The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2019 THE WOLVERINE 55 HOCKEY PREVIEW some bumps and bruises, but it was good for growing the program and the team," Person explained. "Those young guys played a lot of key min- utes for us. I remember against Ohio State, late in the year, we had two freshmen in [Garrett] Van Wyhe and [Nolan] Moyle playing with a sopho- more [Dakota] Raabe as our top line. "Those three young men out- played Ohio State's top line in a big game. They got tremendous experi- ence. They all made good strides in the second half. "I think the biggest growth year in college is from that first year to the second year. There are no sur- prises when you get to that second year. The players get stronger, too. I'm excited to see the progress from all those young guys." Newly elected senior captain for- ward Will Lockwood concurred with his head coach and added on last year's results. "It was mostly a mentality," he said. "That's something that sepa- rated us from winning those one- goal games and made a difference. So far this season, whether it's in the locker room, in practice or around the rink, hopefully that mentality will be all about winning. "Throughout the past 10 years or so, Michigan hockey has had guys who have come in and left early. With my class, we've got a bunch of guys with experience and a bunch of guys who have been here for three years already. Our team's a little bit older this year than last year. "That experience is especially im- portant in the Big Ten. Each game is going to be close, and every team is going to give you a good game no matter what. Having that experience will definitely be a benefit." Lockwood will play a vital role in the offense. Opting not to turn pro with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, who drafted him in the third round (64th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. During his junior season, he led the team in goals (16), power-play goals (six) and shots on goal (143). That fine line between winning and losing last season became even more important when the Wolverines lost two of their top players, forward Josh Norris and defenseman Luke Martin, to season-ending injuries in the second half of the slate. "You can't put a number on that [the cost of those two injuries]," Pear- son admitted. "When you have so many games that are decided by one goal and you lose a player like Josh Norris, it's tough. Norris was having a tremendous offensive season before he got hurt. With him, I think we could have challenged for first place [in the Big Ten]. "Then, you throw in Martin, who was playing his best hockey on de- fense. Everybody experiences [inju- ries], but I don't think anybody did to the extent we did last year. At the same time, some of our players got some valuable experience having a bigger role in the lineup." Pearson tweaked his 2019-20 lineup by adding only five true freshmen, but bolstered the experience level with two graduate transfers, forward Jacob Hayhurst from RPI and defen- seman Shane Switzer from Boston University, and one true transfer, for- ward Emil Ohrwall from RPI through the USHL's Waterloo franchise. "The grad transfers will both help," Pearson offered. "They're both good players. They come from good pro- grams. They both had some pretty good experience." Pearson and Lockwood agreed that the strength of the 2019-20 roster lies in the 17 forwards who will compete for playing time. Senior forwards Jake Slaker and Nick Pastujov will be counted on to supplement Lock- wood's offensive contributions. "We are very deep up front," the coach said. "We have 17 forwards on the roster. It's a very talented group. We've got speed, size, quickness, leadership, some scoring and experi- ence. We're really excited about them. Senior forward Nick Pastujov has tallied 39 points (15 goals and 24 assists) over the last two years. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL