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Posted: Jan 21, 2015

PREVIEW: Husky Hockey Hosts Alaska Nanooks

PREVIEW: Husky Hockey Hosts Alaska Nanooks

 

No. 10 MICHIGAN TECH vs. ALASKA
Dates Friday-Saturday, Jan. 23-24, 2015
Times 7:07 p.m. | 7:07 p.m.
Location Houghton, Mich. | John MacInnes Student Ice Arena
Radio Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ (Dirk Hembroff)
Online Audio Pasty.net
Video Stream wcha.com/men/mtu/tv.php
Game Notes Michigan Tech | Alaska
Live Stats CollegeHockeyInc.com
Live Tweeting Twitter.com/mtuhky
Tech's Record 16-7-1 | 11-4-1 WCHA 
UAF's Record 12-11-1 | 7-10-1 WCHA 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets BuyHuskiesTickets.com
SDC Ticket Office (906-487-2073) 
Prices $17 Reserved
$5 Youth (age 3 - grade 12)
Free - First 750 Michigan Tech Students with ID
$5 Michigan Tech Students (after 750)
Parking $5
Lots 23, 24, 32, UP Health System Lot 
Arena Info  John MacInnes Student Ice Arena

 

THIS WEEKEND'S NOTES

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
• No. 10 Michigan Tech hosts Alaska this weekend in a WCHA series at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night.
• Nucor Corporation has purchased 850 t-shirts for Tech students to wear at the games. 100 of the shirts were passed out on Wednesday with the remaining 750 being handed out at the student entrance on Friday.
• Tech is in the midst of a nine-game home stand. After this weekend, the Huskies host Alabama Huntsville on Jan. 30-31, and Bemidji State for the annual Winter Carnival series on Feb. 6-7.

ON THE RADIO
Mix 93.5 WKMJ broadcasts all Michigan Tech hockey games. Dirk Hembroff will call all the action in his 13th year behind the microphone. You can also listen to the game online at Pasty.com.

THIS WEEK'S RANKING
Michigan Tech is ranked No. 10 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. After starting the season unranked, the Huskies climbed to No. 1 on Nov. 17 for the first time since 1976. They remained in the top 10 from Nov. 3 until last week before jumping back in this week.

WHERE TECH RANKS IN THE NATION
• Tanner Kero is tied for the lead in shorthanded goals (2), 10th in points (27) and 11th in assists (17)
• Tech has the second most wins (16)
• Matt Roy ranks second in the nation with 59 blocked shots and his +15 rating is tied for 10th.
• Jamie Phillips has played the third most minutes between the pipes
• Petan ranks 10th in points (27), third in points on the power play (13), and third in game-winning goals (5).
• Cliff Watson is fifth with 54 blocked shots
• Tech is fifth in scoring defense (2.00)
• Shane Hanna has a +16 rating, ranking him seventh in the country
• Tech is seventh in scoring margin (1.21)
• Tech is 10th in winning percentage (68.8)

COACH PEARSON
• Mel Pearson is in his fourth season as Michigan Tech's head hockey coach in 2014-15. His record with the Huskies is 59-65-16. He was named WCHA Coach of the Year in his inaugural campaign in 2011-12 and has guided the Huskies to their best three-season stretch in the last 20 years with 43 wins.
• Pearson's 59 wins rank him fifth all-time at Tech. John MacInnes (555-295-39), Jamie Russell (70-197-37), Herb Boxer (66-129-8), and Bob Mancini (63-80-20) are the top four.
• Pearson's 43 wins in his first three years are the third most a Tech coach has had after the first three seasons. Jim Nahrgang had 56 wins during his three-year tenure. Bob Mancini had 45 wins during his first three seasons.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS
Three Games
• Tyler Heinonen – 2 goals, 1 assist
Two Games
• Blake Pietila – 2 goals, 1 assist
One Game
• Reid Sturos – 1 assist
• Mark Auk – 1 goal
• Patrick Anderson – 1 assist
• Malcolm Gould – 2 assists

HOBEY BAKER CANDIDATES
Senior forward Tanner Kero and junior goaltender Jamie Phillips are both Hobey Baker Candidates. The first phase of fan balloting runs from Jan. 7 through March 8. Phase two of fan balloting will begin on March 19 from the list of the Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists. The fans' vote accounts for a full one percent of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient. The 2015 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 10, 2015 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championships in Boston, Mass.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Alaska is 12-11-1 overall and 7-10-1 in the WCHA. The Nanooks are sixth in the league standings behind Minnesota State, Tech, Bowling Green, Ferris State and Northern Michigan. They won their first five games of the season and are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.
• Dallas Ferguson is in his seventh season as head coach of Alaska. He was named the CCHA Coach of the Year award in 2008-09 and took the Nanooks to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in 2009-10.
• Tyler Morley (7-17=24) and Marcus Basara (10-8=18) lead the offense. Davis Jones (9-5-1, 2.45 goals against average, 89.8 save percentage) and Sean Cahill (2-5-0, 2.55, 91.4) have split time between the pipes.

