SPORTSMONDAY
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | February 11, 2019
AUSTIN DAVIS’ JOURNEY FROM ONSTED TO ANN ARBOR
Alec Cohen / Daily
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INSIDE SPORTSMONDAY
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DETROIT — This time two
years ago, then-freshman forward
Will Lockwood was still recovering
from a disclocated shoulder when
he won his first “Duel in the D”
with the Michigan hockey team.
While he notched one assist in that
game, it was clear that he wasn’t
back to the level he was before the
injury.
This time last year, a shoulder
injury at the World Juniors tour-
nament ended Lockwood’s season
in January, just as he was getting
back into a rhythm. He was forced
to watch from the stands as his
team kicked off an eight-game win
streak that catapulted the Wolver-
ines to the Big Ten Tournament
semifinals and eventually the Fro-
zen Four.
Two injuries
to the same
shoulder
i
n
t w o
differ-
ent seasons
cut both of
those campaigns
short.
Now, Lockwood is doing
everything he can to lead Michigan
back to where it was last year. This
time, he’s not watching it happen
from the stands.
“It was tough, definitely,” Lock-
wood said Oct. 17 of not playing in
the Frozen Four. “I mean, you ask
any guy, it’s gonna be tough to be in
the stands and not to be on the ice
with your team.”
This weekend, Lockwood tal-
lied two goals and two assists in a
series sweep over Michigan State.
For the third time in his career, the
Wolverines hoisted the ‘Iron D’
trophy after a 5-2 win on Saturday.
But this time, he was a full partici-
pant in the victory.
“He had a couple of good looks
tonight, so good for him,” said
Michigan coach Mel Pearson on
Saturday. “He’s a really good hock-
ey player and I’m glad for him. I’m
happy for him that after all he’s
been through the first couple years
and not being able to play in the
Frozen Four last year that he’s re-
ally playing well for us.”
In Friday night’s 5-3 win over
the Spartans, Lockwood scored his
sixth goal in seven games and add-
ed two assists for his second-high-
est point total in a single game this
season. In addition to those points,
he tested Michigan State goalten-
der Drew DeRidder with quite a
few ‘Grade-A’ scoring chances.
And on Saturday, he added an-
other goal to his weekend total and
again created chances nearly every
time he was on the ice.
“He’s our most dynamic player
up front by far,” Pearson said Fri-
day night. “He’s having his best
year. You can see it. You can see the
speed, you can see the quickness,
you can see the creativity.
He’s playing hard
and he’s an
e x -
citing play-
er.”
Lockwood’s ability to be
dynamic and create scoring chanc-
es has played a large role in his
recent success, but his willingness
to get to what to Pearson calls the
“gritty area” of the ice is even more
important.
Both goals this weekend came
on tip-ins in front of the net as he
was battling for position. Friday,
freshman defenseman Jack Sum-
mers fired a slapshot from the left
point that Lockwood got a stick
on to redirect into the net. It was
a heads-up, skilled play — exactly
what Pearson wants to see in that
area of the ice.
Saturday night, another shot
found Lockwood just in front of
DeRidder. This time, it came from
sophomore defenseman Quinn
Hughes while the Wolverines were
on the power play. Junior forward
Nick Pastujov tried to shoot the
puck himself, but Lockwood col-
lected it and sent the puck between
Pastujov’s legs and past DeRidder.
Just as Pearson always preaches,
getting to the “gritty area” resulted
in rewards for his team. And he es-
pecially likes to see that grittiness
from Lockwood now that he’s fully
healthy and back in form.
“This year, he came back from
the shoulder, took him a while
to get going and now he’s going,”
Pearson said. “Once the puck starts
going in the net, then your con-
fidence just takes off. He’s going
to hard ice. He’s just not coming
down and making fancy plays
but he’s getting to that hard
ice and rebounds, tip-ins.”
Pearson’s system is
predicated on get-
ting pucks to
the net
and
hav-
ing players in that
hard ice in front of the goal-
tender to clean up rebounds and
create scoring opportunities.
And Lockwood’s willingness to
work in that hard area of the ice
has paid off.
“
Just getting to the net has been
something that I’ve been focus-
ing on,” Lockwood said Saturday.
“We’ve got a lot of good players on
the ice and they’re doing a great job
with the puck and getting it to the
net. Just being opportunistic these
past couple of games.”
Fighting for pucks in front of the
net isn’t the flashiest way to play.
Forwards tend to want to create
dazzling plays up the center of the
ice or score from the wing to show
off the strength of their shot.
But it works, and Lockwood
— fully healthy down the stretch
for the first time at Michigan — is
reaping the benefits.
Bailey Johnson
Daily Sports Writer
LOCKWOOD FINDS HIS STRIDE
MICHIGAN DEFEATS MSU, 5-2,
WINS DUEL IN THE D
dazzling in
dazzling in