London Jr. B hockey player scores using The Michigan — with a twist

In the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, a Jr. B league based in southern Ontario, London Nationals’ forward Riley Wood scored using “The Michigan” or “The High Wrap,” a reference to the goal made famous by Michigan Wolverine Mike Legg and invented by former NHLer Bill Armstrong.

In a Jan. 11 game between the Nationals and the Sarnia Legionnaires, Wood did what London Free Press hockey writer Ryan Pyette called “a forward Michigan,” a variant of the famous goal with deep ties to the London, Ont. hockey community. According to the Free Press’ original story:

Some of Wood’s Nationals teammates are calling it the Wood-reau (rhymes with Johnny Gaudreau). The play started with Wood coming off the right-side boards and collecting a rebound off the Sarnia goalie, who was well out from his net at the left post after just making a save, Wood then scoops the puck up like a lacrosse player and balances it on his stick blade. There are no opposing players nearby, just him and the goalie, who is recovering from his previous save.

Wood shockingly skates right around the goal and starts moving toward the area behind the Sarnia net while balancing the puck on his stick blade. He appears set to go fully around the back of the net. But then the left-shooting Wood – with the puck still on his stick blade – somehow turns his stick blade sideways without dropping the puck, curls it back straight, reaches toward the front of the net and essentially slam dunks the puck into the top corner.

“I’ve messed around at practice and tried it out more recently. I’d fool around with the puck and see what I can get away with,” Wood told the Free Press. “At the moment I thought, why not? The puck was rolling so I felt confident I could do it. So I just went and did it.”

The lacrosse-style goal was invented by Armstrong, a native of London, while he was a hockey camp instructor. Throughout the ’90s, he scored eight goals using the move as a professional in the AHL and now-defunct IHL. However, the move was made famous when fellow Londoner Legg performed the move during the 1996 NCAA Hockey Regionals between Michigan and Minnesota.