The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Brandon Naurato

Starting point is 00:00:05 Welcome once again to the sheet. Jeff Merrick along with you. We are inside the University of Michigan Wolverines locker room. And have a peek around at some of the big names, whether it's Horkoff or Hage or Ivan Kovic. It is a star-studded lineup that Brandon Nerato, head coach of the University of Michigan, has put together. You know, at the beginning of the season, a lot of us looked at this team and said, they're good, but we don't know if they can be great.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Still a little bit on the young side. Maybe next year will be the year for the University of Michigan. Brandon Norado heard that. He saw all the stories. He heard all the reports, all the prognostications about what was going to happen to his team. And as we sit here right now in the middle of January, 2026, he has the number one team in the nation. Did Nerato always know it was going to go this way?

Starting point is 00:00:59 That's one of the questions we asked, the head coach of the University of Michigan, Wolverines, Here's Brandon Nerato on the sheet. When you hear the term, the Michigan experience, what does that mean to you? What is the Michigan experience? Culture, good dudes only, walking into the rink every day with a smile on your face and excited to get better every day. Who best exemplifies that on your team? On our team? T.J. Hughes, for sure, as the lead.

Starting point is 00:01:42 and the captain of our team. But I think the best thing that's happened is our, our upperclassmen, our leadership group. They take so much pride in getting these guys, these young freshmen acclimated to the season early before we even get on the ice. I think the off ice chemistry is everything, right? And that goes back four or five years to that leadership group,

Starting point is 00:02:02 and they just kept going. When you're putting a team together, right? There's the skill. And not that I'm necessarily a big, like, oh, he's a great guy in the room. he's a great guy in the room because at the end of the day they don't flood the room. Yeah. But at the same time, how much does that matter? I think people are everything. You've got to have a blend of everything. I think no matter what your

Starting point is 00:02:24 role is, you have to identify your role and embrace it. So that could be everyone's got to check, but that could be the power play guy versus the PK guy. Even with our team this year, it's depth. Everyone's contributing, but you've got to contribute in your way. So what's your superpower? And then what are some areas of improvement? I want to go through some of the players, but first I want to talk about you and your experience here. I'm going to assume that starting in the position that you have now, how much of it was intimidating because of, you know, the weight of history

Starting point is 00:02:59 and, you know, every game, you know, Red Berenson's there, you know, the eyes of Red are watching every single game. Like, is part of that, like, intimidating for you? I know you've been, you know, around hockey for a long time played, obviously. And was any of that like, wow, this is really something? I've never thought about the word intimidating. Maybe feeling a little bit of pressure. You act that you don't.

Starting point is 00:03:20 But when you reflect back on it, there might have been a little bit of that. Red Barents, and similar to what I mentioned with the leadership group earlier, he's been unbelievable. Obviously, so much respect for him as a legendary coach and a man when I was here as a player, way, way more respect for him now sitting in this seat and understanding how, all the decisions go through you. And he's just been, he's been a great mentor. He still comes in, eats his popcorn, sits in the perch, one to two days a week for practice.

Starting point is 00:03:50 He's always at both games. You know, he's kind of looking down on you. But everything that he says when he reviews the weekend, he's bang on, he still got it. One of the sharpest people I know. And when he talks, you listen and just learned a lot from him. How much do you lean on him? A decent amount. I mean, I'd say he's a piece of the puzzle, just like our staff,

Starting point is 00:04:12 lean on the players as well, just to get the overall pulse on where we're at and take all the information in and make the best educated decisions. All right. I'm curious about the pitch. When you're pitching a kid on Michigan, what does it sound like? What are the notes that you hit? Every kid's different, but the notes are, you know, do you want to play in the NHL? Who's got the most players in the National Hockey League?

Starting point is 00:04:36 It's University of Michigan. We've been, our staff's been here for four years. We have 19 players signed NHL contracts. 18 of them have played NHL games. The line from Bo Schembeckler, those who stay will be champions. Somebody might stay for one year and sign and go to the National Hockey League. Someone might stay for four years and get their degree and so go to the National Hockey League.

Starting point is 00:04:57 But it's about more than just playing in the NHL. It's about staying there. And it's growing up as from growing as a little boy as a freshman. to a man when you leave here. And there's a lot of stuff that goes into it. So we take major pride in the development piece, our style of play, our culture, but more than anything, it's the habits and routines of these kids and helping them grow up to be high-performing people.

Starting point is 00:05:22 I was going to say, how much, like, the way that you coach this team and all the players that have, that have gone through while you've coach them, like, is the style that you coach sympathetic with how they coach and how they play in the NHL. Essentially what I'm getting at is, how much of a jump is it? Like, how much do players need to learn how to play an NHL style versus a college style game? Yeah, it's a good point.

Starting point is 00:05:47 Like, so there's definitely differences. We go down a rabbit hole on this, but like for our style of play, we want to develop pros, right? So a simple example is we're not going to play a trap because our forwards are skating backwards. It doesn't allow them the development skills or the individual skills of angling, stick detail, and attacking. We want our guys to attack all the time. The puck is gold. When we don't have it, we want to get it back as quickly as possible. And then when we do get it, we want to hold on to it. We want to attack our three core competencies, our track or die,

Starting point is 00:06:21 win the net front and be connected. But just going back to our style of play, we want these guys to be creative. We aren't to be predictable and responsible to each other. But we want their their biggest attributes to shine. We don't want to hold you back. And then through that, there's going to be failure. And failure is great. That's how you grow. We talk about failing forward a lot. That's the maturing part of a young prospect. And the best part about Michigan is we're okay with you failing. We want you to. And it's not about losing ice time or us, you know, getting on you. We understand that they're young kids and we want to help and get to the next step. How do you know when you have someone? Like, is there like one piece we're like, oh yeah, we got them.

Starting point is 00:07:01 We got them. Oh, I thought you meant, like, when you have someone as in, like, a big recruit and the right type of player. That's what I mean, like, when you're like, I'll say, like, you know, Hage or Spence or Ivan Kovic or something like that, like, is there a moment where you're like, okay, that's the closer. Yeah. Now I know. I would feel like people, we want people that are excited to come to Michigan. It's not a stopgap. Like, you're going to be a part of this family, whether you play one year or four years for the rest of your life.

Starting point is 00:07:27 And it's, it's the biggest alumni network in the world. And there's a lot of people out there that want you to have success on and off the ice. So we want people that want to be a part of that. I mean, obviously, that's a big part of the pitch. Yeah. Like, that's a big part of the cell, like joining the community. I'm going to guess, though, that it helps having X. NHLers who went here at games.

Starting point is 00:07:50 You know, kids come and they see XNHLers up there. We've already talked about Red. Like, is that part of the lure for a lot of kids? That'd be a good question for the kids. We had two alum back that didn't play in the NHL. They, you know, on a weekend sweep, we always sing the fight song. So they jumped in, right? Like, what an experience to be back and relive that.

Starting point is 00:08:12 Dylan Larkin's been in the children of yost and ringing the cowbell. And Zach Werenski has Werenski warriors up in a suite and we bring different nonprofit organizations in every game and he's back. Guys are here all the time. I think Jack Johnson just brought his family back earlier in the week. following his retirement. So like I said, guys like Jack that played 1,500,500 games in the NHL and he's like a little kid in a candy store, bringing his kids back for the experience at Yost. Before we get to some of the kids here, I want to ask about the nature of, like, this is the first year.

Starting point is 00:08:46 Like, we're all wondering, okay, what's it going to be like now that, you know, CHL players can now go and play Division I college hockey? What from your point of view has the experience been like? Because we all went into the season going, we don't know what it's going to be like. We have no clue. Yeah. How has it been for you? I think the experience has been unbelievable.

Starting point is 00:09:04 How I would explain that is players from 18 to 21 have been coming to college hockey for years, and they happen to play in leagues outside the CHL. It's new, but they're still 18 to 21-year-old college freshmen. So learning a new routine, learning new time management, some guys that aren't coming right out of high school, maybe have taken a year or two off of school or taking some community college classes. like any young man, they're adjusting to a new environment. And I think guys are doing a great job of that.

