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10 seconds was all it took for the Wolverines to take over this game. Boo Nieves took the puck behind the net off the opening faceoff and slid a feed to Justin Selman; their first shot was a goal and it was off to the races.
CIS games over the years have been a landmine for the Wolverines. They've lost a few, players have been injured in others. Tonight, everything went right.
Michigan dominated this game, out-shooting the Blues 54-12. The Toronto goaltender Michael Nishi stood on his head for the first period while the Michigan forwards bombarded him with rubber, but after stopping 33 shots and only allowing 1 the floodgates opened and it was a rout.
Zach Werenski would add two highlight reel goals and JT Compher would add two himself. The blueline contributed three goals and two other goals were scored off of shots from the blueline.
It's difficult to take away positives from an exhibition game, especially one where every player was doing things right, but I did come away with some promising thoughts.
Boo Nieves looked great. His passes were right on the money and he created a half dozen quality scoring chances for his linemates.
The freshman played well. Kyle Connor had a few good shots and looked great carrying the puck. He also had a good night as a forechecker.
Warren had an easy goal off a Cutler Martin shot; the puck came from the left and he sat on the right waiting for the goalie to redirect it right at him. Remember that goal, because you will be seeing Brendan Warren light the lamp from that spot.
Marody played center and held his own pretty well. He had a good night on the boards and came away with three assists.
The goalies didn't see a ton of quality looks but the best scoring opportunity came from Toronto's Mathew Campagna; a guy who scored 80 goals in the Ontario Hockey League slipped past his defender to go 1-on-1 with Chad Catt, but Catt got his leg extended from the butterfly and denied it with his toe.
Overall it was a nice night and most importantly no one got hurt.
Up Next: Michigan opens the regular season with Mercyhurst on Friday the 16th.