PREVIEW: Tech hosts Ferris State to begin CCHA Playoffs

LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN
• No. 15 Michigan Tech hosts Ferris State this weekend for a best-of-three CCHA Mason Cup Quarterfinal series.
• The Huskies are the No. 2 seed and the Bulldogs are No. 7.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday, 6:07 p.m. Saturday, and if necessary, 5:07 p.m. Sunday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Tech is 19-11-3 overall and went 3-0-1 against Ferris State in the regular season.

OTHER MATCHUPS
• No. 8 St. Thomas at No. 1 Minnesota State.
• No. 6 Bowling Green at No. 3 Bemidji State.
• No. 5 Northern Michigan at No. 4 Lake Superior State.
• The top two remaining teams will then host a single game semifinal on March 12.
• The CCHA Mason Cup Championship is scheduled for March 19.

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 20th year behind the microphone.

FLOHOCKEY.TV
• All Michigan Tech home and CCHA games during the 2021-22 season will be live-streamed on FloHockey.tv.
• Fans can purchase either annual ($150) or monthly ($30) subscriptions and will have access to all CCHA games along with the full Atlantic Hockey schedule.
• Download the FloSports app today on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and the App Store.

HUSKIES RANKED
• Tech is ranked No. 15 in this week's DCU/USCHO.com Top 20 poll dropping one spot from the last three weeks.
• The Huskies are also No. 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
• The last time Tech was ranked as high as No. 14 was March 2016.
• Tech has received votes in all 21 USCHO and USA/Today USA Hockey Magazine polls this season.
• Tech was in the top 20 four times last season with the highest ranking of 18 on February 15 and January 25.

CCHA FORWARD OF THE MONTH
• Brian Halonen is the CCHA Forward of February after he led the Huskies with six goals during the month.
• He added eight assists for 14 points and tallied 45 shots on goal with a +9 rating.
• Halonen is second in the nation with 44 points and fourth with 21 goals this season.
• In CCHA games, he led the conference in points and goals and ranked fifth in assists and plus/minus.

100 POINTS
• Brian Halonen and Trenton Bliss became the 68th and 69th players in Tech history to hit the 100-point mark for their careers on February 11.
• Halonen and Bliss became the sixth set of active teammates in NCAA Division I men's hockey to have hit that plateau.
• The last Tech player to hit the century mark was Jake Lucchini (2015-19).
• Tanner Kero and Blake  Pietila also both hit the 100 point mark on the same night on January 31, 2015.

MIKE RICHTER SEMIFINALIST
• Blake Pietila has been named a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award.
• The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced the 11 semifinalists from the 35 that were nominated.
• Pietila is one of three semifinalists for the second straight year.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Pietila is 19-11-3 overall with a 1.86 goals-against average, and a .920 save percentage.
• He broke the Michigan Tech single-season shutout record with seven and ranks fourth in the nation in shutouts, sixth in goals-against average, seventh in wins, and 19th in save percentage.
• Tech ranks third in the nation in power-play percentage (27). The Huskies are also ranked fourth in scoring defense (1.91) and penalty kill percentage (89).
• Coach Joe Shawhan won his 90th game at UST Saturday. He ranks third in wins by a Tech hockey coach.
• The four games in January were the fewest by a Michigan Tech team since 1943 and tied Western Michigan for the fewest amongst college hockey teams in January 2022.
• Tech leads the nation with six losses in overtime.
• The Huskies are tied for second in the nation in regulation losses with five. Quinnipiac has two losses in regulation and Minnesota State also has five.
• Tech leads the CCHA in the fewest penalty minutes, power play, and shots on goal.
• Brian Halonen ranks second in the nation with 44 points. His 21 goals rank fourth nationally.
• Trenton Bliss ranks eighth in the nation in assists (25).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• FSU is 11-22-1 overall and went 9-16-1 in the CCHA. The Bulldogs are 5-8-1 in 2022 and are unbeaten in two of their last three. They split at Northern Michigan to wrap up the regular season.
• Ferris was picked seventh in the CCHA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Justin Michaelian leads the team with 22 points and Marshall Moise is the goal leader with 10.
• Goaltender Logan Stein is 7-15-0 with a 3.64 goals-against average and .881 save percentage.
• Head coach Bob Daniels is in his 29th season.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 28-16-2 all-time against Ferris State, dating back to 1982.
• The Huskies are 14-6-1 against the Bulldogs in Houghton.
• Tech is unbeaten in the last 10 meetings.
• The Huskies are 1-1-1 against the Bulldogs in the playoffs.

SCORING AGAINST FSU
1. Trenton Bliss 6-8=14
2. Brian Halonen 4-9=13
3. Tristan Ashbrook 6-3=9
   Colin Swoyer 4-5=9
   Logan Pietila 2-7=9
6. Tommy Parrottino 5-2=7
   Justin Misiak 4-3=7
   Alec Broetzman 4-3=7
9. Arvid Caderoth 1-5=6

FIRST MEETING
• The Huskies earned their first CCHA sweep of the season with a 6-3 Friday win and a 6-1 Saturday win over Ferris State at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Tristan Ashbrook had four goals in the series. Trenton Bliss had two goals Friday and Brian Halonen had a goal each night. Colin Swoyer, Thorne, and Arvid Caderoth also found the back of the net.

SECOND MEETING
• Huskies took 4-of-6 CCHA points at Ferris State in their final road trip of the regular season.
• Tech won 3-2 in overtime Friday and tied 5-5 Saturday with a shootout win after overtime.
• Trenton Bliss had two goals Saturday, Michael Karow scored the game-winner Friday while Tristan Ashbrook, Alec Broetzman, Brian Halonen, Ryland Mosley, and Logan Pietila also scored.