Starting point is 00:09:35 I think that it's only going to make the CHL stronger. You know, it should help the USHL as well. And then college hockey's never been better and it's going to keep going up. And I think guys are seeing how hard it is in a great way. Just like making the jump to pro, it's an adjustment. And you just got to keep, you know, identifying where you're at and how you're going to get to the next spot. You know, that's kind of where I wanted to go with. It's like, where is this all headed?

Starting point is 00:09:58 Again, we're still in the first season of this, but like, project like three years, five years, 10, if you feel bold. Like, where is this all heading? Yeah, it's, the one thing I'll say right away where it's heading is, gosh, there's so much depth in college hockey from all, all 64 or 65 teams. I think it's just another opportunity that if a junior player wants to sign and play pro, good for you. That's an option. If you want to come to college for one year or four years, great. That's an option. Just having more, it's not a plan B.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Every player's plan A is to play in the National Hockey League. But to have some other options outside of that when your hockey career is over and whether it's getting a degree or building your network at a school like the University of Michigan, you know, sky's a limit. I feel like every parent that's a dream when your child comes out of the womb, you just want them to be in an environment where they can grow as young people. Okay, some of the players. Michael Hage specifically. how close is he to playing in the NHL? Yeah, just like all these young guys, it's the NHL is the NHL,

Starting point is 00:11:03 and it's the best league in the world for a reason. I don't think anyone's ready for it, but I'd bet on a guy like Michael that when he gets there, he's going to have some success, he's going to take his lumps like every other young prospect, but I'm betting on him to figure it out. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:11:19 What do you like most about his game? I mean, Canadian hockey fans got like a full look of, yeah. Michael Hage at the World Junior. So like if there ever was a secret, the secret's out about Michael Hage. What does the coach think? When the puck's on his stick, he's a threat, dynamic, electric, always a threat with the puck, always attacking with speed, his ladder mobility, elite playmaker.

Starting point is 00:11:40 I think he's added a lot to his shot and his goal scoring ability, elite on the power play. And these are things that he's worked on. He's obviously always been a really good player, but he's taken major strides in a lot of areas. Malcolm Spence, Rangers prospect. How's he been for you? Malcolm's been unbelievable. What's that quote? There's two types of people in this world, people that give you energy and people that take it.

Starting point is 00:12:04 He's that guy where if he's sick for a day and he's out of the locker room, the locker room energy is different. He brings energy every day. You know, obviously really good with the puck offensively, but 200-foot winger, hard to play against, never stops. Yapp and at the other team brings us bench energy. He's unbelievable. You know, he was one of those guys. He was one of the OGs. Like, wow, Michigan got Spence.

Starting point is 00:12:27 Yeah. Michigan got Ivan Kovic. Like he was, like, when that happens and you guys put it out on social media, like, what's, like, what goes through your mind when you finally release that? Because there is that element of like, we got one, we got another one, we got another one. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's a good feeling. We went through a lot of that. You hope that, I think last year with all those kids going through it for the first time, I think it took longer than usual.

Starting point is 00:12:52 I think there were a lot of kids and maybe still some that were afraid to let their current team know that they were not going to be back the following year. And that's just a part of the change in landscape. I think it's important for us to communicate with USHL and CHL head coaches and GMs and build those relationships so that there's clear communication. But I think going forward it's going to be a win. And when they want to announce it, it's just the next step in their career, just like signing. That's an interesting point too because you're right. Like there were a lot of kids that were like, when do I tell my teammates?

Starting point is 00:13:27 Like I don't want them to think that I'm like quitting on the team. This is just like the next stage in my development. Like are we going to get to a place where CHL teams and college teams sort of work together with players to put together a plan? Like can you see that on it? It has happened with some players, obviously. But do you see that as like that next step? Yeah, no, I hope so.

Starting point is 00:13:50 communication and trust or everything, we would want to have the trust with a junior team that if, you know, they draft that player at 16, maybe they commit to us at 16 or 17, and now there's communication as to when they come in and what their development plan looks like. It's very similar on the other side to us with the National Hockey League. And whether guys sign and start the American League or they go right to the NHL,

Starting point is 00:14:15 we're communicating with GMs, assistant GMs, directors of player development, all in hopes to build the best version of that prospect so that when they're ready to play in the NHL, they go. Sometimes they go when they're ready. Like I mentioned before, who knows when you're actually ready? Sometimes they go a little bit early, but we're not going to stop that. So I see the other side too.

Starting point is 00:14:37 You know, I'll give you an example. Rucker McGority signed in September last year, which is tough for our team. Like right at the beginning of the season, you lose them. We're ecstatic for Rucker, right? and talking to Pittsburgh, you get on the same page. I understand, you know, where they're at and we're supportive because what are you going to do about it? So now it's just next man up. Ruckers moved on to the next step.

Starting point is 00:15:00 We're proud of them. We're happy for them. We're rooting for them. So just communicating with these guys that maybe around Christmas time or January coming back from World Juniors, hey, where are you at next year? Are you 100% going to sign? Frankie Nazar told me at Christmas, I'm signing, coach. I said, awesome.

Starting point is 00:15:16 You know, let's try and win at Michigan. Let's do this. And hopefully you can finish your year and put a Blackhawks uniform on it. And I'll credit to him and he went and did it, you know, and good for him. So that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to move these guys on and whatever their dreams are, those are our goals and our dreams. And we just want to keep pushing the next level whenever they're ready. You still sort of keep tabs on or follow, you know, the Fantilles and Nazars, like guys that have gone through with you on the bench.

Starting point is 00:15:44 I feel like it's a bunch of kids, a bunch of little brothers that I've had the opportunity to be a part of their journey. And you know these guys well. You've been through every emotion with them, the highs and lows. So you're rooting for them. You know, usually you don't talk to them when they're on a hot streak. You talk to them when they're slumping a little bit. But just huge fans of these guys and rooting for them. And they all come back, like we mentioned earlier, alumni weekend and they come train in the summers.

Starting point is 00:16:11 and they do some skates around Plymouth as well. So it's a great group and a great environment. And a lot of guys are buying houses and in the area in the summer. That's awesome. Jack Ivan Kovic. So as we record this right now, last night against Notre Dame,

Starting point is 00:16:25 he was injured. But, and we cross our fingers and hope that Ivan Kovic's good because there's nothing like, and you know, this is a coach, nothing like having a great goaltender. Oh, yeah. To clean up mistakes.

Starting point is 00:16:38 Yeah. You have a quick thought on Ivan Kovic. And how is that recruiting? our goalie's different. Is there something unique about recruiting goaltenders? Jack was great. Obviously, you're dealing with the family, the agent, the kid. He's the backbone of our team. You know, like what's it look like next year when you talk to all these recruits? I think it's easier to talk to an 18 or 19 year old and they know exactly what they're walking into for the following year versus projecting a 16 year old three years out. We don't promise anything. We didn't tell Jack you're going to play every game. We believe, he had the opportunity to and all he's done is taking it.

Starting point is 00:17:14 And I would say every player in our team would say he's the backbone of our team and our top player. That's why they want to protect them. But just a lot of respect for his routine, how he goes about his business. Very, very confident, but you'd never know it on the outside, very humble and just that confident swagger. I think it bleeds out into our team that, you know, we feel like we can stand 10 feet tall when he's in the net. I'm curious about position to position to position. Is there maybe it's forwards, maybe it's defense, maybe it's goaltending, is there one position that the jump from junior hockey to college is the most difficult?

Starting point is 00:17:54 Yeah, that's a good question. I'd probably say goaltending would be the toughest, but there's different analogies with defensemen and forwards. You know, scoring is probably the hardest. you know, scoring 100 plus points in the CHL or the USHL. And for that to translate, does it usually translate to a point of game? It usually does, but it's just harder in college hockey. And it's harder because the majority of teams play four lines and they play 60 and they're bigger, faster and stronger.

