Philippe Lapointe taking on a greater role on and off the ice in graduate season

In the No. 10 Michigan hockey team’s past two weekends against Arizona State and St. Cloud State, there was a name that showed up on the stat sheets that may have been surprising — graduate forward Philippe Lapointe. 

In his first four years for the Wolverines, he tallied 18 points in 88 games. Although his points have increased each year, he’s never topped the production charts. Up to this point, his impact has been felt more beyond the confines of the ice as both a teammate and a mentor. 

But across six games this year, he has already scored two goals, ranks fifth on Michigan’s roster in point production and has taken on a bigger on-ice role. 

“He’s always in the right spot,” Wolverines coach Brandon Naurato said. “He just does everything the right way, and he’s a great example of how we want to play here. Where he was in the lineup sophomore and junior year and then the impact he’s having now, teaching these guys, he’s almost like another coach on the ice.”

Donning the ‘A’ the past two seasons, Lapointe has emerged as a reliable mentor. He saw the program through everything, from the COVID-19 season to coaching changes to drastically different rosters each year. Through these changes, he’s been a mainstay and has learned his role on the team — to be someone his teammates can look to for guidance. 

His on-ice presence was minimal his first three years at Michigan, finding his way in and out of lineups. Last season, he tallied seven points, six of which came from assists. Additionally, he was handed the responsibility of giving the off-ice pregame warm-up speech, which helped him become more comfortable in his role within the team. 

But so far this year, Lapointe’s role as a leader for the Wolverines has expanded even further. 

“First three years I didn’t play much hockey,” Lapointe said Tuesday. “I feel like this month and last year, finally being in the lineup more regularly, I’m just getting more comfortable playing college hockey. … I’m here to be a guide for a lot of the younger guys. I’ve been with Naur since he’s been here, and his philosophies, his teachings have finally sunk in, and it’s a beautiful way to play the game of hockey. So right now, I’m just trying to preach his message to the other guys.”

It’s clear that Lapointe has bought into the system, already scoring more goals in three weekends than he did the entirety of last season. 

In the Saturday game against the Sun Devils, Lapointe clinched Michigan’s second goal of the night to put it up 2-1. Sophomore forward Garrett Schifsky drove the puck from the neutral zone to the left wing, where he got tied up by two Arizona State skaters. He sent the puck to junior forward T.J. Hughes, who spun around to pass it back to Schifsky. Schifsky then skated up and passed the puck to Lapointe, who was waiting at the net front. 

While Lapointe credits Schifsky for doing the work to make the play happen, it showcases what Naurato believes about Lapointe: he’s always in the right spot. Schifsky and Hughes may have taken on the brunt of the labor in the sequence, but Lapointe was in the right spot to net the puck. 

Lapointe sealed the 3-0 victory over the Huskies on Friday with an empty-net goal in the final minutes of the third period. After senior forward Mark Estapa won the faceoff in the defensive zone, Hughes cleared the puck and Lapointe recognized the opportunity he had. Seeing the puck was about to bounce off of a St. Cloud State defenseman’s skate, he skated in between the defensive duo to reach the puck at the faceoff circle and knocked it into the goal. 

“I try to model my game after Phil,” freshman forward Christian Humphreys said Tuesday. “Learning new systems is tough as a freshman … (But) just going and asking Phil a bunch of questions, he’s aways there for me.”

In taking on a role as ‘another coach,’ Lapointe’s on-ice presence has already increased compared to his previous seasons. He has increased his overall playing time and is a mainstay on the power-play unit. And with his mentorship off the ice already crystallized, his on-ice identity is only becoming more clear.

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