w -~ ~ w~ w w w '7^" 2B - Faceoff - October 11, 2006 - The Michigan Daily FACEOFF 2006 Octoberishere,andthatcanmeanjustonething: Michigan hockey is back. With Red Berenson at tehelm for his 23rd season, the Wolverines look to rebound from a disappointing 2005-06 campaign. T.. Hensick, Matt Hun- wick and Jack Johnson will lead the Maize and Blue. Yost Ice Arena will be shaking again as Michigan welcomes back its CCHA rivals foranotherseason.11I of the Wolverines' first 13 games will be played at home, so come out early and often. In this special season preview, you can read about Michigan's stalwart defenselearn how goalie Billy Sauer plans to build on his freshman year and find out our take on the CCHA. We hope you enjoy it. See you at Yost.- Amber Colvin " James V. Dowd Ian Robinson - Nate Sandals Who are the contenders in the CCHA? Read our conference preview to find out. Intact for another season, Michigan's defense will be the team's backbone. Goalie Billy Sauer is a year older and a year more experienced. Now he's the starter. Who will win the National Championship? Check out the hockey writer's staff picks. Fa-coff - Tctoner 1, 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 7B Billy Sauer wore down during the 2005-06 season. This year, more experienced and more confident, he's ready to take his team back to the top. PETER SCHOTTENFELS AND FILE PHOTO/Daily 2006-07 SCHEDULE Date 10/13 10/14 10/19 10/20 10/27 10/28 11/3 11/4 11/10 11/11 11/17 11/18 11/21 11/24 11/25 12/1 12/2 12/8 12/9 12/29 12/30 1/9 1/12 1/13 Opponent Alabama-Huntsville* Connecticut Miami (Ohio) Miami (Ohio) Northeastern Northeastern Michigan State Michigan State Nebraska-Omaha Nebraska-Omaha Ferris State Ferris State Michigan State Wisconsin Minnesota W. Michigan W. Michigan Notre Dame Notre Dame Michigan Tech MSU/Harvard Bowling Green N. Michigan N. Michigan Time 7:35 7:35 8:05 7:35 7:35 7:35 7:05 7:35 7:35 7:35 7:05 7:05 7:35 7:05 7:05 7:35 7:35 7:35 7:30 8:00 TBA 7:35 7:35 7:35 Date 1/19 1/20 1/26 1/27 I2/2 2/3 T 2/9 2/10 2/16 2/18 2/23 Opponent Alaska Alaska Ferris State Ferris State W. Michigan W. Michigan Bowling Green Michigan State Lake Superior St. Lake Superior St. Ohi2 State Time 7:05 7:05 7:35 7:35 P 7:35 7:35 7:35 7:35 7:35 3:00 7:05 WHEN THE SEASON BEGINS, CHECK OUT OUR BLOG, THE GAME. THE HOCKEY WRITERS WILL BE LIVE- BLOGGING EVERY HOME G AAME STEVEN TAI/ODly Notre Dame goaltender David Brown will be a key cog in Coach Jeff Jackson's effort to make the Fighting Irish the CCHA's surprise team. No. Name Pos. Wt. Ht. Yr. NHL Team 3 Jack Johnson D 210 6-1 So. Los Angeles 4 Chris Summers D 185 6-2 Fr. Phoenix 5 Steve Kampfer D 197 5-11 Fr. 6 Matt Hunwick (C) D 198 6-0 Sr. Boston 7 T.J. Hensick (A) F 189 5-10 Sr. Colorado 8 Jason Dest (A) D 194 6-0 Sr. 9 Andrew Cogliano F 185 5-10 So. Edmonton 10 Travis Turnbull F 193 6-0 So. 11 Kevin Porter F 195 5-11 Jr. Phoenix 12 Chris Fragner F 183 6-1 Jr. 14 Brian Lebler F 210 6-2 Fr. 15 Anthony Ciraulo F 175 5-6 Fr. 16 David Rohlfs F 239 6-3 Sr. Edmonton 17 Mark Mitera D 213 6-3 So. Anaheim 18 Tim Miller F 190 6-1 So. 19 Jon Montville F 195 5-10 Jr. 20 Eric Elmblad D/F 201 6-4 Fr. 21 Jason Bailey F 208 6 -1 So. Anaheim 22 Brandon Naurato F 193 6-0 So. 24 Chad Kolarik F 180 5-11 Jr. Phoenix 25 Tim Cook D 218 6-4 Sr. Ottawa 26 Danny Fardig F 200 5-11 So. 27 Morgan Ward F 205 6-2 5th 30 Mike Mayhew G 170 6-0 Sr. 33 Steve Jakiel G 190 6-4 Fr. 36 Billy Sauer G 180 6-2 So. Colorado FACEOFF 2006 PRODUCTION CREW AmbertColin James V. Dowd Ian Robinson Nate Sandals HockeyWriters Donn M. Fresard Editor in Chief Jack Herman ManagingSportsEditor Jeffrey Bloomer Managing Editor Alex Dzadosz Mike Hulsebus Managing Photo Editors Bridget O'Donnell Forest Casey Cover ForestCasey CoverPhoto Peter Schottenfels Photo Editing Alexis Floyd Business Manager Robert Chin Display Sales Manager Ben Schrotenboer Assoc. Display Sales Manager David Dai Special Project Manager Specialthanksto: Lisa GentileJim Rutherford and Lindsey Ungar younger goalies the art of the position. Sauer, who the Colorado Avalanche picked in the seventh round of the NHL Draft this summer, thinks the tutoring helped him better understand his own game. "(Fioravanti) has me also teach other goalies which helps me analyze goaltend- ing situations,' Sauer said. "So now, when I see myself in those situations, I can really tell myself what I'm doing wrong." Fioravanti was hired as Michigan's vol- unteer goalie coach last week, partly upon