Editor’s note: This story, which was originally published March 26, before the start of the NCAA Tournament, has been updated.
as blue-blooded A college hockey power packed with elite talent, Michigan’s hopes never waver. It’s a program built on nine national championships, where the postseason isn’t about participation, but about what happens next.
for star second year michael hayesThe fact that the path to the national title passes through Las Vegas this year – site of the Frozen Four – involves an element of karmic luck.
It was in Las Vegas where the most important moment of Hayes’ hockey career occurred. The 19-year-old center doesn’t remember everything about his NHL Draft night at the Sphere in June 2024: Not the exact sequence, not every name called before him.
But he can still describe the unmistakable energy of a travel party of about 60 people sitting with their friends and family. She remembers when her heart was beating fast montreal canadiens Were on the clock At number 21. And a moment, just before the pick, when he leaned toward his mother.
“Do you think it’ll be me?” he asked.
“I was expecting,” Rania Saba says now.
Then this happened.
“Unreal,” she said. “There’s no way you can write it any better than this.”
Few things in Hayes’ life have gone according to script. But there is one main line in his journey, and it is his mother’s mantra: “Don’t move forward, just move forward.” This was on full display this season, as Hayes emerged as one of the top playmakers in the country Top overall seed in NCAA Tournament.
Michigan faces Denver in the Frozen Four semifinals Thursday night (8:30 ET, ESPN2), and while Hayes was limited in the first two games due to a lower-body injury, Michigan coach Brandon Naurato says he’s likely to play against the Pioneers.
“Every time the puck is on his stick,” Naurato said, “you think some highlight reel could be coming.”
“If you’re ever under pressure,” teammates Will Horcoff Said, “You know he’s going to make a play.”
Hayes entered the NCAA Tournament as Michigan’s second-leading scorer – and ranked third nationally with 51 points through 37 games. He is both terrestrial and ascending.
“Everyone has their own story,” Hayes said. “Just trying to be grateful is probably the biggest thing I’ve learned.”
growing up in Michael Hayes, Greater Toronto Area, was a shy child who needed to stand up to his mother on the football field.
“I had to hold his hand,” Saba said.
Then he stepped on the ice.
“When I wore skates, it was something I loved doing,” he said. “And no further pushing was needed.”
Hockey fans, on the other hand, were presented with no choice. Hayes came home from the hospital in Canadiens gear.
“There was no choice,” Saba said. “He was born into it.”
His father Allen made sure of this. Ellen’s family immigrated to Montreal from Egypt in the 1960s.
Michael said, “Hockey wasn’t really something that was affordable for him and his family.” Allen Hayes started playing high school football.
But hockey remained his passion, especially for Canadians. He yelled at the TV during the game. In the decade that followed, he celebrated Montreal’s 1993 Stanley Cup victory.
The second thing Ellen liked was Queenia. They were introduced to him through their families when they were 13 years old. At first he had a crush on her. Later he was caught.
They went to Concordia University together; He studied accounting, he was in finance.
Saba described her husband as, “Driven. Stubborn at times. Competitive. And a good human being.”
And while he became a father to Michael and his younger brother, Alex, Allen cared about more than just his sons’ hockey careers.
Michael’s breakthrough came when he was 10 years old, at the Brick Invitational Tournament, the largest youth hockey showcase in North America. Hayes was the tournament’s leading scorer.
“He kind of separated himself from everyone else,” Alex Hayes said.
This brought the entire family on one path, because Allen knew how to lead his sons. As a hockey dad, he was calm during games and strict afterward.
“If I knew I didn’t play well, it was a little scary to get back in the car,” Alex said. “He used to tell me all the things I could do better. I think that’s why I don’t settle for the minimum.”
Naurato got to know Allen during the recruiting process. “He was amazingly intense,” Naurato said. “Educated hockey player, big fan of the game, and he wanted to know the information.”
This continued during the living room tape sessions at home.
“He would pause the video every two seconds,” Alex recalled. “Fix this, fix that.”
At the age of 16, Michael moved to the United States to pursue his hockey career as a top prospect, playing for the Chicago Steel of the USHL. Away from home, he constantly thought about the values that Ellen had instilled in him. They were simple, even if delivery was not always easy: compete, pay attention to details and don’t compromise.
it was a A typical summer night – that’s something Saba still comes back to. Hedges hosted a barbecue at his home in June 2023. Michael’s billet (or host) family came from Chicago. Children ran in and out of the pool. The atmosphere was filled with conversation, laughter and music.
“We had a normal day,” Saba said.
Sometime between dinner and dessert, Ellen jumped in the pool. No one noticed anything immediately.
Then a voice came from one of the kids in the pool, at first half-joking, something like, “He’s playing dead.”
Saba moved closer.
“And when I looked in the pool,” she said, “I saw something.”
Then everything changed. Saba started screaming. Michael and a friend were sitting in a hot tub nearby.
“I had to dive in there and grab him,” Michael said. “It was a terrible moment. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life. And honestly, it didn’t feel real at all. I try not to think about it.”
Everything that happened next was a blur: calls, CPR, people running as far as they could to help, sirens coming. Within an hour, Ellen was dead.
“Ellen had an accident in the pool in the backyard and broke her head and our lives changed,” Saba said.
“I just remember having a lot of questions,” Michael said. “Like, why? Why me? Why our family?”
didn’t feel anything Same thing for a while. Ultimately, Michael Hayes knew there was only one place to go: back to the rink. Playing hockey didn’t fix anything or make what happened make sense.
“It provided them with stability, routine, their happy place,” Saba said. “When he’s training, when he’s with his hockey friends, when he’s on the ice, that’s his focus.”
Hayes had faced adversity before. In his first year with the Chicago Steel, he missed the entire season due to a shoulder injury.
He said, “It was a long, long time. For three, four months I just sat on my couch and didn’t do much, wait.” “It made me more excited. Just being healthy, being able to do what I love.”
When he returned to Chicago after his father’s death – in the crucial season of proving his worth to NHL scouts – he heeded his mother’s advice: “Don’t move on, just move forward.”
The following fall he made an immediate impact at Michigan, scoring four points in his opening weekend opener against Minnesota State. He was named Big Ten Rookie of the Year for the 2024–25 season after finishing second on his team in scoring (34 points in 33 games).
“He reminds me mike modano. Like when Mike skates, that jersey flaps in the back,” Naurato said. “But we’ll see, he’s making his own way.”
In Michigan, Hayes developed a brotherhood that became his support system. He and teammates live together in a house that Horcoff describes as noisy, dirty and mediocre. Saba has become a legend to the crew, especially when she comes in and helps with cleaning and cooking.
“He’s the best,” Horcoff said. “She takes care of all of us.”
Hayes’ teammates see how his family still respects Allen, who shaped Michael’s development.
“He doesn’t let things define him,” said Dakota Rheaume, one of his best friends at Michigan. “I know that whenever he has a good game, he draws pictures of his dad.”
The last time Michael was in Vegas, he felt Allen’s presence when he wore a Montreal Canadiens sweater bearing his name for the first time.
“I know he was there with me,” Michael said. “Just knowing that he was watching over me meant everything.”
He is back in the same town, but for a different moment. For Hayes, he will never move on from what happened. He will just keep moving forward.
ESPN’s John Fish contributed to this report.
