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Wednesday, March 28, 2018 — 7A

Breakdown of the four teams remaining in this season’s Frozen Four

Since the conference’s genesis

in 2014, no Big Ten hockey team
has won the national title.

But that fact seems poised to

change this year, as three of the
four teams that populate the
Frozen Four in Saint Paul, Minn.
hail from the Big Ten.

No. 2 Notre Dame, who

stands
as
the

lone conference
champion
of

the quartet will
face off against
Michigan. With
a
5-1
routing

of Denver, No.
4
Ohio
State

is set to battle
Minnesota-
Duluth
in
the

other
semifinal

matchup.

With No. 1 seeds St. Cloud

State and Cornell eliminated,
both of the semifinal matchups
feature
a
clear
David-and-

Goliath complex. The Wolverines
and Fighting Irish split their two
regular season series, and the
Bulldogs fell to Denver in the
NCHC finals, the same team the
Buckeyes stomped over in the
quarterfinal.

The Daily breaks down the

four teams contending in the
Frozen Four vying for a National
Championship:

Minnesota-Duluth (13-11-0

NCHC, 23-16-3 overall)

Perhaps the most battle-tested

team with the highest strength of
schedule in the pack, according
to the 2017-18 KRACH Rating,
the Bulldogs could give the
Buckeyes a run for their money.

With
a
23.9-percent

conversion rate on the power
play — which stands as the
paramount of the four — and the
second-best defense according
to USCHO, Minnesota-Duluth
purports a dual-threat front that
could take advantage of timely
situations.

Defenseman Scott Perunovich

— the CHN Rookie of the Year
— and forward Peter Krieger
headline the attack with 36
and
30
points,
respectively.

Perunovich tallied 15 of those
points on the power play.

The second-to-last time the

Bulldogs played in Saint Paul on
March 16 in the NCHC Frozen
Faceoff, they were dominated on
the power play by Denver. But
with wins over St. Cloud State
and Air Force in the Tournament,
they seem to have found the
answer to the issue that plagued
them late in the season.

Ohio
State

(14-8-2 Big Ten,
26-9-5 overall)

The Buckeyes

strolled to the
Frozen Four with
victories
over

Princeton
and

Denver. Arguably
the
best
team

in the Big Ten,
Ohio State boasts
the best defense

of the group with 2.08 goals
allowed per game and the best
penalty kill at 89.29 percent.

But the Buckeyes’ resolute

defensive line isn’t the tip of the
iceberg.

Forwards Tanner Laczynski,

Mason Jobst and Matthew Weis
combine for 126 total points,
which easily stands as one of the
scarier top-lines in the nation.
And with 60 total goals scored
in the third period alone this

season, Ohio State is the outright
best closing team of the four.

The Buckeyes have notched

wins over every member of the
final quartet, save Minnesota-
Duluth, but have also lost to
Notre Dame four times, the
most recent being in the Big Ten
Championship.

Michigan (11-10-3, 22-14-3)
The
Wolverines
have

been
underdogs
this
whole

tournament.
With
tough

wins
over

Northeastern
and
Boston,

Michigan
has

proven its ability
to
provide

offensive output
in dire straits.

And
with
a

middle-of-the-
pack offense and
defense, the Wolverines’ grit
has certainly propelled them
to their first Frozen Four berth
since 2011, when they lost to
Minnesota-Duluth in the final.

Forwards
Cooper
Marody

and Tony Calderone are the
undisputed
leaders
of
the

offense with 86 total points. The
junior and senior, respectively,
combined for three tallies in
the first two rounds of the
tournament.

Perhaps Michigan’s greatest

strength, though, is its newfound
versatile streamline from the
crease all the way up to the
attacking zone.

Sophomore
goaltender

Hayden
Lavigne’s
mental

fortitude paired with a .910 save
percentage has been consistent
and
reliable.
And
freshman

defenseman Quinn Hughes’ 28
points, supplemented by junior

Joseph Cecconi’s
veteran stalwart
efforts
on
the

blueline, serve as
a
multipurpose

feeder
to
the

productive
attacking arm.

