Hockey Regular Season Player Recap

[Ed-S: Bumped on a light day]

For a few different reasons I decided not to use a grade scale because each player is given different responsibilities by line. Brian Lebler deserved an A because he exceeded expectations, but how do you differentiate his A and Carl Hagelin's? It also helps avoid any kind of backlash I might receive from a player who decides to take a look at what I wrote.

Forwards:

Alex Guptill 

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	15-13-28	37	+13

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate/Low

Coming into the year Guptill was one of six freshman, his role was supposed to be checking for the next four years and here he is as your teams leading scorer.

Big Gup really came up big for the Wolverines as the season went along, becoming a balanced scorer and a huge presence in front of the net. He did not fall into the freshman slump like the others mostly because opponents refused to acknowledge that he was standing in front of the goal by himself, he was given as much space as he needed to tip and redirect pucks all season long.

Coming in labeled as a big man, Guptill showed that he also had college level stick skills from the start. A big man who can lead the rush is more than valuable to a team who loves to run the transition game.

Best Moment: The overtime goal that snapped a 7 game winless streak for Michigan against Alaska, the team would finish the season on a 12-3-3 run.

Chris Brown:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
31	11-16-27	60	12

Pre-Season Expectations: High

The first diary I wrote about hockey was a pre-season preview, I thought that the hardest thing to replace from last years class was going to be the leadership of Matt Rust. We lost a gritty, hard working, team player but Chris Brown has stepped in and done a great job to fill the void.

Brownie provided the best defensive option of our forwards and was a well balanced player. He has great offensive skills, defensive ability, checking and leadership. He provided the anchor for a line that carried the Wolverines through the second half of the season and into the NCAA tournament.

Best Moment: Brown pulling the string on Miami defensemen Will Weber.

David Wohlberg:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	11-16-27	28	+14

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate

Looking deeper into the stats Wohlberg had a pretty good season statistically, he cut down penalty minutes drastically, improved his +/- by double digits and needs three points to match his career high. Posted a 194-192 record in the faceoff dot (.503%).

The contributions David brings to the team are invaluable, but they get a little overlooked being behind Brown and Guptill. His passing definitely was a major asset for the top line, as his 16 assists tied for team lead among forwards.

Best Moment: Named to the All-GLI team for his tourney preformance.

A.J. Treais:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
33	15-11-26	12	+19

Pre-Season Expectations: High

It was an interesting season for Treais, who ended the season red hot but spent the first half shying away from the plays and not making much of an impact.

The Daily did a great article on A.J. and he talked about how much being over his playing weight effected his game. When he got himself back into shape he became a completely different player and the talk started to flow in about Treais finally becoming what Red always thought he could be.

After shifting the lines for the first half of the season, Treais fell into place with Di Giuseppe and Glendening to provide a reliable scoring option. He has passed his previous career highs in goals with 15 and points with 26, also improved his +/- by +15.

Best Moment: One timer snipe in overtime to send the Seniors out with a victory.

[After jump: The rest of the team] 

Phil Di Giuseppe:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
33	9-11-20	14	+18

Pre-Season Expectations: Low/Moderate

Depending on who you asked in the hockey world determined what answer you got about how Di Giuseppe would preform this season. Many fans (myself Included) saw him put up 70+ points as a senior and not get drafted, jumping to the conclusion that scouts saw something that scared them off, without realizing he was not draft eligible.

Even hockey insiders wondered if he could carry over his scoring ability from the USHL to the NCAA, but Phil came out hot early and lead the team in scoring for the first half of the season. Eventually he slowed down as did the other freshman, but Phil provided the team with dynamic play making ability to ease the transition of losing the previous senior class.

Best Moment: 4 point weekend to help Michigan sweep Ferris State.

Luke Glendening:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	8-8-16	18	+13

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate

From walk-on to captain, Luke Glendening has always provided the team with great leadership and a balanced scoring option. His 16 points meets the expectations as he was never a dynamic scorer, but he has posted double digit +/- for the fourth straight season and cut down on penalty minutes.

