Members of a football team’s secondary are often said to be ‘on an island.’ Left all alone to face the opposing team’s leading receivers, they are single-handedly responsible for preventing the big play downfield.

According to Michigan coach Red Berenson, hockey goaltenders have a similar, somewhat peculiar desire for that kind of isolation.

But in a matter of seconds, when that solitude breaks down and the other teams’ forwards come skating at a furious pace towards the net, a goalie’s next desire is also intriguing.

“You want to be hit by the puck,” Berenson said. “I mean, there’s something weird about that. The best part of your day is when you’re getting hit by the puck, not when it’s missing you. The average forward is trying to get out of the way of the puck, but the goalie wants to get hit.”

Regardless of how you interpret the quirks of the position, the netminder has to be a rock on any hockey team in order for it to find continued success — and Michigan is counting on senior goalie Shawn Hunwick to stand on his head and fill that role.

After losing senior goalie Bryan Hogan to a groin injury during the warm-ups before The Big Chill at the Big House, No. 7 Michigan called upon Hunwick to man the pipes during Hogan’s absence. Prior to The Big Chill, the Wolverines had been starting each goalie in one game of a series, with Hogan boasting a 7-2-0 record to Hunwick’s 2-3-4.

With Hogan’s return still weeks away, Hunwick needs to be that rock for Michigan (12-5-4).

Embracing the opportunity presented before him, Hunwick started — and won — both games at the Great Lakes Invitational and will start both games in this weekend’s upcoming home-and-home series with CCHA rival Michigan State.

To followers of Michigan hockey, Hunwick’s name being broadcasted over the sound system at Joe Louis Arena revived a sense of déjà vu of last season, when Hogan was injured in February and Hunwick took the Wolverines on a Cinderella run to win the CCHA Tournament and to within one win of the Frozen Four.

“He’s never nervous at all,” senior forward Scooter Vaughan said. “He’s been playing well.

“He’s going to come in and make the saves he needs to and if we play good in front of him, we should get a win. He’s coming in knowing he’s got to make all the easy saves, and if he makes a few big ones, then he gives us a chance to win.”

Hunwick earned the 5-0 shutout over Michigan State in The Big Chill, but gave up seven goals over Michigan’s two games in the GLI. While he was the first to admit that his GLI performance was less than lights-out, a win is a win — and he found a way to notch two in the GLI and earned all tournament-team honors.

“I thought there were goals they shouldn’t have scored, but then there were some that maybe he shouldn’t have saved, but he saved,” Berenson said. “But he battled. The one thing about Hunwick, is he’s a competitor. He battled and he found a way to help us win. I can’t tell you we were the best team in the tournament, we were just … we were lucky.”

A combination of luck and hard work has proven to be the recipe for success for the former walk-on. And with a few quirky goalie traits of his own, Hunwick is Michigan’s guy in net for the time being.

“He’s going to die of superstition one day because he has so many rituals and stuff that he does before the game,” Vaughan said. “I know in this second half of the season he said he’s going to get rid of that, but I see him do all those little rituals, all those little knick knacks.

“But it’s working, so if he keeps doing it and we keep winning, I have no problem with it.”