The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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puck, didn't compete physically in the offensive zone. Never made it hard on the goalie. "'This isn't about standings. It's about doing things right, and if you stay in the process, you execute, and if you focus on forechecking and your defensive zone, the score will look after itself. We weren't competi- tive enough. As a group, we weren't good enough. As a coach, you have to look at yourself. This was unac- ceptable.' "Babcock's final comment is, 'Ev- ery time you think you have it going, you don't. Just stay scared and life is good.' And that's how I feel. We have to stay on edge and play on edge. And then when the weekend is over, we can see where we are." Too often in the second half of the regular season, the Wolverines ended a weekend without the two wins they coveted. U-M earned just a single sweep in 10 conference series, win- ning back-to-back games only three times despite 17 chances to do so. A team that was on fire in the first half of the year, ranked third nation- ally after racing out to a 9-2-1 start, before a 1-2-1 December, and a cer- tain lock to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, stumbled within the Big Ten (finishing in third place, 12 points behind regular-season cham- pion Minnesota) while putting its NCAA hopes in jeopardy; the Maize and Blue entered the Big Ten Tour- nament March 20-22 ranked 12th in the Pairwise and needed to be in the top 14 (ideally better) to feel com- fortable going into Selection Sunday March 23. U-M could also receive a bid by winning the Big Ten postsea- son event. "The Pairwise is a convoluted, al- gebraic formula that can be difficult to predict, but at the end of the day, winning is all that matters, and that's all Michigan controls," TheWolver- ine.com analyst Noah Ruden said. "No matter what happens, they con- trol their own destiny." HEIGHTENED EXPECTATIONS In securing an NCAA bid in a col- lege hockey-record 22 consecutive seasons from 1991-2012, the Maize and Blue created a myth that the pro- gram was infallible. Yet every other major program in college hockey has struggled some over the past de- cade — Minnesota missed the NCAA Tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2011; Boston College missed in 2009, and was bounced in the first round in 2011 and 2013; and on it goes through Wisconsin, Boston University and more. Michigan could have seen its streak end in 2006 or 2010, eking into the na- tional postseason each year. When it BY THE NUMBERS: MICHIGAN'S START & FINISH Oct.- Jan.- Category Dec. March 16 Record 10-4-2 8-8-2 Vs. Ranked Foes 3-0-2 2-5-1 Goals For 2.94 3.28 Goals Against 2.00 3.06 Save Pct. .940 .910 Power Play Pct. 20.6 19.7 Penalty Kill Pct. 80.3 82.8