While
the

Wolverines
have
found

success
this

season
against

Notre Dame — sweeping them
in a weekend series when they
were the top team in the land
— they have experienced quite
the opposite against Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have defeated
Michigan five times in five
matchups.

Notre Dame (17-6-1, 27-9-2)
Riding the wave of a victory

in the Big Ten Tournament
Championship,
the
Fighting

Irish squeaked by Michigan

Tech and Providence in their
Regional matchups.

But with the worst offense of

the four teams, it’s not surprising
that Notre Dame is winning by
close margins. Forwards Jake
Evans and Andrew Oglevie stand
as the bannermen, amassing 78
total points.

Where the Fighting Irish

make up for their lack of
offensive prowess is in their
vigorous defense. Their 2.16
goals-allowed per game stands
as the ninth-best in the country

— behind Ohio State’s 2.08 — and
their 88.89-percent penalty kill
prove that they can stop the best.

And
if
Notre
Dame’s

opponents do find their way past
the back line, they have Cale
Morris to worry about. With
the best save percentage in the
country at .945, getting anything
past Morris is a feat.

As the regular and postseason

Big Ten champion, the Fighting
Irish are the best team in the
Frozen Four on paper. Time will
tell if they can prove it.

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

The Michigan and Notre Dame hockey teams split their season series but match up again in the Frozen Four.

ROBERT HEFTER

Daily Sports Editor

Slaker continues to have success in late-game situations for Michigan

One look at Jake Slaker’s

freshman-year stat line tells you
everything you need to know
about the 2016-17 Michigan
hockey team.

First, the good: Slaker scored

seven goals and added 14 assists,
ranking seventh among Big Ten
freshmen with 21 points and
hinting at a promising future
ahead.

The not-so-good? Slaker’s 21

points led the team. A season
before, Kyle Connor paced the
Wolverines with 73.

Slaker put up 21 in something

else last season — plus-minus.
Minus 21, to be precise.

Granted, it’s hard to fault

Slaker directly — he was more
symptom than cause. Michigan
scored just 2.62 goals per game
last season, a drop of over two
goals from 2015-16, and had
one of the youngest rosters in
college hockey; a roster that lost
seven of its top eight scorers
from a year before.

But that was last season. This

season, the Wolverines are in
the Frozen Four for the first
time since 2011, and Slaker,
now an assistant captain, is a
bellwether for something else
entirely.

The San Diego, Calif. native

has been a solid contributor all
year long. He’s third in goals,
eighth in assists and fourth in
total points. But it’s not only
about what he’s done — it’s about
whenhe’s done it.

Slaker has shown off a knack

for clutch goals ever since
Michigan’s second home game
against Vermont. On Oct. 21,
with the Wolverines down 2-1
a five minutes to play, he fired
home a wrister to tie the game.
He lit the lamp again with 54
seconds
remaining,
almost

single-handedly
stealing
a

victory.

Against
Ferris
State
two

weeks later, Slaker’s two third-
period goals were the final nail

in the coffin. In Michigan’s
biggest game of the season to
that point against Minnesota,
his goal in the final stanza sent
the game to overtime, where
the Wolverines claimed a 5-4
victory. When Michigan was left
for dead, down 4-0 to Bowling
Green in the opening game of
the Great Lakes Invitational,
he scored two straight goals to
lead a near-comeback effort.
And it was his empty-netter that
wrapped up a victory against
Wisconsin on Mar. 2, all but
punching the Wolverines’ ticket
to the NCAA Tournament.

“He’s just a game-time player

when he gets in big situations,”
said
senior
forward
Tony

Calderone. “He’s moving his
feet all game. I don’t know, it
might be a coincidence that he
scores all of them in the third
… But he comes up big when we
need him.”

In fact, out of Slaker’s 15

goals this season, 10 of them
have come in the game’s final 20
minutes. But he couldn’t tell you
why — in fact, he wasn’t even
aware of that fact until recently.

