When injuries to senior captain Mark Mitera and junior Steve Kampfer decimated the No. 4 Michigan hockey team’s defense during the season’s opening weekend, the squad’s deepest unit quickly became its weakest link. With the Wolverines already missing freshman defenseman Brandon Burlon because of an ankle sprain, it seemed like an appropriate time for the time to panic.
Four months later, there has been one silver lining to those nightmarish two nights: the development of Greg Pateryn.
The freshman blueliner was forced early into a lineup that was suddenly without two of its best defensemen and has played in 26 of Michigan’s past 28 games.
The Sterling Heights native acknowledged having trouble adjusting to the speed of the collegiate game, and during the first semester, Pateryn rarely exploited his greatest advantage over fleet-footed opposing forwards – his size.
Even at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Pateryn didn’t check as hard or as often as can normally be expected with such an imposing frame.
“I think it can happen with a lot of freshmen, (with) really a lot of information being thrown at them,” assistant coach Billy Powers said. “A little bit of a change in speed, (and) all of a sudden, the rushes are coming at you quicker. The counters are coming at you quicker, so you end up getting into more of containing and thinking the game a little bit more.
“I think that’s what you saw with Greg.”
Now, with six games left in the regular season, Pateryn’s extended adjustment period seems long since past. As he acclimated himself to the speed, his mistakes became fewer. And as his confidence rose, so did the number of hits.
“You could put him on the ice for 14 minutes and he could be a plus player,” Powers said of Pateryn, who has a plus-4 plus-minus rating. “It just lessened the load of not having Mark (Mitera). He couldn’t play Mark’s minutes or Mark’s role. Nobody could’ve. But it was good that Greg was a little bit over-ready for this.”
Powers noted Pateryn’s offseason training last summer as a major contributor to his development. A Montreal Canadiens draft pick, Pateryn attended Montreal’s rookie camp to improve his agility, his most glaring weakness coming out of the United States Hockey League.
“I had a personal trainer over the summer,” Pateryn said. “We worked on lateral quickness and just quick sprints, skating on the ice with power skaters. When I was in Montreal, they actually videotaped my skating and critiques what I needed to work on.”
Powers said Pateryn’s heavy-footed skating was the coaching staff’s chief concern during his recruitment. The two spoke last year about how critical the offseason would be for his development on both ends of the ice.
“I see a lot of myself in him last year, struggling with the speed,” sophomore defenseman Tristin Llewellyn said. “When we first got him, I don’t think he knew how to take a wrist shot or a backhand, it was only slappers.
“Now, he’s looking at situations and even down in Joe Louis Arena (against Michigan State), you can see he was making passes, and he’s not just burying his head and taking slapshots.”
Though Pateryn won’t win many sprints in practice, his instincts and anticipation have masked his relative lack of agility.
“I think it’s a little bit of having hockey sense, but also putting your priorities first,” Pateryn said. “Make sure no one gets behind you or beats you wide. That’s all positioning, just kind of where to be at the right time and not get yourself in situations where you need to really bury yourself in a hole just to stay on the ice.”
For all the strides he has made this season, Pateryn’s hold on the sixth defenseman spot is still tenuous. Since Kampfer returned at the Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 27, Pateryn has played in favor of sophomore Scooter Vaughan in 10 of Michigan’s past 12 games. But Powers said the coaching staff wants Vaughan to play before the end of the regular season – possibly this weekend.
Additionally, Mitera hopes to return from a torn anterior cruciate ligament within the next three weeks, meaning there’s a chance Pateryn’s season will end with him on the bench.
“The reason I say we haven’t really spoken about (who Mitera would replace) is because it should make our whole defense better,” Powers said. “Because they all know once he gets back, no one’s safe.”