Brown becomes third Wolverine to jet

First, Al Montoya.

Then, Jeff Tambellini.

Now, junior forward Mike Brown has left Michigan for an NHL dream.

Though nothing has been officially announced by the university, Wolverines head coach Red Berenson said in the Ann Arbor News on Thursday that Brown has signed with the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver drafted Brown in the fifth round a year ago. The Canucks also have not confirmed the signing.

"Up until a week ago, Mike Brown was all set to come back to school,'' Berenson said in the story. "And now Vancouver comes into the scene and offers him a contract, and he bit on it. I'm surprised and disappointed.''

"I thought it was my opportunity and the right time for me to have the chance to go,'' Brown said. "I just want to show what I have and go play with the big boys.''

Brown, 20, had just 11 goals and 10 assists in his two years at Michigan, but filled an important role as a penalty killer and with his physical play.

The Wolverines now have a depleted 23-man roster with 11 of those being freshmen for this upcoming season.

Hensick, Hunwick named U-M alternate captains

University of Michigan head coach Red Berenson announced today that junior forward T.J. Hensick and junior defenseman Matt Hunwick will be alternate captains for the 2005-06 campaign.

Hensick and Hunwick will join previously named senior captain Andrew Ebbett and senior alternate captain Brandon Kaleniecki to lead the Maize and Blue in the upcoming season.

In 2004-05, Hensick was second on U-M in goals (23) assists (32) and points (55) while capturing the CCHA scoring title. He was also a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist and a first team All-American. As a freshman in 2003-04, he took home CCHA Rookie of the Year honors and was tied among rookies nationally with 46 points.

Hunwick was a solid contributor along U-M's blue line in 2004-05, setting career highs in goals (6), assists (19), points (25) and plus/minus (+15). His performance during the season resulted in All-CCHA second team accolades. In his rookie year of 2003-04, Hunwick was selected to the CCHA All-Rookie Team. He had 1-14-15 totals and led Michigan with a +14 rating.

Hensick and Hunwick both played for Team USA's World Junior Championship squad in 2005 where they earned fourth place. Hunwick also played for Team USA at the 2004 WJC and earned a gold medal.

The two have been teammates for more than a decade beginning with Detroit HoneyBaked as squirts, continuing on at the U.S. National Team Development Program in 2001-02 and '02-03 and now through their first two seasons with the Maize and Blue.

Shawhan joins Lake Superior staff

Former Lake Superior State goaltender Joe Shawhan has joined the Laker hockey coaching staff as an assistant coach, giving the LSSU program a staff made entirely of Central Collegiate Hockey Association alumni.

Shawhan, who played for the Lakers from 1982-87, joins new head coach Jim Roque, who was an LSSU player from 1983-87. Returning assistant coach Tim Christian played at Ferris State from 1991-95.

"As a youth I idolized the Laker players - Don Muio, Tom Davies and Ian Ward - those kind of guys," said Shawhan, a Sault Ste. Marie native who spent the last 10 seasons as head coach of the Soo Indians Junior A hockey program in the North American Hockey League. "That was the pro team to us prior to all of the access to TV that we have now. The Lakers were the team for all of the kids."

Shawhan totaled 1,130 saves and posted a career goals-against average of 3.83 during his collegiate career. He is tied for 10th on LSSU's career goals-against list. In 1985-86 he led the CCHA in both GAA and save percentage. From 1988 until 1995, Shawhan served a variety of roles with the Lakers, from radio analyst to volunteer coach.

"I was very fortunate while I was at Lake Superior State to be under a couple pretty good task masters," Shawhan said in reference to former LSSU coaches Frank Anzalone and Jeff Jackson. "Frank brought in the good elements of discipline, work ethic and attention to detail. Jeff maintained that and brought the game to another level with the ability to express creativity within the game. Both of them ran successful programs, so I had a template to work off of when I got to juniors. With the Indians, really nothing was different from what I learned within their programs."

Shawhan and Roque were both involved with Laker hockey during its greatest decade, which included three NCAA championships.

"It wasn't by accident that the Lakers won," Shawhan said. "People think that they don't really know why they won. But when you see the attention to detail and the atmosphere they created, you could see that the Lakers operated in a way that guaranteed success."

Shawhan carried those characteristics over to the Indians while serving as the team's only head coach and general manager before the team folded after this past season. He became the winningest coach in the 30-year history of the NAHL, amassing an overall record of 474-162-43, including two 50-win seasons, six 40-win stints and two seasons with over 30 victories.

Under Shawhan's guidance, the Indians never recorded a losing record, captured three NAHL titles and earned three tips to the USA National Tournament. They placed second in 2003 and third in 2005.

Shawhan was 6-0 in NAHL All-Star contests. He served as head coach twice and assistant coach once for the NAHL's entry in the USA Hockey Top Prospects Tournament and captured the title in all three appearances. In 2002, he served as the assistant coach for the U.S. National Junior Team entry into the Viking Cup Tournament in Camrose, Alberta. In 2004, he was the U.S. head coach and led the team to a silver medal.

"I want to say thank you to the NAHL and Sault Tribe for giving me a great opportunity, and to Cleveland for being so patient," said Shawhan, who turned down an offer to coach the NAHL's Cleveland Barons in order to join the Laker staff. "I thank all of the people who supported the Indians for the 10-year period. One of the most difficult scenarios in this process was leaving something that I helped build, but I'm thankful I will have the opportunity to bring that excitement to LSSU.

"The people who were with us in building that, all of the fans and the community, can be a part of the continued growth of Laker hockey. When I was with the Indians, walking through the stands from the lockerroom to the bench during home games, I became used to seeing those people and they became friends. I look forward to seeing those same people again. I hope they appreciate Laker hockey as much as they appreciated Indians hockey. We need their support."

The Indians placed more than 100 players into college hockey programs during the past decade. The most-notable was goaltender Ryan Miller, who went on to Michigan State and won the 2001 Hobey Baker Award. Several former Indians have gone on to play at LSSU, including current Lakers Dominic Osman, Justin Gutwald and Marty Gurnoe.

LSSU Press Release

Contois granted final year at NMU

The NCAA has verbally informed Northern Michigan University that forward Andrew Contois will be granted another year of eligibility.

He began his collegiate career at Lake Superior State University before transferring to NMU during his freshman year. The NCAA counted his time at LSSU as a full season as he appeared in eight games with the Lakers. He had played at NMU for two-and-a-half seasons which, therefore, exhausted his four years of eligibility.

Or so it seemed.

“When we first got word that Andrew would be ineligible we knew that we would go through the process to try to get him eligible,” Wildcats head coach Walt Kyle said. “Part of the process was to appeal to the NCAA.”

It was determined during a yearly review in the spring by the compliance officer at NMU that Contois, a Marquette native, had used up his eligibility.

Contois scored 19 goals among 36 points during the 2004-05 season. He led the team in goals and was second in points. For his NMU career, Contois has appeared in 94 games with 27 goals and 39 assists for 66 points. He is looking to improve those numbers during his upcoming senior year.

“A lot of work and detail was done by people in the NMU Athletic Department to make this happen,” Kyle added. “We were hopeful and confident that the appeal would be granted. This will allow him to compete and graduate.”

As part of his reinstatement, Contois must sit one game during the 2005-06 season.

Northern Michigan Press Release