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TABLE OF
CONTENTS

WHAT'S WITH NO. 1?
Michigan deserves to feel good
about its ranking. Just don't
assume it means anything.
3STAFF PICKS
The Daily hockey beat does its
best to predict the outcome of
the 2011-12 hockey season.
4 INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
The inconceivable rise of
Shawn Hunwick.
8 CCHA CONTENDERS
The conference might be in its
final season, but its teams are
as strong as ever.
SCHEDULE

NO.
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39

NAME
Greg Pateryn
Mike Chaisson
Kevin Clare
Brennan Serville
Phil Di Giuseppe
Luke Moffatt
Chris Brown
Zach Hyman
Lee Moffie
Kevin Lynch
Andrew Sinelli
Derek DeBlois
Travis Lynch
A.J. Treais
Jeff Rohrkemper
Luke Glendening
Jon Merrill
David Wohlberg
Mike Szuma
Alex Guptill
Luke Dwyer
Adam Janecyk
Shawn Hunwick
Mac Bennett
Lindsay Sparks

POSITION
Defense
Defense
Defense
Defense
Forward
Forward
Forward
Forward
Defense
Forward
Forward
Forward
Forward
Forward
Forward
Forward
Defense
Forward
Defense
Forward
Goalie
Goalie
Goalie
Defense
Forward

YEAR
Senior
Freshman
Sophomore
Freshman
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Freshman
Junior
Junior
Freshman
Sophomore
Freshman
Junior
Junior
Senior
Sophomore
Senior
Freshman
Freshman
Freshman
Sophomore
Senior
Sophomore
Junior

Berenson was placing his record-breaking legacy on the
shoulders on a 5-foot-6 walk-on that wasn't recruited by
any Division-I program.
Want to make Berenson smile? Bring up the 2010 tour-
nament run.
In a storyline that Disney would throw out for being far
too unrealistic, Shawn and the Wolverines kept the playoff
streak alive by winning the CCHA tournament. This was
no cupcake schedule.
They swept No. 11 Michigan State in East Lansing, beat
No. 2 Miami (Ohio) at Joe Louis Arena, and then capped
it off with a 2-1 win over No. 12 Northern Michigan in the
final.
After losing Shawn's first start to Notre Dame, Michigan
reeled off seven victories ina row.
Shawn allowed just seven goals in four games.
"I can't tell you whether it was because of goalkeeping
or luck or chemistry or what it was, butI can tell you when
Hogan got hurt and our captain Chris Summers got hurt,
our team took off after that," Berenson said. "I think every-
one got on the right page at the right time, and this team
took off. We were as good as anyone at the end."
The team got within a goal of the Frozen Four, but lost to
the RedHawks 3-2 in double overtime of the NCAA tourna-
ment regional final in Fort Wayne, Ind.
During spring meetings after the season, Berenson told
Hogan and Shawn they were going to split time in the 2010-
11 season. Shawn would go on Fridays and Hogan would go
on Saturdays.
"Itwas the firsttime in mycareerthat knowing, working
out in the summertime, that I was going to geta chance to
play in games," Shawn said. "It was a huge motivation each
day to go work out and run, skate and all that stuff knowing
that you will get a chance to play, instead of just hoping to
play."
He also worked out with Matt and other former Wol-
verines that summer. Matt had just finished up his third
season with the Boston Bruins, and Shawn was able to pick
up a lot from his brother. They were back on the pond, one
brother trying to score on another.
"It helped him not only physically but mentally know-
ing that his confidence grew, becoming better and better,"
Matt said. "He saw he could compete against some of the
top players in college hockey."
There was much debate as to who should start, but
Berenson wanted to give both his netminders a chance

and have someone emerge as the starter before Christmas.
After 19 games, it wasn't Shawn.
The last game before Christmas was the Big Chill at the
Big House. The Wolverines had struggled in Friday night
games all year, maybe because of Shawn but maybe because
of the team. Shawn was by no means running away with
the job.
"I definitely was way too nervous and worried about
Hogan way too much, how the team was playing in front of
him and how they were playing in front of me," Shawn said.
"It was hard for me just to concentrate on the game at hand.
It was tough because I put too much pressure on myself."
The Big Chill was scheduled to be Shawn's start, but
Berenson decided to skip it and start Hogan in one of the
biggest games in the history of Michigan hockey. The num-
bers didn't lie - Hogan was 7-2-1 going into the game, and
Shawn was 2-3-4.
The dream was beginning to come toa close.
"When you get skipped over to go with the other guy, the
writing is pretty much on the wall," Shawn said. "The big-
gest game of the year, you are going to go with your best
goalie or who you think your best goalie is."
Shawn had about 40 family members come to the game,
and because he wasn't starting, he was able to enjoy him-
self - at least for a little while.
"I just got this feeling, like I got nervous," Shawn said. "I
wasjustlike, 'Oh crap, if Hogangets hurtI amgoingto have
to play, I better start getting ready.' I started getting ready
like I was goingto play, and I think that actually helped me
prepare. There was no excuse for not being ready."
Still, Hogan was starting and went through most of the
warmups ready to play.
Butthenonewrongtwistchanged Shawn's fate - Hogan
had pulled his other groin during warmups. The presumed
starter hobbled off the ice once again, putting Shawn in
front of the largest crowd ever to watch a hockey game.
The walk-on third goalie was starting in the biggest
stage on the history of college hockey. No one knew until
the puck dropped.
"We got there and someone told us Shawn was in net
and we were like, 'Yeah right, OK, go have another beer,' "
Robin said. "All of a sudden you look down and there he
was, between the pipes."
Shawn sat in the locker room after warmups, trying not
to think too hard about the task ahead. He led the team out
of the tunnel and became the first Michigan hockey player
to slap the famed 'Go Blue' banner.
Shawn then proceeded to shut out Michigan State 5-0
amid the fireworks, music and thunderous noise that
113,411 people can make.
He recorded 34 saves with the
wind whippinginhis face, includ-
, QS ing 14 in the final period. The
puck was simply not going to get
past him.
_ He went from expecting to
never play in a single game to
shutting out one of Michigan's
biggest rivals in a highly antici-
pated spectacle of a match-up.
"It was literally one of the best
days of my life," Shawn said. "Its
hard to put it in words how much
it means."
Again, Shawn expected Hogan
to come back the next week and
claim the starting spot. But again,
Hogan's injury was more serious
than expected. He would miss
almost two months, and by that
time, Shawn had entrenched him-
ADAM SCHNITZER/Daily self in the starting role.
me in Sterling Heights. With Shawn at the helm, the

