Michigan goalie Bryan Hogan was originally slated to be the starter for The Big Chill at The Big House last Saturday (and was on his way to becoming coach Red Berenson's choice as the full-time goaltender), but suffered a groin injury during pre-game warm-ups and was scratched from the lineup in favor of Shawn Hunwick.
↵Now, it appears that Hogan's injury is rather serious and will cause him to miss more time. Hogan was diagnosed with a partially torn groin (either a tendon or muscle) and will be out for at least a month. This isn't a re-aggravation of an injury Hogan suffered last year, however.
↵↵↵↵"Totally out of the blue - it's crazy," Berenson said of Hogan's injury on Tuesday. "Last year, (the injury) was near the end of the year and he had played every game and so maybe it was fatigue. This year, maybe you could say he wasn't warmed up to pull a groin, but we had been practicing everyday outside and he hadn't had any issue all week.
↵"But he made one move and he could just feel it."
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As mentioned, Hogan also hurt his groin last year, but that happened on the other side.
↵So Hunwick becomes Michigan's full-time starter. His record is 2-3-4 on the season, compared to Hogan's 7-2, which explains Berenson's preference. But Hunwick will now obviously get a chance to improve on those numbers, and has plenty of time to prepare, as the Wolverines' next game isn't until December 29.
↵Michigan (10-5-4 overall, 9-3-1-0 in the CCHA) will face Michigan Tech in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena. The team will resume CCHA play January 7 at Michigan State.
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