Strauss Mann had a shutout on
Saturday.
It was no epiphany. It was easy
to see the work he put in over the
course of 60 minutes to accumulate
to a 20-save blank sheet.
When asked, he’ll always
deflect the credit elsewhere. Some
nights, it’s all about the defense
in front of him, blocking shots or
throwing checks. Other nights,
it’s the offense, keeping the puck
in the other zone. Saturday night,
as Michigan notched a 3-0 win to
move onto the semifinals of the
Big Ten Tournament, it was, again,
the defense making all of Michigan
State’s chances not hard to save.
“This was probably the best
we’ve played defensively all year,”
Mann said. “And I don’t know how
many grade A’s I’ve had to face but
it wasn’t a lot this weekend.”
But the real story was all about
Mann — he was the man of the
hour.
A shutout is no easy feat. After
earning his fifth the day before, he
tied for second in the nation for
most shutouts. One day later, he did
it again. Sixty minutes. One hour.
That’s how long he had to laser
in in-game, but his match started
much earlier.
To most players, there’s practice.
There’s team meetings. There’s
warmups, and then there’s the
game.
“Some guys when they come,
they don’t think about hockey until
they get to the rink,” Kris Mayotte
said Jan. 30. “And then once they
leave the rink, sometimes they
don’t think about it again until they
come back the next day.”
Mann’s routine and structured
lifestyle has been often noted. He
has a strict diet that he follows to
a T. He requires 10 hours of sleep.
He has made sacrifices in how he
lives to better his hockey career.
Because of his discipline off the ice,
the coaches trust that whenever he
leaves the building, he’ll have his
mind and heart on hockey.
“It’s something that’s on his
mind all the time,” Mayotte said.
“The pre-work or even the post-
work of what’s going to happen here
at the rink, you know, that just that
tends to build on itself, and its success
usually follows.”
And his success has followed. He’s
the third best goaltender in the nation
based on save percentage, which he’s
recorded at .939. He’s claimed the sole
spot of most shutouts with six and a
goals against average of 1.85.
Sure, his defense helped by
blocking shots and limiting Grade-A
chances, but he ultimately made
the saves and stopped the puck.
To Mayotte, it’s success that Mann
believes he deserves.
“A lot of it is the mental side of it,
and knowing that you’ve sacrificed
as much as you possibly can to be
where you are,” Mayotte said. “So
you just feel like you’re prepared as
well as you can be and so you feel
like you deserve success.
“And I think that’s a lot of what
he feels and he does.”
Even off the ice and away from
the play, he maintains focus that
carries over to on-ice success.
Before the game Saturday, the
Wolverines were in the weight
room, getting ready for the
Spartans. Freshman forward
Johnny Beecher joked that he
felt someone to his left and after
getting no response to a question
he asked, he figured it was Mann.
Mann was dialed in and nothing
anyone could do would get him out
of his zone.
“He’s super into his craft,”
Beecher said. “I mean, he takes
care of himself really well and it’s
exciting to watch.”
Even for game-day meals, he had
a continuation of his Paleo-esque
diet.
“He had poached eggs for
breakfast,” Michigan coach Mel
Pearson said. “I told him, ‘What’s
the difference between the eggs
that are hard boiled and the
poached eggs?’ ”
But there are differences, besides
the obvious. Everything he does, he
does meticulously in a way that will
bring him success on the ice.
A game of hockey lasts sixty
minutes, and Saturday night, Mann
played them to flatline Michigan
State’s offense. But to him, the
game started much earlier than
that.
ALEXIS RANKIN / DAILY | DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN
MARCH 9, 2020 | MICHIGANDAILY.COM
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer
MANN
OF THE HOUR
Strauss Mann posts two straight shutouts,
leads ‘M’ to sweep of Spartans in first
round of Big Ten Tournament
SPORTSMONDAY
FRIDAY: U-M 3, MSU 0 | SATURDAY: U-M 3, MSU 0
INSIDE
HOCKEY ADVANCES TO B1G SEMIS: PAGE 2B
MEN’S HOOPS DROPS REGULAR-SEASON FINALE: PAGE 3B
WOMEN’S HOOPS UPSETS NU, FALLS IN B1G SEMIS: PAGE 4B
Everything he
does, he does
meticulously in
a way that will
bring him success
on the ice.