Postseason Report Card: The Forwards (Part Three)

Time to take a look at the final batch of players:

#22 Brandon Naurato
34 GP, 7-11--18, +5, 22 PIMs

Honestly, this was just kind of a blah season. Nothing spectacular, nothing bad. His numbers dipped a bit from a year ago (5 fewer goals and points in 7 fewer games) but it was what you'd expect when he's playing in fewer games and maybe not seeing as much ice-time when he was in the lineup.

In 2006-07, he was held without a shot on goal on just two occasions and averaged three SOG per game. This year, he averaged two SOG per game and was held without a shot niiiiiiiiiiiiine tiiiiiiiiiiimes, including four straight in late January-early Feburary. He also had just three multi-point games after having seven the year before.

His points came in bunches. From December 8 until January 19, Naurato had a goal and six assists in a career-best six-game point streak. Then from February 23 to March 22, he had points in five out of seven games for a 5-1--6 line. The rest of the year? Five points. Fortunately those two streaks covered a big part of the second-half of the season and he was able to rebound from a slow start (3 points in his first 11 games) to finish the year 11th on the team in scoring (9th amongst forwards).

His biggest moment of the year was scoring the CCHA Championship-winning goal off a great feed from Tim Miller. He also one-touched the pass to Louie Caporusso for the game-winning goal against Notre Dame in that classic game at Yost.

I did notice him backchecking quite a bit more than I have in the past--and he did it well. He didn't have a great +/- (only Lebler, Fardig and Ciraulo were worse), but I do think he improved as a defensive player this season.

He wasn't just a shooter this year. He matched his career high in assists despite not playing nearly as much and as I said, I feel he improved defensively as well. And half a point a game from a third-line player is nothing to sneeze at.

2007-08 Grade: B-. Pretty much right in line with what I expected this year.

#24 Chad Kolarik
39 GP, 30-26--56, +28, 24 PIMs

Heart-and-Soul, Spirit-and-Guts. Fitting descriptions of our two seniors this season. Chad Kolarik wasn't in the Hobey Hat Trick. Wasn't even a Finalist. But in my book, he was probably the third-best forward in the country behind Porter and Gerbe.

He took to being a leader like no other player in recent memory (though I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple). After Red used the ole "Threaten to pull his scholarship" trick, Kolarik transformed himself into the ultimate team player. Could he have received more Hobey votes had he not pushed his support behind Kevin Porter? I don't doubt it. But he said his goal was to win Kevin Porter the Hobey, and damn if that duo didn't pull it off. I'm sure Porter would be the first to tell you that Chad Kolarik deserves a giant piece of that trophy.

He was huge when it mattered the most: 5 assists against Niagara, an assist against Clarkson, 2 goals in the Frozen Four (and was our best player), two points in the CCHA Semis against NMU, 6 points in the College Hockey Showcase. He also had a team-high seven game-winning goals.

Most shockingly, he became a top-notch defensive player. Porter was up for the CCHA's Best Defensive Forward award, but Kolarik was right there with him. In fact, I'd argue that Kolarik was probably our best penalty killer this season. Additionally, his previous career high in +/- was +13. This year he was +28. He took a career-low seven minor penalties the entire season despite being a top PKer and playing an absolute ton.

Kolarik was a minus in just three contests the entire season and had at least one SOG in every single game.

It's also worth pointing out that in his first three years, almost 50% of Kolarik's goals came with the man-advantage (23 out of 48). This year? Just 20% of his tallies came with Michigan on the power play (6 out of 30). Kolarik's 20 even-strength goals this season surpassed his career high for total goals in a year (he had just 22 even-strength goals in his first three years combined).

It was an absolute travesty that he wasn't a Hobey Finalist, but 2nd Team West All-America and 1st Team All-CCHA will have to do. He was an absolute joy to watch this season and became one of my favorites to ever put on a Michigan sweater.

He provided so many great memories that I can't pick just one, but if you need a lasting image of what he gave to this team, look no further than the game against LSSU when he got injured. Michigan was killing a 5 on 3 and Kolarik awkwardly stretched in an effort to block a pass. He hurt his hamstring and was clearly in severe pain. Play continued as LSSU retained possession, and Kolarik rolled around on the ice, trying to get in the way as best he could. Despite the injury, he broke up two passes, including one that would've led to a point-blank scoring opportunity.

I like to crack jokes about how he's a mirror image of how I play video game hockey--there's no such thing as a bad shot. I was hoping that this season he would cut down on a lot of the low-percentage shots that he would take and that his shooting percentage would be closer to the .158 that he had as a freshman than the .104 or .110 that he had in his next two years. Well, he shot, shot, and shot some more on his way to a career high (and incredible) 190 shots on goal this season. But! He also tacked 12 additional goals onto his previous career high. His final shooting percentage this season: .158. Identical to freshman year. Funny how that worked out.

2007-08 Grade: A+

#26 Danny Fardig
34 GP, 2-2--4, even, 20 PIMs

Like Naurato, Fardig's ice-time took a hit due to injury and the glut of freshman forwards making their way to Ann Arbor. He played a career-low 34 games this season, scored a career-low four points, and tied his career-low with an even +/- rating.

That's not to say he played poorly. He blocked 20 shots, which tied him for second amongst forwards. He took just ten minor penalties, including only two in the second half of the year.

He started the year off right with a goal in our season-opening win over the eventual National Champions. His line was outstanding--and he tallied two assists--in a win over LSSU. After that game (November 17) he had just one point the rest of the season. His line was pretty bad in the season-ending loss to Notre Dame. I still can't believe I had to type those last seven words...

I suppose it's not the worst thing in the world if your fourth-line checker who rarely scores is only a minus in five games. Still a strong penalty-killer.

2007-08 Grade: C+

#29 Louie Caporusso
33 GP, 12-9--21, +12, 18 PIMs

Caporusso is a good player. He was somewhat inconsistent this year but he did score some big goals. After scoring ten points in our first ten games, he cooled off somewhat, but still score more GWGs than anyone not named Kolarik or Porter despite missing a ton of time with an injury suffered in practice. Maybe not coincedentally he cooled off after he came back from the injury.

Still, he ended up tied for fifth in goals despite behind 12th in shots. His .218 shooting percentage was best on the team (aside from Ciraulo and his 2 goals on 9 shots) even though he also missed his fair share of golden opportunities. In Game 2 against UNO alone, I bet he had a half-dozen Grade A scoring chances that he failed to convert on. At this point, I'd say Caporusso is the favorite to center our top line next year. Between possibly moving to the first line, a year of experience, a chance to stay healthy, and hopefully burying more of his chances, I could see a relatively large jump in his numbers next year.

He was our best faceoff man amongst centers (Hagelin, Pacioretty, and Kolarik had higher percentages) having won 52.2% of his 490 draws.

Top moments of the season were his fluky game-winner against Boston College and his fantastic goal late in regulation to cap Michigan's comeback in their 3-2 win over Notre Dame.

In my season preview, I asked that he at least approach the 28 points Cogliano scored as a freshman. Caporusso scored 21, but also missed 10 games. That was .72 points per game for Cogliano and .64 for Caporusso. I'd say that's mission accomplished. Projected out over the 39 games Cogliano played as a freshman, that's 25 points. Right in the ballpark.

He's going to be a productive player for Michigan. He's good offensively, pretty solid defensively and a great faceoff guy. I expect great things in the future out of #29 if he can stay healthy and start having more of those close calls light the lamp (seriously, run a search on my blog for Caporusso and count the number of times he had near misses this season). I'm a big fan of this kid.

2007-08 Grade: B

#39 Max Pacioretty
37 GP, 15-24--39, +31, 59 PIMs

I hope everyone enjoyed seeing Pacioretty this year, because there's probably not going to be too much more of him in a Michigan jersey. Rumors have been going around about Montreal's desire to sign him, but the smart money is on him being back for one more season. I'd be shocked if we get more than that out of him.

And if this year ends up being the end, what a year it was! Take out the first couple weeks of the season when he was severly limited by a broken hand, and Pacioretty had points in all but six games (including a 9 game point streak immediately after he got healthy). His +31 is the third-highest total by a Michigan player in the last 10 years (Porter's +34 this year, and Rohlfs's +33 last year).

Pacioretty was a force on the top line. He could create space for our two unbelievable seniors, and late in the year he became quite the sniper from the slot on the top power play unit. He finished the year with 9 PPGs, second to Porter.

He had just 5 goals in his first 20 games, but scored 10 over the final 17. He won't be playing with Porter and Kolarik if he returns next year, but the potential is there for him to be one of the top players in the conference.

He was a minus on just two occasions, one of which was the first game of the season. Pretty impressive for a first-year player. He also was great on faceoffs, winning 53.8% of his 119 draws, tying him with Hagelin for the top spot on the team. With his passing ability and prowess on faceoffs, I don't think it would be the most shocking thing to see him at center next year. In his draft profile, he was cited as one of the best play-makers available. I would bank on either he or Carl Hagelin moving to center and I don't think we can go wrong either way. No matter who is playing center, I have to say I could really go for a Palushaj-Pacioretty-Hagelin line.

Aside from a couple of nagging injuries, the only downer to Pacioretty's season was the stupid decision to get into a fight during the second game of Michigan's series with Nebraska-Omaha. No matter what the situation, you have to be smarter than that and not let a complete and utter scrub goad you into taking yourself out for a potential Game 3 (or as it turned out, the CCHA Semifinals).

Patch was at his best during the huge series with the Miami Redhawks. He had 3 goals and an assist on the weekend and was one of the best players on the ice.

I really hope he doesn't change his mind and head to the pros, because I would love to see another season out of him at Michigan. He's an absolute beast and even without Kolarik and Porter, he could have a huge season next year.

2007-08 Grade: A

That does it for the Postseason Report Card (finally).

Other Stuff:
The Hockey News covered the Under 18 Championships and had some praise for incoming freshman Robbie Czarnik, who may have helped his stock:

The University of Michigan recruit was a plus-7 at the Under-18s, but more importantly had a hat trick and an assist in Team USA’s bronze medal win over Sweden. Draft eligible in 2008.

Czarnik finished the tournament with a line of 3-5--8 in seven games. His 8 points and +7 rating tied for the team lead. David Wohlberg had 3 goals and was +3.

Postseason Report Card: The Forwards (Part Two)

First off, the San Antonio Rampage were able to force a Game 7 by defeating Toronto 3-0 last night. Chad Kolarik had the game-winning goal on an assist from Kevin Porter. Kolarik also assisted on SA's third goal of the game. Chad has a 4-2--6 line in six playoff games and Porter has put up 0-4--4. Game 7 is tonight.

Now onto the second batch of forwards:
#14 Brian Lebler
29 GP, 3-5--8, +1, 52 PIMs

With the influx of talented forwards, Lebler's playing time was down from a year ago and, fittingly, so were his numbers. In 2006-07 he played 37 games and put up 7 goals and 11 points. His power play goals dropped from 3 to 0 as his power play time was very limited this season.

I kind of liken him to a Zac MacVoy type. I don't think he's a bad player by any means, but I don't know that he's a great fit for this team. I could see him putting up pretty good numbers on a team like LSSU (like MacVoy is) but his skating ability, or lack thereof, really limits the effectiveness he'll ever be able to have on a talented team like Michigan.

I criticized him quite a bit at the beginning of the season for dumb penalties (42 PIMs in his first 13 games, 22 if you take out the minutes "credited" for game misconducts--which is still too many for a 3rd/4th line player). He was much better the rest of the way, only taking five minors in his other 17 appearances. The worst penalty he took was probably in the loss to Ohio State. Michigan was down 1-0 late in the second period and he smoked someone well after he played the puck. That penalty negated a Michigan power play as well as an extra chance for them to even the game.

He had his first multi-point game against LSSU (when the Lebler-Fardig-Ciraulo line was outstanding) and I thought he was really strong in the 3-2 win over Notre Dame at Yost as well as against Providence in the GLI.

Overall, what we got this season was pretty much what I expected in my breakdown of him before the year. His numbers dipped slightly due to less ice time and less power play time and he played around 30 games.

2007-8 Grade: C

#15 Anthony Ciraulo
13 GP, 2-1--3, +2, 8 PIMs

Ciraulo didn't see the ice all that often, but I don't think he ever really hurt us. He played just 13 games, but I can think of at least three great performances off the top of my head. His line was stellar in one game against LSSU (they combined for 2 goals and 4 assists in the contest) and he was awesome in the GLI. He scored a short-handed goal on a beautiful shot against Providence. Against Michigan Tech, he was out there in some critical situations and played really well.

In a complete 180 from a year ago, he played more in the beginning of the season and barely saw the ice in the second half, which surprised me because I thought he might get some additional minutes after his performance in the GLI.

I can't complain. He was a minus in just one of the thirteen games he played (and that was the loss to Ferris when we didn't remotely care) and put us a man down on just three occasions.

Maybe I just have an affinity for little guys (I'm 5'5") but I think he's capable of helping this team. He's just caught up in a numbers game at forward.

2007-08 Grade: B

#16 Ben Winnett
41 GP, 6-5--11, +6, 12 PIMs

Winnett did absolutely nothing for me for a good portion of the season but I thought later in the year there were more and more instances where he was noticeable (and in a good way). He had a 4 game point streak in Feburary, scored a gorgeous goal against MSU in an otherwise dismal game for the Wolverines, and was really good in the CCHA At The Joe, despite only tallying an empty-netter on the weekend.

Winnett was one of the few players that I truly missed on with my pre-season expectations (I predicted high 20s, low 30s in points, though I did amend those expectations downward after some initial reports). He clearly had an adjustment period to the college game and I don't think his speed was quite as good as advertised, but I do think he could be a pretty good player for us eventually. He's got decent size, pretty good speed, and he's got some skill offensively. That move he had against MSU was beautiful and he unleashed a rocket of a shot against Providence on his goal in the GLI.

The most shocking thing was that he saw quite a bit of time on the penalty kill (right out of the gate, too. They had him on the PK against BC) and did pretty well. His defense wasn't a quality cited in any of the articles that I had read about him, but the fact that they played him on the PK as a freshman is a pretty good indicator that he's not bad at it.

In his initial year, he didn't live up to his draft status as a 4th round pick of the Leafs, but indications were that he was going to have an adjustment period and he did play better toward the end of the season.

2007-08 Grade: B- (Would've probably been a C+ but for the fact that he unexpectedly was a pretty decent penalty killer.)

#18 Tim Miller
43 GP, 4-13--17, +8, 26 PIMs

It was a weird season for Tim Miller. After scoring 7 goals and 24 points as a sophomore he was completely snake-bitten for most of the year. He didn't score under his 34th game of the season (a huge goal in a win over Spartina) and had just eight points at the time. Starting with the win over MSU, he had four goals and eight points over his next seven games and was named the MVP of the CCHA Championships due to his 2-2--4 line in the games against NMU and Miami.

If you count the game at the Palace against Notre Dame, all four of his goals and 11 of his 17 points came in neutral site games. That's kind of weird.

His best play of the year was for the CCHA Championship winning goal. He tapped an offensive-zone faceoff forward, danced around Nathan Davis and fed Brandon Naurato for an easy goal.

His shots on goal were down this year, his blocked shots were down, and he clearly had a disappointing year offensively. Part of the downturn was likely due to being named an alternate captain before the season. Berenson indicated that some players play better when you give them a letter and some don't, so he took the A off Miller's jersey and gave it to Mitera. One thing that was consistent, however, was his penalty killing. He does a really nice job.

2007-08 Grade: B-. Very disappointing year offensively but he was solid at the other end of the ice and he gets a bump because he made some huge plays in a couple of our biggest wins of the season. Without him in the lineup we probably don't win a game against MSU this year and we probably don't win the CCHA Tournament.

#19 Matt Rust
38 GP, 12-11--23, +13, 69 PIMs

I love Rust. You can play him in pretty much any situation, he's a great penalty killer, he's a strong faceoff guy (50.4%, but only Porter took more draws), he can put the puck in the net, and he's strong defensively. He's also probably the toughest guy on our team.

He was probably our best player not named Chad Kolarik against Notre Dame in the Frozen Four.

Goal-scoring-wise, he was fairly streaky. He put in six of his 12 in a nine game span during December and January and then had just one over his next 14 games. He also had a nine-game goalless drought early in the season.

Even though his +/- isn't overly high, he was a minus in just four games the entire season and worse than -1 just once. He was tied for second amongst forwards in blocked shots, with 20.

The only knock I have against him is that he takes too many penalties. His 22 minors led all forwards and his 69 penalty minutes led the team. He took a penalty in six straight games during the stretch run, which is too many. Early in the season he also ended up in the box at the worst possible times. There were at least 3 or 4 games where he took a penalty in the last 3 minutes.

I've got really high expectations for him moving forward. I don't think it's unfair to compare him to a less-stupid version of Justin Abdelkader (good speed, some offensive skill, gritty, great defensively, great on the PK, penchant for absolute retarded penalties sometimes--Rust may have had 22 minors this year but Abdelkader had something like 41). Their numbers as freshmen were almost identical (Abdelkader had 10-12--22 as a freshman, Rust ended up with 23 points despite not playing on the power play all that often). They have the same work ethic.

I think my favorite Rust moment from the season was his short-handed goal against Boston University. He knocked the puck away from a BU player by the Michigan blue line and was absolutely gone. It's not often that you see a player with a breakaway from their own zone, but Rust had one and he buried the shot.

One comparison that I have to make:
Porter's freshman year: 39 GP, 11-13--24, +11, 51 PIMs

Not that I think he has quite that kind of offensive upside, but it's just kind of interesting to see since their numbers were virtually identical as freshmen. I could easily see Rust becoming a high 30s/low 40s player (Abdelkader scored 33 and 40 as a sophomore and junior). It's also worth mentioning that of the guys who played, only Porter and Caporusso had a higher shooting percentage than Rust's 19.4% (halfway through the season he was scoring on a third of his shots). He's another guy that should benefit from the extra pucks made available by Kolarik and Porter graduation.

2007-08 Grade: A-. I was going to give him a B+ due to the penalties, but he gets a bump for playing on a broken friggin leg at the end of the season. And for being phenomenal in the Frozen Four. At least someone was....

Postseason Report Card: The Forwards (Part One)

Now comes the first in my three-part series grading the forwards for this season.

#8 Aaron Palushaj
43 GP, 10-34--44, +10, 22 PIMs

Wow. We had heard a lot of good things about Palushaj in the offseason, but I don't think anyone expected him to come in and be top 15 nationally in scoring and second in assists. He had points in 29 of Michigan's 43 games and had 12 multi-point contests.

For the season as a whole, he finished third on the team in scoring and (barring something unforeseen) will be Michigan's top returning scorer next season.

He didn't play on the top line this year, but his shrewd passing ability on our top power play unit was a big reason that Michigan's power play was so effective for much of the season. Additionally, he was at his best when the lights were on. In Michigan's three NCAA Tournament games he tallied a goal and five assists, including three helpers against Notre Dame.

He became Michigan's first 40-point-scoring freshman since Hensick did it in 03-04, and he and Pacioretty were the first duo to each record 30 points as freshmen since Kosick and Langfeld. His 34 assists tied TJ Hensick for the second-most ever by a Michigan freshman.

All in all, it was a great season out of any forward, but particularly a freshman. If you're looking for a player with major potential to increase his goal total next season, look at this guy right here. Palushaj scored 10 goals on the season, but took just 98 shots. With Porter and Kolarik leaving, out goes more than 25% of the shots taken by the team as a whole. There will be a lot more pucks to go around and who better to shoot some of them than the guy who was rated as the #5 Goal Scorer in last year's draft by Max Giese.

Since 1999-2000, just three of Michigan's freshman forwards have reached 1 point per game: TJ Hensick, Jeff Tambellini, and Mike Comrie. So you've got a guy that should have won the Hobey, a guy who would've been the favorite to win the Hobey had he returned for his senior season, and a big-time scorer who has gone on to a nice NHL career. I'd say the expectations are going to be pretty high moving forward.

The one knock on his game coming in was that he wasn't great in his own end. His +10 rating was on the low-end of the scale for our forwards but I didn't ever really notice him lagging in our own end. And when you usually play with Hagelin and/or Rust, chances are that the back-checking is taken care of anyway in a lot of cases.

2007-08 Grade: A. When a freshman puts up the numbers he put up, what else could you give him?

#9 Travis Turnbull
43 GP, 15-12--27, +17, 48 PIMs

After 18 points as a freshman and 17 points as a sophomore, Turnbull had a breakout season offensively, piling up 27 points and finishing tied for third on the team in goals. Also, after taking 21 minor penalties in each of his first two seasons, he took just 14 this year.

I really think he should have a letter on his jersey next year. He's a kid that has improved during his time at Michigan and keeps getting better mainly due to hard work. Run a search on "Turnbull" in the search box at the top and see how many times I mentioned his "effort plays" that don't necessarily show up on a scoresheet but were crucial to us winning games. There were a lot. Sometimes, like on Caporusso's game-winner against LSSU, they did show up in the box score, but a lot of times they did not.

He also provided one of the most memorable moments of the season by tipping in a Scooter Vaughan shot to give Michigan the GLI Championship.

He's gritty, good defensively, and you can play him in any situation.

2007-08 Grade: A-. When a third-liner finishes third on the team in goals without the benefit of playing on the top power play unit, increases his point total by 10, and decreases his penalty minutes, I'd say that's a job well done. He was the leading scorer amongst players not on our top PP unit. I wouldn't have bet on that.

#10 Chris Fragner:
2 GP, 0-0--0, even, 0 PIMs

Only saw action during the GLI and didn't do anything to hurt us.

2007-08 Grade: Incomplete

#11 Kevin Porter:
43 GP, 33-30--63, +34, 18 PIMs, Hobey Baker Award Winner

He was ok this year.

Where to start? He captained the most unheralded Michigan team in recent memory to the Frozen Four, became just the second Wolverine to win the Hobey, finished second in goals, second in points, second in power play goals, sixth in assists, was the CCHA Player of the Year, was a West First-Team All American, was the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA East Regional, set an NCAA Regional Record for goals in a game (4 against Niagara), was the first Michigan player to hit 30 goals since Bill Muckalt, played center on the most dangerous line in the country, was held off the score sheet just nine times in 43 games, was a "minus" on just three occasions the entire season, and truth be told probably should've won the CCHA Best Defensive Forward award since he can play defense without taking a penalty every single game.

The only bad thing I can say about him is that he sucks at faceoffs (42.4%) and, as our top-line center, he took a lot of them.

His performance this year will go down as one of the great ones in the history of Michigan hockey and he put himself in some great company by winning the Hobey Baker. It made me happy that I was able to see him in Denver and thank him for everything that he did for Michigan Hockey this season. I've followed the team religously since 2000-01 and this was probably the most fun I've had watching the Wolverines.

2007-08 Grade: A+. And I'm tempted to make like Ralphie's teacher in A Christmas Story and just keep adding plusses on there.

#12 Carl Hagelin:
41 GP, 11-11--22, +18, 28 PIMs

Off-ice, Hagelin earned a reputation as the hardest worker on the team and things were no different on the ice. His relentless forechecking, hard backchecking, strong penalty killing and top-notch speed made him a favorite of Yost Built. It seemed like any time I rewound the DVR to see who made that great defensive play while backchecking, it was always #12.

He deserves a lot of credit for the improved defensive play of the team. When you've got a forward that works as hard as he does, it can make the life a lot easier on the defensemen and goalie. His 20 blocked shots tied Rust and Fardig for second amongst forwards (Porter, 22).

Hagelin also had one of the prettiest goals of the year when he swept around the net and then roofed one up over Jared Kaufmann in the thrashing of UNO in the CCHA Playoffs.

One of the most intriguing thoughts as we head into the offseason is will Hagelin move to center? He played there in the aforementioned series against Omaha when Matt Rust was out with a broken leg and was fantastic. It seems that all his best qualities are amplified when he plays in the middle and he was our best faceoff man this season (53.8% of 184 draws). Michigan has a ton of options at center, but it wouldn't shock me a bit to see Hagelin centering our top line next season.

2007-08 Grade: A. Yes there are a lot of high grades, but when the team loses 6 games the entire year, these things happen. It's hard to not absolutely love Carl Hagelin's game and the thought of what he'll bring to the team in the future.

Postseason Report Card: The Goalies

The Pistons have rubbed off on me. Sure I could start working on the report card for the forwards next, but it's so much easier if I just half-ass it and talk about the three goalies. So that's what you're getting today, in honor of Deeeeee-troit Bassssketball.

#31 Shawn Hunwick
1 GP, 0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 Save %

He served as the backup during the time when Bryan Hogan was out with mono and then became the third goalie for the rest of the season. He played against the NTDP in an exhibition game and gave up one goal and then saw his first official action against UNO in the CCHA playoffs, where he stopped both shots that he faced in just under 3 minutes of playing time.

2007-08 Grade: Incomplete

#35 Bryan Hogan
6 GP, 3-2-1, 2.55 GAA, .903 Save %

Before the season, due to the uncertainty between the pipes, I listed Hogan (and Sauer) as a 10 out of 10 in terms of Level of Necessity. If Michigan had slipped one additional puck past Jordan Pearce, that rating would have been completely justified.

When Hogan came in, the general school of thought was that he would be given every chance to win the starting job. He came down with mono just before the start of the season and was never able to show his stuff. By the time he was back healthy, Sauer had nailed down the starting job and Hogan was left to spot duty.

In the regular season, he played just five games, going 3-1-1 in the process, with the lone loss coming in overtime to Ferris State after Michigan had already locked up the CCHA. His best performance was probably the first of his career, in a home game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes had defeated Michigan the night before and it was pretty important that the Wolverines get a win. Hogan was thrown right into the fire and he performed very well. He allowed 2 goals on 28 shots, stopped a penalty shot in the first period, and made 15 saves in the third period to preserve the win.

The other highlight of the regular season was during his win against Bowling Green. Michigan was killing a penalty late in the game and the BGSU net was empty. The puck came to Hogan with no one in the middle of the ice and--without the risk of an icing call--he shot at the empty net. That thing looked like it was dead on the entire way and juuuust missed. I thought he had it though.

Despite limited playing time, I think Hogan did prove that he can be trusted to play at this level, unlike his predecessor Steve Jakiel. The jury is still out on if he is a future starter, but I fully expect him to see a little bit more time next year (and possibly significantly more if he plays well and/or Sauer struggles). The one flaw in his game is that he has a tendency to give up a lot of rebounds, but overall I was pretty impressed with what I saw.

The biggest moment for Hogan came during the Frozen Four. After Billy Sauer was chased, Hogan played the last two periods and overtime and did an admirable job. He made some good saves, and kept Michigan in the game enough that they were able to tie the game twice. In overtime, he made a glove save that was dynamite. Sadly the Irish scored not too long after the puck dropped again. I wouldn't really fault him for either goal he allowed in that game.

2007-08 Grade: B. It can't be easy to see time between the pipes so sporatically. He beat three teams that we needed to beat, tied a hot NMU team, and lost to Ferris (but made 37 saves) in a game we had nothing to play for. I would agree with the commenter who posted that coming into a game down 3-0 is a fairly low-pressure situation for a goalie normally, but when it's the National Semifinal, I'm inclined to disagree. Hogan knew he had to be basically perfect the rest of the game for us to have a chance to extend our season. To me, that's a lot of pressure to put on a freshman who had only played 5 times the entire year. And after a few shaky moments in the early going, I thought he played really well. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him next season, and I don't mean that as a knock against Sauer.

#36 Billy Sauer:
38 GP, 30-4-3, 1.95 GAA, .924 Save %

I'm still shocked at the way his season ended. After being absolutely stellar against Miami in the CCHA Championship as well as against Niagara and Clarkson in the Regional, I was convinced he could be a big-game goalie and that the confidence issues were a thing of the past. 9 shots and 3 goals later, he was relegated to the bench to watch another goalie lead the team that he won 30 games for this season.

I know everyone was disappointed with the way the season came to a close, but Sauer still has to be applauded for the work he did this year. After getting shelled, shelled, shelled some more in the first half of 06-07, he played pretty well for the most part in the second half, got absolutely destroyed against North Dakota, and ended the season with some pretty scary numbers. His coach wouldn't give him a vote of confidence, most Michigan fans were hoping for something great out of Bryan Hogan, and a lot of people questioned how this kid--who had a track record of not being the most mentally strong goalie we've ever seen--would bounce back from the shellacking that North Dakota handed him.

To his credit, he bounced back amazingly well. The-best-statistically-season-by-a-goalie-in-the-history-of-Michigan-hockey well. He allowed more than 2 goals in just 11 of his 38 starts. A year ago? He allowed more than 2 goals on 12 occasions....by the 18th game. For the season, he did it 22 times.

He didn't even look like the same goalie for most of the season. I don't know how much was due to the defense, how much was due to new goaltending coach Josh Blackburn, and how much was due to the light finally going on for a player who was still just 19 years old at the start of the year, but the difference was startling. A few good performances gave him the confidence that he had been lacking throughout his career and things kind of snowballed. He got better and better and was at or near the top of the goaltending stats for most of the season.

Two moments in time that will live on in my mind forever: 1) His MVP performance at the GLI, making 50 stops to shut out Providence and following it up with a double-overtime, 37 save encore, leading Michigan to a 1-0 win over Michigan Tech; 2) The incredible flurry of saves he made to preserve Michigan's 2-0 win over Clarkson. That was arguably the best sequence of goaltending that I have seen....ever.

From December 7th to January 26th, he gave up 10 goals (on 291 shots) over a nine game stretch. He gave up 19 goals in his best nine game stretch from 2006-07.

2007-8 Grade: A. And it's an A+ if we show up and lose a normal 3-2 game against Notre Dame. He had an amazing season. 30-4-3 with a GAA below two when he had never had a season below three? You're getting an A for that.

Yes he choked against Notre Dame. Badly. But without Billy Sauer there's no way we win the GLI, there's no way we stay #1 for a fair portion of the season, there's no way we're the #1 overall seed, there's no way we win the CCHA, and there's no way we make the Frozen Four. For a guy that wasn't even guaranteed the starting job, that's a pretty damn fine season. And even though he gave up a pair of horrid goals at the worst possible time, there are plenty of other players who can point the finger at themselves as well for that debacle.

Other Stuff:
The San Antonio Rampage put together a montage of the radio calls of Kolarik's hat trick with "The Victors" in the background. They also have audio from Kolarik after the game. It sounds like our Michigan guys have fit right in. Game 3 is tonight.

Also, after getting sent back down from the Predators, Josh Langfeld notched a pair of goals for the Milwaukee Admirals, giving him an AHL-leading five in just two games.

Postseason Report Card: The Defensemen

Despite playing two more games than the 06-07 Wolverines, this year's team gave up thirty fewer goals. A big reason for the difference was the improvement between the pipes. Just as important, however, was the play of our group of defensemen, who allowed 26.4 shots on goal per game (compared to 29.1 a year ago) and drastically cut down the number of quality scoring chances (I don't have a stat on this one, but trust me, kay?).

As a reminder, expectations are factored into the grades and the player's name is linked to my preseason expectations.

#3 Scooter Vaughan
33 GP, 0-4--4, +9, 27 PIMs

Vaughan began the season as part of the "Play 2 every 3" rotation with Tristin Llewellyn and the defenseman formerly known as Kevin Quick. Once Quick was booted from the team, he became a fixture in the lineup and performed at a high level pretty much the entire season.

The best compliment you can give a defensive defenseman--particularly a freshman--is that he was rarely noticeable, and that was the case with Vaughan. He rarely made mistakes, he didn't turn the puck over all that often, and a hitting-from-behind major against Miami was the only penalty he took in the last 20 games of the season.

He proved to be much better than I expected at the start of the season. I didn't say anything particularly dumb in that piece (or particularly smart), but suffice it to say, I didn't expect him to be a top-pairing defenseman for much of the year.

He was a "minus" in eight games, but was worse than a -1 just twice. If you're looking for a big reason we won the GLI, you can point at Scooter Vaughan. He blocked ten shots over the two games, including 6 against Michigan Tech, and took the shot that Travis Turnbull tipped in for the tournament-winning goal.

He also gets points for playing with a broken jaw, after an off-ice wrestling incident.

2007-08 Grade: B+. A player that I didn't expect to play nearly as consistently as he did ended up being a top-pairing defenseman and rarely hurt us. Very solid season out of Vaughan.

#4 Chris Summers
41 GP, 2-11--13, +27, 65 PIMs

Solid and steady. Perfect words to describe one of the most underrated players in all of college hockey. It appeared that Red Berenson had enough confidence in his freshmen defenders to think about moving Summers back to forward (as he did a year ago to great success). Summers skated up front for a weekend against BGSU and scored a game-winning goal. Then he left to go the GLI, Kevin Quick ended up getting kicked off the team, and Summers never saw time at forward again.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Summers proved to be Michigan's second-best defenseman this season, and arguably its most consistent. He didn't approach the offensive numbers that I expected (I predicted 20 points, possibly approaching the 27 Hunwick had a year ago; he ended up with 13) but they never really gave him the green light to freelance offensively as I had expected.

But for a player that didn't put up huge offensive numbers, his +/- was incredible. He finished the season +27. He was a minus in seven games, but was never more than -1. He was third on the team in blocked shots with 49 and set a career high with 11 assists.

The thought of him moving to forward is probably never going to escape from Wolverine fans' minds, as he's clearly showed that he has the talent to be a very good winger. As it is though, even if he doesn't pile up Jack Johnson numbers back on the blueline, he's still a very good defenseman.

Provided he returns for his junior season, he'll more than likely be an alternate captain. I suppose he could even be the team's captain if Mark Mitera turns pro.

2007-08 Grade: A-. I'd like to see him cut down the penalties a little bit. 65 minutes really isn't an unreasonable amount (especially considering almost a quarter of them came on one play) but there are a few too many two or three penalty games in there. I also wish his offensive abilities would shine through a little more when he's on the blueline. Mitera and Kampfer aren't offensive dynamos by any stretch and he was behind both of them in points. Since expectations count, I feel I have to have him behind Kampfer in terms of his grade. I thought long and hard about making this a B+, but he was so solid overall he deserve to be in the A range even if there's a couple of small things I'd like to see him improve on.

#5 Steve Kampfer
42 GP, 2-15--17, +27, 36 PIMs

Were it not from a (nearly) complete transformation in Billy Sauer's game, Steve Kampfer probably would've been in line for the Most Improved Player award. After a fairly unremarkable freshman campaign plagued by numerous turnovers in his own end, Kampfer grew into a solid defenseman capable of chipping in on the offensive end.

He, like Chris Summers, probably doesn't get enough credit for how good he was this season. I called Summers arguably our most consistent defenseman, but Kampfer could stake a claim as well.

Kampfer was a minus just four times this season (two times worse than -1). In the middle of the season, however, he went 18 games without being on the minus side. Pretty impressive. He committed multiple penalties in a game on just two occasions and was second on the team in blocked shots with 55.

I wanted to see him in the middle of the pack in +/- (he was +3 last year, second-worst on the team amongst guys who played and didn't Bail--see what I did there?--midseason) and with double-digit points. Mission accomplished as he nearly hit 20 points and was tied for 5th in +/-.

He was noticeably excellent against Niagara and put up a ridiculous +6 mark in Game One against Nebraska-Omaha. He was also very strong in the Showcase. He had a rough game in the 5-5 tie against Miami, despite ending up with an "even" rating. That stat doesn't always tell the whole story (and I do realize that, despite the amount of times I've brought it up).

2007-08 Grade: A. I'm surprised too. He's probably more of an A-/B+ type player, but expectations count and Kampfer drastically exceeded mine.

#7 Chad Langlais
43 GP, 0-19--19, +22, 50 PIMs

Thank you, Chris Chelios! Michigan unearthed this gem partially due to a recommendation out of the legendary defenseman and Langlais was another very pleasant surprise on a team full of them. While I expected Langlais to be a pretty good player out of the shoot (USHL All-Star, older freshman), I don't think anyone expected him to be as effective as he was.

He was one of just six Wolverines to play every game (Mitera was the only other defenseman) and made his mark early, with nine points in his first eleven games (including a six game assist streak). Langlais came in with the reputation as an Eric Werner-type, which was great if we were talking about senior year Eric Werner and not so good if we were talking about freshman year Eric Werner. Thankfully, it was the former. He had a few bad turnovers early in the year (Minnesota in the Icebreaker was a fairly bad outing) and took a few bad penalties, but by and large he was pretty fantastic.

He quarterbacked a Michigan power play that was three percent better than a year ago, but was a very significant seven percent better when you factor in short-handed goals allowed.

He was a minus on just three occasions and was named as an Honorable Mention on the CCHA's All-Rookie Team. He wasn't on the minus side in Michigan's last 15 games of the season and was one of our best players in the season-ending loss to Notre Dame.

While he cooled off offensively in the second half (at the halfway point he was on pace for 27 assists and ended up with 19) I feel that he was much-improved defensively. Gone were the bad turnovers and he was quite possibly our best defenseman at keeping the puck in the zone. Despite his offensive "struggles", he still ended up fourth on Michigan's all-time freshman defenseman assists list.

He was really strong against the Redhawks in the series down in Oxford, particularly Saturday night.

2007-08 Grade: A-. When a freshman defender billed as the next Eric Werner comes in and is a minus in just three games and darn-near sets the freshman defenseman assists record, he's getting a good grade. I expect him to be a very solid defenseman for us over the next three years. Langlais is like the perfect recruit. He's great out of the shoot. He's going to likely be even better his next three years. And the chances of him leaving to turn pro are fairly minimal.

#17 Mark Mitera
43 GP, 2-21--23, +30, 60 PIMs

With the departures of four defensemen from last year's team, Mitera took over as the #1 dman and the heart of the defense corps. He was given an "A" once it became clear that Tim Miller was struggling in the role and will be the captain of the team next year if he returns.

He ended the season third on the team in +/-, first in blocked shots with 65, first in points and assists amongst blueliners. INCH named him their defenseman of the year, and he was Second Team All-CCHA.

The most impressive stat is that Mitera was not a minus until the 27th game of the season. Perhaps not coincidentally, that was the first game after his defense partner was kicked off the team. For the season, he ended up on the minus side three times. The only time he was worse than -1 was against Notre Dame in the National Semifinals, unfortunately.

For a defenseman that plays as many minutes as he does and hits like he does, taking 25 minor penalties ain't bad at all. There was just one occasion in the last 22 games where he took more than one minor in a contest.

I think it is fair to point out, however, that over the second half of the season his play was fairly erratic. Against Notre Dame at Yost, he had one of his worst periods of the season. He was -3 in the most important game of the year. Overall, he was still very good in the second half, but he wasn't the robot that we saw on the ice early in the year. There was a point where I would've considered him a lock for not only First Team All CCHA, but also All-American honors and the CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman Award. It has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment that he wasn't First Team All CCHA.

One thing that did show up in the second half, however, was an impressive offensive game. Mitera posted 14 of his 23 points in the last ten games of the season. There was a great stretch beginning with our win over Michigan State where Mitera had 12 points and was +13 over a six game span. Eww.

I hope he comes back for his senior season. He might not have a ton left to prove in college, but there's something to be said for being the captain of the Michigan hockey team and having a chance to win a national title. MGoBlog had some thoughts today on if he'll be back.

2007-08 Grade: A-. I'm tempted to make this a B+ due to the inconsistency in his play toward the end of the season, but I can't justify it. He was still a minus on just three occasions, upped his point total, kept his penalties consistent, and did it despite playing against the other team's top line, seeing 25+ minutes a night, playing with different defense partners, being the only upperclassman on defense, and having to take on the added responsibility as a captain mid-season.

#20 Eric Elmblad
3 GP, 0-0--0, even, 2 PIMs

He was thrown into the fire when Kevin Quick was kicked off the team and Scooter Vaughan was injured. He played in just three games, but they were all in the postseason. He performed admirably. He didn't hurt us out there and that's all you can really ask out of a walk-on that had never played.

2007-08 Grade: Incomplete

#27 Kevin Quick
21 GP, 2-2--4, +8, 12 PIMs, 3 felonies

Despite question marks about how he would adjust to the college game, Quick came in and was a pretty good player for Michigan. He looked pretty good alongside Mark Mitera and started to chip in offensively with a couple of goals against Western Michigan. After a few very solid games, Quick was abysmal against Michigan State (I would imagine something was weighing on his mind) and was kicked off the team shortly thereafter.

His actions left Michigan short a defenseman, killed any thoughts of Summers moving up to forward again this season, and threw away a chance to be a good player on a contender.

2007-08 Grade: As a player, he probably gets a B. Pretty obvious what he gets as his overall grade though.

#34 Tristin Llewellyn
35 GP, 0-5--5, +8, 36 PIMs

Tristin was another who was in the freshman defensive rotation before becoming an every day player after you-know-who did you-know-what. He took some bad penalties early in the year, but seemed to curtail it as time went on (He had 20 PIMs in his first 15 games, 16 in the last 20...and the level of bad penalties went down). A penalty every other game really isn't bad as long as they aren't dumb penalties.

He had just one bad game in the minus category (-3 at MSU, five games as a minus overall) and generally was even. Not surprising as he didn't provide much on the offensive end.

After falling out of favor with the coaching staff somewhat and being scratched for three games in early January, he responded with a wonderful weekend against MSU and played pretty good hockey for the most part the rest of the way.

2007-08 Grade: B-. He was the "worst" of our regular defensemen, but he was still pretty solid for a freshman. He improved throughout the season and even took some skating lessons to help in that area of his game. I think he's a pretty good player but I fully expect him to be in a battle for ice-time next year. It's just a question of if he'll be battling Vaughan and Pateryn for two slots or one (in the latter scenario, it's possible that Pateryn doesn't come in). Burlon is playing regardless.

Overall, it's hard to not be thrilled with the defense corps this season. I would have a hard time saying that any of the players consistently hurt us out there, and that hasn't been the case in seasons past. All of three of the remaining freshmen can play, we know all the upperclassmen are good-to-great players, Burlon is a potential first round pick (Red Line just talked about him again this week actually), and Pateryn was a USHL all-star. I'd prefer to see everyone back next year, but I think we could withstand one defection on the blueline and still have a very good group with some depth. Two defections and we've got trouble.

Are my grades too high? We've got A's for Summers, Kampfer, Langlais, Mitera and B's for Vaughan, Llewellyn, and Quick. I think that's pretty reasonable given the expectations headed into the season and the way this team played defensively. Feel free to chime in with your own grades!