Pearson, Wolverines enter 2019-2020 with “cautious optimism”
By @MichaelCaples –
Mel Pearson opened his 10-minute window on the Big Ten Hockey coaches teleconference call Thursday by saying he’s reserving judgement, but he feels pretty good – in lesser words.
“Cautiously optimistic about this season,” Pearson said.
He went on to explain, of course – pointing to the fact that while last year wasn’t what the Wolverines wanted, the team from Ann Arbor is only two years removed from a Frozen Four appearance.
“So far, we’ve really liked our team. As coaches we haven’t had a lot of time with them, but just the energy, just the compete level, just the attention to detail has been very good. Obviously goaltending will be a big factor for us this year, we need to rebound to the form we had two years ago with Hayden Lavigne, who took us to a Frozen Four and then didn’t have the year he expected, or did we last year. We like both goalies, Hayden and Strauss Mann, we feel they’re both vastly improved from a year ago. Obviously, we need some games to see where they’re at.”
While Pearson pointed to improved play from the Wolverines’ goaltenders as a main focus for 2019-2020 – more on that later – he likes what he’s seeing at the other end of the ice. Led by Bloomfield Hills native and USA Hockey National Team Development Program alum Will Lockwood – the 100th captain in Michigan hockey history – the Wolverines’ forward group shows a great deal of promise, according to the Wolverines’ bench boss. Replacements will be needed for Josh Norris (signed with Ottawa) and Brendan Warren (graduated).
“I like our forwards,” Pearson said. “I think the depth of our team this year is going to be our forwards. We have skill, we have some speed, we have some size, we have some scoring. Obviously the guy who will stir the drink is Will Lockwood, our 100th captain in Michigan hockey history. Happy to have Will back and healthy and ready to go.
“We’ve got a good senior contingent, led by Will Lockwood. Will had a really good second half for us, it’s the first spring and summer that he’s been healthy, and been able to train all summer, so we expect him to be very good. Nick Pastujov, another senior, had a good year for us, Jake Slaker had double digits in goals, he can skate and shoot the puck and he’s good offensively. We’ve added a grad transfer in Jacob Hayhurst, he’s looked extremely well, he’ll play on one of our top lines. He was RPI’s leading scorer last year, he distributes the puck well, very gifted offensively. Then we’ve got Johnny Beecher, a big strong kid drafted in the first round by Boston, can really skate, has great size, can shoot it, he’s looked good and we’ve got some good sophomores who really took a big step for us last year in the second half – Jimmy Lambert’s obviously one of those guys, Garrett Van Wyhe, Nolan Moyle – so we’ve got exciting guys up front. That should be the strength of our team, so we’re going to have to make sure our forwards are doing a good job of possessing the puck and spend more time in the offensive zone than the defensive zone.”
On the blue line, seniors Griffin Luce and Luke Martin and graduate transfer Shane Switzer (a Bloomfield Hills native) will be guiding a youthful group of sophomores Jack Summers, Nick Blankenburg and Jake Gingell and freshmen Cam York and Keaton Pehrson. There are high expectations for York, a NTDP alum who was selected No. 14 overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2019 NHL Draft and tasked with replacing Quinn Hughes’ impact on the Wolverines’ blue line. The Wolverines will also miss graduates Nick Boka and Joseph Cecconi.
“On defense, we’ve got a good, maybe unheralded but a solid group which will be led by Griffin Luce and Luke Martin, two seniors. We really missed Luke Martin the second half of last year but he’s back, healthy and ready to go. Then an exciting freshman class led by Cam York, who we feel could be another type of Quinn Hughes for us on the blue line.”
Last year, injuries played a substantial role in the Wolverines’ set-back, highlighted by losing leading scorer Josh Norris to a shoulder injury suffered during the World Juniors, and Martin shortly thereafter. Pearson said it felt like his team was running out of bodies.
“ The last two years have been that way. We not only lost Josh Norris, he only played 17 games for us, a very gifted player who was leading our team in scoring when he went down at the World Junior tournament, but then we lost Luke Martin. Everybody talked about losing Josh, but Luke Martin was a big loss for us on the backend. He logged a lot of minutes, really complemented our defensive core, and we missed him. No doubt about it, but every team is going to run into injuries.
“Last year we didn’t have the depth, we addressed that situation because of the injuries we’ve had – we’re carrying 17 forwards this season, eight defensemen right now and three goalies. We’ve got a lot of players, but I think because of the nature of those injuries, it’s concerned us, and we’ve added a couple of extra guys. It’s frustrating when you lose the top-end, high-end players but nobody’s going to feel sorry for you, and nobody’s going to make a trade with you and give you somebody, so next man up, and we’ve addressed that situation this year.”
And that cautious optimism…still goes back to the goalies.
“We just need some games. It’s one thing to look good in practice, it’s one thing to look at the numbers that guys have put up in the past, I’m excited about our senior forwards, including the grad transfer in there. It’s been proven that you need a good core of upperclassmen seniors and juniors to have success at the NCAA level, but we just need some games. I like what we’ve seen, our coaching staff has, but I don’t know how good Wisconsin’s going to be, how good Penn State is, you can look at it, and we were picked to finish second last year and we finished tied for fifth. My first year, we picked to finish sixth and we finished second, so you just never know until you start playing. I guess that’s where the cautious optimism comes in.
“The other thing is that our goalies have to play better. We were 59th out of 60 teams in save percentage last year. That’s not going to cut it. I liked our team last year, but at the end of the day, the margin of error is so close and games come down to one goal, I think we played four of our last five in overtime, and we didn’t win any of them. We need to make sure our goaltending is in order, and then we have to play and see where we’re at. I like our group, so much better than this point last year already, just in the attitude and work ethic, attention to detail, leadership, any way you cut it.”
Michigan starts the 2019-2020 season with an exhibition contest against Windsor on Sunday; puck drops at 4 p.m. The NCAA campaign begins next Friday and Saturday, when Clarkson comes to Ann Arbor for a weekend set.
“Overall, excited and anxious,” Pearson said. “The Big Ten is going to be a battle again this year, when you look at the teams, they’re talented teams, great coaching in the league, great buildings, we’re excited here at Michigan to get the season underway.”