Following the Michigan hockey team’s tie and win this past weekend against Mercyhurst and Western Ontario, respectively, the coaching staff finally had the opportunity to skate for the entire length of practice instead of the shortened two-hour-a-week pre-season limit.

And after the team's collapse on Saturday night and its lackluster win on Sunday, all of the players would agree having coach Red Berenson on the ice will hopefully correlate with better results.

“The tempo out there for the first three or four drills is obviously a little bit better,” senior forward Matt Rust said after practice on Wednesday. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep the same intensity level without the coaches out there regardless of what the team or the captains are trying to do.”

In Michigan’s first full week of practice there has been a range of topics covered, from working on special teams and breakouts to figuring out defensive-zone assignments.

It won’t be until a few more games into the year that Berenson can finally decipher what specific areas to concentrate his time and energy.

For now, in preparation for this weekend’s games against the Falcons, Berenson has emphasized execution on both ends of the ice, with the hope of securing a road-weekend sweep to start conference play.

“If we just improve (our execution) a little bit on the defensive side and a little bit on the offensive side, we’ll be fine,” he said. “I think we are having some pretty good practices, and I think our team is focused.”

After a stellar freshman campaign in which he earned CCHA All-Rookie team honors, sophomore Chris Brown is one such player who could potentially improve his execution in the offensive end. Last year, the Flower Mound, Texas native led the Wolverines with seven power play goals along with total assists (15) and points (28).

But after tallying just one lone assist in the Wolverines’ first two games this past weekend, Berenson moved Brown to a line with seniors Carl Hagelin and Matt Rust in practice early this week.

“They’re the best players on the ice every night,” Brown said. “Carl’s got great speed and Rust’s got great vision, and when you have both of those guys on the same line, I’m just trying to keep up,” Brown joked.

With the move, Berenson looks to surround the underclassman with a few of the most talented Wolverines. And while it is still too early to speculate whether the move will benefit Michigan, the coaching staff hopes Brown will carry last year’s success — and even more — into the 2010 season.

“They want me to continue to improve upon last year,” Brown said. “I did have a really strong freshman year, and that was last year. We didn’t finish where we wanted to. But this year we are going for a national championship, and we want to get back to the Frozen Four.”