What to watch for: Week 1
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As I sat down to write this on Thursday night, the Ivy League canceled all winter sports. It’s a devastating decision for their athletes, but one I understand from a health perspective. It feels like forever ago that the Ivy League was the first to cancel its basketball tournament and we all thought they were overreacting. They weren’t.
As COVID-19 cases explode across the country once again, the safety of sports is weighing heavy on my mind. Covering hockey is my favorite thing to do, and I’m so excited to have games on the schedule. But I also know that every practice and every game puts the players, coaches and staff at risk. It’s challenging to justify, particularly for amateur athletes.
There is nothing I hope for more feverently than a safe season for everyone involved, so jumping right in to breaking down the goaltending questions at Wisconsin without acknowledging the Ivy League news and the dangers of playing sports right now just didn’t feel right. With the disheartening stuff out of the way, as they say in hockey, let’s do that hockey.
251 days ago, Minnesota beat Notre Dame in the third game of their best-of-three Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal series. No one knew it would be the last Big Ten hockey game played for more than eight months.
The wait is over. At 7pm tonight, Wisconsin plays Notre Dame (NBCSN) and at 3pm on Saturday, Michigan hosts Arizona State (BTN+).
As of right now, my plan is to post some things I’m watching for in each matchup before the weekend’s games begin and to have a recap after the weekend is over. That plan gets complex when wild things happen like teams playing on a Monday, so bear with me — I’ll have to figure things out as I go. (Also, if anyone thinks of fun, catchy names for either the previews or the recaps, email me or shoot me a DM on Twitter! I’m desperate.)
What I’m watching for: Wisconsin at Notre Dame
Wisconsin underperformed last year despite having, on paper, one of the more talented rosters in college hockey. Notre Dame took a step back last year after having won the Big Ten Tournament each of the previous two seasons, so both of these programs are at a bit of a turning point. There’s a lot I’m interested in here, including what Wisconsin looks like without Wyatt Kalynuk and K’Andre Miller on the back end, but what stands out to me the most is what’s going on in net.
Notre Dame’s goaltending
It’s been a long time since goaltending was a topic of conversation at Notre Dame. But Cale Morris’ reign of terror over the rest of the Big Ten has come to an end, and the Fighting Irish will have a new starter this year for the first time in three years.
Jeff Jackson wasn’t tipping his hand on Monday, but he did say Dylan St. Cyr came back with “a fire in his eyes” and is in the best shape of his life. St. Cyr redshirted last year to preserve a year of eligibility, but he played 11 games from 2017-19 and has a .927 career save percentage. We here at Fresh Ice are strong proponents of Short King Goaltenders, and St. Cyr fits that bill at 5’9.
Ryan Bischel, the other option, is just a sophomore and appeared in seven games last season. He won three of his four starts and had a .915 save percentage. Based on Jackson’s comments, I’d expect St. Cyr to get the Friday night start, but it could easily develop into an open competition throughout the year.
Wisconsin’s goaltending
Not one of the three goalies currently on Wisconsin’s roster played for the Badgers last season. Robbie Beydoun, a graduate transfer from Michigan Tech, is the only one with college experience, while Ben Garrity and Cameron Rowe are both freshmen.
I’d expect Beydoun to get the start, based purely on his experience level. In three years with the Huskies, Beydoun started 28 games, though just five last season. His best year was 2018-19, when he played in 11 games and boasted a 1.98 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Beydoun’s numbers dipped last year, but given that he’s got years more college experience than the others, he figures to be the starter.
Goaltending is one of the things that led to Wisconsin underperforming last year, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Badgers are able to tighten things up in net this year. My hot take is that this version of Wisconsin, despite losses like Alex Turcotte and Kalnyuk, is more balanced and could end up being much more successful than last year’s team. No one report me to Old Takes Exposed if I’m wrong though, please!
What I’m watching for: Arizona State at Michigan
The Sun Devils have come a long way since the last time Michigan played them in 2017-18. They were on the cusp of their first NCAA Tournament berth when the season was canceled, and they also bring back 51% of their goal-scoring from last season — more than anyone else in the Big Ten. The Wolverines, meanwhile, lost four of their top five goal scorers, including Jake Slaker who led the team with 14.
Here’s what I’m watching for in this series.
James Sanchez’s return to Yost
The last time Arizona State came to Ann Arbor, James Sanchez was on the home bench. After that season, Sanchez went back to the USHL and then transferred to the Sun Devils. Last season, Sanchez scored 10 goals and added 30 assists for 40 points in 36 games. He led Arizona State in points and had a clear breakout year in his first season in the desert.
Most of last year, Sanchez centered a line with Johnny Walker on his wing, and Walker finished second on the team with 38 points. The duo had an impressive season in their first year playing together, and I’m interested to see if that continues. Because Arizona State is bringing back so much of its offensive output — and the odds are high that early in the year, offenses will be better than defenses — it should be fun to watch Sanchez this weekend.
The Michigan freshmen make their debut
It’s the obvious answer, but it’s also easily the most intriguing aspect of this first weekend. Michigan has an incredible amount of talent joining the roster, and the time has finally come for them to start their NCAA careers. The first and most interesting thing for me is where the forwards slot into the lineup. I won’t embarrass myself with a projection, because I truly have no idea what the lines will look like on Saturday afternoon.
Mel Pearson said Monday that all of the freshmen are making strong cases to be in the lineup. I don’t expect we’ll see Josh Groll or Steve Holtz, but all the rest — Kent Johnson, Brendan Brisson, Thomas Bordeleau, Matty Beniers, Philippe Lapointe, Owen Power and Jacob Truscott — should be set to make their debut.
As regular Fresh Ice readers (or general college hockey fans) know, Johnson, Beniers and Power are high first-round prospects for the 2021 draft. Brisson went 29th overall to Vegas this year, and Bordeleau followed him shortly after at 38th overall to San Jose. They’re all incredibly talented, and it’s going to be very fun to watch them play college hockey this year. I’m just excited that it’s finally happening.
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