Starting point is 00:18:26 Like, you have to really fight for that space. And junior hockey is a lot of rush and power play. That's not a knock. It's, you know, and then there's the next step to college where, It's more forecheck and ozone and Dzone coverage. And then the National Hockey League would be the pinnacle of that. You really have to work everyone tracks. You're not going to get as many two-on-ones.

Starting point is 00:18:47 You're not going to get as many power play opportunities. So you really have to earn that space against men every single night. When you look at your team, like we went into this season and said Michigan's going to be a good team. There's a lot of young players on this team. We'll see how it goes. And you find yourself as we record this as the top team in the country. Yeah. I know that's always the plan.

Starting point is 00:19:06 but as part of you like, hmm, yeah. Look at us with the top team of the country. No, we're feeling good and we're excited about the start. I sound like a coach. There's a lot of work to do. You can always be better. And it's my job to push these guys

Starting point is 00:19:19 and helping be the best versions of themselves. But yeah, I don't think people did, you know, they picked us to be fourth in our own league out of seven teams. And that's fine. It's good motivation. There's been other years we've probably been overhyped. So it's just good to earn it. It's good to prove it.

Starting point is 00:19:34 Like I said, we have a lot of work to do. We felt really good about this group, bringing in 14 new players. And then, you know, you hope it works out. But it's the people. It's the depth. Everyone you saw, like, I think our fourth line had, you know, six points between them this weekend. And we're in on five or six goals. Like, that's depth, you know, and guys that are usually in checking roles, everyone can score, everyone checks.

Starting point is 00:20:00 And, you know, they're learning what winning hockey is as they become more mature as a group. college hockey as an entity seems to have like a real momentum and I think a lot of that is based on more exposure than ever before. And obviously a lot of names going to college hockey. I'm curious about one thing specifically. How much has chicklets you help that? I think they've done an unbelievable job. Everywhere they go, that's the best place to play. And I say that in an awesome way.

Starting point is 00:20:29 But even us, like watching it as college coaches and players, it's really, really cool to see all these facilities, see how different coaches view the game and development, see how different players are gravitating towards different experiences. I think it's unbelievable. I think we need more of that, more ambassadors for college hockey. And that's spit and chicklets you. They're doing a great job. It really is remarkable because, I mean, they bring the cool into everything that they shoot. Yeah. Right? And it makes it look like, to your point, like the best place to play is wherever they are at that moment. Yeah. It's a great recruiting pitch, right? Because you really get to sell your program.

Starting point is 00:21:06 And for the young 12, 13, 14 year olds out there, they get to see what it's all about or get a little peek behind the curtain. So I think how they present everything is awesome and all the little stories, whether it's coach or players, it's pretty cool. What about your career path? I know you're happy here and you're successful.

Starting point is 00:21:23 And it's great. And you could probably stay here your entire career, I'm guessing, the next Red Barents. What's your path look like? I am in a great place right now. I love being at me. Michigan. I think the coolest thing for me outside of from a hockey standpoint is I have a 10 year old son and eight year old daughter. My wife and I met at Michigan. She's a graduate of Michigan.

Starting point is 00:21:45 My grade point went up quite a bit after I met her. But we're so happy here being in the community and, you know, have aspirations to be the best at what I do and what our group does and just trying to get better every day, what the future holds. You know, we'll see. But there's a lot of work to do at Michigan before I think about anything outside of that. And the reason I ask is, I mean, every summer when there are coaching vacancies, like now more so than ever, college coach's names are out there. You know, first while or Carl, like the names are all out there every summer. And they should be.

Starting point is 00:22:26 Those guys have done an unbelievable job. Obviously, winning the national championship, it's easy to give them. that credit, but knowing both those guys personally, the cultures they've built at their team, how their teams play, how they develop hockey players, you know, that's what college hockey is about. It's about moving everyone on. I think that you're probably going to see more of a trend of college coaches going that route. It has nothing to do with anybody else, but think about it. Like, you are a CEO. It's recruiting, it's fundraising, it's retention with the transfer portal now and all the NIL. The landscape and the rules are changing every day. You got to find a way to

Starting point is 00:23:04 build a better mouse trap. So there's a lot more going on than just the luxury of coaching, which is what drives all of us. And then for me personally, like my passion is the mentorship with these kids. Like obviously, you know, a guy like Will Horcoff being ranked in the third round and going in the first round or having X amount of goals last year and now doing what he's doing, we take pride in the development, but all credit goes to the kid. There's a lot of stories that we won't get into in our conversation of off the ice and how kids have grown as young men. And that's really what we take major pride in because there's a lot of pressure for these guys. What's your biggest challenge recruiting players right now? Negative recruiting from other programs, straight up. In what sense?

Starting point is 00:23:52 False information. And not that we're dealing with anything. I think that's the beauty of our staff and Michigan is this is what it is and if you want to be here we love to have you and if you don't that's fine there's there's a lot of other good programs out there but some of the stories being told uh not just from us you you learn a lot about other people um and that's not a that's not a shot everyone i'm just being myself uh we know what we're selling i think we've proven it it's taken time in the four or five years that i've been here um but you know, the proofs in the pudding, you know, and we stand by what we do and development is at the core. And that's not just skill development.

Starting point is 00:24:33 That's your body in the sports science, the analytics, the skills on the ice, the style of play, dealing with adversity, earning your opportunities, earning your role, taking steps in your role, and then just being great people in the community. So there's a lot of different areas that we're covering from our coaching staff to the extended staff. And I think the sign of a good program is your people. This is a kind of sensitive one. I want to frame it in a very specific way. Given the climate between Canada and the United States right now,

Starting point is 00:25:08 does that present or has it presented any challenges when recruiting Canadian kids? Maybe not with the kids, but maybe with the families. It has not provided any challenges. It's too bad. being a Detroit kid, going to sleep every night to Don Cherry and Channel 9 on my little seven-inch TV. That's what I fell asleep to every Saturday night. I watched all the Rockham Sockhams. We're 30 minutes from the border. You feel like sometimes you're, and a lot of these guys are dual citizens. So your message, like someone's watching this right now, a kid in his

Starting point is 00:25:46 family and he's thinking about Michigan. What do you want that player and what do you want that family to know. Yeah, you want to be the best version of yourself. You want to get pushed. You want to fail forward. You want to have the best time your life and smile every day when you come into the rink to play hockey, which is what we're all fighting for. You want to be a part of the largest alumni network in all of college athletics and learn to be a high performing person. Come to Michigan. You know, we just take pride in, we're not perfect, but we take pride in helping these young men grow up. And it's a fun brand of hockey. Do we as a group want to win national championships and Big Ten championships? Absolutely. I'm just as proud of the academic success. But if anyone,

Starting point is 00:26:34 I said this to the guys the other day, if they talked about Michigan when I'm long gone in 20, 30 years, I want us to be known for how we play the game. I want it to be this beautiful game of hard hockey like last night. You stick up for your teammates. You take it to the net. But this beautiful puck possession game where the puck is gold and it's always on our stick. Every area of the game, I would want our program to be known as for our style of play, it is the most beautiful game out there. Do you think the game is trending back to that style of hockey? Like a tougher brand, like I'll frame it this way.

Starting point is 00:27:12 Whenever I go to games now, it doesn't really matter what level. I always come away asking myself the same question, and that is, where did all the bad skaters go. Yeah. Right? I'm sure like when you were young, you'd watch a game like, yeah, that guy can't skate. Yeah, that guy's not a good skate. Everybody can shoot. Everybody can shoot. Yeah, I was the bad skater that could shoot the puck a little bit. But like, where did all like, when everyone has like a baseline of skill, like is that extra sort of intangible that teams are looking at exactly what you're talking about and that kind of sort of toughness? Absolutely. I think the technical skills, uh, like my son Leo's 10 years old,

Starting point is 00:27:47 I think they're better than ever. These kids are way better shooting. passing, the stick technology, the skate technology from younger ages. To me, it's, it's the hard skill. You know, it's the puck protection. It's taking it to the back post. It's killing plays. It's closing the physicality. That's what makes real hockey players, Florida Panthers, who wins in the playoffs. Those are the guys that we want, not just the point production. Points are what everyone wants to do, especially at the younger levels, myself included as a kid, we need that as well. We need the scores.

