U-M Hockey Kicks Off (Part I)

Posted at 4:00pm — 9/30/2010

U-M Hockey Kicks Off (Part I)

I can’t believe that it has been six short months since Michigan’s 2009-10 hockey season came to a crushing end. Red Berenson’s team now heads into the 2010-11 season brimming with confidence and loaded with experience. In Part One, I will take a look back at the end of last season, the changes coming for this season and take a stab at what I expect to see from the Wolverines this season.

For those of you that were not at Ford Field last April, the novelty of hosting a Frozen Four event at a football stadium seemed to be met with mixed results. The environment was sterile and not without its warts- especially if you want to consider the ice quality. Detroit and the CCHA put on a great effort, but unfortunately, hockey purists like me would prefer a standard arena for an event of this importance.

Boston College steamrolled their way past Miami and Wisconsin did the same with Atlantic Hockey Conference upstart RIT. Both BC and Wisconsin were excellent teams worthy of their championship game appearance. BC used their speed and offensive talent to embarrass the bigger and more physical Badgers to win the 2009-10 National Championship.

Why did I recap this event? Because that BC team looked like a carbon copy of a Red Berenson team- very fast, highly skilled and physical. BC wasn’t noted as the “best” defensive team and had adequate goaltending- but blitzed their way through the entire tournament. It excites me to think that Michigan has the same type of team coming back for 2010-11.

Michigan Roster Changes

Michigan graduated one starting forward (along with one defection) and two starting defensemen last season. The roster is stacked with upperclassmen headlined by the senior trio of Carl Hagelin (19-31-50), Louie Caporusso (21-22-43) and Matt Rust (13-27-40). Returning forwards Chris Brown (13-15-28) and David Wohlberg will be expected to increase their supporting offensive numbers. Michigan returns lunch bucket forwards Luke Glendening, Kevin Lynch, Lindsay Sparks, Jeff Rohrkemper and AJ Treais along with Senior forwards Scooter Vaughn and Ben Winnett. Freshmen Derek DeBlois, Luke Moffatt and Jacob Fallon also hope to earn playing time for Coach Berenson. Moffatt and Fallon come in highly touted, although their stars are a bit tarnished after not so successful stints in the USHL and USNDT.

The defense is led by Seniors Tristin Llewellyn and Chad Langlais. Returning defensemen (Jr.) Brandon Burlon, (Jr.)Greg Pateryn and (So.) Lee Moffie will lend support to incoming freshmen Mac Bennett, Kevin Clare and Jon Merrill. Look for Merrill to step into a starting role right away and Bennett and Clare to challenge Moffie for ice time. I am excited to see Merrill who sounds like the real deal.

The Wolverines are backstopped by returning Senior netminders Bryan Hogan and Shawn Hunwick. Hunwick, as many of you know, carried the team last spring (after a Hogan injury) to the CCHA playoff championship and eventually to the Midwest regional final. Both goaltenders will play, with their results leading to one of them earning the starting role as the season progresses. Adam Janecyk joined the team as the third goaltender replacing Patrick Summers.

Carl Hagelin and Luke Glendening will wear the ‘C’ with Rust and Caporusso sharing the ‘A’ this season.

Noteworthy Off-Season Happenings

-Coach Berenson squelched any rumors of his pending retirement by signing a new three year deal.

-The University of Nebraska-Omaha bolted the CCHA for the WCHA forcing a change to scheduling for the unforeseen future. It will slightly alter the conference playoff schedule as well, which will be spoken to as we get closer to the end of the season. Michigan will remain a scheduling partner with MSU and will be cluster mates with Ohio State, Alaska and Ferris State this season. They will play each of those teams four times and BG, NMU, WMU, Notre Dame, LSSU and Miami twice to complete a 28 game conference schedule.

– The nonconference schedule will feature U-M’s home opener with Atlantic Hockey’s Mercyhurst Lakers and will also host former CCHA member, UNO. Michigan will travel to UNH, Wisconsin and Minnesota this season, and co-host the GLI with games against Michigan Tech and either MSU or Colorado College. Michigan will play 17 home games with 2 exhibitions and the outdoor “Chill” game at Michigan Stadium.

– Several new rule revisions were debated this summer including a rule where more stringent enforcement and stricter major penalties will be assessed for contact to the head infractions. This is to try to reduce the number of head injuries/concussions occurring during play. At a minimum a player will receive a five minute major, and the maximum will be a five minute major and a game disqualification which means he will be suspended the following game. Another rule was tweaked allowing the assistant referees to waive off icing at their discretion, called the “hybrid icing” rule. This is based on the position of a defender being challenged by an opponent below the faceoff dots– much like in the NHL. There will also be experimental rules reviewed during exhibitions including playing 4×4 in OT, still calling a penalty after a team scores during the delayed call on the offending team, and a rule proposal called “always on icing” where a shorthanded team can no longer clear the puck the length of the ice without it being called for icing. Many other tweaks were discussed, such as allowing the use of half shields, but were not brought to committee. There is some confusion as to what rules were ratified (outside of the contact to the head rule) so stay tuned for clarification once game action begins.

– Penn State has recently announced their desire to add a D1 varsity program, fueling speculation of a Big Ten Hockey Conference in the next three years.

Preseason National USA Today Poll and the CCHA Coaches and Media Poll

Michigan was voted as the preseason #4 team in the country, only behind Miami (#3), North Dakota (#2) and BC (#1). This is lofty national praise predicated on the perceived experience and offensive strength Michigan has. No doubt that Miami is eager to prove that their program is no fluke and is seeking their first ever national championship. The Redhawks bring back their entire squad, less a couple of forwards from last years Frozen Four team. North Dakota is picked to top the WCHA and also brings back a veteran team that is high octane. BC lost several of their key players, but is still a very solid team. I don’t take stock in polls, so don’t order your Frozen Four tickets just yet. The WCHA has several strong teams again, and BU is reloaded in the HEA. Yale is selected as the class of the ECACHL and RIT is favored in the Atlantic Hockey League.

The CCHA coaches selected Michigan as their choice to take home the CCHA regular season title. This is a bit of surprise considering how much depth and experience Miami has. The media flip-flopped Miami with Michigan. My personal rundown on how the league will finish blends the thoughts of both the coaches and the media:

1.Miami
2.Michigan
3.Alaska
4.MSU
5.NMU
6.Notre Dame
7.Ferris State
8.Ohio State
9.LSSU
10.BG
11.WMU

In Part II of my kickoff, I will look at Michigan’s opening opponent, Mercyhurst.

Hockey is back at Yost! Go Blue!

Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Yostmeister

Go Blue — Wear Maize!