The Wolverine

2012-13 HOCKEY PREVIEW doesn't have to be an All-American, but he has to make the routine stops, not give up the bad goal, and keep us in the game. "I think having four guys that all want to start will be good because that competition will push them to be better, and hopefully one of them will emerge and we won't have to rotate every night. "I trust our coaches, and I'm con- fident we have the goalie to get it done." Freshman Steve Racine appeared in 15 games with Georgetown of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2011-12, posting a 15-0-0 record with a 1.66 GAA and a .938 save percentage. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL posted the best winning percentage (.786), Josh Blackburn (in 1999) recorded the lowest goals-against average (2.28), and Al Montoya (in 2003) had the greatest save percentage (.911). "If you look back at their success, they didn't do it on their renson has counted on six freshmen in net, with five of the six finishing with winning records during their first stint. Of the six, Steve Shields (in 1991) and Marty Turco (in 1995) own — for your freshman goalie to play well, your team has to play well, " Berenson said. "If they just stand around and expect U-M GOALIE FRESHMAN SEASON PERFORMANCES Season Goalie W L T Pct.* GAA Pct. 1990-91 Steve Shields 26 6 3 .786 3.24 .878 1994-95 Marty Turco 27 7 1 .786 2.76 .894 2002-03 Al Montoya 30 10 3 .736 2.33 .911 1998-99 Josh Blackburn 25 10 6 .683 2.28 .905 2005-06 Billy Sauer 11 6 4 .619 2.86 .907 1986-87 Warren Sharples 12 16 1 .431 5.14 .845 * Organized by winning percentage Win 58 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2012 Billy Sauer compiled an 11-6-4 record, a 2.86 goal-against average Save and a .907 save percentage during his rookie campaign in 2005-06. FILE PHOTO the goalie to hold the fort, it will be tough for a freshman goalie, even the most talented ones. We've had some very good goal- ies. Montoya was more than ready to play at this level, and Billy Sauer was pretty good as a freshman. "I don't remember how good our defense was, but for the most part there is some real connection between how good your defense is and how good your goalie is his freshman year. — Michael Spath In his 28 previous seasons at Michigan, head coach Red Be- Michigan's Rookie Goalie Performances Under Red Berenson Michigan opens the season with an intra-squad contest Oct. 7 and exhi- bition game Oct. 9 against Windsor. The coaches, who are not allowed to conduct full practices until Oct. 6, are hopeful they can see all four goal- ies over those two preseason affairs. U-M opens the regular season with five consecutive home games, wel- coming RIT Oct. 11-12, and the plan is to start Rutledge. "You'd like to have more time than we have because they don't have game history or experience and we can't recreate that," Berenson said. "It is what it is, and I'm not wor- ried about our goalies this year. We'll figure it out as we go, but Rutledge is our starter and it will be up to the other guys to take advantage of any time they get." u "

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