PREVIEW: Hockey wraps up regular season against NMU

PREVIEW: Hockey wraps up regular season against NMU

MICHIGAN TECH vs. NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Date Friday-Saturday, February 28-29, 2020
Time 7:07 / 6:07 p.m. (Eastern)
Location Berry Events Center | Marquette, Michigan
  MacInnes Student Ice Arena | Houghton, Michigan
Radio Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ | Dirk Hembroff
Online Audio Mix 93 WKMJ | Pasty.net
Television FOX-UP Friday | TV6 Saturday (Mark Evans & Dave Ellis)
Video Stream Friday | Saturday | FloHockey
Game Notes Michigan Tech | Northern Michigan | WCHA
Live Stats Friday | Saturday
Twitter  Twitter.com/mtuhky
Facebook Facebook.com/michigantechhockey/
Instagram Instagram.com/mtu_hockey/
Tech's Record  18-14-3 | 13-11-2-0 WCHA 
NMU's Record  17-13-4 | 15-10-1-1 WCHA

 

THIS WEEKEND'S SERIES
• Michigan Tech wraps up the regular season this weekend against Northern Michigan. The two teams meet in Marquette Friday and Houghton Saturday.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday at the Berry Events Center and 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Tech's five seniors— Raymond Brice, Keegan Ford, Matt Jurusik, Todd Kiilunen, Alex Smith—will be honored on the ice after Saturday's game.
• Tech is 18-14-3 overall and 13-11-2-0 in the WCHA. The Huskies are currently sixth in the standings only two points behind Bowling Green and Alaska and six points behind NMU.
• The Huskies swept the Wildcats in the first meeting with a pair of 3-2 wins on November 22-23.

FOX-UP & TV6 COVERAGE
• FOX-UP will air Friday's game and Saturday will be televised on TV6.
• Mark Evans and Dave Ellis will call all the action.
• TV6 and FOX-UP began broadcasting the Tech versus NMU rivalry during the 2013-14 season

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.

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.

SENIOR NOTES
Alex Smith played his 150th game for the Huskies on Friday at Ferris State. He has played 36 more games than his next closest teammate.
• Tech is unbeaten when captains Raymond Brice and Alex Smith score a goal with a 9-0-2 record.

20 POINT SCORERS
Four Huskies have hit the 20-point mark for the season. Sophomore forward Alec Broetzman (14-9=23), Trenton Bliss (9-14=23), and Brian Halonen (12-8=20) lead the team. Senior forward Alex Smith also has 20 points on five goals and 15 assists.

FIRST MEETING
• The Huskies swept Northern Michigan in the first meeting, winning 3-2 both nights on November 22-23.
• Tech scored twice in the third period for a comeback win on Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Tech jumped out to a 3-0 lead Saturday in Marquette and held on for the 3-2 win.
Parker Saretsky, Colin Swoyer, and Brian Halonen scored Friday. Raymond Brice, Alec Broetzman, and Eric Gotz scored Saturday.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 66-75-14 all-time against NMU, dating back to 1979.
• Tech is 25-43-6 in games played in Marquette and 36-31-8 against the Wildcats at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Alex Smith (15 games) and Greyson Reitmeier (11games) both have recorded six points in their careers against the Wildcats. Smith has six assists and Reitmeier has three goals and three assists.
Seamus Donohue has five points in 11 games and Brian Halonen has four points in six games.

STATISTICAL RANKING
• Michigan Tech is second in the country with 35 games played.
• Alex Smith is third in the nation with 417 faceoff wins.
• Trenton Bliss is sixth for the nation's lead with four game-winning goals.
• Alex Smith is seventh in the country in career games played with 151.
• Matt Jurusik is ninth in the country in career saves with 2,565.
• Matt Jurusik is ninth in goals-against average (2.02) and 15th in save percentage (.924).
• Alec Broetzman is 10th in the nation with 118 shots on goal this season.
• Tech is the 10th fewest penalized team in the country.
• Tech is 11th in the nation in scoring defense (2.23).
• Tech is 14th in the country with its 18 wins.
• Tech is ranked 16th in the country with 425 blocked shots.
• Trenton Bliss and Alec Broetzman rank 23rd in the nation in power-play goals with six.

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.
• 155 of Tech's 226 points (69 percent) have come from the sophomores and freshmen.
• 77percent (66 of 86 goals) of the goals are from the underclassmen.
• Tech is 8-0 when scoring four or more goals.

LAST TIME OUT
• Michigan Tech swept Ferris State on February 14-15 in its last series with a 3-2 win Friday and 2-0 shutout Saturday. Keegan Ford, Raymond Brice, and Tommy Parrottino scored Friday, and Colin Swoyer scored both goals Saturday. Matt Jurusik stopped 31 shots Friday and a season-high 36 Saturday in his second shutout of the season.
Matt Jurusik stopped 16 saves in the first, six in the second, and 14 in the third in Saturday's 2-0 shutout. He improved his record to 16-9-3 and now ranks third in the WCHA in wins, goals against average, and save percentage.

NHL TRADES
• Jake Lucchini was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Montreal Canadiens on February 20. Joseph Blandisi was also traded in the exchange for Riley Barber and Phil Varone. Both Lucchini reported to the AHL's Laval Rocket.
• Angus Redmond was traded from Anaheim to Edmonton on February 24. Redmond and a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2022 were swapped for defenseman Joel Persson at the NHL trade deadline. Redmond will stay with the ECHL's Newfoundland Grizzlies after the trade.

100 GAMES
Matt Jurusik played his 100th collegiate game on February 1 at Alabama Huntsville. He appeared in 50 games for Wisconsin from 2015-17 before coming to Michigan Tech.
Seamus Donohue, Greyson Reitmeier, and Justin Misiak also hit the milestone earlier in the season.

HOBEY BAKER CANDIDATES
Trenton Bliss and Matt Jurusik are candidates for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player.

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.

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)
• Ferris State – Raymond Brice (scored)
• Ferris State – Tommy Parrottino (scored)
• Alabama Huntsville – Raymond Brice (scored)
• Alabama Huntsville – Tommy Parrottino (scored)
• Lake Superior State – Trenton Bliss (2 assists)
• Lake Superior State – Brian Halonen (2 goals, 1 assist)
• Ferris State – Tommy Parrottiono (scored game-winner)
• Ferris State – Colin Swoyer (scored twice)

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.
• Joe Shawhan won his 50th game as head coach of the Huskies on January 24, 2020 with a 2-1 victory over Ferris 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.