his linemates as he tries to “put on a show” on the ice, but the more he feeds Calderone and Warren, the better that entire line will be, and the better Michigan will be.
Who are your X-factors this weekend? Tell us on The Fort.
