Sam Bernardi has been writing for Maize n Brew since 2024, covering football, recruiting hockey, and more.
The Michigan Wolverines have been left out of the NCAA Hockey Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
It's a disappointing, albeit expected end to an inconsistent campaign for head coach Brandon Naurato's squad. The Wolverines finished a shade over .500 at 18-15-3 and were fourth in the Big Ten at 12-10-2.
A home-ice sweep to Penn State in the conference tournament quarterfinals all but sealed their fate, and now the Children of Yost will endure a long, seven-month wait until their team returns to action.
You can criticize Naurato all you want, as there were plenty of frustrating moments this year. Whether it was a lack of discipline (tied for fifth in the nation in penalties taken), an inability to put together complete weekends, or a run-and-gun tempo that sometimes left the goaltending duo out to dry, Michigan never fully looked the part of a tourney team.
But remember this is a coach who was thrust into the spotlight after his predecessor Mel Pearson's sudden removal. Not to mention, he has taken Michigan to two Big Ten Championships (winning one) and two Frozen Fours in two seasons.
No, this team was not perfect, but it's important to keep perspective on Michigan hockey's recent history. The Wolverines were gunning for a fourth consecutive Frozen Four appearance, a rare feat in any sport but particularly one with such a physically and mentally taxing postseason.
Even with all that went wrong, Michigan was firmly on the bubble for most of the season. Had it gotten past the Nittany Lions in the conference tournament, we could be forecasting the Wolverines' path through an NCAA regional.
This is just the standard for Michigan hockey. Anything less than dominance is viewed as a failure, but there is still plenty to be excited about for a team that finished 15th in PairWise.
Michigan will lose a few core players to graduation this offseason, including defensive stalwarts, captain Jacob Truscott and Ethan Edwards, heart-and-soul power forward Mark Estapa, and goaltender Logan Stein, to name a few.
However, there is still an exciting returning group of young players that had to absorb losing five of its top six scorers from a year ago. Leading scorer junior forward TJ Hughes is an NHL free agent and should be back for his senior campaign. He recorded at least one point in 18 of his final 19 games and ended with 15 goals and 23 assists.
Montreal Canadiens first-round draft pick Michael Hage was the conference freshman of the year, tallying 13 goals and 21 assists. He's an immensely talented young player, but could still use a year or two of development at the collegiate level.
The team added freshman forward Will Horcoff midway through the season, but also had to deal with sudden departures by graduate defenseman Tim Lovell and freshman forward Christian Humphreys.
Freshman Cameron Korpi split time with Stein and appears set to take over. He went 7-6-1 with a 3.08 GAA and .904 save percentage. Korpi has all the tools to become an excellent college goaltender.
There are plenty of other key players, such as Evan Werner, Garrett Schifsky, Jackson Hallum, and Nick Moldenhauer, who will need to grow from this painful experience and lead the next generation of Wolverines back to the postseason.
A strong group of returnees, a legitimate goaltender, and potentially some major reinforcements from the CHL bode well for a bounce-back 2025-26 campaign.