Best Moment: Two point game against Boston College during the GLI to give us a win.

 

Travis Lynch:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
33	6-8-14	4	+9

Pre-Season Expectations: Low

Another freshman surprise for the Wolverines this season, Travis settled in on the third line and gave us another valuable scoring option. I have Lynch picked out as my Turnbull/Lebler/Vaughn Annual breakout player of the year for next season, so expect 20-25 points.

Best Moment: Spin around goal for the first of his career against Niagara.

 

Derek Deblois:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
33	6-6-13	14	+9

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate

Derek fit into the third line checking forward pretty good this year. His extra scoring was a positive as he set career highs in goals, assists and points, while providing the line with some extra muscle.

Best Moment: Shorthanded goal against Ohio State en route to a series sweep.

 

Luke Moffatt:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
33	5-7-12	27	+5

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate

The expectations for Luke are always going to be high because of his NDPT days, that's just something that can't be helped. It's what happens when someone calls you the best 15 year old hockey player in the world.

Moving from the third to the fourth line so many times slowed his progress but I feel like he can become a player who finishes in the 20-30 point range, he just needs to get settled on a line first.

Best Moment: Pulled the string on a St. Lawrence defesemen and finished with a nice backhand to put Michigan up 2-1.

 

Kevin Lynch:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
32	6-5-11	26	+1

 

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate/High

Kevin had somewhat of a disappointing season based on expectations. After working up to the first line Kevin hurt his back going into CCHA play, it wasn't until the final quarter of the season he started to return to form. Other players attributed Kevin's injury to some of the forwards early problems, as they had built chemistry within the lines and than had them changed.

Despite the early season lows Kevin fits nicely on the Lynch-Deblois-Lynch line, they provide a third line scoring threat and the physicality you want a checking line to have.

Best Moment: Any game against Michigan State.

 

Zach Hyman:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	2-7-9	10	-2

Zach had some trouble adjusting to the college game, we never really saw his offensive skills like we expected and his defense struggled at times. The spot he fit in perfectly was faceoffs, as Zach was a reliable option in the dot.

Sometimes expectations are placed higher than they should be because of things like OHL and NHL draft status. Hyman is going to be a great player for us eventually, but the way the OHL scouts tried to turn him made some fans set the bar a little too high. It also didn't help that he was on a different line combination about 10 different times.

Fun fact: He shares the same name as 3 Time Womens Canadian Curling Champion and Olympic goal medalist Lindsay Sparks.

Lindsay Sparks:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
25	5-8-13	24	+2

I remember thinking during the Sparks scoring insanity about what was going to happen when he wasn't producing on the offensive end, I dismissed that thought because I didn't want to know. We got the answer after the WMU series because Sparks hit the wall hard, after scoring 13 points in 10 games he went 26 games without scoring at all.

A guy like Lindsay Sparks is a very high risk, high reward kind of player because he provides the team with such a dynamic offensive option. The problem is that his defense is so bad when he isn't scoring he becomes a liability, the finesse he showed during non-conference play didn't work as the season went on and his ice time diminished.

Best Moment: Between the legs tip pass to Phil Di Giuseppe for the goal.

 

Andrew Sinelli:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
11	0-2-2	6	EV

Provided a nice checking option on the fourth line, but only appeared in 11 games.

 

Jeff Rorkemper:

Games	0-1-1	PIMS	+/-
7	0-1-1	4	+3

Jeff only saw ice time in six games.

 

Defense:

Lee Moffie:

 

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	6-23-29	18	+23

Pre-Season Expectations: High

Moffie definitely took his game to another level this season, going from solid blueliner to elite. He led the Wolverines in assists (23) and +/- (+23) and was named CCHA Defensive Player of the Week twice.

With that the Moffie watch begins, as he becomes the player most likely to make the jump to the NHL. Hopefully he stays for his senior year, but if he does decide to make the transition I will have to buy a Sharks jersey.

Best Moment: Three assist game in a 6-5 loss against Ohio State.

 

Mac Bennett:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	3-13-16	16	+8

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate

Bennett paired with Pateryn to form the wildly unpredictable second pair, or first pair depending on which day it was. Going through box scores there were games where this pair was on the ice for all goals allowed and all goals scored.

A little more was expected from a veteran blueliner, but when it all boils down Bennett was a solid defensemen who added scoring and stayed out of the box.

Greg Pateryn:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
34	2-13-15	61	+11

Pateryn started out the season in a huge funk, it was clear that something was wrong. In my earlier game previews Greg was caught puck watching way to many times, not paying attention to the forward he was supposed to have, who would most of the time end up scoring.

At the halfway point in the season the pairs went back to normal and Pateryn went back to what he did best, which was crushing lower line forwards. It was very obvious he did not have the speed to matchup against the first line but he was more than capable of shutting down the second, and he turned into a solid blueliner for us down the stretch.

Best Moment: Greg tossing Wildcats all over the ice on Senior Night

 

Kevin Clare:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
32	2-6-8	4	+9

Like most of the other D-Men Clare was playing out of position for most of the season. His lack of top end speed kept him at a disadvantage when matched up against teams higher lines, but after Merill came back he was able to settle into a more comfortable position on a lower pair.

Best Moment: GLI game winner against Michigan State.

 

Mike Chiasson:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
29	1-8-9	25	+12

Pre-Season Expectations: Low

The original plan for Mike was to spend time on the lower pairs for most of the season, but because of the suspension he paired with Moffie for the first half with relative success.

Mike started the season hot and was leading the team in +/- before he hit his slump. The mysterious healthy scratch was explained after a few horrendous turnovers and his ice time was given back to Serville.

Best moment: Three point game against Ohio state, including his first career goal.

 

Brennan Serville:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
28	0-7-7	4	+9

Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate/high

I definitely overestimated Brennan Serville, as I pegged him to be on the top pairing by seasons end. It was clear early on that he was not adjusting to the speed of college game as quickly as we hoped he would, he got his pocket picked routinely and committed too many neutral zone turnovers before his short benching. He did get significantly better down the stretch, hopefully he can carry that momentum into next season,

Best Moment: Two assist game against Alaska

 

Mike Szuma: 

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
2	0-0-0	2	EV

Mike only saw action in one game this season.

Jon Merrill:

Games	Scoring Line	PIMS	+/-
12	1-9-10	2	+9

Pre-Season Expectations: High

I understand that Merrill played great hockey when he came back, but he still only played around 30% of the season after a 22 game suspension. He still showed why he was drafted so high and made an impact right away following his return.

Best Moment: It's hard to choose from such a small sample, but I liked the long pass to Deblois during the NMU game to finish them off.

 

Goalies:

Shawn Hunwick: 

GP	MIN	GA	GAA	SV	SV%	W-L
33	1935:25	66	2.05	905	.932	20-9-3

Pre-Season Expectations: High

Don't ever leave us. The only reason Michigan was not completely out of the NCAA Tournament picture in December was because of Hunwick, without his heroics some of those splits become sweeps and we completely fall off the map.

He exceeded even the highest expectations put on him and I would be shocked if he is left off post-season awards lists. Is it a stretch to have his jersey retired? I don't think so. I expect it.

Adam Janecyk:

GP	MIN	GA	GAA	SV	SV%	W-L
5	132:19	7	3.17	61	.897	0-1-1

Pre-Season Expectations: Low

Janecyk did what a backup goalie is supposed to do, go on after an ejection or an injury and keep the team in the game. The NMU game was rough, but Janecyk came on in relief of Hunwick during the LSSU game and came away with a 4-2 win, although he was not credited.

Best Moment: Stopped 7-8 shots against LSSU after Hunwick left the game due to illness.