With back-to-back stellar recruiting classes and four of the top five picks in last year’s NHL Draft, there has been a lot of hype surrounding Michigan for a while now.
That hype, however, hasn’t led to anything worthy of hanging on a banner, yet. Michigan finished fourth in the Big Ten last year and bowed out of the conference tournament after the semifinals before positive COVID-19 tests ended the Wolverines’ NCAA tournament run before it started.
This year the Michigan surrendered the regular-season title to Minnesota on the final weekend, who it will get another crack at this weekend in the Big Ten tournament championship game.
“There’s been a lot said about this team starting last year and then through the draft and into this year, so (there’s) a lot of pressure on these guys and they have high expectations,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said on Tuesday. “They’re built to succeed, (and) we have all the ingredients that we need to have success.
“Whether it’s a Big Ten banner or beyond that, there’s room for both. All you can ask is to do what you need to do and give yourself that opportunity. That’s why you come to Michigan, to win championships.”
Minnesota winning the Big Ten regular season means Saturday’s game will be played in Minneapolis, but that’s not concerning for sophomore forward Thomas Bordeleau.
“It kind of fires us up,” he said. “Obviously, Yost is super electric and is, I think, the best building to play in (but) when you go on the road and the home team gets cheered on and us getting booed it’s just extra motivation and an extra little push. It’s going to be insane; it’s going to be really a fun atmosphere to play in.”
Names like Bordeleau, Owen Power, Matty Beniers, Luke Hughes and Kent Johnson tend to steal the headlines, but Pearson highlighted another player on Tuesday, goaltender Erik Portillo.
“I wouldn’t trade him for another goalie in the country right now; he’s been our MVP,” he said of Portillo, who had 19 saves in Michigan’s 2-1 victory over Notre Dame last weekend, its first over the Irish this season. “I can’t vote for my own players, but he would have gotten my vote for Big Ten goalie of the year. I think he gets overlooked because of all the talent we have.”
Minnesota and Michigan went 2-2 against each other this season with each team winning once on the road, so Saturday will be a grudge match. Unlike the 2013 Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone movie of the same name, Saturday’s contest would probably garner more than a 31 percent rating if Rotten Tomatoes did college hockey games.
“I wish I could be a fan and just sit back and relax and watch the game because I think it’s going to be a heck of a hockey game,” Pearson said. “They’re good, they’re deep. The main difference is they’re older, they’ve got the experience and some of their best players are their older kids.”
Pearson added that he expects a close game, not only on Saturday but for as long as Michigan continues this season.
“These games are going to be tight,” he said. “It was good for us to play Notre Dame and paly in a game like that because from here on out that’s how games are going to go. Everybody’s knocked this Michigan team of being young, too young. ‘We’ve seen it before you can’t win with the young teams,’ so we’ve got a lot to prove.”
