After
a two-game benching, Ebbett closed the 2004-05 regular
season with 15 points in 12 games.
Key
Statistics: Of Ebbett’s 37 points last season,
31 were assists, accounting for nearly 84 percent of his scoring
output. In three years at Michigan, more than three-quarters
of his 101 points have been assists.
What
He Does: Ebbett can score – he potted 45 markers
in 60 games with the British Columbia Junior Hockey League’s
Salmon Arm Silverbacks in 2001-02 – but on a team that
saw eight players score 10 or more goals last season, he’s
just as adept at setting up teammates. Ebbett’s linemates
changed often, but he settled into a unit with wings Eric
Nystrom and Mike Brown at the end of January. Not surprisingly,
Nystrom went on a tear, scoring eight of his 13 goals over
the season’s last nine weeks. Ebbett is also the Wolverines’
top faceoff man, winning more than 54 percent of his draws
last year.
The
Bigger Picture: Coach Red Berenson, displeased with
a pair of sub-par efforts against Western Michigan in mid-January,
benched Ebbett for two games against Alaska-Fairbanks the
following weekend and snapped his streak of consecutive games
played at 108. Equal parts angry and determined, he worked
his way back into the lineup the following week and closed
the regular season with 15 points (including four goals) in
12 games. As one of the Wolverines’ four seniors and
someone counted on to do the little things that make teams
successful – win faceoffs, kill penalties, shadow the
opponent’s top line – Ebbett must bring the same
level of intensity and focus to the rink every night.
Ebbett on the responsibilities of being one of team
captains this season, as told to the Michigan Daily:
"I'm focused on…what the goals are for the team.
I'm really involved with helping out with guys who need help
in certain areas. I just have a passion for the game. I do
what I can in the locker room to help guys out and every day
I come to practice with a work ethic so the guys see me working
hard and that it rubs off on them.”
