Berenson, Wolverines primed for Big Ten tourney

 

By @StefanKubus –

While the Michigan Wolverines are poised to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012, the team certainly isn’t overlooking this weekend’s Big Ten tournament.

With a first-round bye, Michigan will face the winner of Penn State-Wisconsin on Friday. With every other team likely playing for its season to continue, the Wolverines know every team is going to be at their best because they’re familiar with that position.

“I think it’s huge knowing that everyone that goes there is playing for their season, and we’ve been there, and that’s where we’ve been the last few years,” Michigan head coach and Big Ten Coach of the Year Red Berenson said. “We had to scratch and claw to get in that championship game and try to win it, whether it was three games in three nights or two.”

A Big Ten tournament win can set the Wolverines up with momentum at arguably the best possible time going forward.

“I think our team, if we want to have any kind of season, we have to play well in this tournament,” Berenson said.

The Wolverines will be led by its All-Big Ten first team top line of Kyle Connor (Shelby Township), captain JT Compher and Tyler Motte (St. Clair), the “CCM Line.”

Though the line as a whole has been tremendous, the freshman Connor has arguably had a Hobey Baker-worthy campaign. He was already named Big Ten Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year after leading the entire nation in goals (30) and points (61), averaging 1.79 points per game. Additionally, he became the first freshman in college to score 30 goals since current Minnesota Wild player Thomas Vanek did with Minnesota in 2002-03. He’s riding a 23-game point streak, breaking Mike Knuble’s record of 21 set in 1994-95.

“We didn’t know what we were getting in our incoming freshman class, we did know we had one impact freshman forward in Kyle Connor,” Berenson said. “But we had no idea that Kyle would be this good or this productive. And it really wasn’t until we put that line together in – I think it was December – when they showed us that they could be something special and Kyle in particular. I give Kyle Connor credit, like he’s another Dylan Larkin-type skater and scorer and he’s even been more prolific and more consistent than Dylan, so it’s been a great season for Kyle Connor. He’s got that touch around the net that you can’t teach.”

But that’s not to take away from what Compher and Motte have achieved, as well as the line as a whole.

Compher led the nation in assists (39) and finished second to Connor in points (52). Compher also led the Big Ten with 18 power-play points and became the first junior at Michigan to hit 100 career points since current Pittsburgh Penguins forward Carl Hagelin did so in 2010.

Motte, meanwhile, nearly ended the season on a point streak dating back to Dec. 30. He saw his 16-game point streak – including a 12-game goal streak from Dec. 30 to Feb. 19 – from Dec. 30 to March 6 snapped on March 11 against Penn State before recording two assists the next day in the final regular-season game. He finished the season with 50 points in 34 games, second in goals to Connor with 29.

“JT was the rookie of the year in his first year of the Big Ten and Tyler has been a workhorse player for the two years he’s been here and they were expected to be a big part of our team this year. We lost three of our top-scoring players last year. Zach Hyman led the Big Ten, was a Hobey Baker finalist, Dylan Larkin was rookie of the year in the Big Ten, now he’s with Detroit. Andrew Copp left early also and he’s playing for Winnipeg, so we lost a lot of offense, but JT and Tyler were expected to pick up the slack.”

On the back end, Michigan is led by sophomore Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe). Werenski ended the season on a three-game point streak, recording two goals and four assists in the process, to end the season with 28 points in 32 games.

“He’s a little like Lidstrom was for Detroit,” Berenson said. “I think some of these young Michigan defensemen, they pattern themselves after Lidstrom and Zach seems to be one of them. He’s really got a smart stick. Physically, he gets involved if he has to, but his first choice is to play the puck and to play his position well, so I think that’s been good.”

In addition to the top guns, it’s the Wolverines’ depth that should help them make a run at the NCAA crown this year. The return of Cooper Marody (Brighton) from injury has been huge for Michigan, as the line of he, Tony Calderone (Trenton), Brendan Warren (Carleton) has provided invaluable secondary scoring.

“Cooper really has come back and given us a legitimate third-line center and he’s not only a good centerman, but he’s brought that line back together,” Berenson said. “And he’s got Tony Calderone scoring again, he’s got Brendan Warren playing better, so as a group, they’re more of a force on our team now than was the case when Cooper was out. And then of course Tony was out, so it’s good to get them back together. Cooper Marody is an important player on our team.”

While Michigan is No.7 in the country, U-M is actually No. 2 in the Big Ten tournament to Minnesota (No. 20 in the country), as Minnesota finished with 42 points to Michigan’s 41 in the conference. That positioning was not decided until the final day.

“We’re all looking forward to the tournament, but looking back to the conference schedule, it’s always exciting when it comes down to the last game or last weekend to decide who’s gonna end up in first place and second place, so it was an exciting finish,” Berenson said. “We were fortunate to have our last two games at home on the schedule and we took advantage of that and obviously it came down to Minnesota having to win their last home game and they took advantage of that, so it was a competitive season and now we look forward to the playoffs.”