'Don't move on, just move forward': How hockey helped Michigan's Michael Hage overcome tragedy

By the time the 2024 NHL Draft reached pick No. 21, the Sphere in Las Vegas was vibrating with anticipation. Nearly 60 relatives and friends had traveled to watch Michael Hage, the slick center from St. Andrew’s College and the Chicago Steel, wait for his name to be called. When the Montreal Canadiens stepped up to the podium, Hage leaned toward his mother, Saba. “Surreal,” she whispered. “There’s no way you could’ve scripted it any better.”

Scripted or not, Hage’s journey has been anything but predictable. The 19-year-old sophomore now anchors the top line for top-overall-seed Michigan, which opens the NCAA tournament Friday against Bentley (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU) with the Frozen Four again slated for the same Vegas strip where Hage’s professional dream became reality last June. Yet the draft celebration is only one layer of a story forever altered a year earlier, on an otherwise ordinary night in June 2023.

The Hage family had gathered for a backyard barbecue at their suburban Toronto home. Kids zig-zagged between the pool and patio; music floated through the warm air. Between dinner and dessert Alain Hage—Michael’s father, financial analyst, immigrant from Egypt, lifelong Canadiens zealot—dove into the pool. Moments later a child’s voice rang out: “He’s playing dead.” Michael, sitting in the hot tub with a friend, sprang up, plunged in and pulled his father to the surface. Despite frantic CPR and the rapid arrival of paramedics, Alain died within an hour, the result of striking his head during the dive.

“I had so many questions,” Michael said quietly. “Like, why? Why me? Why our family?”

The answers did not come. Stability did. Saba urged her sons to live by a simple creed: “Don’t move on, just move forward.” For Michael, forward meant returning to the rink, first with the Chicago Steel and then, last fall, at Michigan, where coach Brandon Naurato’s star-laden roster is fueled by national-title-or-bust expectations.

Hage’s statistics reveal a player thriving amid the pressure. Through 37 games he has 51 points—second on the Wolverines and tied for third nationally—built on a blend of vision, edge work and a release quick enough to make jerseys flap like the ones Mike Modano once wore. Four of those points came during opening weekend against Minnesota State, foreshadowing a season that would end with Big Ten Rookie of the Year honors and a reputation as the teammate you search for when the game tightens.

“If you’re ever under pressure,” linemate Will Horcoff said, “you know he’s gonna make a play.”

The praise extends beyond the ice. Hage and several teammates share a loud, messy house near campus where Saba is a frequent visitor, cooking, cleaning and adopting an entire roster. “She’s the best,” Horcoff laughed. “Takes care of all of us.”

That support network has allowed Hage to honor Alain without being consumed by the loss. He still hears his father’s voice during late-night video sessions—pausing, rewinding, correcting every two seconds—and feels his presence each time he laces up. When Hage finally donned a Canadiens sweater bearing his name in the same Vegas arena that will host college hockey’s final four, the circle felt complete.

“I know he was there with me,” Hage said. “Just knowing that he was watching over me, it meant everything.”

Michigan’s path to a 10th national championship begins Thursday in the regionals, but Hage’s compass points beyond banners and trophies. Grief does not follow a game clock; it offers no final buzzer. So he keeps skating, keeps creating, keeps moving forward—exactly as his mother advised—carrying one man’s passion for hockey and family into every stride.