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8A - Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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On the ice, he's ferocious. With a 6-foot-i, 200-pound frame, he's a dominant physical presence on the blueline, a play-
er who loves to deliver crowd-pleasing hits on opponents. His intensity often sends him to the penalty box at least
once a game.
In the quiet rooms of C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, he's the first to talk to patients, the one who gently asks them
what they're interested in and puts a smile on their faces. He grabs clipboards to organize volunteers and steers teammates, who *
are eager to meet new children, around the hospital to visiting rooms.
Meet the two sides of sophomore defenseman Tristin Llewellyn.
By Nicole Auerbach U Daily Sports Editor
THE ENFORCER
THF NICF C,1Y
ZACHARY MEISNER
Sophomore Tristin Llewellyn delivers a vicious hit. Llewellyn has spent an hour and a half in the penalty box this season.
Beyond delivering hits that echo
off the walls of Yost Ice Arena,
Llewellyn is also known for his
penalty minutes.
Against Nebraska-Omaha on
Feb. 13-14, Llewellyn was a con-
stant fixture in the penalty box. He
accumulated 18 penalty minutes on
the weekend, including a 10-min-
ute misconduct.
The Wolverines are the nation's
third-most penalized team, and
Llewellyn leads them with 90 min-
utes in the box - the next-highest
amount on the team is 20 minutes
fewer.
Some of Llewellyn's minutes
came from lazy penalties in the
beginning of the season, Michigan
assistant coach Billy Powers said.
But now, Llewellyn limits inop-
portune penalties and those caused
simply by poor footwork.
"He's not taking penalties
where he's put himself in a vulner-
able position and his only reaction
would be to take a penalty," Powers
said. "He's playing better position-
ally, which is allowing him to find
those strong, solid hits when you
don't have to take penalties."
Llewellyn struggled with his
confidence and his ability to keep
up with the faster pace of colle-
giate competition during his fresh-
man year. After an offseason spent
focusing on agility and skating
techniques, Llewellyn has shown
slow and steady on-ice maturation
- as well as increasing self-confi-
dence - throughout this season.
"He was recruited as a guy that
was very trustworthy, a defensive
defenseman who brought that
physical element to the table," Pow-
ers said. "Now that he's adapted
better to the pace, and he's a lot
more confident in the speed of the
game, now you're starting to see
the physical Tristin come out a
little more.
"A year ago, where he had to go
looking for hits - this year, they're
coming to him a little bit better.
He's reading plays better."
Llewellyn's improved skating
and positioning have played impor-
tant roles in his strong sophomore
season. He's improved his plus-
minus rating by two points (cur-
rently plus-11), tallied 24 blocked
shots on the year and has allowed
just three even-strength goals since
January.
Llewellyn isn't the kind of guy
who hesitates to stick up for a
teammate or avoid a fight, either,
a habit that has led to some time
in the penalty box. But that tough
attitude helps make him a more
menacing physical presence on the
blueline.
"Hockeyis business,"Llewellyn's
father, David, said. "He doesn't like
people messing with his family,
which would be his team. That's
probably why he tries to stickup for
his teammates.
"He plays a very aggressive style
of hockey. Part of that probably
comes from when he was younger
playing Juniors, he had to do that to
stay alive."
Underneath the jersey and hock-
ey pads, though, Llewellyn is seem-
ingly a different person. When he's
not with his "family," he's often at
the hospital visiting sick children,
trying to put them at ease with
their surroundings.
(Left to Right) Alyssa, Sophomore Tristin Llewellyn, senior Travis Turnbull and freshman Luke Glendening at C.S. Moti's.
Llewellyn quickly realized
Alyssa was shy. After a few min-
utes in her hospital room two
weeks ago, he noticed that the
thin, blonde nine-year-old had
clammed up since he entered the
room, seemingly intimidated by a
new visitor's presence.
He quickly crossed the room to
stand next to Alyssa's bed.
"What's the name of your dog?"
he asked softly, pointing at the
giant stuffed animal on her lap.
His question immediately
engaged Alyssa, and after a few
minutes of conversation between
the two, she was grinning ear-to-
ear.
"There are athletes that go in
there and instantly know what
to say and make not only the kids
but the families more comfortable
that they're here," said Ed Boul-
lion, volunteer supervisor for the
"From the Heart" program.
"Tristin's one of them. We have
those naturals that come up here
and are doing it because they want
to do it. They get as much out of it
as the families. He'll always call
me or ask me questions to follow
up on what's going on."
Llewellyn is one of the most
common visitors on Thursday
nights, the time designated for
Michigan student-athletes in
"From the Heart," a program that
brings athletes to the hospital to
cheer up sick children.
Llewellyn began making regu-
lar hospital visits six years ago.
But the first patient he visited hit
closer to home than the others.
In 2003, while playing for the
Honeybaked hockey program
with current Michigan teammates
Aaron Palushaj and Matt Rust,
Llewellyn fired a slap shot that
flew into the stands during one
game. The puck hit Llewellyn's
younger brother, Darby, in the
head, fracturing his skull and
forcing him to spend nearly half a
week at C.S. Mott's. Llewellynvis-
the locker room grinning.
"(Llewellyn) loves to do things
like that," David said. "If he
believes he can put a smile on a
kid's face, he'll do it."
It was a stark contrast from a
half hour earlier when Llewellyn
was skating hard and fighting for
pucks during the game against
Western Michigan.
But even after watching him
slam players into boards and spend
time in the penalty box, those who
spend time around Llewellyn
aren't at all shocked by his off-ice
persona.
