Michigan 2, Colorado College 1 | Box Score
ST. LOUIS – Heading into the season, defensive depth might have been the strongest asset for Michigan on paper. The Wolverines boasted nine serviceable skaters who could man their blue line on a given night. And given the physical and psychological grind of a college hockey season for teams that aim for the Frozen Four, that kind of depth is invaluable, as the long season eventually takes its toll on almost every team’s roster.
Six months later the importance of that depth was as evident as ever as Michigan advanced to the Frozen Four with a 2-1 victory over Colorado College in the NCAA West Regional Final.
Down blueliners Tristin Llewellyn due to a season-ending suspension in January and top dog Brandon Burlon due to illness that kept him out of the CCHA Championship weekend, the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, and could potentially sideline him for the Frozen Four, the Wolverines were still able to avoid shifting forward Scooter Vaughan – a former defenseman – back to the blue line, a move that paid dividends just two minutes into the contest.
Vaughan took a pass from defenseman Lee Moffie, walked around a Colorado College defender and fired a shot past Joe Howe from the left circle, giving the Wolverines a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game.
The senior from Placentia, Calif.’s goal was his 13th of the year, capping a breakout season that might not have happened if Vaughan’s services were needed on the blue line this year and parts of last.
Even with Vaughan’s ability to make plays up front, Michigan coach Red Berenson was tempted to shift Vaughn to the back line in Burlon’s absence.
“Scooter practiced one day on defense,” Berenson said. “And he was ready. That’s the great thing about having a player like Scooter on your team, he’s so versatile, he can go back on defense.”
But Berenson knew his team might need Vaughan’s offensive talents, and he knew he could count on freshman Kevin Clare, who had played just 14 games on the year before this weekend.
“Kevin Clare, the freshman, stepped in this weekend and played some good minutes,” Berenson said. “He helped our (defense), so we were okay, but if we really needed him Scooter could go back there.”
Clare, who was a plus-one on the weekend, credits the moral support of his teammates for giving him the confidence to fill in at such a critical junction of the season.
“I was pretty nervous,” Clare said. “But the guys on the team were showing me support and telling me I had the opportunity to step up and play well. It was easy when the guys just gave me support.”
On the night, Clare and the Wolverines limited Colorado College to just 22 shots, no small feat considering the 36 the Tigers took the night before against Boston College, showing an ability to adapt their game as needed, even when facing dynamic talents like Jaden and Rylan Schwartz and their line mate Steven Schultz.
TIGER POWER PLAY STIFLED
Given Colorado College’s 3-for-4 output on the power play against Boston College and their 4-for-5 output against Michigan at the Great Lakes Invitational, it seemed to follow that special teams would be one area the Tigers were likely to excel against the Wolverines, especially since Jaden Schwartz was in the lineup after missing the GLI while at World Juniors.
But despite the fact that the boxscore shows that Colorado College scored a goal on seven chances – that goal came literally as a Tiger came out of the box to end 4-on-4 play – the Tigers were severely limited all night long, generating just 10 shots on goal in seven chances with a man advantage.
Colorado College defenseman Gabe Guentzel, who was credited with an assist on Rylan Schwartz’s power play goal, gives credit to Michigan for being aggressive and taking away opportunities to get solid chances on net.
“Their penalty kill was aggressive, it was tough to snap the puck around and get them out of position because they were so aggressive,” Guentzel said. “Their power play was good, they spread us out because we tried to be aggressive on them, but they had some good passes and set up some back doors where Joe had some big saves.”
Tigers’ coach Scott Owens praised the Wolverines for being well-prepared to counter his team’s aggressive power play.
“They have to be given credit, I think they had us pretty well scouted,” Owens said. “We just didn’t get some things to happen for us tonight. There wasn’t a lot of flow tonight because of all the calls, it was just a different night. It was tough for us, but I think most of it was a veteran Michigan team that seemed fresh tonight and they were very strong on special teams.”
Michigan forward Matt Rust, one of the team’s top penalty killers, said the team was focused on stopping the Tigers’ Schwartz-Schwartz-Schultz power play unit after seeing what they could do last night.
“Obviously you saw what they did to BC, they had that one line that was really ticking well,” Rust said. “I think that we really kind of focused in from the GLI and from yesterday versus BC because they have a lot of talented players, and it was our job to keep them from having another breakout game.”
Rust said he and his linemates focused on anticipating the play one move ahead of where the Tigers were headed – a strategy that successfully limited their chances on Hunwick.
“A lot of the time, it’s just kind of luck,” Rust said. “For me personally, killing penalties is more about reading the play and trying to jump in and see the play ahead of what they’re trying to make. You try to see the holes they make, and then try to get sticks in the lane. They got some shots through, but Shawn played a great game.”
SEEN AND HEARD AT SCOTTRADE CENTER
• Anyone who has had the pleasure of talking with Shawn Hunwick knows that he thoroughly enjoys reaching milestones that his older brother, former Michigan and current Colorado Avalanche defenseman Matt Hunwick, fell short of while in Ann Arbor.
Saturday night was no exception, as the younger Hunwick made it know that his brother will be hearing about the fact that Shawn will be at the Frozen Four for the second time in his career, a feat Matt’s teams never achieved.
“To go back to the Frozen Four twice is something that my brother was able to do even once, which is nice for me,” Hunwick said. “I’ll give him a call tonight and remind him of that.”
• It’s hard to put the progress made in a season into perspective after a disappointing, season-ending loss, but Colorado College netminder Joe Howe goes home for the summer knowing that his team, a team that will return most of its key players next year, took some big strides this season.
“In the early part of the year we lost some tough games,” Howe said. “Teams were coming back on us late, we gave up leads, stupid penalties, short-handed goals and things like that – bad game management. We’d get down by one and not get desperate until late. Right about Christmas we won a couple of games in a row and guys started learning those lessons and we grew as a team and came together nicely.”
PLUSSES AND MINUSES
Often times advance scouting and video work can be overlooked in the moments following a victory, but the help of associate head coach Mel Pearson and Video Coordinator L.J. Scarpace was not forgotten by Berenson, who named both of them as big reasons that the Wolverines were so successful on the penalty kill Saturday.
The flow of the game was very different from Friday night, as it seemed the officials tightened some things up, and called penalties in close succession at times. Calling penalties when penalties are committed is fine, but it seemed like the standards for some facets of the game changed from Friday night to Saturday.
NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team
G – Shawn Hunwick, Michigan
D – Greg Pateryn, Michigan
D – Lee Moffie, Michigan
F – Cam Atkinson, Boston College
F – Kevin Lynch, Michigan
F – Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College
Most Outstanding Player – Shawn Hunwick, G, Michigan
WHAT’S NEXT
Michigan moves on to its first Frozen Four since 2008, and they’ll play the winner of Sunday’s North Dakota-Denver contest. Colorado College goes home for the summer, but they’ll bring back the majority of its roster and could be a threat in the WCHA and nationally next year.
