The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN IN THE PROS playing the way I wanted. Then I got traded, and I had a lot of confi- dence going into my first game in Pittsburgh." There wasn't much of an adjust- ment, he said, and he's fit well. The Penguins won 27 of their last 37 reg- ular-season games after acquiring him en route to finishing second in the Metropoli- tan Division with 104 points (the second most in the Eastern Confer- ence). Pittsburgh let Hagelin play the up-and-down style to which he's best suited, and he produced 10 goals, 17 assists and a plus/minus of plus-18. "We really push the pace, and we don't like to sit back," Hagelin said. "We try to play north-south with a lot of speed and try to be aggressive on the fore- check. That's where we've scored a lot of goals as of late. "We're getting to pucks, everyone is joining in the rush, and we're hard to defend. We also have a lot of speed in coming back to help our 'D' on the breakout and try to limit the time in our own end." Hagelin has been playing on a line with center Nick Bonino and right winger Phil Kessel, a trio formed when center Evgeni Malkin was injured in March. "Our first two games weren't great, but after that we've been solid. We've found some chemistry," Hagelin said after scoring two goals in a 5-3 win o v e r O t t a w a April 5. "We've done a good job of getting some big goals for our team, while at the same time playing pretty solid defen- sively. We try to use our speed as much as we can. When you have an extremely smart center like Bonino in the middle, it makes things a lot easier. "I've never been part of a team that's scoring that much, and I'm not sure I've been part of a team that's had 13 wins in 14 games, either. "It's just one of those things where a lot of different guys are stepping up every night. … It's a good feeling, but you can't get too high or too low in this league, that's one thing I've learned." However, the Penguins — who opened postseason play with a best- of-seven series versus the New York Rangers, starting April 13 — are one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and Hagelin's a big reason why. After being acquired by Pittsburgh, Hagelin produced 27 points (10 and 17 assists) and a plus/minus of plus-18 to help the Penguins win 27 of their last 37 regular-season con- tests. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH PENGUINS