Michigan Hockey Needs To Settle On Hayden Lavigne In The Net

Freshman goaltender Hayden Lavigne has been excellent in his limited opportunities. With Michigan hockey struggling, he deserves more starts.

Michigan hockey returns from Happy Valley with its tail tucked between its legs. Penn State is a new program, but don’t tell that to the Wolverines when playing at Pegula Ice Arena.

Michigan was swept by the Nittany Lions with a 6-1 loss on Thursday night before a national audience on ESPNU, and then a 5-1 loss on Friday. With the two losses, the Wolverines are below .500 for the first time this season.

Penn State is off to a blistering start, 11-1-1 in nonconference play. PSU had a very weak out-of-conference slate, but its dismantling of Michigan lends some credence to the record even if the resume isn’t quite there yet.

Ohio State and Minnesota are both top-10 teams in their own rights. Minnesota has hovered around the top of the conference since the Big Ten hockey conference came into existence, much like it did in the WCHA before that. Ohio State was thought to have talent, picked No. 2 in the preseason conference poll. It has been a long time since the Buckeyes proved it on the ice. A healthy 9-2-4 start with wins at Denver and Minnesota silences some of that doubt. Michigan is staring up at good teams right now.

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Michigan plays Wisconsin team next week then gets Michigan Tech in the Great Lakes Invitational. That is not an easy schedule to turn things around against, given that MTU has ripped off a 9-2-1 stretch since its trip to Yost in October.

Michigan could learn something from Tech. The Huskies turned their year around by settling on a goaltender. Freshman Angus Redmond has calmed down the entire team in front of him. U.S. College Hockey Online has him listed as the best goalie in the country with a 1.46 GAA and .932 save percentage.

Michigan has a freshman who can put up that type of consistency. Hayden Lavigne has gotten only four starts this season but two of them were shutouts. Giving up no goals to Union and Boston, both ranked nationally, is impressive. The .956 save percentage is too.

Michigan has been outshot in most games this year. Even in their best performances, fans have seen the Wolverines get dominated for 10 minutes, even a whole period at a time. The team needs a gritty goaltender to weather that storm.

Lavigne did that against Boston. In the second period, the Terriers peppered Michigan for 15 shots to just three for the Wolverines. Escaping that unscathed allowed Michigan to regroup in the third and add to its lead.

Lavigne did not have a traditional route to college hockey. He is a 20-year-old freshman. After being a highly sought after recruit in the USHL, Lavigne went through a multiyear drought of very poor numbers. Some thought he had lost it entirely. Mental toughness and persistence finally brought him to Yost.

It is that mental toughness and steady hand that Michigan needs on its back end right now. Of course fundamentals that pass the eye test don’t hurt either.

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Lavigne has those too.

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