The Wolverine

2012-13 HOCKEY PREVIEW The coaches, including Brian Wiseman (left), may have a hand in building the culture, but it is up to the players to ensure U-M's continued success. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL we're going to have to be a team that is tough to play against." Though Guptill and Di Giuseppe are still young (and have to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump), and Treais hasn't realized his full potential yet, they're the givens among a forward group with far more wild cards, including seniors Kevin Lynch and Lindsay Sparks (both career underachiev- ers), and a pair of juniors in Luke Moffatt and Derek DeBlois that have thrived as role players but now must be much more. "We have a lot of guys in our locker room that haven't had to be the go- to scorers before, but the history of our program is that when you reach your junior and senior year, and your team needs you, that you step up," said Lynch, who has 25 markers in three seasons. "I have confidence in my team- mates, and I know how important it is that I have a great year. Chris Brown left. David Wohlberg and OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS PERCENTAGE MICHIGAN'S WINNING Season U-M 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 .537 .585 .643 .755 .761 .788 .817 .782 .814 .860 .750 .667 .707 .656 .693 .733 .651 .774 .573 .634 .814 .707 .589 .705 .634 Luke Glendening graduated. There are holes to fill, and the guys on this team are excited about the chance they'll get to prove themselves." U-M always depends on its underclassmen to provide some type of scoring contribution, and this year will be no different, but predicting who that will be after Guptill and Di Giuseppe is a guessing game. "If you have to count on your freshmen, you're in trouble," Berenson said. "We've always been a program about our seniors and our ju- niors, and we're looking to guys like A.J. Treais and Kevin Lynch to have their best years, and then we need Luke Moffatt and Derek DeBlois to take a big step forward. They've been strong de- fensive forwards for us, but we need more of- fense from them. "And then with the younger players, we'll see what they can bring, but you can't count on them." At least at forward there is some experience to work with. In net, four goalies will vie for the starting job, with junior Adam Janecyk the lone Wolverines netminder with game action, appearing in six career con- tests, with one start. His 133 min- utes played, though, would equate to only slightly more than two complete games. "We have good kids and good goal- ies, and the strength of our team will be our defense, and then our for- wards need to shoulder some of the responsibility too. "We have some questions, but ev- ery team does. I look at our seniors and that same look I saw with Pa- teryn and Glendening and Hunwick last year, I'm beginning to see that again. This is A.J. Treais' team, Lee Moffie's team, Mac Bennett's team, and Kevin Lynch's team. "I'm not nervous," Berenson said. fore them invested themselves, and they're now invested. They want to win, and they want Michigan to com- pete for a championship. "They've seen how the seniors be- "The coaches may have had a hand in building the culture, but it's our players, especially our seniors, every year that play with that pride, and that's why we continue to have success." u OCTOBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 55

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