It was after Friday night’s 5-2 win over Lake Superior State when senior captain Chris Summers dropped a bomb regarding Michigan’s goalie situation.

“I don’t know why there’s so many people who don’t think that (junior backup Shawn Hunwick) is a contender to be a starting goalie,” Summers said. “He could be a starting goalie on any team in the NCAA.

“He’s proven everyone wrong.”

There’s no denying that Hunwick has been serviceable. In four games of action — his first legitimate playing time in his three-year career — Hunwick has two shutouts and three wins, with the one slip-up coming at the hands of Notre Dame in South Bend.

He really has risen up as a solid “relief pitcher,” like Berenson called him early in the season, enough so for the veteran coach to refer to him after Saturday’s 6-0 shutout of the Lakers as Michigan’s own “Rudy.”

But the fate of the Wolverines’ season does not rely on Hunwick proving Summers’ comments to be true — no matter how far-fetched they may or may not be.

Instead, Michigan’s season and the miniscule hopes of extending it past the CCHA Tournament rest firmly on the shoulders of Summers and the highly touted defensive corps.

In the Wolverines’ first-round sweep of Lake Superior State, the defense had one of its best performances of the season, limiting the Lakers to very few quality scoring opportunities. Aside from a spectacular save Hunwick made after the defense turned the puck over in the first period of Saturday's game, the junior goalie was rarely tested in Michigan's dominant shutout.

By no means am I taking away from Hunwick’s performance in net. When starting goaltender Bryan Hogan went down with a groin injury — one that looks like it will sideline him the rest of the season — I can’t say I had much hope for a Hunwick leading a Michigan playoff run.

But “Rudy” has so far proved me wrong and made it increasingly clear that the Wolverines’ defense, which fell way short of its sky-high expectations this year, holds the team’s fragile postseason hopes in its hands.

Before the season, Summers’ compared this year’s corps to a star-studded cast from his freshman year — a comparison he might take back if you asked him today. That defense had future NHLers Jack Johnson and Shawn's brother, Matt Hunwick, two of the best defensemen in Michigan hockey history.

Clearly, the comparison has looked a little unfounded thus far.

All season long, the Wolverines have been prone to turning the puck over in the neutral zone or giving up multiple odd-man rushes, consequently hanging their goalie out to dry.

With Shawn Hunwick in net, an inexperienced goaltender facing the CCHA’s best scorers in the next few weeks, those mistakes could mean the end of Michigan’s season.

Although the Wolverines’ scoring defense is eighth in the nation, losing records against the conference’s top competition say enough.

Thirteen goals allowed in four games against Michigan State. Eight goals allowed in two games against Miami (Ohio). Five goals allowed in two games against Ferris State. And in those eight games, Michigan came away with only two wins.

The Wolverines will play the Spartans in the next round of the CCHA Tournament and will likely play some combination of the other two, should they advance. And without a defensive performance similar to the one they had this past weekend against Lake Superior State — allowing just two goals in two games — those top scorers will expose this Michigan defense for what they’ve been all year:

Overrated.

It’s no longer Hunwick’s job to prove me and the rest of the critics wrong. He’s done all he can to do just that.

Now, it’s time for Summers and the defense to prove that they are deserving of being called the best.