8 — Friday, October 26, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan gearing up for St. Lawrence
The
pieces
are
slowly
starting to come together.
Despite
the
No.
12
Michigan hockey team’s 1-2
record, there’s been visible
improvement in each game.
Sometimes
the
defense
will
show
flashes
of
a
lockdown group of blueliners.
Sometimes, the offense looks
like it has found its rhythm.
But with St. Lawrence (1-3)
coming to town this weekend,
it’s time for the Wolverines
to put all the pieces together
and finish brushing off the
summer dust.
“It obviously takes a little
bit to get the rust off from
summer hockey and all that
and get really going in the
games,” said senior forward
Brendan Warren. “But I think
every
game
we’ve
played,
we’ve gotten better with the
puck and better defensively,
and just better all around. I
think as we keep going here
and working on things every
week,
we’re
gonna
keep
getting better.”
The
place
Michigan
has
predominantly
shown
rustiness
has
been
on
possession — not just in the
offensive zone or in the neutral
zone, but anywhere on the
ice. Countless turnovers and
sloppy passes have led directly
to goals for opposing teams.
Michigan
coach
Mel
Pearson says the turnover
issue has been addressed, but
the next step is showing that
improvement in a game.
“Now we have to go out and
improve and learn from it,
and sometimes that’s easier
said than done because the
pressure of a game, it’s hard
to recreate that in practice,”
Pearson said. “You’re trying to.
You’re trying to create game-
like situations, so whenever
they get in those spots where
they can’t turn the puck over,
they make a better read.”
As a team deep in a rebuild,
St. Lawrence holds the drive
of desperation, likely to take
advantage of any opportunity
the Wolverines
give them.
“They’re
gonna
be
scrappy.
They’re
desperate,”
Pearson
said.
“They’re trying
to
rebuild
there,
their
coach is in his
second
year
there and he’s done a good job.
They’re a scary team to play.
You look at some of games they
had last year, a lot of one-goal
losses, especially early.”
Michigan has had two games
decided by one goal this season
— a 6-5 win over No. 19 Western
Michigan and a 5-4 loss to the
Broncos the following night.
The Wolverines have, at times,
been caught starting slow and
not
competing
from
the
first
puck drop.
In
this
weekend’s
series,
they’ll
have to be ready
from
the
very
beginning.
“(The
Saints
are) gonna show
up,
they’re
gonna
play
physical and they’re gonna
compete,” Pearson said. “We
have to make sure we bring
our compete hats first and
foremost and then skill can
take over.
“Will (beats) skill if skill
doesn’t show up.”
And this series is more than
just an opportunity for the
Wolverines to put the pieces
together and knock the dust
off.
In Friday’s game, Michigan
will
raise
awareness
for
ALS
—
the
incurable
neurodegenerative
disorder
that former Wolverine Scott
Matzka suffers from. Matzka
was a member of the 1997
National
Champion
team
and
played
under
Pearson
throughout
his
Michigan
career.
“It’s really important to us,”
Warren said. “Everyone knows
(Matzka) and everything that
he’s been going through, so
this is a big game for us to
really do our part in helping
the awareness get out about
ALS and help (Matzka).”
Johns balancing structure
and athleticism for ‘M’
Brandon
Johns
has
probably
answered
this
question before. He’s more
than happy to answer it
again.
“Seventh grade,” he says,
a hint of pride in his voice.
“That was the first time I
dunked, ever.”
If you’re looking for one
fact to characterize Johns’
game, it’s that. He could rim-
graze at 12. Quickly, though,
he corrects himself.
“Actually,
no,
my
first
dunk was sixth grade.
“It was in my gym class,
cause
I
was
trying
to
dunk. And to
be able to dunk
at
that
age,
everybody’s
like,
‘What’s
—
are
you?
Ok,
you’re
a
freak,
or
something.’”
Back
then,
the freshman
forward
guesses,
he
was
6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6. Maybe
freak is the right word.
Now, Johns is listed as
6-foot-8, 225 pounds, and
that feels like a conservative
estimate.
The
raw
athleticism jumps out. His
high school tape is a clinic on
catching lobs, putting back
dunks and pushing the ball
in transition.
“When
I
see
Brandon
take those big strides, it’s
just, wow,” said sophomore
forward Isaiah Livers.
He doesn’t mean that in
terms
of
Johns
grasping
Michigan’s system. He means
it in a literal sense.
Molding
that
talent
to
Michigan coach John Beilein’s
system will be the challenge
for Johns. After dominating
at every level, Johns suddenly
won’t be the
best
player
on the court.
It’s no secret
that
Beilein
starts
his
players
from
the beginning
—
rebuilding
muscle
memory
on
pivots
and
chest passes.
Johns has spent all his
life running the floor, then
jumping off one foot before
shooting or passing. That has
to change now. Finishing off
two feet is a sticking point for
Beilein.
“It’s so hard,” Johns said.
“Cause I’ve been doing it
almost all my life. So, to
finally try to break that, it’s
kind of been a struggle, but
I’m getting used to it. So,
it’s coming along really well
now.”
Still,
there’s
a
natural
hesitancy early in the year.
Johns is learning to balance
his raw ability with the
structure required to play
under Beilein. That will take
time. It’s the little things that
need to be fixed.
Recently
in
practice,
Johns slowed down for a
runner instead of charging
into the paint and dunking
on someone. That’s the type
of behavior Beilein wants to
eradicate.
“(For) Brandon, it’s pretty
simple,” Beilein said. “You
gotta go in and use all those
god-given talents. And he
will.”
It doesn’t take much to see
that Beilein is right about
the
talent.
Freshman
forward
Colin
Castleton
relayed a story
that
conveys
the
opposite
of
hesitancy.
