PREVIEW: Hockey hosts Ferris State at MacInnes Student Ice Arena

THIS WEEKEND'S SERIES
• Michigan Tech returns home this weekend for the final home series of the month, hosting Ferris State.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• There will be Skate with the Huskies following Saturday's game.
• Tech is 13-11-3 overall and 8-8-2 in the WCHA.
• The two teams will meet in Big Rapids on February 14-15.

FLOHOCKEY.TV
• Both games will be live-streamed on FloHockey.tv
• FloHockey.tv. brings more than 180 WCHA games available on the FloSports platform, including all 140 league regular-season games, any preseason, exhibition and non-conference games hosted by a league school, and the entirety of the annual WCHA postseason tournament.
• Fans who subscribe to FloHockey will also have access to additional college hockey coverage, which includes Atlantic Hockey and select Big Ten Conference hockey games through the company's distribution deal with the Big Ten Network.

ON THE RADIO
• Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ broadcasts all Michigan Tech hockey games. Fans can listen live on the radio at Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ, online at TheMix93.com or Pasty.com, or by using your favorite radio streaming app.
• Dirk Hembroff will call all the action in his 18th year behind the microphone.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• Ferris State is 6-17-2 overall and 4-12-2 in the WCHA. The Bulldogs have dropped eight straight. They have wins over Colgate, Miami, Bemidji State, Alaska, and Alaska Anchorage.
• The Bulldogs were picked eighth in the preseason coaches' poll and seventh in the media poll after going 10-23-3 overall and 7-18-3 overall last season.
• Bob Daniels is in his 28th season as head coach and has a career record of 460-506-106
• Freshman defenseman Jake Willets leads the team with 18 points, and junior forward Marshall Moise has eight goals. Austin Shaw has a 3-6-1 record with a 2.74 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.

LAST MEETING
Tech swept Ferris State on November 9-10 in the only meeting between the two teams last season. The Huskies won 5-4 and 4-3. Tommy Parrottino had two goals in the series and Trenton Bliss, Raymond Brice, Brian Halonen, and Justin Misiak also scored. Matt Jurusik and Robbie Beydoun both had wins between the pipes.

LAST SERIES IN HOUGHTON
The two teams split their last meeting at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in December 2017. FSU won 4-3 Friday and Tech won 5-1 Saturday. Justin Misiak and Alex Smith scored in the series. Robbie Beydoun was the goaltender of record in both games.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 18-15-1 all-time against Ferris State.
• The Huskies are 9-5-1 in games played in Houghton.

AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
• Alex Smith leads the Huskies with seven career points against Ferris State with three goals and four assists in eight games.
• Seamus Donohue has four points in five games. Justin Misiak and Greyson Reitmeier have played six games against the Bulldogs and notched three points each.

HOBEY BAKER CANDIDATES
• Trenton Bliss and Matt Jurusik are candidates for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player.
• Bliss has 17 points this season on nine goals and eight assists. The forward is tied for fourth in the nation with four game-winning goals and eighth with six power-play goals.
• Jurusik has started 22 games this season and leads the Huskies with a .919 save percentage and 2.13 goals-against average. He ranks third in the WCHA in goals-against average and fifth in save percentage. Jurusik's 12 wins are tied for 14th in the nation.

STATISTICAL RANKING
• Alec Broetzman, Tommy Parrottino, and Logan Pietila all have hat tricks as the Huskies lead all NCAA teams with 3 hat tricks.
• Alex Smith is third in the nation with 311 faceoff wins.
• Trenton Bliss is fourth for the nation's lead with four game-winning goals.
• Alec Broetzman is fifth in the nation with 94 shots on goal this season.
• Tech is ranked seventh in the country with 338 blocked shots.
• Trenton Bliss and Alec Broetzman rank eighth in the nation in power-play goals with six.
• Tech is 12th in the nation in scoring defense (2.19).
• Matt Jurusik is 13th in wins (12).
• Tech is 13th in the country with its 13 wins.
• Seamus Donohue is 19th with 43 blocked shots.

LAST TIME OUT
Tech had a loss and tie at Bemidji State last weekend. The Beavers won 4-1 Friday and the two teams tied 1-1 Saturday at the Sanford Center. BSU scored in the 3-on-3 overtime to earn the extra WCHA point in Game 2. Alec Broetzman scored both goals on the weekend for the Huskies.

PIETILA NHL CALLUP
• Blake Pietila was called up to the Anaheim Ducks. He signed a one-year contract with Anaheim on July 2 after playing the last four seasons in the Devils organization which drafted him in 2011.
• In 38 career NHL games, he has four points with a goal and three assists, along with 12 penalty minutes.

AHL ALL-STAR
• Joel L'Esperance will play in the AHL All-Star Classic for the second year. The AHL All-Star Skills Competition is on Sunday.
• L'Esperance leads the Texas Stars with 28 points (17 goals, 11 assists) in 36 games this season.

HUSKY HAT TRICKS
• Logan Pietila had a hat trick in the GLI Championship Game with a goal in the second period and a pair in the third.
• Tommy Parrottino had a natural hat trick Saturday at Bowling Green with two goals in the second period and one in the third.
• Alec Broetzman had a natural hat trick on October 6 at Robert Morris.
• The last time Tech had three hat tricks in a season was 2003-04 when Chris Conner had two and Colin Murphy added one.
• The last time Tech had three hat tricks by three different players was 1991-92 with Jim Storm (twice), Jamie Steer, and John Young.

