The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 49 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE A fter a 7-5 exhibition win over the United States National Team Devel- opment Program Jan. 3, the No. 1-ranked Wolverines jumped back into Big Ten play by hosting Notre Dame Jan. 9-10 at Yost Ice Arena. Despite winning the two games by a combined six goals — 5-2 Friday and 7-4 Saturday — and coming out of the weekend with a four-point lead in the Big Ten standings over second-place Wis- consin, the Wolverines had a bitter taste in their mouths. Freshman netminder Jack Ivankovic was — seemingly inadvertently — slid into by Fighting Irish junior forward Danny Nelson early in the second period of the second game and went down with a leg injury. The Wolverines are 18-4, marking their best start to a season since 2007-08, but will be without Ivankovic, a second- round NHL Draft pick to the Nashville Predators, for a significant amount of time. At the time of his injury, he was tied for 13th in the country and third in the Big Ten with a 92.7 save percentage and also led the nation in wins. "I don't want to talk about medical stuff, but he's going to be out for a long time," said Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato. "We'll have to adjust, and then just be there for him and his recovery and get through it together." Michigan committed 11 penalties (81 minutes) in the 7-4 win, and the Irish were whistled for 15 (92 minutes), most coming when the game got chippy after Ivankovic went down with the injury. "I am proud of the guys for sticking with it and sticking up for each other," Naurato said. "It's tough, especially when they see things happen to some of our top players. It's hard. It'd be easy to figure out if it was pro hockey, but it's not. A bunch of col- lege kids are walking that line of discipline and trying to win the game for Michigan and personal pride and taking care of your buddies. I'm just really proud of the guys. "This team is tight, and you never know what type of game you're going into. We have to be able to win every type of game." STEPHEN PECK IS THE MAN IN NET FOR NOW Freshman Stephen Peck faced 21 shots and gave up 3 goals in his first taste of game action — no Wolverine other than Ivankovic had been in net this season prior to the injury — with only one other goalie on the roster in sophomore Julian Molinaro, who transferred in from North- ern Michigan. Peck, a New York, N.Y., native, stepped up, and while he hadn't played in a reg- ular-season game, he did just see action against the USNTDP since Ivankovic was with Canada at the World Juniors Cham- pionship. "It's tough to come in at that time of the game," Naurato explained. "I thought he made some big saves early and got ac- climated. "That's the message to these guys. It's an analogy for life, 'No matter what happens to you, how are you going to re- spond?' It's not the situation that hap- pened — it's what we do next. I'm just really proud of him for that." Peck did allow Notre Dame to get on the scoreboard three times, but Michigan outscored the Fighting Irish 5-3 after he was inserted on the ice to earn the 7-4 win. "You just stick to your routine," Peck said, per MLive. "For me, it was just some breathing work and just positive self-talk. Then all you can do is just battle your way through the game." The Maize and Blue have a manageable stretch coming up with no ranked oppo- nents until hosting No. 2 Michigan State Feb. 6 and playing the Spartans in Detroit the following night, though they will head on the road in their next two series, at Minnesota and Ohio State. ❏ ❱ MICHIGAN HOCKEY Michigan Loses Star Goalie To Injury Junior forward Garrett Schifsky had 2 goals and an assist to help lead the Wolverines to a 7-4 win against Notre Dame Jan. 10 and secure a two-game sweep over the Irish. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY 2026 U-M HOCKEY SCHEDULE (18-4 OVERALL; 9-3 B1G) Date Opponent Result/Time (TV) Jan. 3 U.S. NTDP U-18 Team* W, 7-5 Jan. 9 NOTRE DAME W, 5-2 Jan. 10 NOTRE DAME W, 7-4 Jan. 16 at Minnesota 8 p.m. (B1G+) Jan. 17 at Minnesota 7 p.m. (B1G+) Jan. 30 at Ohio State 6:30 p.m. (B1G+) Jan. 31 at Ohio State 5 p.m. (B1G+) Feb. 6 Michigan State 7 p.m. (FS1) Feb. 7 vs. Michigan State# 6:30 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 13 PENN STATE 6:30 p.m. (B1G+) Feb. 14 PENN STATE 5 p.m. (B1G+) Feb. 20 at Wisconsin 8 p.m. (B1G+) Feb. 21 at Wisconsin 7 p.m. (B1G+) Feb. 26 MINNESOTA 6:30 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 27 MINNESOTA 6 p.m. (BTN) Mar. 5 SIMON FRASER* 7 p.m. 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 Eastern; * Exhibition games; # Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena