Like the pickup truck that he drove to and from Friday’s workout at Yost Ice Arena, senior captain Andrew Ebbett is built to handle all types of terrain. While much of his career as a center for the Michigan hockey team has been smooth sailing, Ebbett has hit a few rough spots but showed his resilience by emerging as a better player and, ultimately, a can’t-miss candidate for next season’s captaincy.

The Expressway to Ann Arbor

Since arriving in Ann Arbor, Ebbett has been known as one of the team’s top playmakers and faceoff men. After playing hockey throughout his youth, Ebbett began fine-tuning his playmaking abilities while spending the 2001-02 season with the expansion Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the British Columbia Hockey League. Ebbett starred in all areas for the Silverbacks, scoring 45 goals and notching 39 assists during his 60-game rookie season and was named the team’s most valuable player. It was this performance that caught Michigan coach Red Berenson’s eye, and Ebbett was invited to Ann Arbor for a visit.

“I visited to watch Michigan play Minnesota and Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase,” Ebbett said. “That’s all that needed to be said. I came here and watched the Ohio State and Michigan football game on the Saturday and that was it. Michigan was the first school I came to, and I didn’t need to see anymore.”

So Ebbett headed back to British Columbia with intentions of rejoining the Silverbacks for a year before coming to Michigan, but those plans soon changed. During the summer of 2002, Ebbett brought his parents to Ann Arbor so they could see the campus that he had so quickly fallen in love with. Their visit coincided with a nervous time for the Michigan program, as it realized the departure of current Los Angeles Kings center Michael Cammalleri was imminent.

“In the summer I was visiting some friends in Toronto, and I brought my parents down here to see the campus,” Ebbett said. “(Michigan assistant) coach (Billy) Powers said I should expect a call in a week or two because they thought Cammalleri might leave.”

After Ebbett had returned home to British Columbia, Powers’s call was almost on cue.

“I went home and literally two weeks later I got the call asking me to come,” Ebbett said. “My coaches in Salmon Arm weren’t too happy, but it was the best decision and it worked out great for me.”

Easy Street with his teammates

Since he came to Michigan, one of Ebbett’s off-ice strong suits has been his ability to relate to all of his teammates. Ebbett — along with fellow seniors Al Montoya and Jeff Tambellini — was named one of three Wolverine captains for the 2005-06 campaign. According to Powers, Ebbett’s selection was due to his omnipresent work ethic and his ability to socially maneuver between all of his teammates, taking the pulse of the entire team.

“He’s a great teammate and has no group or pack on our team,” Powers said. “He is clearly a friend of everyone. He’s just got a nice way about him. He’s the kind of kid who doesn’t get too excited and he thinks things through. He’ll be a good sounding board for the coaches.”

Ebbett’s ease of relating to teammates may stem from living in close quarters with the rest of this year’s senior class. All of the tri-captains live together, along with fellow seniors Brandon Kaleniecki and Noah Ruden. Spending so much time with each other gives them ample opportunity to sort out any disagreements that may arise.

“I think it’s great, because any time you have a problem, you know where they are 24/7,” Ebbett said. “With such a tight senior class, with Ruden and Kaleniecki in there too, all of us live together. You can bring up anything you want at any time — it’s really laid back. We know how each of us does everything and reacts to everything, It’s kind of like we’re brothers.”

Cruise control to the Black List

While his relationships with teammates have always come easily, his success on the ice has not. After experiencing a slump in early January, Berenson and his staff decided to bench Ebbett for the series against Alaska-Fairbanks on Jan. 14 and 15, ending his streak of 108 consecutive games played.

“I had an awful series against Western Michigan,” Ebbett said. “I almost cost the team a game with a bad penalty on the Saturday night, and I came into the practice on Tuesday and had the black jersey on. I remember walking in and seeing that in my locker for the first time, so I immediately knew I wasn’t playing.”