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September 29, 2017 - Image 7

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The Michigan Daily

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, September 29, 2017 — 7

Amid much anticipation, Michigan set to open new season

The
offseason
for
the

Michigan hockey team has been
rife with high expectations.
The summer has seen countless
headlines surrounding a new
head coach, a six-senior class
determined to rebound from
last year’s disappointment and
promising freshmen looking to
become breakout stars.

This excitement will be on

full
display

Saturday when
the
doors
of

Yost Ice Arena
open to mark
the beginning of
hockey
season

in Ann Arbor
once again. The
Wolverines
will hit the ice
this
weekend

and
kick
off

their
2017-18

campaign with
an
exhibition

matchup
against Western Ontario.

Michigan’s first game since

last spring will also be the first
time the team plays under a new
head coach in 33 years after the
legendary tenure of former coach
Red Berenson.

Though just an exhibition

before regular season play begins
next weekend at St. Lawrence
and Clarkson in upstate New
York, new coach Mel Pearson
doesn’t
approach
this
game

differently than other contests.

“This has to be a dress rehearsal

for next weekend,” Pearson said.
“That’s one of the things we’ll try
and line up even this whole week,
as if it’s another Big Ten week
playing a Big Ten opponent, so
everything we’re going to try to
do is to prepare them.

“With a new coaching staff,

there’s a lot of things that are

going to be different in just what
we do on game day, pre-game
skate, all those things. So it’s
for them to learn what we want,
too.”

The veteran Wolverines share

their coach’s mentality and are
intent on instilling the idea of an
unwavering, winning work ethic
into the freshmen leading up to
Saturday.

“It’s like any other game,”

said senior defenseman Cutler
Martin. “You’ve got to go in with
the mindset that you’re going to
win, you’re going to win every
battle, every shift. You’ve got to
go in and take care of business.
So it’s not really like an, ‘All right,
I’m going to go in and play a 50%
job.’ It’s giving it your best effort
and you’re coming away trying to

score as many goals as possible
and limit them to nothing.”

While the team goes through

the same practice regimen it
would do for a midseason game,
there will also
be a test-drive
feel against the
Mustangs.
The

coaching
staff

will experiment
with
different

systems at game
speed and assess
the strengths of
newcomers
in

that setting.

Preseason

rules restrict coaches from being
on the ice during practice for
more than a half hour per day
— amounting to a total of just

two hours a week. This makes
it difficult to implement new
strategies and find time to fully
teach and evaluate players.

But Pearson hopes Saturday’s

game will show
Michigan’s
progress
and

areas
for

improvement
since
preseason

practices
began

two weeks ago.

“First
and

foremost, it’ll be
good just to see
what our guys
are capable of

doing, where they’re at as far
as their execution of different
systems we’re trying to put
in,” Pearson said. “Obviously,

I’m new this year so it’s sort
of a different look, so it’ll be
important to see how far they’ve
come in some of the things we’re
trying to teach.

“We just want to see some

excitement, some energy and
some hustle out there more than
anything, and then the execution
of the things we’re trying to do.”

Added Martin: “I think that

we’ll also learn a little bit about
our team. We have some new
guys and we’ll see what they can
do. It’s their first opportunity
to show us — to show the
returners and show the coaches
— what they’re made of and
what they’re like in real, game-
like competition. It’ll be a good
learning experience to see how
it’ll go.”

And the freshmen are primed

to show everyone their talents
from the moment the puck drops.

The highly-touted incoming

class is led by forward Josh
Norris, a 2017 first-round NHL
draft
pick,
and
defenseman

Quinn Hughes, a likely 2018
first-round pick. Forward Dakota
Raabe has also impressed the
coaches the past few weeks.

In some ways, Pearson believes

the freshmen will have it easier
than the upperclassmen because
they haven’t played under the
previous system at Michigan.
This advantage, combined with
the potential they have displayed
in practice, gives him the belief
his new skaters will have an
immediate impact come game
time.

“We
like
the
freshmen,”

Pearson said. “They’ve shown
that they’re going to compete
and push guys for jobs and ice
time.”

On a personal level, Pearson

is both eager and honored to be
the man in charge, returning to
Michigan after 23 years under
Berenson as both an assistant
and associate head coach — and
most recently six years as the
head coach at Michigan Tech.
Despite the excitement, it’s first
things first for the Flin Flon,
Manitoba native as the team
makes its way from the dressing
room to the rink.

“I just hope I go to the right

bench,” Pearson laughed. “The
first few times I came in here
when I was at Michigan Tech as
the visiting coach, it was really
strange coming on the visitor’s
bench and now I guess it’s come
full circle. I get to go to the bench
as the head coach.”

As fans file into Yost, freshmen

and returners alike lace up their
skates, and Pearson heads to the
home bench, Saturday will be
the first look at the new team in
a new era.

New coach Mel Pearson steps it up a notch for Wolverines

On a Tuesday afternoon,

with over a week to go before
the first puck drop of the year,
Yost Ice Arena feels alive.

Not
in
a
conventional

sense, though. The bleachers
stand vacant, devoid of the
student-section
buzz
that

will inevitably return to the
rink
in
upcoming
weeks.

But off the ice, Mel Pearson
and his players radiate an
unmistakable energy.

Just days away from its

first exhibition match against
Western Ontario, the Michigan
hockey team is anxious for its
season to launch.

“Overall,
the
energy

(has
been)
a
lot
higher,”

said
sophomore
forward

Jake Slaker. “Having a new
coaching
staff,
everybody’s

starting off at 0-0, so we’re all
pretty excited to be on the ice
and to try to make a name for
ourselves.”

At their official team media

day last week, the Wolverines
spoke
optimistically
about

their upcoming season after
their 2016-17 season fell flat.
They finished bearing a losing
record for the first time since
the 2012-13 year. Michigan
struggled
tremendously
on

the offensive front, lacking
firepower
and
holding
the

third-worst Corsi-percentage
in the country. As a result,
the Wolverines failed to make
the top 20 in the preseason
rankings.

Moving forward from that

point, Michigan has had to
start putting in the work to
convert its confidence into
performance.

Luckily for the Wolverines,

the past season and a fresh
coaching staff are assets that
can be used as motivation to
defy expectations this year.
Not to mention, Michigan has
an
abundance
of
potential

leaders up and down its roster.

In addition to the Wolverines

having a chip on their shoulder,
Pearson has taken it upon

himself to combat last season’s
most pervasive problems. His
objectives include revamping
Michigan’s style of play. The
Wolverines want to possess the
puck, they want to be fast and
they want to be aggressive.

Though confined to two

hours per week on the ice
leading up to the exhibition
game, Pearson utilizes these
short
practice
increments

efficiently.

“We’re trying to play with

more pace in practice so when
we get in the game it will seem
easier — not that it will be
but mainly just the pace and
attention to detail,” Pearson
said.
“They’ve
been
good.

We’ve seen great improvement
from week one when I thought
they were — I don’t want to
say lazy, but I’ll use the word
relaxed a little bit. We’re just
trying to jack up the intensity.”

With Pearson at the helm

following
Red
Berenson’s

34-year tenure as head coach, a
novel dynamic — where players
are vying to make a positive

impression on the new coach —
is becoming the defining factor
of the preseason.

The
dynamic
fosters
a

competitive
atmosphere
at

practices, as every player gives
his all in order to stake his claim
for playing time. In turn, the
players reap the benefits when
their performance sharpens.

“Guys that had solidified

their spots in the lineup last
year are now back to fighting
for their spots again,” said
sophomore goaltender Hayden
Lavigne. “There’s big question
marks as to who’s going to play
with who, who’s going to be on
special teams’ time, stuff like
that. It really forces guys to
come to practice every day and
fight for their position.”

Slaker — who saw action

in all 35 games as a freshman
last season and led Michigan’s
offensive campaign with a
team-high 21 points — echoes
this mantra.

“I think I just need to

elevate my game more,” Slaker
said. “I think there’s higher
expectations of me this year,
being an upperclassman, so
I’m excited about that. Overall,
expectations for myself are
just to do whatever I can to
help the team whether that’s
getting points, blocking shots,
playing first line or fourth line
or even just being positive in
the locker room.”

Not only have returning

players contested each other
for positions, but they have
been competing with freshman
forward
Josh
Norris
and

freshman defenseman Quinn
Hughes as well. The former
was a first-round NHL draft
pick, and the latter is a likely
first-round draft pick in 2018.

“Quinn Hughes and Josh

Norris
are
two
high-end

freshmen,”
Pearson
said.

“They’re worth the price of
admission, I’m telling you right
now.”

The
strength
of
the

freshman class illustrates the
depth of the Michigan roster
this season. From a robust six-
senior class, to four dominant
sophomore
forwards,
to

Hughes
and
Norris,
the

Wolverines
have
some
big

boxes checked even before
their season commences.

The competitive atmosphere

and
intense
energy
that

Pearson
and
his
players

alike have brought to Yost
so far makes one thing clear:
Michigan is keen to avenge its
lackluster season. The ability
to harness this energy during
games will be key to whether it
can succeed.

“Coach
Mel
is
very

enthusiastic and very upbeat,”
said
sophomore
goaltender

Jack LaFontaine. “And I think
the guys are responding well to
it, and I think we’re seeing that
a lot on the ice right now. He’s
very positive and good vibes
are going around the dressing
room.”

After an offseason full of change, particularly at head coach, the Wolverines will kick off a new year Saturday

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Senior defenseman Cutler Martin thinks the game experience of the season opener will help ‘M’ better understand what it has and where it is at this point.

BENJAMIN KATZ

Daily Sports Writer

“There’s a lot
of things that
are going to be

different.”

Western
Ontario at
Michigan

Matchup:
Western
Ontario 0-0;
Michigan 0-0

When:
Saturday
7 P.M.

Where: Yost
Ice Arena

ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne believes the competitive atmosphere has been beneficial for the whole team.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Sophomore forward Jake Slaker will have to fight for playing time just like everyone else despite his strong 2016-17 year.

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