"No, it doesn't surprise me,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "He's an aggressive player but
he's a good person, a good kid. He's
got a big heart. I think he's another
humble kid. He didn't have every-
thing handed to him. He's worked
his way up. I think he'd be a good
example of what we'd expect from
all our players."
Powers reiterated Berenson's
point with an explanation of
ited his brother each day, and he
tried hard to convince the nurses
to let him bring in a Nintendo for
Darby to play with - to no avail.
"He treated me a lot nicer than
when he's just a normal brother,"
said Darby, now 12.
Spending three days in the
hospital gave Llewellyn a sense
of familiarity, and now he directs
other athletes around floors to
different rooms with little diffi-
culty. His attractionto C.S. Mott's
began with the personal connec-
tion he felt during Darby's recov-
ery.
But the constant trips to the
hospital aren't the first thing that
pops into his mind when he thinks
of the accident.
"It was even more annoy-
ing, because he was six, so I was
13," Llewellyn said. "You always
wrestle with your brother, right?
For six months, no contact. He
was sitting there poking every
button Ihad."
*I
CTH E N TE RSECTIONSThe Wolverines' final game of
the season at Yost Ice Arena on
Marchl14 was special for more than
just the players.
Sitting in wheelchairs behind the
glass near the Michigan bench, two
teenage boys enjoyed the hockey
game, a special vacation from the
hospital.
Derek and Kyle are two patients
at C.S. Mott's whom Llewellyn has
been visiting frequently since Jan.
19.
"He's a nice guy, really person-
able," Derek said, adding that he
enjoyed watching the game and
meeting the players.
Llewellyn, senior Travis Turn-
bull, freshman Robbie Czarnik and
freshman Luke Glendening, who
have also met the boys at the hospi-
tal, spoke excitedly of the two boys'
visit in the week leading up to the
game. They said they couldn't wait
to give them a tour of their locker
room after the contest.
CHR IS DZOMBAK/Daily Following the Wolverines' 6-1
Sophomore Tristin Llewellyn showed coaches his softer side during his recruitment by helping out with his little brother's team. win, Llewellyn and the boys all left
Llewellyn's recruiting.
Because Llewellyn was the first
commitment in hisclass and lives in
Ann Arbor, Powers and the rest of
the coaching staff got to know him
better than most recruits. And one
of Llewellyn's biggest selling points
was his relationship with Darby.
Llewellyn often helped out at
his brother's hockey practices
- a trend that still continues.
Llewellyn has also coached hockey
camps that his younger brother
has attended.
"We knew that he got on the ice
and helped that team at practice,"
Powers said. "When you see an
older kid taking his younger broth-
er under his wing and stuff, things
like that really stick out. They real-
ly show character and show that
he's really got a good heart.
"You don't find a lot of teenage
kids spending time with a 10-year-
old. ... The fact that he's willing to
give his time (now) to those in need
and be a role model, well, that's not
a surprise."
Michigan's baserunning blunders halt comeback in embarrassing upset defeat
By CHANTEL JENNINGS
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan baseball coach Rich
Maloney is a little too good at fore-
shadowing.
"In the great game of baseball,
anyone can win any game," Malo-
ney said before yesterday's game.
He was right.
A week after the Wolverines
beat Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti,
Michigan suffered a disappointing
3-1 loss to the Eagles at Ray Fisher
Stadium yesterday.
"I think we just assumed we were
gonna win the game," Maloney said.
Again, he was right.
Junior first baseman Mike Dufek
was one of
the play- EASTERN MICH. 3
ers dem- MICHIGAN 1
onstrating
that overconfidence. After Michi-
gan beat Indiana University-Pur-
due University Fort Wayne 9-2 on
Sunday, Dufek was blunt about his
teammates' expectations.
"We know that we are supposed
to win," he said. "It's only a matter
of us focusing and playing well."
Two days later, Maloney sensed
that overconfidence in his team. He
saw an obvious lack of energy com-
ing into yesterday's game.
"I even talked to the team before
the game," Maloney said. "I said,
'Let's understand that anyone can
knock you off.' Maybe this will be a
lesson learned for later days."
The sluggish Wolverines fell
behind in the fourth inning when
Eastern Michigan sophomore Matt
Skirving hit a two-run home run
over the right field wall.
And in uncharacteristic fashion,
Michigan couldn't respond to an
early deficit. Another run in the
sixth inning extended the Eagles'
lead to three.
In the bottom of the seventh
inning, the Wolverines cut the defi-
cit to two with senior Kevin Cislo's
RBI groundout which sent catcher
Tim Kalczynski home.
Michigan threatened in the
eighth, advancing runners to first
and second with a single and a walk,
but the Eagles got out of the inning
by picking Kalczynski off first base.
And again, during the ninth, the
Eagles picked off redshirt junior
Nick Urban at first, thwarting hopes
of a Michigan final-inning rally.
"We obviously killed ourselves,"
Cislo said. "We had a good week-
end (against IPFW), and we came
in with our heads high and got
knocked down right away."
Michigan's limited offensive
production didn't help its lethar-
gic early-inning play. The Wolver-
ines have scored one run or fewer
three times this season, and all
three games were losses. Despite
10 hits in yesterday's game, Michi-
gan couldn't figure out how to move
runners around the bags.
With the Wolverines opening
conference play Friday at Iowa,
Maloney knows his team can't keep
stranding runners if it hopes to be
a legitimate contender for the Big
Ten Championship. Not overlook-
ing opponents is key, too.
"At some point, you have to have
that fight inside yourself," Malo-
ney said. "They've got to make the
plays, they've got to get the hits,
and they've got to get the pitches."
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