It was an interesting dynamic in the media room after tonight's game in Pegula Ice Arena.
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” was blaring from the Michigan Wolverines locker room after they demolished Penn State 7-1, as Coach Guy Gadowsky made his way to the podium for his post-game press conference.
It was quite the juxtaposition, the sounds of a team that seemed to have all the right answers, with a coach looking for any answer.
When Gadowsky was asked what his team's problem was, he said, “We’re relying on skill, we’re a lot more skilled…and we’re relying on it.”
“It is going to be a long season if we rely on that”, he continued.
In a game that looked like a heavyweight battle for the first 8 minutes, turned into a rout by the Michigan Wolverines.
Make no mistake about it, Penn State has a problem on its hands. It seemed to me that Michigan won every puck battle. It also appeared that way to Gadowsky.
“We weren't winning pucks at either end of the ice,” he replied when asked if they lost too many battles in the offensive zone.
Michigan seemingly did what it wanted the whole night, and Penn State was hanging on for dear life. The final score was 7-1, but trust me, it wasn’t that close.
Additional thoughts:
Gavin McKenna was invisible for most of the night. In fact, the only statistical evidence that he played was his -4. showing up on the score sheet.
Photo Credit: Jordan Tucek There were a few flashes of his skill set, but they were quickly overshadowed by bad turnovers that led to chances the other way. His turnover on the power play directly resulted in a short handed goal being scored to open the scoring in the first period.
Look, McKenna is a talented player, but he’s experiencing significant growing pains here at the collegiate level. Simply put, he needs to increase his tenacity in the defensive end of the rink and limit the turnovers.
His turnover in the first period was a sloppy play entering the zone, and then he watched his teammate lose puck battle and walk in all alone on their goaltender. I'd love to see a little more drive in his back checking, gliding after losing the puck and watching hoping your teammate can handle it might cut it in the WHL, but less so in the NCAA, not to mention the NHL. Defensive awareness is something McKenna urgently needs to add to his game.
Frequently, he looks like someone who is waiting for the puck to find him, relying too much on his teammates to get him involved. I’d like to see him be more aggressive to create turnovers so he can translate his defense to offense.
I spoke with numerous hockey people in the arena on Friday night, off the record, and there was a general acknowledgment of the difficulty some players face when transitioning from the CHL to the NCAA, especially at such a young age. I can elaborate in a follow-up post, but for now I’ll just leave it at that.
Will Horcoff of Michigan, was the best player on the ice frequently throughout the night. Penguins fans should be thrilled with Kyle Dubas' 24th selection in this past summers NHL Draft.
With Michigan leading 1-0, they forced a turnover as Penn State was flying the zone a little early, and the puck ended up on Horcoff's stick in the lefthand circle with nobody between him and the goaltender. He made no mistake about it and buried the puck for his NCAA leading 12th goal of the season.
It is hard to single out Horcoff when his entire team was so dominant, but every time he was on the ice, you noticed. His huge frame, matched with his hands is something that will have Penguins fans hoping he makes his NHL debut after the NCAA season concludes next spring.
With a lottery pick playing on Penn State in McKenna, it was striking to see how much better Horcoff looked. I'm not suggesting that Horcoff projects to have a better NHL career than McKenna, I am just highlighting what a steal Horcoff might be for the Penguins.
Hats off to Kyle Dubas and his staff for turning their draft capital last year into Ben Kindel, Bill Zonnon, and Will Horcoff in the first round.
Michigan looks to be a powerhouse. They were absolutely toying with the Nittany Lions most of the night.
It was like a cat toying with a mouse that was stuck in a trap. Except that trap was Penn State's defensive zone, and the cat (Michigan) was more of a Lion.
If Penn State in any way sees itself as a National Championship contender, they should look down the visitors' runway and see what one looks like.
No Penn State players were available for comment after the game, as they were having a players-only meeting. Players-only meetings tend to happen when things are not all right, and right now in Hockey (Happy) Valley, things are anything but pleasant.
Nice scouting report. 👍