The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, February 2, 2017 — 5A
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purchased
the
Football
Book
yet?
Do the
crossword,
then order
one.
store.michigandaily.com
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ACROSS
1 Brewski
5 Scrubland
succulent
10 Skate park
protection
14 “__ something I
said?”
15 Bounded
16 Settled on the
tarmac
17 Headline during
an African
wildfire season?
19 “¿Qué __?”
20 Peach or orange
21 Snitch
22 Rental duration
24 Former NASCAR
Cup sponsor
26 Pass along
27 Go over again
29 Kind of key
33 Bro
36 Tolkien villain
37 “This feels
familiar” feeling
38 Corner office fig.
39 Casual parting ...
and a hint to this
puzzle’s four
longest answers
41 Had too much
42 Satisfies, as thirst
44 Reduction
45 Attending
46 Fable teller
47 “Challenge
accepted!”
49 West Coast pro
51 Possible reason
for an empty seat
55 Picture of health?
58 Profession,
casually
59 Hosp. area
60 __ clarinet
61 Collector of some
Spanish art?
64 Tactic
65 Barn-raising sect
66 Latin I word
67 County bordering
Sonoma
68 Core belief
69 Out of shape
DOWN
1 Punjabi
monotheists
2 Burn through
3 Eatery often
named for its
owner
4 Foul spot
5 Seemingly
eternal burden
6 Joint ailment
7 Abbr. in car ads
8 Unloaded a
burden
9 Old lemon
10 Artist Jasper
during his tropical
period?
11 Cumming of “The
Good Wife”
12 CD part
13 Sit tight
18 “Rule, Britannia”
composer
23 License info
25 Farmer’s
possible reply to
“What beans are
you planting this
year?”?
26 Pit visitor
28 Before,
poetically
30 Green gem
31 Wrapped up
32 Deserving a slap,
maybe
33 Badlands
landform
34 Shaft with
bushings
35 Genteel
gatherings
37 Couple’s break
from the kids
40 “Delish!”
43 Amazing, in
dudespeak
47 Biological map
subject
48 Slime
50 Pester
52 Card table
request
53 Where some
large schools
may be found
54 Rathskeller fare
55 Aye-catcher?
56 Trattoria’s “in the
style of”
57 Firebird roof
option
58 Military center
62 Half a cosmic
whole
63 Check
By Chuck Deodene
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/02/17
02/02/17
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Thursday, February 2, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
Lavigne draws from
past, fights adversity
There
wasn’t
a
specific
play that Hayden Lavigne was
injured on. Rather, it was the
“accumulation of the game,”
the result of facing 27 shots
from then-No. 9 Minnesota,
made only worse by improper
care of his groin.
Regardless
of
how
it
happened, it felt tight after
the game, and the freshman
goaltender
missed
the
Michigan hockey team’s series
the
next
weekend
against
Michigan State.
It was the second stretch
this season that Lavigne has
missed extended time. The
first took place over two weeks
in
November
and December,
when Lavigne
was sick and
missed
both
the
series
against
Lake
Superior State
and then-No. 6
Penn State.
Both
the
illness
and
injury
couldn’t have
happened at worse times for
Lavigne. Before falling sick, he
looked poised to grab the lead
in
Michigan’s
still-ongoing
goaltender
competition.
He
had posted two shutouts in
his first four starts and led the
team in both save percentage
and goals-allowed average by a
wide margin.
When he returned from his
first ailment in the Wisconsin
series, the opening results
weren’t pretty. He gave up six
goals on 27 shots as Michigan
suffered a 7-4 loss against the
Badgers.
“I think he was getting
confidence
and
momentum,
and he got sick and he missed
four games in a row,” said
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
“... It’s the same thing with any
of our guys that are out for any
time. If you’re out for a couple
weeks, it’s tough to get your
legs going and your head going
and get your confidence back
right away.”
Lavigne, though, recaptured
some
of
his
early-season
momentum
the
following
night. He saved 34 of 35 shots
as the Wolverines salvaged a
split against Wisconsin. Then,
Lavigne stopped 36 shots in
the Great Lakes Invitational,
giving his team — in a game in
which its offense went missing
— a chance to beat Michigan
Tech.
But as soon as he had gotten
back on his feet, the Minnesota
game
and
resulting
injury
followed. Now, Lavigne is back
in the same position he found
himself while sick: trying to
fully recover while maintaining
his level of play from earlier in
the season.
Still,
the
adversity
he’s
faced
this
season
is
nothing
compared
to
the
path
he
took
to
Michigan.
