Hockey: Belated Important News

Just to clear up any confusion: Montoya is officially gone. I thought that this post said as much but a couple people have wondered why I didn't say anything about it. I'd just like to announce that it's not because I've crawled into the fetal position and sobbed. No, I'm saving that for Jack Johnson's departure.

Some good news on that front, though: Michael Spath says that he believes there's a "90% chance" Johnson plays for Michigan next year. That's speculation (though informed) on Spath's part. GBW is apparently putting someone on the hockey beat and in a post at USCHO he says:

I've been trying to get in contact with Jack since yesterday afternoon but we keep playing phone tag. We did chat for a quick second and he told me that the rumor that he would sign before his freshman year was nothing but a rumor.

So he'll probably be a Wolverine next year. Past that? Well... Michigan graduates no defensemen in 2006 but has recruited Chris Summers and Stephen Kampfer. If you do the math it says "Hurricanes."

Just to reinforce how much you desperately want to see Johnson in Maize & Blue:

After the Carolina Hurricanes drafted defenseman Jack Johnson No. 3 overall in the NHL draft Saturday a rival general manager stopped by to add another layer to Johnson's reputation as an intimidating body checker.

According to Hurricanes GM Jimmy Rutherford, the rival happened to ask another prospect what he feared most. It's a standard question used to help teams acquire a psychological profile of a potential draft pick.

"Usually the players say spiders or something like that," Rutherford said, laughing. "But when they asked this kid what he feared he said, 'Jack Johnson.'"

Lifted from this USA Today article. More on Gojira in the article, including a discussion of his ability to hip-check. The last hockey player anywhere I saw lay out a hip check was former Michigan defender Mike Roemensky, who was often erroneously called for tripping by The Incompetent Mike Wilkins when he broke it out.

Also, Johnson charged the mound once playing baseball to defend teammate Sydney Crosby. (Boston Fan in Michigan just went "rowr" to herself.)