Season Preview: 2019-20 Michigan Ice Hockey
10/3/2019 3:31:00 PM | Ice Hockey
The 2019-20 University of Michigan ice hockey team will look to rise in a talent-laden Big Ten Conference under third-year head coach Mel Pearson after an up-and-down 2018-19 season that featured its share of close games.
Wolverine Bites
Head coach Mel Pearson returns for his third season at Michigan and seeks to continue the success he has had over his first two years. Last season, Pearson and the Wolverines finished 13-16-7 (9-10-5-2 Big Ten) which included 11 overtime games -- four which came over the final five games of the campaign. Pearson and his retooled coaching staff look to build off 2018-19 with an abundance of talent up and down the roster.
Michigan is led by its seven-man senior class which includes forwards Will Lockwood (captain), Jake Slaker (alternate captain), Adam Winborg, and Nick Pastujov; defensemen Luke Martin (alternate captain) and Griffin Luce (alternate captain) and goalie Hayden Lavigne. Lockwood, Slaker, and Pastujov are the top three returners as the trio combined for 38 goals and 42 assists in 2018-19.
Last season, goaltenders Lavigne and Strauss Mann split time protecting the net. Lavigne started all 19 games he appeared in and finished with a 7-8-3 record. Mann started 17 of the 21 games he played and compiled a 6-8-4 record with a 2.91 goals-against average. Also accompanying Lavigne and Mann in the competitive battle for the starting goaltender position is sophomore Jack Leavy.
Lockwood returns for the 2019-20 season as the Wolverine captain after he tallied 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) in 36 games, good for second best on the team behind Quinn Hughes' 33 points.
Breaking Down the Roster
In addition to its senior class, Michigan will return four junior forwards looking to make an impact this season. This group includes Jack Becker (six goals, nine assists), Luke Morgan (6G, 7A), Michael Pastujov (9G, 10A) and Dakota Raabe (9G, 11A).
The Wolverines also welcome a five-man freshman class to its roster, which includes forwards Eric Ciccolini, Johnny Beecher and Nick Granowicz as well as defensemen Cam York and Keaton Pehrson.
Michigan added a pair of graduate students, forward Jacob Hayhurst and defenseman Shane Switzer. Hayhurst comes to Michigan from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he played in 29 games and logged team highs in points (23) and assists (20) and earned the team's Top Forward and Best Offensive Player awards. Switzer, a native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, joins the Wolverines after four years at Boston University, where he played 31 games for the Terriers with 17 coming last season. He scored three goals and collected two assists at BU.
Also joining the Wolverines is transfer Emil Öhrwall, a sophomore who enrolled at U-M after spending his freshman season at RPI, where he recorded 11 total points (2G, 9A).
An experienced defensive unit features five returning players who have seen time on the blue line during their Michigan careers. Seniors Luce (96 games played) and Martin (103 games), as well as sophomores Nick Blankenburg (34 games) and Jake Gingell (one game), provide depth on defense heading into the 2019-20 season. Sophomore defensemen Jack Summers also returns, having played 29 career games.
Michigan returns 12 forwards and adds five new faces up front. The offense is paced by Lockwood, who led all Wolverine forwards in points (31). Fellow seniors Nick Pastujov and Slaker, junior Michael Pastujov and a host of talented forwards round out the group.
2019 Schedule
The Wolverines will host one exhibition game against Windsor on Sunday (Oct. 6) with a 4 p.m. puck drop at Yost Ice Arena, and will be followed by the popular Skate with the Wolverines event.
Michigan's season opener is slated for Friday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. against Clarkson at Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena. Saturday's (Oct. 12) game also is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Clarkson was ranked No. 10 in the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) preseason poll.
U-M will begin Big Ten play Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2, with a pair of games at rival Ohio State. Michigan will look to continue its success against the Buckeyes; the Wolverines finished 2-1-1 last season against OSU.
The Wolverines will play in the annual Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 30-31) at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Michigan will open against Ferris State on Monday, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m., then will square off against either Michigan State or Michigan State at 11:30 a.m.or 2:30 p.m.
Michigan also will meet the Spartans in a regular-season Big Ten contest in Detroit on Monday, Feb. 17.
U-M will round out its regular-season schedule with games at Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, Feb. 29. Michigan's final home series is slated for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21-22 against Notre Dame with senior night festivities taking place Sunday (Feb. 22).
Ticket Information
New season tickets are available online or by contacting the U-M Athletic Ticket Office at (734) 764-0247 or (866) 296-MTIX. Also available are eight-game mini-plans, group and all-inclusive hospitality spaces and individual game tickets. [ More information ]
