The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN HOCKEY forward for the Wolverines' Penn State series Feb. 21-22, but three shifts into the second contest, with defense- man Mac Bennett suffering an injury, he went back to the blue line. "Mid-shift I went from forward to defense — I didn't even come off the ice," said Sinelli, who admits every day is a learning experience. "My skating helps and I've always been a pretty defensive-conscious forward, and my ability to engage the oppo- nent in the corners is something I've never shied away from, so that has really helped. I've had to learn gap control, staying with my man and not to get caught puck watching be- cause it can end up in the back of your net. "It's been a big transition. It's dif- ferent positioning, a completely dif- ferent mindset. You see the entire game unfold in front of you. "Our equipment manager calls me a utility player. I've played every sin- gle position except for goalie, and if it comes down to that I don't like our chances to win, but I'll do my best to stop the puck." Neither Sinelli nor Berenson knows what the future holds. Michigan will lose senior defensemen Bennett and LESSON LEARNED • Junior Alex Guptill has missed four games this season — two due to injury, one for an off-field issue stemming from the offseason and a fourth for a lack of effort and commitment to playing the two-way game his coaches demand. It is the latter that sidelined Guptill for a game against Penn State Feb. 22 despite the fact the left wing had notched a goal and an assist one night earlier. Head coach Red Berenson, however, was bothered by Guptill's two critical turnovers — both resulting in goals for PSU in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Nittany Lions — and a decided lack of urgency to play strong defensive hockey after he committed the turnovers. "He has to be dialed in to play like we need him to play," Berenson said. "Not to just go out and hope he gets the odd scoring chance. He has to play both ends of the rink." Guptill has always been able to score, recording 16 goals apiece in each of his first two seasons while he was third on the team with 24 points (11 goals and 13 assists) through March 18, but it is his commitment to competing in all three zones of the ice sheet that will determine whether he is forced to sit out as a healthy scratch again. "You can't keep doing the same thing and expect to get better results," Be- renson said. "I have to be upfront. I can't, in all fairness, coach a player and let him off the hook if he's not doing the right thing. It's not fair to him, it's not fair to our team or our program no matter who he is, whether he's our best player or not." HOCKEY NOTEBOOK