Shaved Ice – March 25

What a weekend.

The Red Wings swept the Ducks in a weird Friday/Sunday series at the Honda Center, topping Anaheim 5-1 on Friday, and 2-1 last night.The Michigan natives played big roles in both wins; Justin Abdelkader had a hat trick on Friday, while Drew Miller scored the game-winner last night.

Abdelkader’s first NHL hat trick means he’s our Michi-gamer of the weekend – after all, who embodies Michi-gamer status better than a guy who grew up in Michigan, played college hockey in Michigan, and now plays pro hockey in Michigan?

Speaking of college hockey in Michigan…that’s ended sooner than we would have liked. For the first time since 1979, Michigan’s NCAA D1 schools have been shut out of the NCAA Tournament. The last glimmer of hope for the streak to continue was the Wolverines winning the last-ever CCHA title and gaining an automatic bid to the postseason tournament – but the Fighting Irish spoiled that with a 3-1 win yesterday at Joe Louis Arena in the final CCHA game.

The Wolverines’ remarkable streak of 22 straight NCAA Tournament appearances now comes to a close, as well. Our friends at the Michigan Daily have assembled a terrific infographic and storyline revisiting the top moments from the program’s historic string of successes.

Michigan connections did pretty well at Friday’s CCHA Awards show, however. Click here to see who took home some new hardware.

The Plymouth Whalers hold a 2-0 lead over the Sarnia Sting in their first-round series to kick of the 2013 OHL Playoffs. After a lopsided 11-2 win on Friday, the Whalers bested the Sting 3-2 yesterday. The series now shifts to Sarnia for Games 3 and 4, to be played tonight and Wednesday night, respectively.

Things aren’t going as well for the Saginaw Spirit; they’re now down 2-0 in their series against the top-seeded London Knights. You can’t fault Red Wings prospect Jake Paterson for the latest Spirit loss, however – the Saginaw netminder stopped 67 shots (no, that’s not a typo) yesterday. 

Washington, Mich., native Austin Czarnik’s speech after winning the CCHA Player of the Year Award Friday evening at the Fox Theatre. 

The Boston Herald has a nice article about Livonia native Torey Krug and how the former MSU captain is improving in the defensive zone – making him one step closer to being NHL-ready.

Dallas captain Brendan Morrow has been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which increases the chances of that team that few like around here winning another Stanley Cup.

Steve Yzerman made his first big firing over the weekend, removing Guy Boucher from the Lightning’s bench.

Ilya Kovalchuk’s out with a shoulder injury for 2-4 weeks.

The NCAA Tournament bracket is ready for you all to fill out, even though there are no Michigan teams included.

Save of the year? I think so…

See you later today.