ST. PAUL, Minn. — For 

the final time as Michigan 
hockey 
players, 
senior 

forwards Dexter Dancs 
and Tony Calderone stood 
up to leave the postgame 
press conference.

After mounting a 14-4-

1 record in their last 19 
games heading into the 
Frozen Four on Thursday 
night, 
the 
Wolverines 

lost, 4-3, to Notre Dame 
in heartbreaking fashion, 
allowing 
the 
shocking 

game-winning goal with 
just 5.2 seconds left in 
regulation.

As 
the 
puck 
left 

Fighting Irish forward 
Jake Evans’ stick and 
slipped 
through 

sophomore 
goaltender 
Hayden 
Lavigne’s 
blocker pads, so 
did 
Michigan’s 

chance 
at 
a 

10th 
national 

championship.

A 
puffy-

eyed 
Dancs 

and 
subdued 

Calderone 
— 
a 

Michigan 
hat 

shading his face from 
reporters — began to 
walk off the stage, and 
the college hockey scene. 
It was the last time the 
best friends represented 
the maize and blue, and 
maybe 
the 
last 
time 

playing hockey together, 
with Calderone signing a 
contract with the Dallas 
Stars Sunday night.

Before 
the 
seniors 

could leave, Michigan 
coach 
Mel 
Pearson, 

seated next to the 
players, rose to his 
feet and blocked the 
steps down from the 
stage.

First, he grabbed 

Dancs and pulled 
him in for a hug. 
Three slow pats 
to the back of the 
head, 
one 
to 
the 

back and a smack on the 
shoulder.

Then came his captain, 

Calderone. One hand on 
his back, the other on his 
head and then two taps on 
the back.

And then they left.
Pearson sat back down, 

let out a deep exhale and 
puffed out his cheeks. 
Then he began answering 
questions 
from 
the 

media. 
First, 
Pearson 

congratulated 
Notre 

Dame 
and 
coach 
Jeff 

Jackson. Then, he spoke 
about his seniors.

“I’m extremely proud of 

our team, especially our 
seniors,” Pearson said. “I 
thought as the game wore 
on there, we were starting 
to play. … Unfortunately, 
it was just a bad bounce 
there at the end.

“My only regret is I 

don’t have more time with 
the seniors. The seniors 
have 
been 
outstanding 

for us this year. And I 
wish I had them back for 
another few years.”

***
The impressive 

senior 

campaigns 
began during the first half 
of the year. Calderone, 
Dancs and junior forward 

Cooper Marody led the 
way 
for 
a 
struggling 

Wolverine 
offense. 
At 

that point, the “DMC” 
line accounted for almost 
40 percent of Michigan’s 
total points on the season.

If 
the 
trio 
was 

connecting 
on 
all 

cylinders, 

the 

Wolverines 

won games. If they were 
off their game, the team 
faltered.

Halfway 
through 

the 
season, 

Michigan 
was 8-10-2, 
but Pearson 
continued 
to trust his 
veterans 
to 
pave 

the way to 
win 
and 

inspire 
their 
teammates.

“I think 

there’s 
always 
a 
little 

bit of a 
worry 
when 
you 
get a 

new 

coach,” 
Dancs 
said 

late 
Thursday 

night. “It’s easy for 
new coaches to come in 

and play the young guys 
and get things going. But 
Coach Pearson was so 
good to us seniors and … 
we really appreciated it, 
for everything (he’s) done 
for us.”

For their swan songs, 

Calderone 

and 

Dancs 
both 
posted 

career-highs 
in 

goals, assists and 

points. An All-

Big Ten second-

team honoree, 

Calderone 
ended 
as 

the 
top 

conference 
scorer with 
25 goals, to go 
with 19 assists and 
44 

points. Dancs added 11 
tallies and 15 helpers for 
26 points.

Both contributed two 

goals and three assists in 
the NCAA Tournament, 
including the first two 
scores 
against 
Notre 

Dame, 
which 
helped 

open 
a 
2-0 

lead early in 
the second 

period.

Then 

there 
was 

senior 
defenseman 

Sam 
Piazza. 

