The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 57 ❱ MICHIGAN HOCKEY 'MASSIVE' DECISION Senior center T.J. Hughes decided to come back to Michigan (again), intent on leading the Wolverines back to the Frozen Four even after pacing the team in points (38), goals (15) and assists (23) and earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. "It's massive. Massive," Naurato said of Hughes coming back. "He's earned that seat 10 times over. He's had NHL deals on the table the last two years, and he turned them down to come back to Michigan." It means a lot to Naurato and the team, and says quite a bit about Hughes as a Wolverine. On Aug. 20, Hughes was named Michigan's 106th-all-time cap- tain. "[Legendary former football coach] Bo Schembechler's 'Those who stay will be champions,' mantra … well, T.J.'s a Michigan man," Naurato said. "For him to come back — he didn't need to, es- pecially in this landscape — is special. I hope that I can tell his story for a long time as he leads this team to the places that we want to go to." Key returners like Hughes and soph- omore forward Michael Hage — the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year who finished second on the team in scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 as- sists) — have meshed well with the many newcomers. 'THIS IS A GROUP THAT CAN RESPOND' Naurato didn't get into specifics about what areas Michigan needed to work on coming out of last season. Those aren't as important, after all, as having the right people in the right spots. The Wolverines know that finish- ing 46th nationally in the power kill (.773) and 53rd in scoring defense (3.28 goals allowed per game) weren't good enough, but it's not about the systems, it's all about the group of guys he has running them. "When we have stretches where we're really good, I would hope that we've got the right type of people that they're confident and they keep pushing for- ward and keep putting in the work," Naurato said. "There are going to be times throughout every season where you go through slumps and you're trying to find it and you go through adversity, and I feel like this is a group that can re- spond. "For whatever reason last year — I feel like I know the reasons, I don't need to get into it — but when it wasn't good, we didn't have a response last year. And, my first three years, we did. I think we have the people that will respond or push it over the edge, and I'm just really excited about this group. "Every day at practice, how hard they compete, how close they are as a group. People talk about that all the time, but they're just always together. To date, we're in a really good spot, but everyone feels like they're in a really good spot in September, so give me a shout in two months." 'BIG-TIME GOALIE' HIGHLIGHTS GROUP OF NEWCOMERS Michigan will be better in the net, having landed freshman goalie Jack Ivankovic, who most recently played for Brampton in the OHL and was selected No. 58 overall in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft by the Nashville Preda- tors. Ivankovic won gold with Canada at the U18 World Championship this year, posting a .956 save percentage, earning the event's Best Goaltender honors and landing on the all-star team. "Obviously, we're really excited about Jack Ivankovic," Naurato said of the Mississauga, Ontario, native. "We feel that we have a big-time goalie in the net." Junior defenseman Ben Roberton was another big pickup, this one in the transfer portal from Cornell. The 6-foot-1, 197-pounder recorded 7 goals and 31 assists in 71 games over two sea- sons with the Big Red. "Ben Robertson might be the most undercovered defenseman in college hockey," Naurato pointed out. "He's go- ing to play a major role." The Wolverines also have a star- studded freshman class, which made up six of the program's seven NHL Draft picks this year. They'll play right away, but also be stars down the road. "We've got guys that will play up and down the lineup this year but I think are going to be really, really, really high-end, All-America players their junior year," Naurato said. "We've got guys who were drafted early in the NHL Draft — forwards Cole McKinney and Malcolm Spence and defenseman Henry Mews. … They're freshmen, but really they're the age of [former players Rutger] McGroarty and [Gavin] Brindley and [Seamus] Casey as sophomores. They're 19-year-old freshmen. That was good, too, to bring in even some other freshmen that are 20-year-olds, to get some more matu- rity early." ❏ MICHIGAN 2025-26 HOCKEY SCHEDULE Date Opponent Location Oct. 3 MERCYHURST Yost Ice Arena Oct. 4 MERCYHURST Yost Ice Arena Oct. 10 at Providence Providence, R.I. Oct. 11 at Providence Providence, R.I. Oct. 16 ROBERT MORRIS Yost Ice Arena Oct. 17 ROBERT MORRIS Yost Ice Arena Oct. 23 WESTERN MICHIGAN Yost Ice Arena Oct. 24 WESTERN MICHIGAN Kalamazoo, Mich. Oct. 31 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. Nov. 1 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. Nov. 7 WISCONSIN Yost Ice Arena Nov. 8 WISCONSIN Yost Ice Arena Nov. 14 at Penn State State College, Pa. Nov. 15 at Penn State State College, Pa. Nov. 21 OHIO STATE Yost Ice Arena Nov. 22 OHIO STATE Yost Ice Arena Nov. 28 at Harvard Cambridge, Mass. Nov. 29 at Harvard Cambridge, Mass. Dec. 5 at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. Dec. 6 MICHIGAN STATE Yost Ice Arena Jan. 3 U.S. NTDP U-18 Team* Yost Ice Arena Jan. 9 NOTRE DAME Yost Ice Arena Jan. 10 NOTRE DAME Yost Ice Arena Jan. 16 at Minnesota Minneapolis Jan. 17 at Minnesota Minneapolis Jan. 30 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio Jan. 31 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio Feb. 6 Michigan State Yost Ice Arena Feb. 7 vs. Michigan State# Detroit Feb. 13 PENN STATE Yost Ice Arena Feb. 14 PENN STATE Yost Ice Arena Feb. 20 at Wisconsin Madison, Wis. Feb. 21 at Wisconsin Madison, Wis. Feb. 26 MINNESOTA Yost Ice Arena Feb. 27 MINNESOTA Yost Ice Arena Mar. 11 Big Ten Quarterfinal TBD Mar. 14 Big Ten Semifinal TBD Mar. 20 Big Ten Championship TBD Mar. 27-29 NCAA Regional TBD Apr. 9-11 NCAA Frozen Four Las Vegas All Times TBA * Exhibition game # Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena