Beniers, Michigan, Beat Gophers

Michigan freshman forward Matty Beniers, of Hingham, MA. (right), mixes it up with a Wisconsin guy last Friday night in Madison. Beniers scored a goal and tallied two assists in his team’s 5-2 win on the road.  The 6? 1? 175 lb freshman is first on his team in goals scored, with nine, and is tied for fifth in assists, with ten.  Michigan, 14-9-1, and ranked #6, plays
Michigan freshman forward Matty Beniers, of Hingham, MA., readies for a face-off with a Minnesota guy last Friday night in Minneapolis. Beniers scored a goal and added two assists in his team’s 5-2 road win. The 6′ 1″ 175 lb freshman is first on his team in goals scored, with nine, and is tied for fifth in assists, with ten. Michigan, 14-9-1, and ranked #6, plays next on Sunday, March 14th, in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals against Ohio State on the campus of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana.  Read all about Beniers, the Michigan team, and the mess that is my interpretation of the conference playoffs, in today’s post.

College Hockey Update:  Last week half of the top twenty teams were involved in top twenty matchups, as Boston College edged up to #1 after hosting and beating Northeastern, knocking the Huskies down two spots to #20; and North Dakota edged down to #2 after hosting and losing to Nebraska-Omaha, which edged UNO up to #11.  Minnesota edged down to #4 after hosting and splitting with Michigan, which edged the Wolverines up to #6; St. Cloud State held at #8 after hosting and beating Minnesota-Duluth, as the Bulldogs held at #9 on the results; and Bemidji State moved up two pegs to #15 after splitting with Lake Superior (Bemidji also went on to sweep Alabama-Huntsville on the weekend), as the Lakers moved up two rungs to #18 (LSSU also hosted and beat Ferris State on the weekend).

Mankato State edged up to #3 after hosting and sweeping Michigan Tech; and Wisconsin held at #5 after hosting and sweeping Michigan State.  Massachusetts-Amherst edged down to #7 after hosting and tying Maine; and Boston University edged up to #9 after settling on a tie at Massachusetts-Lowell.  Quinnipiac edged down to #12 after hosting, and splitting their weekend with, Colgate; Providence dropped two notches to #17 after its loss at Connecticut; and Notre Dame reentered the top twenty at #19 after sweeping its weekend at Pennsylvania State.  An idle Bowling Green held at #13; idle Clarkson held at #14; and idle American International held at #16.

COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE FEATURED PLAYER

Last weekend Michigan had huge help from freshman forward Matty Beniers, of Hingham, MA., who scored a goal and added two assists Friday night in his team’s 5-2 win at Minnesota.  The 6′ 1″ 175 lb freshman is first on his team in goals scored, with nine, and is tied for fifth in assists, with ten.  He played on the 2021 USA U-20 World Junior Championship Gold Medal Team, the 2019 USA U-18 World Championship Bronze Medal Team, and the 2017 U-17 Four Nations Silver Medal Team.  He lettered in both hockey and baseball at Milton Academy, ten miles south of downtown Boston.  Matty originally committed to Harvard, but reneged and headed to Ann Arbor instead.  His father, Robert, played football at Cornell, and his brother, Bobby, plays hockey at Williams.  At least that’s what the Michigan hockey website says, and if his brother has graduated from Williams and they don’t have that right on the Michigan website, then I know nothing about it.  There’s only so far I track this stuff down . . . .  Matty is now eligible for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.  His hometown of Hingham, MA., was settled by English colonists in 1633, and incorporated in 1635.  Today it is home to 22,000 residents spread among its twenty-two square miles on Hingham Bay of Boston Harbor, fourteen miles southeast of downtown Boston.  Retired NHLers Tony Amonte and Marty McInnis, and current NHLer Brian Boyle, were all born and raised in Hingham.

Friday night in Minneapolis Thomas Bordeleau scored for Michigan fifteen minutes into the first on a power play for the 1-0 lead they would take into the first break, despite Minnesota having all the momentum and dominating Michigan in shots, sixteen to five.  The second started out evenly and defensively-focused; Minnesota scored ten minutes into the period to tie it at 1-1. Michigan picked up the pace and Kent Johnson scored two minutes later (assisted by Matty Beniers) for the 2-1 lead; and Jack Summers scored with a minute left to give Michigan the 3-1 lead going into the second break, after Michigan outshot Minnesota nine to four.  Minnesota felt the heat and came out charging in the third, and managed a goal twelve minutes in to narrow it to a 3-2 game.  Three minutes later Nick Granowicz scored (assisted by Matty Beniers) to give Michigan a 4-2 lead, and with about ninety seconds to go, Minnesota added the extra attacker, but Matty Beniers found the empty net only seconds later for the final score of 5-2, Michigan. Saturday night Minnesota scored at the sixteen minute point for the 1-0 lead, and Nick Blankenberg scored a minute later to tie it at 1-1, which stood going into the first break. Minnesota narrowly outshot Michigan eight to six in the period.  Minnesota’s twelve to eight shot advantage in the second only proved productive on a power play goal twelve minutes into the period, and it stood 2-1, Minnesota, going into the second break.  Four minutes into the third Minnesota scored to extend their lead to 3-1.  Michigan pressed through much of the later third, and Jack Becker struck with three minutes left to make it a 3-2 game.  Shortly after that goal, Michigan added an extra attacker, and a minute later it was Minnesota’s turn to score an empty netter, making the final 4-2, Minnesota, the teams splitting the weekend.  Michigan outshot Minnesota ten to seven in the final frame.

