8A — Wednesday, September 20, 2017 Sports The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Notebook: Goaltenders set to lead Wolverines Last season’s three-man goaltender rotation for the Michigan hockey team is now down to two. Zach Nagelvoort graduated last spring, and sophomores Jack LaFontaine and Hayden Lavigne remain as the two Wolverine netminders with substantial experience. And in his first season at the helm, Michigan coach Mel Pearson seems confident that the goaltenders can handle the increased workload. He called the rotation of LaFontaine and Lavigne the team’s “strongest position right now.” In addition to the increased playing time, though, LaFontaine and Lavigne find themselves in somewhat new leadership positions with the team. “I feel like as a goalie, you kind of always lead from behind,” Lavigne said. “You’re the quiet guy that’s just kind of there doing your job every single day, you know, in and out. There’s definitely going to be leadership, not just from me, but also from (LaFontaine) and (junior goaltender Chad) Catt as well. And I think it’s just going to be by being confident every day in net, just coming to work, and being quiet — not necessarily an outspoken leadership position.” Added LaFontaine: “Me and Hayden both definitely feel a responsibility where we need to step up now, and this is both of our years to kind of take this team and kind of build off both of our strong seasons last year.” NEWCOMERS PREPARING TO EXCEL One of the main reasons for optimism with this season’s Wolverines is their incoming freshmen. Forward Josh Norris was a first round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, and defenseman Quinn Hughes is projected to be an early pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Pearson pegged them as players he expects to produce at a high level for Michigan. “Those are the two guys you expect to have the most immediate impact,” Pearson said. “Obviously Josh was a first- round draft pick, so there’s a lot of pressure on him to perform, and Quinn Hughes is ranked really high. They’ve both looked really good.” In addition to Norris and Hughes, the Wolverines welcome fellow first-years in forward Jack Becker, forward Michael Pastujov — brother of sophomore forward Nick Pastujov — and Dakota Raabe, who Pearson said has impressed him with his skating and skill. Michigan also added graduate transfer forward Alex Roos, who spent the last four seasons at Colorado College. LOCKWOOD RETURNING AT FULL HEALTH When sophomore forward Will Lockwood was on the ice last season, it was easy to imagine what he could accomplish in the future. Lockwood was one of, if not the, fastest skater on the team, and he was second on the team in points (20), assists (12) and goals (8). The one thing that did stop Lockwood was a nagging shoulder injury that held him out of five games last year. This year, Lockwood hopes to have remedied that issue. He had surgery on his shoulder last spring, and he claims he’s feeling as healthy as ever. “I feel great,” Lockwood said. “The surgery was timed well, so I’m ready to go at the beginning of the season. So, yeah, I’m feeling really good about it. … We’ve done a really good job rehabbing it and everything, so I feel confident. We’re starting the season up, and I’m really excited for that.” With that newfound health, the Wolverines will rely on Lockwood, as Pearson said at the team’s Media Day on Tuesday. “I’m looking for a big year out of Will,” Pearson said. “I like the way he plays. Being on the opposite bench last year watching him, he’s the kind of guy you want on your team. You didn’t want to play against him, so it’s going to be a lot more enjoyable and relaxing for me to have him on our team instead of playing against him.” DANCS, WARREN “X-FACTORS” OF THE TEAM In his time at Michigan Tech, Mel Pearson turned the Huskies from a perennial underdog into one of the best teams in the country in Corsi- percentage. As a result of that, many players on his teams put up impressive stat lines. With scoring being one of Michigan’s biggest problems last season, Pearson is looking to have a similar effect on the Wolverines. Tuesday, Pearson pointed out senior forward Dexter Dancs and junior forward Brendan Warren as “x-factors” for the team. Dancs showed some promise in his sophomore season, accruing 17 points on seven goals, and Warren had a 17-point campaign of his own two seasons ago. But both Dancs and Warren regressed last season. Dancs scored only one goal, and Warren had just 10 points. For Pearson, the challenge lies in giving Dancs and Warren the confidence to be at the top of their game. “I think you have to give them that confidence as far as their roles and playing them,” Pearson said. “If they have a bad shift or a bad game, continue to play them. Give them