The 
two-year 

alternate 
captain 

became 
the 
first 

Michigan 
player 
to 

earn Senior CLASS All-
American honors since 
the 
award’s 
inception 

in 
2006, 
recognizing 

an athlete who uses his 
“platform in athletics to 
make a positive impact 
as 
leaders 
in 
their 

communities.” Piazza also 

provided a solid blueline 
presence, notching nine 
goals and 27 assists in 96 
career games.

Defenseman 
Cutler 

Martin 
and 
forwards 

Niko Porikos and Alex 
Roos rounded out the six-
person graduating class. 
This was a group handed 
the 
daunting task 
of 

playing 

under a 

new coach 

and steering 

a team of 17 

underclassmen. 

They 
labored 

through 
matchups 

against 
Big 
Ten 

powerhouses 
and 

faced adversity during 

what was supposed to be 
a rebuilding season.

“They’ve 
been 

tremendous 
to 
our 

young 
players 
in 
that 

locker 
room,” 
Pearson 

said. “They’ve given us 
everything 
they 
have. 

And that’s all we ask of 
our players, just give us 
everything 
you 
have. 

Nothing more, nothing 
less.

“The seniors are not 

only good hockey players, 
they’re 
tremendous 

people, 
good 
students. 

They represent Michigan 

in the right way. And 

I’m very proud of 

those guys.”

***
Following 

Thursday 
night’s loss, in 
the 
hallowed 

underbelly 
of 
the 

Xcel Energy Center, the 
Wolverine dressing room 
was filled with slumped 
shoulders 
and 
bowed 

heads.

Suddenly, an emotional 

freshman 
stood 
and 

began to speak, according 
to Pearson. He thanked 
the seniors for taking him 
and many other rookies 

under their wings. He 

thanked 
them 
for 

accepting him as a 
part of the team, 
for welcoming him 
to the Michigan 
hockey family.

Calderone, Dancs 

and the rest of the 
upperclassmen 
began the season 
carrying 
the 

Wolverines. 
As 

if 
that 
wasn’t 

enough, 
it 
was 

what they did away 
from 
the 
ice 
— 

especially for the 
youngsters — that 
made a significant 
difference down the 

stretch.

Earlier in the 
season, 
the 

coaching 

staff 

emptied 
forward Dakota 
Raabe’s locker to 
send a message to the 
freshman about working 
harder on and off the ice. 
Highly-touted 
freshman 

defenseman 
Quinn 

Hughes had amassed a 
stretch of 24 scoreless 
games, 
his 
lone 
tally 

before Feb. 9 coming in 
Michigan’s season opener 
against St. Lawrence. The 
seemingly 
never-ending 

battle for the starting 
goaltender position kept 

a leader from emerging in 
net.

In 
the 
meantime, 

Calderone and the other 
seniors 
took 
control. 

They 
led 
by 
example. 

Though Calderone knew 
how to score, Pearson 
told him last April that 
he needed to improve his 
all-around 
commitment 

to the game of hockey. 
He needed skating, speed 

and conditioning if he 
truly wanted to play at 
the next level.

Calderone worked day 

in, day out to improve, 
and did. The effort was 
contagious.

As the back half of 

the season began, the 
underclassmen began to 
up their games. Raabe 
became a bright spot on 
the penalty kill, regularly 
the 
first 
skater 
down 

the ice to challenge an 
opponent’s 
power 
play 

unit. Hughes, a probable 
top-five 
pick 
in 
the 

2018 NHL Entry Draft, 
racked up four goals and 
nine assists in his last 12 
games. Many others came 
to life during nail-biting 
games against formidable 
enemies.

Then 
there 
was 

Lavigne 
who 
won 

the 
starting 
job 
and 

became the Wolverines’ 
defensive 
backbone. 

After Thursday’s game, 
Calderone 
called 
him 

the team’s best player 
the second half of the 
year and a bedrock for 
Michigan’s 
program 

looking forward.

By 
the 
end 
of 
the 

season, the torch had 
been passed, the drive and 
determination 
trickled 

down to underclassmen. 
Just as Red Berenson had 
laid the foundation for 
Pearson to take over, so 
had Calderone and the 
seniors for the players 
who followed.