LAST MEETING
Nov. 29-30 | Tech swept the series played in Fairbanks. After getting down 1-0 on Friday, the Huskies scored three straight, including a pair off the stick of Alex Petan and won 3-2. Shane Hanna also scored. Pheonix Copley had 30 saves. Hanna scored again on Saturday in a 2-1 win. Tanner Kero added the other Husky goal and Copley finished with 28 saves.
Feb. 14-15 | Alaska swept Tech in Houghton, outscoring the Huskies 14-5 on the weekend. The Johnstone brothers and Blake Hietala scored Friday. Hietala scored again Saturday along with Kero.

SERIES INFORMATION
Tech and Alaska have met only seven times with four of those meetings coming in 2013-14. The Huskies swept the Nanooks in Alaska with the teams switching roles in the series played in Houghton. Tech leads the series 4-3-0 and is 2-3-0 at home.

LAST TIME OUT
• Tech maintained its one-point lead over Bowling Green in the WCHA standings with a series split with the Falcons from the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Tech won 4-3 Friday and fell 3-2 Saturday. The last time Tech defeated BGSU in Houghton was December 1982.
• Alex Petan had a goal and two assists on Friday to extend his multiple point streak to three games. He has 11 points in the last six games.
• Blake Pietila scored Tech's two goals on Saturday. It was the second time this season he scored twice in a game this season. The other time was at Wisconsin (Jan. 2).
• Brent Baltus had a goal and assist on Friday, scoring for the second straight game. It was his first multiple point game of his career. Tyler Heinonen picked up an assist on Friday to extend his point streak to three games.
• Mark Auk scored his first career goal on Friday. Patrick Anderson played his first game in a Husky uniform on Saturday and picked up his first point on an assist during Tech's first goal.

LOOKING AHEAD
After the home stretch, Tech wraps up the regular season with a WCHA series at Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 13-14), at Minnesota State (Feb. 27-28), and another home and home series against NMU (March 6-7).

OTHER NOTES
• Both teams are 1-3-1 in their last five games
• Alex Petan (2-3=5) has the most points against Alaska
• Shane Hanna and Tanner Kero each have a pair of goals and a pair of assists against the Nanooks
• Tech is 11-2-0 when scoring four or more goals
• Tech is 11-2-0 when scoring the first goal of the game
• Tech's opponent has scored first in five straight games
• Tech is 6-1-1 when having between 30-39 shots on goal
• Against ranked opponents, the Huskies are 6-4-0
• Tech is 6-5-0 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena this season
• Tech has four shorthanded goals this season. Tanner Kero (Ferris State at GLI and at Wisconsin), CJ Eick (at Bemidji State) and Blake Hietala (at Alabama Huntsville) also have scored on the penalty kill. Tech won all four games.
• After not having any empty net goals in 2013-14, the Huskies have six so far this season.

CAPTAINS
Senior forwards Blake Pietila and Tanner Kero were voted as captains by their teammates. Pietila was a captain last season while Kero was an assistant captain. This year's assistant captains are junior forward Alex Petan and sophomore defenseman Cliff Watson.

MEL PEARSON SHOW
The Mel Pearson Show can be heard every Monday morning at 10 a.m. on Mix 93.5 WKMJ. Host Dirk Hembroff and Coach Pearson talk about the previous weekend and the upcoming matchup. You can also listen live online at Pasty.com or visit MichiganTechHuskies.com for the full audio recording.

NHL DRAFT PICKS
• Senior forward Blake Pietila was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round (129th overall selection) of the 2011 NHL Draft.
• Junior goaltender Jamie Phillips was drafted in the 2012 NHL Draft in the seventh round (190th overall) by the Winnipeg Jets.
• Sophomore defenseman Cliff Watson was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks (168th overall).
• Freshman defenseman Dane Birks was drafted in the sixth round (164th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013 NHL Draft.

A FAMILY AFFAIR
It's the fourth year in a row Michigan Tech has a pair of brothers on the team. When senior Blake Pietila was a freshman, his brother Chad was on the team. David Johnstone and brother Jacob played three years together from 2011-12 to 2013-14. This season, senior Tanner Kero is playing alongside freshman goaltender Devin Kero.

#FOLLOWTHEHUSKIES
The Michigan Tech hockey team is on Facebook and Twitter. You can like the Huskies on Facebook at Facebook.com/michigantechhockey. Follow the Huskies on Twitter at Twitter.com/mtuhky. All hockey games are live tweeted. Join the conversation using the hashtags #FollowTheHuskies and #mtuhky.

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