The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 49 tion here. It's a historic program with a lot of national championships, so that's the standard." Truscott finished 11th on the team in points (16) a year ago as a blue liner, making him the fourth-most productive Michigan returnee. He'll look to improve upon his +5 plus/minus rating in 2024- 25. Veteran defensemen Tyler Duke (Jr., 2 goals, 14 assists, 16 points, +12 rating in 2023-24), Josh Eernisse (Jr., 8-6-14), Kienan Draper (Jr., 4-8-12), Ethan Ed- wards (Sr., 3-7-10 in 21 games) and Luca Fantilli (Jr., 1-7-8) are the leading defen- seman producers coming back. They all understand the importance of keeping Michigan hockey elite, Naurato said, and the work it takes. "I think they know how hard it is, es- pecially the returners," Naurato said. "It's not a given. We can talk about tak- ing that next step and getting over the hump, but we've got to find a way to do what we did to earn the opportunity to get back to that spot. "We're just trying to get together as a group and find our identity as much as we can … and then we'll just kind of see where we're at and constantly make adjustments." Behind the defensemen, transfer goal- tender Logan Stein (Grad student, Fer- ris State) and freshman Cameron Korpi (South Lyon, Mich.) each started two of the Wolverines' first four games in shar- ing the load. That platoon could con- tinue in the early part of the season, at least, until someone separates. SCORERS NEED TO EMERGE Up front, meanwhile, the Wolverines lost most of their scoring from last year's Frozen Four team. Initially, standout frosh Rutger McGroarty announced he'd return this year after notching 16 goals and 52 points a season ago. Instead, he joined defenseman Seamus Casey and forwards Dylan Duke, Gavin Brindley and Frank Nazar in signing NHL deals and moving on. Junior T.J. Hughes (19 goals, 29 assists, 48 points) is the team's leading returning scorer, and he'll be called upon to up his production even more after an honor- able mention All-Big Ten season a year ago. Sophomore Garrett Schifsky, too, is expected to make a leap after making the Big Ten All-Freshman team a year ago with 16 goals and 18 assists. He got off to a good start, his hat trick leading the Wolverines to a 4-1 win at Arizona State Oct. 11. Sophomore forward Nick Molden- hauer (8-13-21) and senior forward Mark Estapa (5-4-9) are also looking to bolster their games, but several newcomers will have to contribute, as well, in addition to Hage. Twelve newcomers in all, five transfers and seven true freshmen, will be called upon to help the cause. They'll be thrown into the fire in what figures to be a tough schedule, and Nau- rato wouldn't have it any other way. "We want to play the best competition that we can as much as we can," Naurato said. "I'm not trying to build a schedule to find a way to win this game, or to have a chance to win this game to make the tournament. "If you want to be the best team in the country, you've got to play the best, and you've got to learn and grow through some failure and learn and grow through some success." He hopes and expects that will help the Wolverines win when it matters most — at the end of the season, where Michi- gan hockey is used to being its best. ❏ Date Opponent (TV) Time Oct. 4 Minnesota State L, 5-2 Oct. 5 Minnesota State W, 4-1 Oct. 11 at Arizona State W, 4-1 Oct. 12 at Arizona State T, 3-3 Oct. 18 St. Cloud State 7 p.m. Oct. 19 St. Cloud State 7 p.m. Oct. 25 USNTDP U-18 Team (Exhib.) 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at Boston U. 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Boston U. 7 p.m. Nov. 8 Notre Dame 6 p.m. Nov. 9 Notre Dame 7 p.m. Nov. 22 at Penn State TBA Nov. 23 at Penn State TBA Nov. 29 at Western Michigan 7 p.m. Nov. 30 Western Michigan 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at Minnesota 8 p.m. Dec. 7 at Minnesota 6 p.m. Dec. 13 Wisconsin 6 p.m. Dec. 14 Wisconsin 7 p.m. Jan. 3 Ohio State^ (BTN) 5 p.m. Jan. 5 Ohio State 5 p.m. Jan. 10 at Notre Dame TBA Jan. 11 at Notre Dame TBA Jan. 17 Michigan State 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at Michigan State 6 p.m. Jan. 24 at Wisconsin TBA Jan. 25 at Wisconsin 8:30 p.m. Jan. 31 Penn State 7 p.m. Feb. 1 Penn State 6 p.m. Feb. 7 at Michigan State 7 p.m. Feb. 8 Michigan State* 8 p.m. Feb. 14 Minnesota 7 p.m. Feb. 15 Minnesota 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at Ohio State 8 p.m. Feb. 28 at Ohio State 6 p.m. Mar. 7-9 Big Ten Quarterfinals TBA Mar. 15 Big Ten Semifinal TBA Mar. 22 Big Ten Championship TBA ^ Wrigley Field, Chicago * Little Caesars Arena, Detroit All times Eastern 2024-25 MICHIGAN HOCKEY SCHEDULE Power Play Will Be A Key To The 2024-25 Season Michigan's offensive prowess a year ago played a huge role in the Wolverines' run to a third straight Frozen Four, led by elite forwards now inked with NHL teams. They were especially dangerous on the power play, leading the nation in both goals and efficiency with 50 scored and a 33 percent success rate. The Wolverines probably won't reach those numbers this year, but they'll still need to be good to meet their team goals. They struggled out of the gate, going 2-for-13 in the first four games. "Hopefully, you can survive to be pretty good on the power play and then get great at the end because you need it," head coach Brandon Naurato said after Michigan went only 1-for-7 with the man advantage in a split series with Minnesota State Oct. 4-5. "Our penalty kill has been really good, but you need them to score those goals. That's what breaks that game open on Saturday or keeps you in it on Friday." The Wolverines were only 1-for-6 against Arizona State Oct. 11-12, finishing with a win and a tie on the road. "I take a lot of pride in the power play, but there's just a lot of little things," Naurato said. "The whole thing of 'just have good players and put them on the ice' — no chance. That doesn't work. It's not [because of] me that the power play was good last year. It's two years of development with those guys, and they were together the whole time." Outside of a few, he noted, like T.J. Hughes and Nick Moldenhauer, they're all newcomers. The more time they get, the better they'll be … at least that's the hope and expectation. — Chris Balas