After
committing
to
Michigan
in 2013, Lavigne spent nearly
three years bouncing between
teams in the United States
Hockey League. He was cut
from his first two teams —
the Tri-City Storm and the
Waterloo Black Hawks — all
while
Michigan’s
coaching
staff delayed his enrollment,
waiting for Lavigne to emerge
as the player they recruited.
At
one
point,
while
transitioning from one team
to another, he sat in the stands
for over a month, watching
his team play without him.
He eventually caught on with
the
Bloomington
Thunder,
putting up the best stats of his
junior career, and joined the
Wolverines this fall.
“Obviously, it’s not the same
type of adversity I’ve been
through, but at the same time,
going through those trades
and cuts taught me how to be
mentally tough and deal with
adversity,” Lavigne said. “…
That really taught me to be
invested in practice and doing
what I can, controlling what
I can control, not stuff that’s
outside of myself. Those things
definitely prepared me for the
injuries that I’ve had this year
and the illnesses.”
Lavigne’s
early
successes
surprised some because of
his long-winding path to Ann
Arbor.
Senior
goaltender
Zach Nagelvoort is the most
experienced of Michigan’s trio
in net, while freshman Jack
LaFontaine was a third-round
pick by the NHL’s Carolina
Hurricanes. Yet, Lavigne has
arguably outplayed both when
he’s been given the chance.
“Hayden’s done a nice job
coming in here,”
said
assistant
coach
Billy
Powers. “I think
obviously
his
numbers
bear
that out. … I just
think the start
that he’s gotten
off to is a credit
to his ability to
handle adversity
and stay focused.
That, clearly, I
think has been an advantage
for him having three years
of junior experience. Clearly,
all the work he put in prior to
Michigan and dealing with the
highs and the lows have really
helped him be ready for this.
“... I would be willing to bet
Hayden probably brushes small
things off like nothing because
he’s
been
through
much
worse.”
Added Berenson: “... I liked
what
(Lavigne)
was
doing
in his early games. We had a
bad team game in Vermont
that didn’t help him any, but
outside of that, I thought he
was making progress. … Now,
who was going to surface (in
the starting competition), I
don’t think we were in a rush at
that point, but Hayden made a
good first impression. Let’s put
it that way.”
While it would be easy to
imagine a freshman player
fretting over whether he fell in
the pecking order because of
his illness and injury, Lavigne
continues to remain unfazed.
His struggles in the USHL have
shaped him into the player he
is today. A tight groin, after all,
is a much different ordeal than
spending three years in small
Midwestern rinks waiting for
your shot.
“I think that’s helped him
a lot more than he knew at
the time,” Berenson said. “He
didn’t know at the time how
this story was going to be
played out, and I think now, his
experience is going to be huge.
Hopefully, he doesn’t have any
more adversity this year, but
what he’s gone through so far,
he seems to have handled it
pretty well.”
So
Lavigne,
equipped
with
the lessons of his
junior
travels,
did
what
he
knows best: He
went
back
to
work,
whether
it was rehabbing
his
groin
or
watching
film.
He
started
practicing
once
again
this
past week and may play this
weekend against No. 11 Ohio
State.
And once again, he’ll try to
return to his early-season form
— or better.
“I think I’ve just got to put
that in the back of my head
and know that that’s how I can
play,” Lavigne said. “But at the
same time, that’s the past and
people are only going to look at
how I finish the rest of the year.
I don’t want to be that guy that
started off really hot and fell
apart.”
Added Berenson: “(Lavigne)
knows he can do it. He’s got
some confidence. … Of course,
every day in practice is kinda
like trying out for your position
in the game. … We’ve got
players that are trying out
every day just to get into the
lineup, and I think it’s a similar
thing for Hayden.”
ICE HOCKEY
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
“I don’t want to
be that guy that
started off really
hot and fell apart”
“I think that’s
helped him a lot
more than he
knew at the time”
Evaluating the first half of
Michigan’s Big Ten season
Last season, the Michigan
men’s
basketball
team
flew
through
the
first
half
of
conference play en route to a
7-2 record before subsequently
managing just three victories
over its final nine games. The
Wolverines ultimately finished
with a 10-8 conference record
that secured them an eighth-
place finish in the Big Ten — the
lowest of any team above .500 in
conference play.
This season, Michigan (4-5 Big
Ten, 14-8 overall) currently sits
in a four-way tie for seventh place
halfway through the conference
season. The Wolverines lost
only one of those games by
double digits, against Illinois in
Champaign on Jan. 11, but they
also won only one by that margin
— against Indiana at Crisler
Center last Thursday.
