The year is 2021, and it seems like every other day we see a ambitious young hockey player attempting to pull off a lacrosse-style goal in game. We even recently saw a fake out that also resulted in a goal. That style of goal is widely referred to as the “Michigan,” although not everyone necessarily knows why.
The “Michigan” gets its namesake from the team of origin, as it was scored by Mike Legg for the University of Michigan during the 1996 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament. It has now been scored in NHL games, first by Andrei Svechnikov and since by Filip Forsberg. It has also been attempted by others like Ryan Getzlaf, Tyler Ennis, and most recently, Trevor Zegras.
We’ve also seen it pulled off in other high-level hockey, including Nils Hoglander potting one during the World Juniors.
Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of Legg’s goal.
While modern day commentators would have recognized the “Michigan” immediately based on how popular it’s become, it’s cool to listen to these two discover the incredible goal for the first time. There’s no name for it, there’s no precident… they just have to try to make sense of what they just saw.
From all of us across the hockey world, thank you Mike Legg for bringing this goal into the spotlight.
(H/T University of Michigan Hockey)