Starting point is 00:28:23 But for our scores as prospects to develop into NHL players, they need to learn how to check. They need to add that hard skill. And at the same time, that's what's going to give Michigan a chance to win a championship. You have a lot of star players on your team. Who are some of the players or maybe who is the player that we don't talk enough about? The player that we don't talk enough about that I think a lot of people are talking about would probably be Josh Earnesey. We know about our captain, T.J. Hughes and the other high draft picks in Horkoff and Hage and Spence and McKinney. Josh Earnesey is a 6-3, 220-pound linebacker on skates that has major NHL interests right now.

Starting point is 00:29:05 Max Patcheretti, we've always been believers, but Max Patcheretti looking at our staff and saying this guy can play in the NHL on a fourth line for the next 10, 15 years gave it kind of the stamp of approval. He's added so much. He had one goal last year. He's got nine now at the break. He's added so much to his game and all credit to him. He's dialed in his routine. He's a leader. And he's making all these young guys better,

Starting point is 00:29:32 seeing what these pro habits look like. He weighs his food before he cooks it. He's doing everything the right way. Dialed. So, yeah, he's the guy. I remember having a conversation with Zach Hyman once about Michigan and Red Berenson. And listen, Zach, when he played junior in Ontario, high scoring, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:49 puck's going in, two goals a game, all that, and you got to Michigan, and it wasn't happening. Yeah. And he had the conversation with Red, and Red was like, look, when you're not scoring, you need to have a B game.

Starting point is 00:29:58 Yeah. You need to be able to develop like something else. You need to be able to contribute in another way. If your A game's not working, we need to develop a B game with you. And he didn't end up scoring

Starting point is 00:30:08 until, I think, like, his fourth year. Yeah. And he's playing with Dylan Larkin. And now the Zach Heimann story is, is well told. How much do you work with all these guys? And even like someone like,

Starting point is 00:30:17 H or Spence, like all your A-level guys on their B game. That's everything. Their B game is the only, and that's a red new better than anybody, their B game is the only way they can play in the National Hockey League. So I wasn't here for Zach Hyman, but I've talked to coach about his story and followed from afar. You know, a hundred point guy in juniors, I don't know, he floated around 10 to 15 points his first three years,

Starting point is 00:30:42 and then he took off playing with some skill with Dylan Larkin, but if he asked Dylan Larkin, I'm assuming he'd say, say that a guy like Zach Hyman made that line go. Luke Glenn Denning would be another one just played his 900th game. He was a freshman when I was a senior. If he asked Luke, after his freshman year, he went into Coach Berenson's office and asked if he was still on the team. I think he was going to go play division. I don't know if people know he's going to go play Division 3 football at Hillsdale Hillsdale College and played a fifth year of prep school. Didn't even play junior hockey, he walked on to Michigan, but it's a great story. The Hyman's, the Glenn Dennings. These

Starting point is 00:31:17 the type of people we want to win for Michigan to to breed this culture because they're winning people along with winning hockey players. And I think Luke added more skill, Hyman added more skill along with the hard B game. Just like Michael Hage has a ton of skill, now he's got hard skill. And he's continuing to take steps away from the puck and playing in his defensive zone and all that good stuff. This has been great. Good luck the rest of the way. Fun team to watch. We're having fun. If I could end with anything, it's culture is everything and it's all about the people and it's been really fun with this group. Just the positive vibes every day and these guys are really enjoying it. Okay, so here's the on the spot question. Is this the best team you ever coached? Yes. We've had more top end talent in the past with some of the names that we've talked about. This is the best team I've ever coached. And I'm very proud to say that.

The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Brandon Naurato

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