In
a
recent
practice, Johns,
without anyone
boxing him out,
slammed home
a putback dunk, coming out of
nowhere.
That’s what the Wolverines
want Johns to be — a raging
ball
of
athleticism,
with
enough confidence to know
when to put a wide range of
skill on display and when to
tone it down.
“When
he
figures
his
confidence out, it’s bad, cause
he can be very aggressive,”
Livers said. “He has a nice,
fluent
jump
shot.
He’s
athletic. And just, defense.
It starts all on defense and
rebounding right now. He’s
working on going to the glass
more on the offensive side,
getting offensive rebounds
and just moving his feet when
he’s guarding Zavier Simpson
or Dave DeJulius out there.”
Livers knows what Johns
is going through. He did it
last year — well
enough to earn
a starting spot
by
January
—
and
won’t
be
shocked
if
Johns
does
the same. The
two
Michigan
natives
—
Livers
from
Kalamazoo,
Johns
from
East Lansing — have known
each other for years. They’re
one
year
apart,
and
it
wasn’t irregular for them
to show up at the same AAU
tournaments.
When Johns is hesitant
on offense, or doesn’t know
where to be on defense, it’s
Livers who can lend a hand.
“I have to help him,” Livers
said. “I’d feel wrong if I didn’t
help my guy.”
In middle school, when
Livers first met Johns, he
was easy to pick out. He was
dunking in warmups.
Lavigne models play after NHL goaltenders
Carey Price, Jonathan Quick,
Marc André Fleury and Roberto
Luongo are all National Hockey
League superstars in their own
rights. But, they have something
else in common.
They’ve all contributed a
little bit of style to Michigan
goaltender Hayden Lavigne.
It
started
with
Luongo,
a goaltender for the Florida
Panthers. After all, it’s hard not
to look up to someone who was
a finalist for the Hart and Vezina
Trophy — two of the highest
NHL accolades possible.
But Lavigne had a simpler
reason for looking up to the
18-season veteran.
“I loved his outward comedic
presence while he was still a
professional athlete,” Lavigne
said. “He approached every
game like he knew what he had
to do and what it takes, and we
see that now that he’s played
1,000 NHL games. But he’s still
very vocal on Twitter, and he’s
sarcastic on Twitter and funny,
he likes to goof around.
“Which, I think he was a good
outlet for me since I was always
so serious and quiet in the locker
room. It was a good way for me
to see like, ‘Oh, you can relax a
little bit and have some fun and
still be competitive and ready to
go.’ ”
While Lavigne and Luongo
are not nearly as similar off the
ice, they share traits on the ice
that Lavigne tries to emulate.
Luongo
is
an
athletic
goaltender who uses his 6-foot-3
frame and build to his advantage.
Due to his athleticism, he is
proficient in catching the puck
with his glove rather than just
blocking it. With the same height
and a similar build as Luongo,
Lavigne has always been a more
athletic goaltender.
Mechanically,
though,
Lavigne wanted to make his game
similar to Price, the Montreal
Canadiens’ starting goalie.
“I think through juniors and
everything I always tried to
model myself after Carey Price,”
Lavigne said. “And the last
couple years I’ve really realized
that that’s not a thing that
happens in goaltending. There’s
not one person that you can play
exactly like, or very rarely is that
the case.”
Instead of catering his style
of play to one player, he instead
looks to multiple
role
models
with
different
strengths.
“So
recently
I’ve
started
to
pick four or five
goalies that I like
to watch. Like,
okay,
what
do
they do well that
I want to play like
that?”
Lavigne
said. “So, Jonathan Quick is
extremely explosive and battles
like crazy. So, great, that’s
something that I can contribute
to my game. Am I gonna be able
to play as far out as he does and
make saves? Probably not. Am I
gonna be able to skate that fast?
No, probably not. I can’t do the
splits every other play. So things
like that. I don’t play like him,
but there’s stuff in his game that
I can emulate in mine.
“And then Carey Price, I love
his composure and his stance
and his demeanor. He’s just
very
big
and
confident
in
net,
so
that’s
something that
I like to try and
put
into
my
game. And then
Marc-André
Fleury, we have
somebody that
just
competes
and
outwills
everybody
when he plays. He finds a way to
get it done. So those have been
three of my favorites the last
little while.”
As a player, he doesn’t do
anything
extraordinarily
physical, as goaltender coach
Steve Shields likes to put it.
Lavigne is athletic but not
generational.
His
game
is
defined less by the physical
aspects than the mental ones —
a former weakness.
“He’s a confident guy in
what he does. So technically,
he’s sound. Technically, he’s
a precise guy. He wants to do
everything right,” Shields said.
“He’s not very tolerant when he
doesn’t do everything perfectly.
So technically, he’s a little bit of
a perfectionist.
“He’s an educated player.
He knows what other guys are
doing. He knows what trends
are. You know, in the past,
they’d call guys like that the
rink rat. He’s always involved,
he’s always looking at what
other guys are doing and he has
an opinion about it all, which I
think it’s really good for a goalie.
But technically, he’s where he
needs to be. He just needs to get
a little bit faster, little bit better
and a little more consistent
about everything.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman forward Brandon Johns is looking to utililize his athletecism for Michigan.
ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
“Actually, no,
my first dunk
was sixth
grade.”
“You gotta go
in and use all
those god-given
talents.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior goaltender Hayden Lavigne has looked to multiple goaltenders in the NHL for inspiration for his style of play.
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer
“He’s a
confident guy
in what he
does.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore forward Josh Norris and the Wolverines are 1-2 and will host a series with St. Lawrence this weekend.
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
“You’re trying
to create
game-like
situations...”