Sauer's recommendation. He said he was most impressed with Sauer's improvement with the basics. "If you want to break it down, his fun- damentals got better," Fioravanti said. "My biggest philosophy is to always watch the puck.... I think that was a huge improve- ment for him over the summer, huge." Student teaching This season, Sauer says he is a more mobile goalie, one of the qualities Fiora- vanti stresses in his students. Sauer is more confident in his abilities and ready to face any situation without losing focus. "I've been a lot more patient and calm;' Sauer said. "I panicked a lot last year and I thought over the summer it improved quite a bit." Sauer's teammates and coaches agree that the time he put in over the summer will pay off in big ways this season. Another improvement for Sauer over last year is his established chemistry with his defense, which didn't lose any mem- bers to the NHL or graduation and added two quality freshmen. "Just knowing a lot of people in your D- corps helps," Sauer said. "You know their tendencies and stuff like that. And as far as just having a friendship with them already built, that helps too" This year, Sauer doesn't have to worry about friendships off the ice either. While he struggled to fit in socially as a 17-year- old freshman, Sauer feels more comfort- able with his teammates this year. He's especially close with his housemates: Mitera, Danny Fardig, Tim Miller and Morgan Ward. The louder Sauer isn't clear just to his teammates, but to his coaches, too. When something is bothering Sauer,he's not afraid to let his coaches know how he feels. "This year, I think I've learned to speak my mind more," Sauer said. "I've already had a lot of conversations with the coach- es with some things that I'd like to get changed or just how I'm feeling:" Along with a greater general presence on the ice and in the locker room, Sauer is happy to take on the leadership role amongst the team's goaltenders. Unlike the cold shoulder Noah Ruden showed him last season, Sauer is trying to welcome incoming freshman goalie Steve Jakiel with open arms, and help him as much as possible. "I'm trying to help Steve out' Sauer said. "I know he's actually a couple years older than me, but I know how it is coming in as a freshman. Just because he's older than me doesn't really mean that he knows what's going on here anymore than I did last year." Jakiel, who is Sauer's workout partner in the weight room, appreciates the help and is happy to have such a good resource to work with in his first season on the team. "It's good to have a guy with a year of experience in front to watch in practice and learn from;' Jakiel said. "We get along well." On Monday, the first day the goal- ies worked with Fioravanti, Sauer looked much more like an assistant teacher than a student. Having learned Fioravanti's meth- ods in past years, Sauer used the oppor- tunity to give quick tips to fellow goalies Jakiel and senior Mike Mayhew. Winning every time Last year, Sauer had to fight to earn the respect of his teammates. This year, respect already in hand, he's taking on a leadership role and looks forward to going out and proving he's one of the top goalies in college hockey. Sauer is aiming to lead the CCHA in one statistical category: wins. For him, it's the most important column in the box score. Sauer thinks he can help an already-tal- ented Michigan squad to achieve its goals and have a strong season. "You don't want tojinx anything,"Sauer said. "But we're really looking forward to a good season. Winning a few titles I don't think is too far out of our reach." To achieve those goals, Michigan will need to see further proof of just how important a year of experience, newfound confidence and a summer of hard work can be. For Sauer's part, he is certain the differ- ence will come through. "I don't feel like the youngest person anymore:' Sauer said. "I still am, but just having that year of experience makes you feel a lot older" When he came to Ann Arbor, Sauer was a 17-year-old kid. Now he's an 18-year-old man. ,,,,,,,, 2/24 Ohio State 7:05 * Home games in bold Playoffs CCHA Tournament 3/2-3/4 CCHA 1st Round TBA 3/9-3/11 CCHA 2nd Round TBA 3/16 CCHA Semifinals TBA 3/17 CCHA Final TBA NCAA Tournament 3/23-3/25 NCAA Regionals TBA 4/5 NCAA Frozen Four TBA 4/7 NCAA Championship TBA 5 VA/ru&. FOLLOW ALONG AT WWW MICHIGANDAILY _ Como Sophomore goalie Billy Sauer made 53 combined saves in Michigan's two exhibition games last week.