While many of those contests
came down to the wire and could
have gone either way down the
stretch, the bottom line is that
Michigan didn’t do enough to
win more games than it has lost.
Before the Wolverines kick off
the second half of their Big Ten
slate Saturday versus Ohio State,
the Daily evaluates Michigan’s
performance so far in 2017.
Offense: B+
Through
their
first
nine
games, the Wolverines have been
carried by their offense. Boasting
an average of 74.1 points per
game — good for sixth-best in the
conference — Michigan has the
ability to score from anywhere
on the court.
The Wolverines are shooting
47.8 percent from the floor and
38.8 percent from beyond the
arc, ranking them second and
fifth, respectively, in the Big
Ten. They crossed the 90-point
plateau twice, in wins over
Nebraska and Indiana. While
Michigan needed to score that
many to beat the Cornhuskers
in a shootout, it blitzed the
Hoosiers while holding them to
just 60 points.
Four
of
the
five
players
in
the
Wolverines’
starting
lineup
average
double-digit
scoring totals. Senior guard
Derrick Walton Jr. leads the
way with 15.1, while wing Zak
Irvin averages 13.2. Both have
capitalized on the impulse to
make their final seasons count,
coming up clutch in crunch time
on multiple occasions, often from
the free-throw line.
Redshirt
sophomore
DJ
Wilson and sophomore forward
Moritz Wagner have emerged
as viable options for Michigan
inside
the
paint.
Averaging
13.4 and 12.4 points per game,
respectively, the pair of big men
provide an interior presence that
the Wolverines sorely lacked a
year ago.
The duo replaced redshirt
junior guard Duncan Robinson
and senior forward Mark Donnal
in the first rotation, but the two
veterans continue to make their
presence felt off the bench.
Junior
guard
Muhammad-
Ali Abdur-Rahkman, the sole
starter who averages less than 10
points per game, has struggled to
duplicate his breakout campaign
from last year, but still averages
7.6 points from the ‘2’ spot.
While the offense is far from
Michigan’s point of weakness, it
still has room for improvement in
the second half of the conference
season.
Defense: D+
In order for the Wolverines
to turn their Big Ten fortunes
around, the defense needs a
serious adjustment. Michigan
sits dead last in the conference
in both opponents’ field-goal and
3-point
field-goal
percentage,
allowing a rate of 51.8 and 48.9
percent, respectively.
While the Wolverines haven’t
given up absurdly high point
totals often — the most scored
against them was 86, and that
was in an overtime loss to Iowa
— their losses have come in
moments when they are beaten
on that side of the floor.
In four of its five losses,
defensive lapses came along
with poor timing for Michigan.
Against both Iowa and then-
No. 17 Wisconsin, late defensive
breakdowns cost the Wolverines
relatively
winnable
games.
Meanwhile, in the first half
against Maryland and in the
second half against Michigan
State, substantial runs swung
the momentum in the direction
of the opposition. Only at Illinois
did the Wolverines fall apart on
defense throughout the entire
game.
Though
Michigan
has
struggled to stop its opponents
from scoring, its strong suit
is keeping them from scoring
second-chance points. Forceful
on the backboard, the Wolverines
average 31.4 rebounds per game,
good for second in the Big Ten.
Wilson leads that effort with
an average of 5.6, and Walton
bolsters him with the next best
average of 5.1 per game.
While rebounds seem to
come naturally on the defensive
end, Michigan sits in dead last
in the conference in yet another
statistic,
with
a
minus-3.7
rebounding margin because the
Wolverines average just eight
offensive rebounds per game.
Without a major improvement
on the defensive side of the
ball in the second half of the
season, Michigan will struggle to
contend in the Big Ten.
Second half outlook:
Though
the
Wolverines
currently sit under .500, they
have the potential to finish out
the conference season on a much
higher note.
Michigan
should
have
winnable games left against Ohio
State (3-7), Minnesota (3-6) and
Rutgers (1-9). It already defeated
Indiana (5-5) and Nebraska (4-5)
and has the ability to replicate
those feats, even though the
Wolverines will go on the road
where they have yet to win a
game this year. They were within
striking distance of Wisconsin
(8-1) and Michigan State (5-4)
in Madison and East Lansing,
respectively, and playing at home
in those rematches could provide
the
difference.
That
leaves
Northwestern (7-2) and Purdue
(6-3) as likely losses.
Last season, Michigan started
strong and then fell apart. This
season, a reversal could be in
store.
Predicted record: 11-7
BETELHEM ASHAME
Managing Sports Editor
ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein’s team has nine games to improve its standing.