Wolverines finished the season on a 16-4 run en route to a
21st consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. On
paper, they weren't one of the best teams in the country, but
they sure as hell played like it.
Shawn made Berenson look like the smartest coach on
the planet.
After breezing through the NCAA West Regional Final
in St. Louis, Michigan headed to the Frozen Four in St. Paul,
Minn.
Shawn playedarguably the best game of his career against
No. 1 North Dakota in the national semifinal, recording 40
saves in a shutout of the potent Fighting Sioux. The nextday,
five North Dakota players joined professional teams.
This goalie could pass as a high school student. But
instead, he was playing the most important position on the
Michigan hockey team.
And he recorded 40 saves against the best team in the
country.
"I wouldn't have dreamt it," Berenson said. "I remember
we were talking before the national championship game,
and I was saying, 'Who would have thought that we just beat
maybe the best team in the country, North Dakota, essen-
tially ina road game, and Shawn Hunwick was the reason?'
"It's the real deal because he played and took our team
right to the National Championship by saving 40 shots. It
wasn't like we had a powerhouse of a team."
April 9, 2011 was the biggest day of Shawn Hunwick's life.
He was starting the National Championship game against
Minnesota-Duluththatnight. Itwasthe onlyoneofShawn's
collegiate games that Matt attended.
And it was Shawn's birthday.
The contest was tied at the end of regulation, 2-2, with
both teams battling for their lives. But for Michigan, the
extra period had a feeling of destiny - the last two Michigan
championship teams both won 3-2.
Sometimes you have to be reminded Shawn's story isn't
a fairytale.
Early in the extra period, Bulldog forward Kyle Schmidt
slashed through a tired Michigan defense, picked up a feed
in front of the net and beat Shawn glove-side.
Game, season, storybook ending all gone in an instant.
"It would have been a fairy tale." Shawn said. "Not
expecting to play at all and then playing in the national
championship on your birthday.
"It would have been unbelievable."
He still doesn't like talking about it.
"I still think about it all the time," Shawn said. "Every
time you lace up your skates, you think, 'I could be anational
champion,' but you're not. It's hard to get over.
"Itdefinitelyhad the fairy-tale story, it had the beginning
and the middle, it just didn't have the end."
But every so often, he lets himself remember what could
have been.
"If you watch the YouTube video of that last goal, it prob-
ably has 500 views and 450 are probably from me," he said.
"I try not to watch it anymore now that we are in season, but
in the summertime, I watched it countless times.
"It's difficult. You don't really expect a run like that, and
when you get there ... once you get there and you are that
close, when you are one shot away, when you are one bounce
away from winning...you never know if you are goingto get
back. So that's your motivation. Eventually you have to move
on."
This season, for the first time in his Michigan career,
Shawn is the guy. No more splitting time, no more looking
behind his shoulder, no more worrying about the competi-
See PAGE 7A
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com j7B

Oct 4
Oct 7-8
Oct 13
Oct 21-22
Oct 27-28
Oct 4-5
Nov 11-12
Nov 18-19
Nov 25
Nov 27

vs. Niagara
vs. Bentley
vs. St. Lawrence
at Northern Michigan
vs. Ferris State
vs. Western Michigan
at Miami (Ohio)
vs. Ohio State
vs. Northeastern
vs. Union N.Y.

Dec 2-3
Dec 9
Dec 10
Dec 29-30
Jan 6-7
Jan 13
Jan 15
Jan 20-21
Feb 3-4
Feb 10

at Alaska
vs. Michigan State
at Michigan State
Great Lakes Invitational
vs. Lake Superior State
at Ohio State
at OSU (Cleveland)
at Notre Dame
vs. Miami (Ohio)
at Michigan State

Feb 11
Feb 17-18
Feb 24-25
Mar 2-17
Mar 23-Apr 7

vs. MSU (Detroit)
vs. Northern Michigan
at Bowling Green
CCHA Tournament
NCAA Tournament

20.11-12

28 Faceoff, October 21, 2011