The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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68 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2019 MICHIGAN HOCKEY Recruiting is the life blood of any col- legiate athletic program. Mayotte real- izes that despite his valuable contacts in East Coast developmental hockey circles, the goal is to find the best pros- pects, no matter the geographic region. "You can't be everywhere," Mayo- tte said of recruiting nationally. "In our business, where there are three coaches, we have to be as many places as we can, so you need to be able trust what you're hearing and saying. I spent seven years recruiting the East specifically, so I have a lot of good peo- ple out there. When they call and say, 'This is a player,' you believe them. "There are going to be a lot of peo- ple who just want Michigan's name attached to one of their kids because it helps them get the next guy. So you want to make sure you're not wasting your valuable time chasing down a bunch of bad leads. I think I have a lot of good contacts out there, people who trust me and people that I trust." However, Mayotte was also quick to point out that the state has Michigan has plenty of its own quality pros- pects to offer. "At the end, if you go somewhere else, it's to find something better than what you have in your own back yard," he said. "That's not always easy to find. There are some places that I was good at [in recruiting] for Providence that, quite honestly, might not be needed. "Providence recruited well, but in the end, would we take all those guys? Not when there's as good or better in Detroit. I think it gives us the option, that if we're not finding some- thing here, there are other options that we can use to go get it." Pearson has seen the college hockey recruiting scene evolve over several decades, first as a longtime assistant at Michigan, then as a head coach at Michigan Tech and now back at Michigan as head coach. He knows the value of casting as wide a recruit- ing net as possible. "What it does do is open that door up," Pearson said of Mayotte's eastern connections. "He's familiar with the talent pool there. His name has got a nice network out there. The name rec- ognition from Kris is good out East. "It's important that we are able to go where we want to go and compete. We've always had good players from the East. It's nice to have a guy who's been on the ground there and knows what's going on." ❑ Hockey Rewind: Oct. 6‑19 Record: 2-1-1 National rankings: Not ranked Best performance — 4-0 win over Lake Superior State Oct. 18: Four differ- ent Michigan players found the back of the net, while sophomore Strauss Mann was perfect in goal for the Wolverines in a shutout that was actually a closer played game than the final score indicated. Sophomore forward Nolan Moyle opened the scoring and was joined by sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg on the first-period score sheet. Ju- nior forward Jack Becker added a second-period marker and senior forward Will Lockwood completed the scoring with a late third-period strike. Mann turned aside all 24 shots aimed in his direction for his first clean sheet of the season. MVP — Sophomore goaltender Strauss Mann: He has played every minute of Michigan's four opening games and posted a solid 1.73 goals against average and a .936 save per- centage. Mann has yet to allow a bad goal and has been spectacular at times, holding the Wolverines in the game at critical late junctures late in contests. F r e s h m a n i m p a c t — F o r - ward Johnny Beecher: The 6-3, 209-pounder has lived up to his repu- tation of possessing solid all-around skills. In the opening four games, Beecher has assisted on three goals, provided quality special teams play and been strong on faceoffs, taking the important late-game draws for the Wolverines. Player to Watch — Junior forward Jack Becker: He has solidified his spot in the Michigan offensive attack, scor- ing three goals over the opening two weekends. Becker uses his size and skill to be a threat from the slot and by crashing the net for rebounds. Must-See Series — Nov. 1-2 vs. Ohio State: Michigan makes their annual trip to Columbus to open the Big Ten regular season in early November. The Buck- eyes opened their season by winning the Ice Breaker Tournament Oct. 11-12 in Toledo, Ohio, besting Western Michigan and Rochester Institute of Technology in successive nights. Ohio State is the reigning regular-season Big Ten champ, hoping to repeat last season in which they ran off early in the conference standings and out- distanced the rest of the league. The No. 15 Buckeyes return reigning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Tommy Nappier as well as highly-regarded senior for- wards Ronnie Hein and Tanner Laczynski. Future Wolverine Watch — Goaltender Erik Portillo: The 6-6 Goteborg, Sweden, native ventured over the Atlantic this summer to play for Sweden's national team in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Mich. Portillo stayed in North America and will prep to join the Wolverines next fall by tending net for Dubuque in the United States Hockey League. Portillo has appeared in three of Dubuque's four games, posting a stellar 1.33 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. They Said It — Michigan sophomore goaltender Strauss Mann: "I feel good right now. I feel confident. I feel like my team has confidence in me, which is really huge." — Bob Miller Through the Wolverines' 2-1-1 start, soph- omore goalie Strauss Mann has opened every contest between the pipes and allowed an average of just 1.73 goals per game. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL