One step at a time
T
hree weeks ago this Saturday,
the Michigan hockey team
left the ice at Yost Ice Arena
having posted a 60-shot, double-digit
scoring spectacle in its preseason
faceoff with
Western
Ontario. Elation
was palpable
as the players
and coaches
filed into the
locker room, but
hints of relief
and surprise
permeated the
air as well.
Michigan
coach Mel Pearson was quick to
address the elephant in the room.
“The goal scoring,” Pearson said,
“we were 42nd in offense last year,
so we weren’t sure where the goals
were going to come from.”
And yet, nine of the Wolverines’
10 goals came from players who were
on the roster last season. Plainly,
such a large margin of victory could
not have been anticipated.
Fast forward one week.
Michigan began its regular season
on a New York road trip, where
its emerging offense outshot St.
Lawrence in the Friday nightcap and
Clarkson on Saturday. Yet while the
Wolverines tallied a win against the
Saints, their Saturday battle went
down on paper as an inerasable
shutout loss.
Therein lies the point of reflection.
Should losses like the one to Clarkson
be taken at face value, or should they
actually be interpreted as triumphs
within themselves? There may not be
one clear answer yet.
Inarguably though, the
Wolverines demonstrated growth
in both of their opening outings.
Michigan, both nights, created viable
opportunities for itself. Michigan,
both nights, had its offense outshine
that of the opposition. The same
could not be said for most of last
season.
When the weekend wrapped up,
Pearson echoed this viewpoint.
“In some regards, we played
better (against Clarkson) than we
played (against St. Lawrence),” he
said. “And some nights the puck just
doesn’t go in the net for you.”
The elaborate, tiny details of
each game will never be captured
completely on a stats sheet. But that
doesn’t make them trivial.
And this year, winning games
shouldn’t be the sole emphasis
for Michigan. Let me be clear: It’s
not that winning isn’t important,
or that the Wolverines won’t be
capable of beating a multitude of
their opponents. But chiefly, the
transformation of this program
won’t happen overnight.
Still, every small improvement
displays the charisma Pearson
has brought back to Michigan
hockey. Every development
prognosticates the program’s
future success.
No one wanted to focus on the
preseason poll that predicted the
Wolverines would finish second to
last in the Big Ten. On Media Day,
players collectively expressed that
they aren’t letting it get to them, and
that they are determined to prove the
poll wrong.
“It was a little bit of a topic of
conversation,” said senior forward
Dexter Dancs. “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.”
Despite how disheartening the
forecast of finishing sixth out of
seven seems, it was anything but
arbitrary.
Michigan’s 6-12-2 conference
mark over the 2016-17 season says
as much. The Wolverines had the
third-worst Corsi-percentage — a
measure of puck possesion and shot
differentials — in the country. The
offense completely broke down,
and was never able to regenerate.
Michigan commenced the year with
a No. 11 ranking, but it quickly faded,
slipping to 37th in the nation by the
end of the season.
In contrast, No. 5 Notre Dame, No.
8 Minnesota and No. 11 Penn State
all earned NCAA Tournament bids
last spring. These three conference
competitors, in addition to No. 6
Wisconsin, are all ranked above
Michigan, and rightfully so.
With an elite hockey tradition,
a new coach and a revamped
mentality, the Wolverines are eager
to write off last season as a glitch and
move forward. But commanding a
high-caliber conference like the Big
Ten is an ambitious feat for anyone,
and Michigan sits only a week away
from its conference opener against
the Nittany Lions.
This team is going to have to be
patient. All of the adjustments the
Wolverines hope to make will not
happen in a month, in a season or
even in two. The bulk of the roster
returns from last year, and the
learning curve will be steep. But
in the case of Michigan — a team
aiming for complete reinvention —
time is its friend.
“It’s a process,” Pearson said after
the Wolverines’ opening weekend.
“And it’s going to be a process with
this team.”
And who better than Pearson — a
coach extremely familiar to working
with struggling programs — to guide
Michigan through this process?
Pearson embarked on his
journey as head coach at his alma
mater, Michigan Tech, in 2011. He
joined a program that hadn’t seen
a NCAA tournament appearance
since 1981.
Just a season before he arrived,
the Huskies held a 4-30-4 overall
record. Rebuilding the team to bring
it national relevance once again was
a daunting task. And yet, with time,
Pearson proved it feasible.
Development started out on
a smaller scale, with gradual
improvements year to year.
Michigan Tech didn’t see a
winning record until the 2014-15
season. But that same season, the
Huskies notched their first-ever
No. 1 ranking and netted an NCAA
Tournament bid.
Obviously, the two circumstances
are not the same. Michigan Tech
hadn’t been hot for decades.
Michigan had one bad year. But
the Huskies are an unmistakable
case of how a new set of skilled eyes
and a little bit of time can revamp a
program.
Thirty games — almost a full
season — remain ahead of the
Wolverines. Michigan should focus
now on what it can control.
The offense is alive. Team
chemistry is high. Newcomers
are finding a groove and making
contributions. The coach at the helm
has experience working with teams
and building their programs from
the ground floor.
The rest, with time, will fall into
place.
Marcus can be reached at
annahm@umich.edu or on
Twitter @Anna_H_Marcus.
ANNA
MARCUS
Friday, October 20, 2017 // FACEOFF 2017
3B
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
First-year head coach Mel Pearson is no stranger to rebuilding a program, but in the case of the Michigan hockey team, it won’t be a process that happens overnight.
The arrival of Mel Pearson has injected new life into the program, but his renaissance will require patience.