The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 in Detroit, and moved to Ann Arbor in 1837.  Today its 30,000 undergraduates and 16,000 graduate students are enrolled on its 860 acre campus upon which 584 buildings are located.  Michigan has thirteen undergraduate schools and colleges, and eighteen graduate schools and colleges.  The late President Gerald Ford was a Michigan Alumnus.  Michigan is a member of the Big Ten, and its teams are called the Wolverines.  The Hockey program started in 1920, and has won nine NCAA Championships, the most of any school; its most recent titles were won in 1996 and 1998.  Michigan plays its games at Yost Ice Arena, which was built in 1923 as a field house, and was converted to an Ice Hockey Arena in 1973; it seats 5,800.  Mel Pearson is in his fourth season as Michigan’s Head Coach, and his teams compiled a 53-45-14 record in his first three years, including a 22-15-3 record, NCAA Tournament appearance, and Frozen Four appearance in his first season.  Pearson played college hockey at Michigan Tech, graduating in 1981, and then coached for 23 years at Michigan as an assistant to Red Berenson; he then left Michigan to become the Head Coach at Michigan Tech for six seasons.  In 2014-15 his Michigan Tech team went 29-10-2 and appeared in the NCAA Tournament; in 2016-17 his Tech team went 23-15-7 and also appeared in the NCAA Tournament.  He succeeded Berenson, who retired in 2017 after 33 years as Head Coach at Michigan.  Michigan, 14-9-1, and ranked #6, plays next on Sunday, March 14th, in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals against Ohio State on the campus of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana.

THIS WEEK — CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS

Some tournaments are listed at best of three, but seem to have scheduled only one game per round; some teams have dropped out for the remainder of the season because of the virus, which changed the pairings/byes in tournaments; some dates have changed at the last minute. With that said, here we go . . . .

Atlantic Hockey

First round (supposed to be best of three but I only see one game played) games started early this week, and Holy Cross also dropped out, advancing RIT on a bye to play Canisius. Niagara beat Mercyhurst Monday night to advance to play against Robert Morris, and Bentley beat Air Force last night to advance to play against American International.  This upcoming round is best of three at higher seed.  Semis and final are all single game elimination in Buffalo on March 19 and 20.  This weekend’s (Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13) best of three pairings will be:

  • Bentley at #16 American International
  • Sacred Heart at Army
  • Niagara at Robert Morris
  • Rochester Institute of Technology at Canisius

Big Ten

Very straightforward.  #5 Wisconsin has a bye, while the other six teams will play in pairs as quarterfinals.  All games of the entire tournament are single game eliminations at Notre Dame over the course of just three straight days:  Quarterfinals Sunday, March 14; Semis on Monday, March 15, and Final on Tuesday, March 16.  Pairings for this weekend’s (Sunday, March 14) quarterfinals are:

  • #4 Minnesota vs. Michigan State
  • #6 Michigan vs. Ohio State
  • #19 Notre Dame vs. Pennsylvania State

ECAC

Only four teams played this season.  I can find pairing for the four teams for Thursday, March 18.  With that late date I’ll assume it’s single game elimination.  And with no location listed, I’ll assume games at higher seed.  While I’m assuming away, I’ll assume the final is Saturday, March 20th, at the higher seed.  So:

  • Colgate at #12 Quinnipiac
  • St. Lawrence at #14 Clarkson

Hockey East

First round is TODAY — AS IN about an hour from the time of  this post.  All games, start to finish, are single elimination at higher seed.  Merrimack dropped out, eliminating a first round game, and advancing #20 Northeastern on a bye to play at #7 Massachusetts.  #1 BC and #9 BU await the results of today’s games, and the fourth quarterfinal, this weekend Sunday, March 14, will be #17 Providence at Connecticut.  The semifinals will be on Wednesday, March 17th, and the final will be on Saturday, March 20th.  So for today, March 10th:

  • Vermont at UMass-Lowell
  • New Hampshire at Maine

NCHC

Very straightforward.  Eight teams, no byes, all games at North Dakota from start to finish, and all games are single elimination.  Quarterfinals are this weekend, and semifinals are on Monday, March 15, and the final is on Tuesday, March 16.  So:

  • Friday, March 12
  • #2 North Dakota vs. Miami of Ohio
  • #8 St. Cloud State vs. Colorado College
  • Saturday, March 13
  • #9 Minnesota-Duluth vs. Western Michigan
  • #11 Nebraska-Omaha vs. Denver

WCHA

Fairly straightforward.  All games played at higher seed, start to finish.  Eight out of the ten teams played this season, so it’s an eight team bracket of four pairs in the quarterfinals, this weekend (Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13), and they’re going for a best of three in this first round.  Semifinals on Friday, March 19, and Final on Saturday, March 20.  So, for this weekend’s best of three:

  • Alabama-Huntsville at #3 Mankato State
  • Northern Michigan at #13 Bowling Green
  • Michigan Tech at #15 Bemidji State
  • Ferris State at #18 Lake Superior State

I can’t help but think something will pop up as incorrect in there, but that’s what I’m reporting as of today . . . .

This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=226 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom


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