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