“I guess I need to start playing

better in the first and second
period,” he deadpanned when
asked about it after practice
Tuesday.

Michigan coach Mel Pearson

can’t explain Slaker’s third-
period success either. But he has
a theory.

“He’s good around the net, and

he’s got good speed,” Pearson
said. “And maybe it’s because
teams break down as the game
goes on, and he’s able to use that
speed to get to loose pucks and
put pressure on people.”

It’s
a
pitch-perfect

description of what happened
Sunday afternoon in the NCAA
Tournament Northeast Regional

final against Boston University.
With 13 minutes to play and the
Wolverines locked in a 3-3 tie,
Slaker was exhausted and near
the end of a shift. Eyes still on
the puck, however, he chased
it
into
the
offensive
zone,

bearing down hard on Terrier
defenseman Brandon Hickey.
Under pressure to make a quick
decision, Hickey swung his stick
and missed the puck entirely,
and Slaker jumped on the loose
change.

Just Boston’s Cam Crotty

stood
between
Slaker
and

goaltender
Jake
Oettinger.

Slaker tried to swerve around
Crotty before shooting, but his
shot hit the defenseman’s right
knee.
Regardless,
the
puck

deflected off of Crotty and
found its intended destination,
pulling Michigan back into the
lead. The Terriers wouldn’t
score again.

Was it somewhat of a lucky

goal? Perhaps. But it was Slaker’s
forecheck that put Hickey on his
heels. It was Slaker skating as
fast and as hard as anyone, no
matter how tired.

“His speed and the pressure

he put on the defenseman to
make the error and then get the
puck and make the shot, I think
that could be some of it because
he is a good skater,” Pearson
said. “He’s just as strong in the
third period as he is in the first.”

That’s the case for his entire

line, actually. Slaker, junior
Brendan Warren and freshman
Josh Norris are three of the
Wolverines’ strongest skaters
— Pearson believes that the
trio skates as well as any in the
country.

“We’re
getting
on
the

forecheck early, and it lets us
play a little bit more on the
offensive side,” Slaker said. “So

then when we’re playing the
defensive side, we can skate
harder back and catch the guys.
I think it just plays in our favor
being faster, just taking pucks to
the net and just playing as fast
as we can, pushing the pace for
the other team.”

Pushing the pace has other

benefits,
too.
Michigan’s

first two lines are built much
differently — Calderone, senior
Dexter Dancs and junior Cooper
Marody carry much of the
scoring burden, but aren’t quite
the elite skaters that Slaker,
Norris and Warren are. The
Wolverines’ second line may
not light the lamp as often, but
can break teams down with
the stress they put on opposing
blueliners, setting up the “DMC”
line to inflict a mortal wound.

“They add speed, they get

defensemen
thinking
about

where
they
need
to
go,”

Calderone said. “When they’re
moving their feet and they’re
going, offensive pressure opens
up everything for all the other
lines. So once they’re getting
pucks deep, hitting guys and
skating, it’s dangerous.”

You
can
chalk
Slaker’s

propensity for big-time plays
up to to pure coincidence, if you
so choose. That’s probably fine
with him — he pretty much does
so himself.

But
Pearson
frequently

mentions
players
getting

rewarded for efforts that usually
go unseen. That’s been Slaker
all season — working hard in
both zones, playing on special
teams, skating opponents to
exhaustion. And even when he
hasn’t directly experienced the
benefits of his hard work, others
have.

Sunday, Slaker was rewarded.

The reward: a game-winning
goal and a trip to St. Paul.

And going from a minus-21 as

a freshman to being an assistant
captain and the third-leading
scorer on a Frozen Four team?

It’s a bit harder to call that a

coincidence.

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Sophomore forward Jake Slaker scored the game-winning goal in Michigan’s win over Boston University in the NCAA Tournament Northeast Regional final.

Ohio State

boasts the best
defense of the

group.

The Wolverines

have been

underdogs this
tournament.

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer