Michigan to Open Season at Yost Against No. 11-Ranked Clarkson

Friday, October 11

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:30 PM

Michigan

Clarkson

Michigan to Open Season at Yost Against No. 11-Ranked Clarkson

10/9/2019 12:11:00 PM | Ice Hockey

By: Kurt Svoboda

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The University of Michigan ice hockey team (0-0-0) will open the 2019-20 season with a pair of 7:30 p.m. games Friday and Saturday (Oct. 11-12) against No. 11-ranked Clarkson (0-0-0) at Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.

The Series

The Wolverines and Golden Knights will meet for the sixth time in program history and for the first time in Ann Arbor. Michigan holds a 3-2-0 record in the all-time series against Clarkson, including a 2-0 win in the 2008 NCAA East Regional Final. The teams first met on Nov. 28, 1958, when Michigan defeated Clarkson, 6-3.

The last meeting between the teams was on Oct. 7, 2017, in Potsdam, New York. The Golden Knights took a 3-0 victory over the Wolverines.

Scouting the Golden Knights

Clarkson heads to Ann Arbor looking to build off an impressive run in the 2018-19 season. After finishing the regular season with a record of 22-10-2, the Golden Knights won the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) hockey tournament and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Golden Knights are ranked No. 11 in the latest edition of the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll (Oct. 7), one week after they were No. 10 in the USCHO preseason poll.

Clarkson was led in points last season by junior Nico Sturm, who finished the 2018-19 campaign with 45 (14 goals, 31 assists) in 39 games played. Junior Haralds Egle led the Golden Knights in goals with 19. Egle is back at Clarkson for his senior year; Sturm left for the NHL (Minnesota Wild).

Jake Kielly protected the net for the majority of last season and posted a 1.91 goals-against average with a .929 save percentage. Kielly was top-10 in the nation in those categories and finished the year second in wins (26). Kielly, like Sturm, went to the NHL (Vancouver Canucks).

Wolverine Bites

Michigan 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 that 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 sophomore Strauss Mann split time in 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 the goaltending corps is sophomore Jack Leavy.

Lockwood returns as the team captain for the 2019-20 campaign. Last season he collected 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) in 36 games, good for second best on the team behind Quinn Hughes' 33.

Breaking Down the Roster

In addition to its senior class, Michigan returns 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 welcomed 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, 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.

Up Next

Friday, Oct. 18 -- vs. Lake Superior State (Yost Ice Arena), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19 -- vs. Lake Superior State (Yost Ice Arena), 7:30 p.m.