an opportunity to work through that. “… They’re key guys to us having success.” CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily Sophomore goaltender Jack LaFontaine is prepared to step up and become a leader for the Wolverines after posting an impressive freshman campain. MIKE PERSAK Daily Sports Editor I feel like as a goalie, you kind of always lead from behind. Pearson brings confidence, Michigan must back it up I t’s an unenviable task to take over a coaching job from the greatest coach in the history of a program. That’s exactly what Mel Pearson is doing with the Michigan hockey team. For Pearson, though, taking over for Red Berenson — the Wolverines’ coach for the last 34 seasons — isn’t as enormous an undertaking as it may seem. He served under Berenson in different capacities for 22 seasons before taking his first head coaching job with Michigan Tech in 2011. Pearson knows Ann Arbor, and he knows Michigan hockey. He’s surrounded himself with people he’s familiar with, too. Associate head coach Bill Muckalt won two NCAA Championships as a player with the Wolverines while Pearson was behind the bench, and he was an assistant coach under Pearson with the Huskies. Assistant coaches Brian Wiseman and Steve Shields were each recruited by Pearson to play at Michigan, and they coached with Pearson once their playing careers were finished. For one, Pearson and Muckalt have a tenure of turning around struggling hockey programs. They did it together with Michigan Tech, bringing them from a cellar-dwelling team to two NCAA Tournament appearances in just five years, and Muckalt won a Davis Cup with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm for the first time in the franchise’s history. But whether or not they can turn around a Wolverines team that was the third-worst in the country in Corsi-percentage remains to be seen. Additionally, there are the highly-touted freshmen, who look like they’ll make immediate, positive impacts. Namely, forward Josh Norris — a first-round NHL draft pick in 2017 — and defenseman Quinn Hughes — a projected first- round pick for the upcoming 2018 draft — were picked by Pearson as first-year players who have impressed him. Even their contributions aren’t a sure thing yet, though. Still, at Michigan’s Media Day on Tuesday, players and coaches alike repeated that there’s a greater sense of optimism this season. “I think it’s just an excitement of everybody having a fresh start,” said senior forward Dexter Dancs. “I don’t think Red and Mel’s coaching styles are too different but it’s just the excitement of having a new guy and having a clean slate.” Added sophomore forward Will Lockwood: “Mel’s bringing a lot of energy, and we have a lot of new guys, and everyone fits well. I think a lot of the chemistry between guys is great which has brought the mood in the locker room up too.” This talk of positive feelings came the day after the Big Ten Preseason Coaches’ poll predicted the Wolverines would finish second to last in the conference. Many of the Michigan players shook it off as something they try not to pay attention to, but all of them knew about the poll, and some of them let on that it will be used as motivation. “We don’t try and look too much into that,” Dancs said. “But it’s obviously a little bit of an F you, I guess you could say, to us. We’re excited to prove everyone wrong. “It was a little bit of a topic of conversation, but, you know what, we’re not looking too much into it. But it will definitely be in the back of our mind when we play every team this year.” That type of language ran up and down the team. Whether it was sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne saying the Wolverines will “come out as the underdog and finish on top,” or Muckalt saying the beauty of the game is that it isn’t on paper, everybody relayed a feeling of confidence that this will be a successful team. And if you want to know where the confidence comes from, look no further than the new head coach. “I’m not a forecaster, but if I had to pick, I’d pick us to win the league,” Pearson said. “We’ve got all the things we need to be successful, but you’ve got to go out and execute. You’ve got to go out and prove it.” And therein lies the challenge. Despite all the talented young players, the grizzled veterans who have been through the ups and downs of the last few seasons and the new head coach with a seemingly magic touch, Michigan still has to perform on the ice. The Wolverines have talked the talk. Now, when the regular season begins on October 6, they need to walk the walk. Persak can be reached at mdpers@umich.edu, on Twitter @MikeDPersak or on Venmo @Mike-Persak. FILE PHOTO/Daily Michigan coach Mel Pearson coached the Wolverines for 22 years, and now he has returned to Ann Arbor once again. MIKE PERSAK