HUSKY BITES
• Alec Broetzman, Logan Pietila, and Tommy Parrottino have shorthanded goals this season. The Huskies only had two shortys in 2018-19 and one in 2017-18.
• 114 of Tech's 169 points (67 percent) have come from the sophomores and freshmen.
• 79 percent (52 of 66 goals) of the goals are from the underclassmen.
• Tech is 6-0 when scoring four or more goals.

WCHA PLAYERS OF MONTH
• Tech led the WCHA with a 4-1-1 record in December.
• Eric Gotz led WCHA players with seven points and was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Month
• Matt Jurusik led the league with four wins and was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month.
• Logan Pietila led the rookies with three goals and received WCHA Rookie of the Month honors.
• All three were named to the GLI All-Tournament Team.

NONCONFERENCE
Tech finished 5-3-1 in nonconference play with wins over Arizona State, Michigan, Michigan State, Robert Morris, a tie with Clarkson, and losses to North Dakota and Clarkson, and ASU.

SUPERIOR PLAYER OF THE GAME
• Robert Morris – Matt Jurusik (34 saves)
• Robert Morris – Alec Broetzman (hat trick)
• Alaska – Brian Halonen (scored)
• Alaska – Logan Pietila (scored)
• Bowling Green – Trenton Bliss (scored)
• Bowling Green – Tommy Parrottino (hat trick)
• North Dakota – Justin Misiak (scored)
• Minnesota State – Justin Misiak
• Minnesota State – Seamus Donohue (scored)
• Lake Superior State – Trenton Bliss (2 goals)
• Lake Superior State – Matt Jurusik (34 saves)
• Northern Michigan – Parker Saretsky (1 goal, 1 assist)
• Northern Michigan – Matt Jurusik (33 saves)
• Alaska – Trenton Bliss (scored)
• Alaska – Eric Gotz (scored)
• Alaska Anchorage – Brian Halonen (2 goals)
• Alaska Anchorage – Eric Gotz (2 assists)
• Clarkson – Greyson Reitmeier (scored to tie)
• Clarkson – Alec Broetzman (2 goals)
• Michigan State – Eric Gotz (1 goal, 2 assists)
• Michigan – Logan Pietila (3 goals)
• Arizona State – Justin Misiak (1 goal, 1 assist)
• Arizona State – Trenton Bliss (1 goal, 1 assist)
• Bowling Green – Parker Saretsky (scored)
• Bowling Green – Raymond Brice (scored)
• Bemidji State – Alec Broetzman (scored)
• Bemidji State – Alec Broetzman (scored)

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head coach Joe Shawhan is in his third season behind the bench. His 22 wins in his first season tied for the most ever by a Michigan Tech coach. Jim Nahrgang won 22 games in 1982-83.
• Shawhan was hired on May 30, 2017, after serving as an assistant coach for the Huskies over the previous three seasons.
• Shawhan won his 40th game as head coach on November 15, 2019, with a 4-2 victory at Lake Superior State.

CAPTAINS
• Senior forward Raymond Brice and Alex Smith are the captains.
• Junior defenseman Seamus Donohue and Alec Broetzman are the alternate captains.

PRESEASON ALL-WCHA
• Brian Halonen and Matt Jurusik received votes on the coaches' Preseason All-WCHA Team.
• Seamus Donohue received votes on the media's Preseason All-WCHA Team.
• Blake Pietila (goaltender), Logan Pietila (forward), and Parker Saretsky (forward) received votes for the WCHA Preseason Media Rookie of the Year.

ALL-WCHA ROOKIE TEAM
Brian Halonen was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team last season after he led the Huskies—and all WCHA rookies—with 12 goals. He also added nine assists and was third on Tech with 21 points to rank third amongst WCHA freshmen. Six of his points came on the power play with three goals and three assists. Halonen also ranked third amongst league freshmen with 87 shots on goal.

NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMP ATTENDEES
• Alex Smith – Calgary (2017)
• Cooper Watson – Dallas (2018)
• Robbie Beydoun – Detroit (2019)
• Seamus Donohue – Philadelphia (2019)
• Brian Halonen – Dallas (2019)
• Matt Jurusik – Pittsburgh (2019)
• Colin Swoyer – St. Louis (2019)

FORMER HUSKIES AT NHL CAMP
Eight former Huskies participated in NHL Preseason Training Camps
• Dane Birks (Arizona)
• Pheonix Copley (Washington)
• Tanner Kero (Dallas)
• Jujhar Khaira (Edmonton) – ACTIVE
• Joel L'Esperance (Dallas)
• Jake Lucchini (Pittsburgh)
• Mitch Reinke (St. Louis)
• Matt Roy (Los Angeles) – ACTIVE

FAMILY AFFAIR
• Tyler Rockwell – Father John played goaltender for the Huskies from 1975-79.
• Cooper Watson – Older brother Cliff was a two-time team captain in his four-year career from 2013-17.
• Blake and Logan Pietila – Twin brothers with numerous cousins who have played for the Huskies
• Brian Halonen and David Raisanen – Brian's father and David's mother are brother and sister from Calumet. Halonen's first cousins Blake, Chad, and Aaron Pietila from his mother's side also played for the Huskies.

LOOKING AHEAD
Tech travels to Alabama Huntsville (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) next weekend. The regular season wraps up against Lake Superior State (Feb. 7-8) for Winter Carnival, a trip to Ferris State (Feb. 14-15), and a home and away series with Northern Michigan (Feb. 28-29).