University of Michigan Hockey Breaks Record: The All-Star Team Created

Superteams are a recent phenomenon and have begun appearing all across professional athletics. Well-known examples include Duke University’s 2018-19 championship basketball team, the Brooklyn Nets, and Alabama’s football program—all of these teams have had a large number of all-star level players, which allowed them to succeed. The University of Michigan’s 2021-22 hockey team will be no different.

Michigan Hockey has accumulated nine NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championships in division one—the NCAA record—since its founding in 1923. These wins all occurred before the year 2000, but the team’s stretch of mediocrity may come to an end with the 2021-22 season.

photo by tony schnagl from pexels

In hockey, players are drafted by professional teams, but may still play for their college team. A player can be drafted as a freshman in college, and still has the ability to play for their next three years of eligibility. 

In the 2021 National Hockey League (NHL) Draft, three of Michigan’s players were selected in the first picking round. Additionally, Luke Hughes, a freshman joining U of M’s program this season, was selected fourth in the first round. This left Michigan Hockey with a record-breaking collegiate hockey team: claiming four of the top five first round picks in the 2021 NHL draft. Selected first in the 2021 draft was defenseman Owen Power. Next, center Matthew Bernier. When Kent Johnson was selected fifth, Michigan was officially the first program to ever have three players drafted in the first round, let alone the first five. 

With these select all-star players, multiple others who were drafted later, and with a successful previous season, Michigan claimed the number one spot in preseason rankings. 

To get an insider scoop on this team, the Wind-Up spoke to Michigan’s Director of Hockey Communications, Ms. Kristy McNeil.  

“There are definitely expectations on this team, given the talent level, but the team is very good at not being influenced by outside noise,” Ms. McNeil said about the confidence of a team with so much talent, “They have a saying, ‘control what you can control,’ and they truly believe in it.”

Not letting expectations and uncontrollable variables affect them, the team is focusing on their game. However, there remains a prevailing connotation that this team is destined for success. 

“You can have the most talented players—but can they play together as a unit? Can they read each other?” These questions will be answered as the season progresses, but we can also look back at previous seasons for information, too. “This team is pretty cohesive. With COVID-19 last year, the team went from home (where they all live together) to the rink and back. So, they really bonded with how much time they spent with each other,” Ms. McNeil added. 

With all superteams, there is worry about egos and teammate chemistry. For example, when the Houston Rockets Basketball program had both James Harden and Chris Paul, they still could not win consistently. According to Bleacher Report, Their combined egos and disapproval of one another led to them not being able to work together on court. It doesn’t matter if you have the best players, if they cannot work together for the team, the team will not work. 

“They are confident players: with or without the draft. They know their strengths, and are aware of their weaknesses. There are really no egos this year,” Ms. McNeil said, “When there’s seven first-round picks in the locker room, I think it’s hard to have an ego.”