The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
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