“Honestly, 
I 
think 

it might have been my 
favorite year of hockey in 
my life,” Calderone said. 
“I think being announced 
captain, 
just 
being 
a 

senior and getting to see 
some of these younger 
guys was truly special.

“Like Dexter said, we 

had so much fun this year 
on and off the ice, (it was) 
never a dull day coming 
to the rink. I want to 
thank Coach Pearson for 
that and the guys in that 
room. I think, we’re life-
long friends and we’ll 
have each other forever.”

The 
friendships 
will 

last forever. And they 
may not have won the 
national 
championship, 

but 
Calderone, 
Dancs 

and all the skaters who 
laced up for the last time 
in Michigan colors have 
their fingerprints all over 
the team, their legacy 

ready to live on for 

years to come.

***

From the 

season’s 
start, 
it 

wasn’t a secret 
the 
Wolverines 

weren’t the best group 
of players in the country, 
and they accepted that.

“It 
wasn’t 
the 
most 

talented team I’ve had 
here in four years,” Dancs 
said, “but it was the best 

team and we just loved 
being around each other

The 
talent 
may 
not 

have always been there, 
but 
new 
leaders 
have 

since 
emerged. 
The 

third-youngest team in 
college hockey is now 
full 
of 
relative 
youth 

ready to take the next 
step in re-energizing the 
Michigan hockey culture 
and 
re-solidifying 

itself 
as 

one of the 
most storied 
programs in 

the nation.

With 5:25 left in the 

third 
period 
against 

Notre 
Dame, 
the 
line 

of 
freshmen 
forwards 

Jack Becker and Michael 
Pastujov and sophomore 
forward 
Nick 
Pastujov 

applied 45 seconds of 
pressure in the Fighting 
Irish zone. It was Michael 
Pastujov who hacked and 
whacked at the puck until 
it found its way into the 
back of the net to knot the 
game, 3-3.

It wasn’t Calderone or 

Dancs or another veteran. 
It was a freshman — 
and 
one 
who 
hadn’t 

seen consistent playing 
time until January. The 
moment personified the 
expectations 
for 
years 

to come — young players 
gaining 
experience 
in 

big moments and leading 
the team in the right 
direction.

“I think a lot of people, 

when they talk about us, 
(they) talk about how 
we lacked that depth,” 
Calderone said. “But the 
goal coming from Mike 
Pastujov like that, just 
shows 
that 
(we 
have 

depth). They’ve done it 
multiple times this year 
in the second half of the 
year we had all four lines 
going. And that’s what got 
us going.”

From 
1991 
to 
2012, 

Michigan 
made 
22 

consecutive tournaments, 
an 
NCAA 
record 
that 

still stands. In that time, 
the Wolverines advanced 
to 11 Frozen Fours and 
captured 
two 
national 

championships, in 1996 
and 1998.

But in Berenson’s last 

five seasons, Michigan 
failed to qualify for the 
tournament four times. 
After going 13-19-3 last 
season, the chances to 
return to the playoffs 
anytime soon, let alone 
in the first year of the 
Pearson 
Era, 
looked 

bleak.

This season’s late push 

and 
the 
unexpected 

tournament 
run 

positions the Wolverines 
in 
a 
positive 
light. 

With 
seniors 
and 

underclassmen 
forging 

the way for Michigan, the 
team isn’t the underdog 
anymore, but now a viable 
contender for next year’s 
title.

As Pearson sat with 

Dancs and Calderone, a 
choked-up, yet confident 
coach began the press 
conference with neither 
grief nor disappointment, 
instead 
beaming 
with 

pride 
for his 
players 
and 
a 

promising 

future.

“It’s good to be back 

here,” he said of the 
Frozen Four appearance. 
“Michigan will be back 
here again.”

4B — Monday, April 9, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

AMELIA CACCHIONE/DAILY

Seniors leave renewed Michigan hockey legacy

BENJAMIN KATZ

Daily Sports Writer

The Wolverines bid goodbye to a senior class that changed the trajectory of the program in one season

