Huge Night For Hage As He Helps Michigan Advanced to Big 10 Semifinals

With that performance, he now ranks 3rd in points among all NCAA players with 49 points in 35 games, trailing only Gavin McKenna and Ethan Wyttenbach. Hage also has the most assists in the entire NCAA with 37. With that being said, he has proven to be an elite playmaker that can be a game changer at both the collegiate level and the World Juniors, where he led the way with 13 assists in that tournament as well.

The next step is whether he can translate his playmaking skills to the NHL once he arrives at the end of March or early April after his college season with Michigan. With the way Hage and his teammates are playing in Michigan right now, there is a good chance that it could be a while before we see him in Montreal, given how the Wolverines should be going far in the Frozen Four Tournament at the end of March.

Hage helped open the scoring with a defensive play along the boards, where he sent the puck out of the zone to a streaking Jayden Perron, who drove up ice on a 2-on-1, where he would snipe the puck past the Notre-Dame goaltender to give Michigan a 1-0 lead. While Hage didn’t create the scoring chance, he still made a very smart play to get the puck out of harm’s way and showed why he’s also a solid 2-way player in the NCAA. He is more than just an offensive threat, as it seems his all-around game has developed a lot this season.

Where Hage has proven to be at his best is on the power play, where he always gets the puck along the half-wall and can scan the play for the best pass for a goal. This was exactly what he did to create Perron’s 2nd goal of the game that put Michigan up 3-0.

On yet another power play, Hage battled in the corner for the puck, where he was able to get the puck to his long-time partner in crime this season, Pittsburgh Penguins prospect William Horcoff, who scored his first NCAA playoff goal. This play showed that Hage can make plays through contact, which should be something that can help translate his playmaking abilities to the NHL, where hitting is a bigger part of the game than in the NCAA.

Hage’s next assist came from winning a defensive zone faceoff right to his teammate, who was able to shoot the puck right into the net from their own zone to put the nail in the coffin and give Michigan a 5-1 lead. A little later, Michigan would score another goal on the Notre-Dame netminder that lead to the game finishing 6-1.

Hage managed to get two primary assists, all in different ways; two of them he played a big role in, while the other two were little things he did right that helped his teammates get their goals. Michigan already has a berth in the Frozen Four Tournament regardless, but they have now advanced to the Big Ten Semifinals, where they will play McKenna and Penn State for a shot to win the Big Ten.