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Michigan hockey playoff collapse leaves tourney hopes in jeopardy — Naurato vows, ‘never again’ 

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•03/11/25•

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Michigan Wolverines hockey Brandon Naurato (Photo courtesy: Michigan Photography)
Michigan Wolverines hockey Brandon Naurato (Photo courtesy: Michigan Photography)

Michigan needed one home win over Penn State in a best of three Big Ten Tournament series to all but clinch an NCAA Tournament berth. Instead, the Wolverines lost two straight to the Nittany Lions, after which their chances dropped from 85 percent to 42 to make the field of 16. 

It wasn’t exactly a stunning collapse given the way U-M had played all year, especially with how PSU was playing coming into the series. The Nittany Lions had been one of the hottest teams in the country, and they took the fight to the Wolverines in both games. But it’s still a disappointment for a proud program that’s been to three straight Frozen Fours.

Now, all they can do is hope. 

“It’s tough,” head coach Brandon Naurato told reporters in the postgame. “It’s disappointing. Obviously, there’s a chance that we can be in the tournament, but we won’t know that for a couple weeks. 

“It’ll be a long couple weeks. Credit to Penn State for the weekend and their staff and their team.”

The Wolverines were outskated and didn’t get great defense or goaltending in 6-5 and 5-2 losses. Logan Stein had been playing well with fellow goaltender Cameron Korpi sidelined with an injury, but he wasn’t as sharp as he’d been in previous weeks, especially a home series win against Minnesota. 

There were several reasons for the Wolverines’ difficulties this year — an 18-15-3 record and fifth place Big Ten finish. The biggest, though, was late defections of elite talent Naurato expected to return in 2024-25. All of the sophomores considering a return left, Seamus Casey waiting until May to make his decision and Rutger McGroarty departing only weeks before the season began.

Naurato vowed he wouldn’t get caught off guard again. 

“We’ll see what our fate is the next two weeks,” Naurato said. “[But] Michigan will never be in this spot again … ever, ever, ever, ever, as long as I’m here. We know the core of [the issues]. It’ll never happen again.”

A bold statement given how tough the Big Ten has become. Even so, the fourth place Wolverines had a chance with its depleted roster to punch its NCAA Tournament ticket, but didn’t bring their ‘A’ game when needed most. PSU consequently leapfrogged the Wolverines in the pairwise rankings — U-M sits at 14 its fate now resting in other teams’ hands.

“Overall, [we lacked] a sense of urgency,” Michigan Naurato said. “A bounce here, a bounce there … but we didn’t do enough to guarantee a win in 60 minutes.”

Two nights in a row, in fact, putting them in unfamiliar territory in needing help to continue their season.

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