It’s hard to believe that a third place finish can be considered a down season, but that is just what it was for the University of Michigan Wolverines last season. Their 15 losses (including CCHA and NCAA tournament games) is the most in recent memory and almost double the eight they suffered the previous year. There was a reason for the setback, however. They suffered from a lack of experience; half of the team were members of the freshmen class. The previous season they had more than ten seniors. In addition, they lost star forward Jeff Tambellini to the Kings and elite goaltender Al Montoya to the Rangers early in the season.

The departure of Montoya set the stage for goaltender Billy Sauer to speed through high school so he could step in a year before planned. Sauer, the youngest player on the team, had to lead a freshmen-heavy team and that didn’t work out well. Through all this though, the blame can’t solely rest with Sauer; he was good enough and U of M should have won more games than they did. He was playing in front of a young team while he was adjusting to college level play. Offensively as well as defensively, the season was a letdown. Not counting empty-netters, the Wolverines gave up 22 more goals and scored 31 less than the past season.

Fortunately, this year the team seems primed for a better outcome. They lost just three graduating seniors and retained their core group including star forwards T.J. Hensick, Kevin Porter, Chad Kolarik, and Andrew Cogliano. The defense might be even more impressive with senior captain Matt Hunwick, Jack Johnson, Jason Dest, Matt Mitera, and Tim Cook leading the last stand. The question remains as to how Sauer will perform. Will he step up from last season or continue to be brilliant some nights and awful the next? In past seasons, the Wolverines were backstopped by Montoya and Blackburn and these solid goaltenders gave the Maize and Blue a chance to win every night.

Look for U of M to make a turnaround this season. The schedule is the same as always, featuring the always tough College Hockey Showcase against Minnesota and Wisconsin and the GLI, this year featuring Harvard (Michigan Tech is the host and Michigan State is the co-host of the tournament).