Tuesday, October 25, 2016
FACEOFF 2016
5B
have to be a star right away.
And that turned out to be the
case, at least early on. De Jong
struggled in his first two years at
Michigan, tallying just nine points
— all on assists — in two seasons
over 52 games.
“Things have not been easy for
Nolan,” Berenson said. “He came
here and he ran into a wall, and it
was a big jump for him, and in terms
of his confidence and his role on the
team and how he played and how he
expected to play. And he had a hard
time living up to that.”
The rest of De Jong’s recruiting
class, meanwhile, played starring
roles.
Compher
and
Motte
developed statistically into two
of the best forwards in Wolverine
history. And heading into this
season, it was expected that those
two would return to play in their
senior
seasons
with
De
Jong
and company — especially after
Berenson announced he would also
return after speculations of his
retirement.
They didn’t stay, though. Instead,
Compher, Motte and even Downing
all opted to head to the NHL, and
Michigan was left with holes to fill.
“I was really close, especially with
JT and (Motte), so it’s weird,” De Jong
said. “It didn’t really kick in until we
were doing summer workouts and
running the stadium and doing all of
the stuff where I’m so used to having
them there in the locker room. So
it was a little bit bizarre, and that’s
where it started to set in, like, ‘Where
are those guys?’ ”
Once those players left, there
were questions of who would step
up as a scorer, who would fill in on
the defensive blue line and, maybe
most
importantly,
who
would
reveal themselves as the team’s
leader. And as the season crept
closer, those questions persisted.
In preseason interviews and
press conferences, senior forward
Alex Kile was pegged as a likely
candidate to fill some of those roles.
After all, he was the team’s leading
returning scorer and, as a senior,
it made sense for him to be the
mouthpiece for the team. However,
when captains were announced in
early October, some were surprised
to see that Kile would be serving
as a co-captain along with fellow
senior De Jong.
Those
on
the
team
weren’t
surprised at all, though. Even De
Jong had a hunch that he might get
the nod along with Kile.
“I expected it,” De Jong said.
“Me and Alex took responsibility,
because there’s a lot of stuff that
happens behind the scenes. We
were coordinating times and doing
team events and things like that
even during spring and summer.”
Added senior goaltender Zach
Nagelvoort, a roommate of De
Jong’s: “Just talking about captains
we’ve had here, we’ve had a range
of different guys since I’ve been
here. We’ve had guys that are very
vocal, we’ve had guys that aren’t
super vocal, but they just lead by
what they do every single day, and
I think Nolan does a good job of
embodying both of those things.”
A good captain can only do so
much, though, and De Jong has
his own limitations. He has never
scored a goal while playing for
Michigan — something that his
teammates jokingly remind him of.
“We definitely give him a hard
time about that,” Nagelvoort said.
“Personally I would love to see him
put up a couple of goals this year. I
think that would be awesome. But
it’s a hockey team — you’ve got to
have thick skin, and we definitely
give him a hard time.”
Of course, De Jong realizes
scoring
goals
isn’t
his
most
important job. In his eyes, building
team camaraderie will lead to the
most success for the team. And with
a freshman-laden roster this year,
that task has become even more
important for him.
“People keep talking like, ‘What
are you going to do about the
scoring?’ and ‘What are you going
to do about this or that?’,” De Jong
said. “But I think if we have a hard-
working team that’s extremely tight
at the rink and hangs out away from
the rink, that’s going to make us a
better team than anything.”
But De Jong has clearly filled
his new role with grace. He doesn’t
have to put in extra effort to get
along with younger teammates
or lead by example — that comes
naturally to him.
“I can go talk to anybody at any
time,” he said. “It’s never awkward
if it’s just me and one guy. We have
something to talk about. We have
something in common, so it’s pretty
easy, with the group of guys we
have, to be friends with everyone.”
***
Now De Jong is a co-captain
on an extremely young Michigan
team, and the pressure is now
firmly on him. With all of the
attrition that the Wolverines face
this season, he is one of the most
experienced players on the roster.
And, despite never scoring a goal in
college, he’s going to be expected to
produce now.
But with this being his senior
season, De Jong isn’t worried.
Instead, he’s more focused on
taking everything in.
“We have so many alumni come
in and talk to us, and the coaches
talk to us, and every single guy says
how fast it goes by,” De Jong said.
“So I do my best to try and take it
in. But at the same time, I know
it’s not really going to hit me until
I leave and kind of realize what we
had here.”
That sentiment was made evident
this weekend, when De Jong’s
parents came to visit him. They
have only visited a few times total
over De Jong’s career, but this
season they are making an effort to
see him more.
After
both
practices
on
Wednesday
and
Thursday,
the
three gathered just off the ice. De
Jong sat on the bleachers with one
foot up next to him. He smiled and
nodded along with his parents as he
stared out onto the ice, watching
his teammates finish up their days
with shooting and skating drills.
De Jong has seen it all. He’s
been a top-three defenseman in
terms of points on a playoff team
in the BCHL, he’s been a freshman
fighting for ice time 2,000 miles
away from home, and now, he’s the
top defenseman for the 11th-ranked
Wolverines.
But after all of that, De Jong is
clearly in his element. It’s his turn
now. And the people who know him
best have taken notice of that.
“Each year he’s gotten more
comfortable there,” McBride said.
“I feel like he’s ready for this. He
wanted this, and he’s got it now, and
he’s going to run with it.”
“Things have
not been easy
for Nolan.”
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
De Jong played in just 52 games in his first two seasons before breaking out last year and
leading the Big Ten in plus-minus while serving as a full-time starter.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily