December 2, 2009
Team of the Week: Michigan
by Ryan Kartje/CHN Reporter
It’s safe to say the Wolverines were not having a good week, let alone a good start to the season.
After a five-game losing skid and 5-7 start, the worst in 22 years in Ann Arbor, Michigan managed to squeeze out a series split with Bowling Green, who had only notched one win before that.
Then, as the Wolverines returned home that week, a familiar face on the third line was missing from practice at Yost Ice Arena.
Sophomore Robbie Czarnik, a 2008 draft pick of the L.A. Kings and heralded recruit, had decided to leave the team to sign with the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers.
“He’s just not happy,” Berenson said. “He hasn’t been happy since he’s been here. … Things haven’t gone maybe the way he expected them to go.
“(Robbie is) just one of those kids that’s been down all the time. We’re trying to pick him up — ‘It’s okay, Robbie. You’re a good player,’ and on and on. But this is the end result.”
But of all the crushing blows delivered to Michigan coach Red Berenson and his reeling team, the worst may have been from someone who never was a Wolverine.
For months, Michigan had banked on the commitment of mega goaltending recruit Jack Campbell to fill out its top notch 2010 class and take his spot between the pipes after current goalie Bryan Hogan was finished.
After all, Campbell expressed his excitement after the Wolverines’ exhibition game against his U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team in October.
“I was honored,” Campbell said in response to the Yost Ice Arena crowd chanting his name. “They want me here and I want to be here, so it should be a great fit. But they haven’t seen the best of me yet, and hopefully I’ll be able to show them that soon.”
So when Campbell decided to renege on his verbal agreement and join the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, Michigan had hit the height of its midseason attrition.
A failing power play that ranked near the bottom of the NCAA, a mediocre save percentage and a struggling leading scorer from last year were now just the tip of the iceberg.
But with a weekend against two of college hockey’s most storied programs, Minnesota and Wisconsin, fast approaching, Berenson had just a few days to right the ship —something 25 years of experience certainly aided in.
Even the longtime coach couldn’t ignore the importance of the Wolverines’ looming games in the weekend’s College Hockey Showcase.
“If there is a big picture at the end of the season, these games will really be important games,” Berenson said.
And that big picture may have saved Michigan’s season.
The Wolverines came out inspired in the Showcase, tripling their home win total in only one weekend with a victory against both the Gophers (6-0) and the Badgers (3-2).
The power play tallied three goals and controlled the tempo in both games. Hogan, who had allowed several unearned goals this season, stopped 63 shots and shut out the Gophers on Friday night. And center Louie Caporusso, a Hobey Baker Finalist last year, broke out of his slump with two goals and an assist on the weekend.
It was just enough to lift Michigan’s confidence, especially with two crucial series against Ohio State and Notre Dame looming in the next two weeks.
“We’re very close (to playing Michigan hockey),” sophomore alternate captain Luke Glendening said. “We’re headed in the right direction. We just need to keep building and not become complacent.”
And the attitude seems to stand that the Wolverines are “headed in the right direction”, a phrase that many of the players and coaches have echoed since garnering just their second weekend sweep of the season.
Whatever direction Berenson has his Michigan team going, it’s clear that the Wolverines’ bad week and bad start are firmly in the rearview mirror.
