The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/970722
50 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2018 BY ANDREW VAILLIENCOURT W hen Mel Pearson was hired as the University of Michigan's head hockey coach, he took over one of the most storied programs in the entire country — but he also took over for one of the nation's most suc- cessful coaches, Red Berenson, his former boss who won two national championships in his 33 seasons with the Wolverines. Replacing a legend is hard enough, but Pearson — who came from Mich- igan Tech — was tasked with turn- ing a U-M team that finished 2016-17 with a record of 13-19-3 back into a national contender. Expectations were low. Michigan was picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in the Big Ten by the conference's coaches and the idea of making the NCAA Tournament in year one — let alone the Frozen Four — was a pipe dream. However, Pearson's Wolverines reached the final weekend of the sea- son — something not even the coach thought possible. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS It all started last April. Pearson, the calm yet energetic new coach of the Wolverines who served on Berenson's staffs from the 1988-89 season through 2010-11, spoke to his team inside the Yost Ice Arena locker room before holding his introductory press conference. He looked around at the new faces staring back at him and asked each player to tell him something most people wouldn't know about the teammate sitting next to them. It served as an ice-breaker, produced a few funny moments and set Michi- gan on its path towards redemption. Pearson refused to set goals for the season. He didn't want to put a cap on the young squad's potential. His main focus was getting better every single week. "I wanted to give them a sense of excitement," Pearson said. "I wanted them to be excited for the year — as excited as I was to be back at Michi- gan. I'm a positive guy, so I wanted to make sure there was a positive vibe and some energy when I left that meeting." There was a lot of work to be done should Michigan hope to climb in the standings. When Pearson first started comb- ing through the roster, he had one presiding thought — who was going to score? Last season, Michigan's leading scorer had just 21 points and only one player scored more than eight goals. As a team, the Wolverines had the No. 41 offense in the entire coun- try (out of 60 teams) and averaged just 2.63 goals per game. Pearson knew that the team had some pieces, but also that the puzzle was far from being complete. A re- building process was going to take place and there was a chance it could take significant time. "You never like to count yourself out, but no we weren't even con- cerned with [making the Frozen Four]," Pearson said. "Truthfully, we were just concerned with trying to play good hockey and taking it week by week." Michigan had talent, but there were a number of players Pearson thought just didn't have it together yet when he arrived on campus. The team lacked scorers and not only had a murky outlook in goal, BELIEVING In The Process Coach Mel Pearson Leads U-M To The Frozen Four In His First Year