BIG RAPIDS – While Saturday’s Senior Night was dedicated to the six graduating members of the No. 3 Michigan hockey team, the attention centered around how two of those players would each finish the most disappointing seasons of their collegiate careers.
Senior captain Mark Mitera played in Friday’s 6-1 victory at Ferris State, his first game since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the season opener on Oct. 10. Mitera also chipped in a goal and an assist, his first points of the season, in Saturday’s 4-0 victory at Yost Ice Arena.
Senior goaltender Billy Sauer registered his eighth career shutout Saturday in what might have been his final college game. The Walworth, N.Y. native stopped all 14 shots he faced. It was just his third start since sophomore Bryan Hogan became the full-time starter in early December.
“It’s pretty tough, but I felt pretty into it,” Sauer said, regarding the light workload. “The crowd was pretty loud, and the puck was around me enough where I didn’t feel like I wasn’t getting any work.”
It was a bizarre and frustrating senior campaign for both players. Mitera, a first-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, delayed his professional hockey dreams to return for his final year only to injure his knee in the first period of the season.
Mitera’s decision to stay came one year after Kevin Porter returned for his senior season despite NHL prospects. Porter went on to win the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top player.
Friday night was the culmination of a surprisingly successful rehabilitation process. After undergoing ACL reconstructive surgery Nov. 6, Mitera was given a 3-6 month timetable for a return to the ice. Just two months and three days later, he started to skate again. Mitera began practicing full-contact Feb. 17.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Mitera said Friday. “I think the first couple of shifts were pretty shaky. I felt a little out of place out there, just to get back to game speed. But other than that, I felt pretty good the rest of the game.”
Mitera turned the puck over in his own zone on his second shift Friday, which resulted in the Bulldogs’ only goal of the weekend. But as Friday’s game wore on, his skating seemed more fluid and he grew less tentative with the puck. Mitera finished with a rating of plus-two on the weekend.
“He got off to a little bit of a rough start,” senior Tim Miller said. “I know he was minus-one right away. But you could tell after a couple of shifts, he got into a groove and played really well at the end. He was making solid touches and quick passes.”
The sweep of the Bulldogs (9-14-5-2 CCHA, 12-17-7 overall) was the Wolverines’ eighth of the season. After an 9-7 start that included losses to two teams with losing records, Michigan has won 17 of its past 20 games and has scored four or more goals in 14 of those 20 contests.
Michigan coach Red Berenson couldn’t help putting his team’s second-half tear in perspective Saturday. Entering December, Michigan found itself in seventh place in the conference standings. The causes of the Wolverines’ inconsistencies ranged from a Jekyll & Hyde offense to an undermanned defensive corps that went without three regular blueliners for an eight-game stretch.
“Nobody thought we would’ve gotten off to that slow of a start,” Miller said Friday. “It was really frustrating. But we got that Christmas break and we thought about what we needed to do. We realized that if we didn’t pick it up, we weren’t going to make the (NCAA) Tournament.”
Just three months later, the Wolverines (20-8-0-0, 26-10) are now seeded second in the CCHA Tournament, which means a first-round bye and home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals March 13-15. When reflecting on the regular-season finale, Berenson pointed out that Michigan’s 20 conference victories matched that of last year’s Frozen Four team. That was a squad that featured two 30-goal scorers, including the program’s second Hobey Baker Award winner, and arguably the best season by a goalie in school history – from none other than Sauer.
What’s more surprising, considering the puzzling first half, is that the Wolverines’ 26 victories this season is just one short of last year’s regular-season total.
“One reason we get better during the season is that we’re a young team, and I play the young players,” Berenson said. “And then they learn and they get better. And they get more confident as the year goes on. I’ve always said the first semester takes forever for a freshman. Then the next thing you know, you’re graduating. That’s how quick it goes.”
The Wolverines seem to have finally gotten over their problems with inconsistent scoring. The offense generated goals from three different lines in five of its past eight games.
And though it took nearly five months, Michigan’s greatest strength entering the season – depth on the blueline – has now finally manifested itself with Mitera back in the fold.