The Michigan: is it a smart move?

A debate on whether or not the “Michigan goal” is a smart hockey play has been alive since 1996 when the first televised goal was achieved by University of Michigan player Mike Legg. Directly after that inaugural goal, Legg recalls being regularly threatened on the ice for trying to “embarrass” the other team. Since then, the move has been considered highly controversial.

15 NHL players have made 26 attempts at the move, with only five successful tries, totaling a 19.23% chance of a goal. With Canada’s recent 5-2 loss to Czechia in the IIHF World Junior Championship, in which two players attempted and failed to score with The Michigan, hockey lovers everywhere are questioning whether or not the move should even be considered an intelligent play.

The Michigan is recognized for its lacrosse-style nature, in which a player skates behind the net and uses their stick to lift and rotate the puck into the top corner of the goal. Without a doubt, the move looks insanely cool.

The first successful NHL Michigan attempt comes from the Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov against the Calgary Flames in 2019. The move gained later immense popularity after Anaheim Ducks player Trevor Zegras scored two Michigan-credited goals and assisted Sonny Milano in an insane goal that was a variant of the move. Cumulatively, clips of those three goals gained more than one million views on YouTube.

Since then, players everywhere have been attempting the move. However, with such slim chances of success at only 19.23% at an NHL level, is trying the play a smart idea? Even Svechnikov and Zegras have only made 50% of their Michigan attempts. Not to mention, legendary players like Auston Matthews have never made any of their attempts, and Sidney Crosby has only made one pre-NHL before attempting two in his professional career.

With all of this in mind, Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators, who have a 1-2 record using The Michigan, has said he thinks goalies are beginning to get better at protecting the corner of their net, stating, “I think guys have started to realize it’s actually a pretty effective try.”

Similarly, Bill Armstrong, the coach that taught the move to Mike Legg, responded to criticizers of the move by saying, “That’s the kind of mindset that keeps the creativity out of the game…anybody who frowns upon it, a. they can’t do it and b. they don’t have the vision and the skill for the game.”

The real question is should players go out of their way to attempt a Michigan, or should they leave it as a last-resort emergency move? Furthermore, is the move braggy and an attempt at gaining praise, or is it a demonstration of genuine talent and skill?