LAST WEEKEND
• The Huskies wrapped up the regular season with a pair of 2-1 losses to No. 1 Minnesota State at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Friday's game was in overtime. Tommy Parrottino and Brian Halonen scored the goals for the Huskies.

GAMES PLAYED RECORD
• Justin Misiak broke Richard Novak's record for games played in a Michigan Tech uniform last weekend. Misiak has appeared in 176 career games.
• The fifth-year senior forward has 62 career points with 25 goals and 37 assists.
• Misiak has a career-high with 17 points on five goals and 12 assists this season.
• Novak tallied 77 points as a forward with 35 goals and 42 assists. He had an injury-shortened season in 1986-87 which allowed him an extra year of eligibility.

HUSKIES FOR HOBEY
• Trenton Bliss is a Hobey Baker candidate for the third year in a row.
• Brian Halonen is on the ballot for the first time.
• Pietila is a Hobey Baker candidate for the second straight season.

50 YEARS AT THE MAC
• Michigan Tech is celebrating 50 years of hockey at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The first game at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena was played on January 14, 1972.
• Tech defeated Minnesota Duluth 6-5.

MICHIGAN TECH HOCKEY BOOK
• University Images has a new book on sale, "Michigan Tech Hockey, 100 Years of Memories."
• You can purchase the book for $29.95 in the store or online at MichiganTechHuskies.com/HockeyBook.
• Proceeds from the book will benefit the Michigan Tech Hockey program.

CCHA PLAY
• Michigan Tech was in the CCHA from 1981-84 and holds a 56-47-3 all-time CCHA regular-season record.
• The Huskies are 1-5-2 in the CCHA Playoffs with the only win over Ferris State.
• Tech outscored FSU 10-7 in a CCHA playoff series on March 5-6, 1982 to advance to the next round.

CCHA GOALIE OF MONTH
• Blake Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for January.
• He backstopped the Huskies to a 4-0 record in January with a 1.0 goals-against average and .952 save percentage.
• He earned back-to-back shutouts at Lake Superior State (Jan. 14-15), not allowing a Lakers goal for the third straight game. Pietila also stopped 48 shots in a CCHA sweep of Bemidji State on January 28-29.

CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week on February 14.
• Tommy Parrottino – CCHA Forward of the Week on February 7.
• Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week on January 17.
• Tristan Ashbrook – CCHA Forward of the Week on November 29.
• Alec Broetzman – CCHA Forward of the Week on October 11.
• Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week on October 11.

CAPTAINS
• Senior forwards Trenton Bliss and Alec Broetzman are the captains of the Huskies. Broetzman wore the C as a junior and Bliss had an A.
• Senior defensemen Eric Gotz and Colin Swoyer are alternate captains for the second straight season.

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head coach Joe Shawhan is in his fifth season behind the bench. He won his 90th career game at St. Thomas on February 5, 2022 and ranks third in wins by a Tech hockey coach.
• Shawhan's 22 wins in his first season tied for the most ever by a first-year Michigan Tech coach. Jim Nahrgang won 22 games in 1982-83.
• Shawhan was named the 22nd head coach of the Huskies on May 30, 2017, after serving as an assistant coach for Tech over the previous three seasons.

ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
• Colin Swoyer – WCHA Second Team (2020-21)
• Trenton Bliss – WCHA Third Team (2020-21)
• Arvid Caderoth – All-WCHA Rookie Team (2020-21)
• Brian Halonen – All-WCHA Rookie Team (2018-19)

NONCONFERENCE
• Tech went 3-3-1 in the non-conference schedule with only one regulation loss.
• The Huskies swept No. 13 Wisconsin on October 8-9 to begin the season.
• Tech fell 2-1 in overtime to No. 17 Notre Dame on October 15 in the home-opener.
• The Huskies split at Clarkson on October 29-30.
• Tech tied No. 3 Michigan and fell to Michigan State in overtime in the GLI Showcase.

TRANSFERS
• Michael Karow came to Tech after four seasons and 131 games at Boston College. He played against the Huskies in the Ice Vegas Invitational when Tech won 4-3. Karow played youth hockey with Trenton Bliss.
• Tyrone Bronte was an All-WCHA Rookie Team pick at Alabama Huntsville last season. He had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 22 games. The Melbourne, Australia native played with Chris Lipe in Dubuque for a couple of games.

PRESEASON ALL-CCHA
• Colin Swoyer was named to the Preseason All-CCHA Team, while Trenton Bliss also received votes for the squad.
• Swoyer was named to the All-WCHA Second Team as a junior and was also on the WCHA All-Academic Team, the WCHA Defenseman of the Month for February, and was a four-time WCHA Defenseman of the Week.
• Swoyer was second in the WCHA amongst defensemen with 17 points, scoring three goals and tallying 13 assists. He led Tech skaters with a plus-9 rating and led WCHA blueliners with 71 shots on goal.

IN THE PRESEASON CCHA POLL
• Tech was selected third in CCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll behind Minnesota State and Bemidji State.
• Tech finished the 2020-21 season with a 17-12-1 overall record. The Huskies were 7-7 in the WCHA and placed fifth in the final standings.

RETURNERS
Tech returns 24 players from last season with 14 forwards, 7 defensemen, and all three goaltenders.

FRESHMEN
Tech has five freshmen on the roster. The class consists of forwards Levi Stauber, Alex Nordstrom, Marcus Pedersen and defensemen Grant Docter, and Trevor Russell.

100 YEARS AGO
The Michigan College of Mines played its first collegiate hockey game on January 27, 1921. MCM beat the University of Michigan 3-0 in the first game of the series at the Amphidrome and then lost 4-3 the next night at the Calumet Colosseum.

HOCKEY REUNION
• Michigan Tech will host a 100-year hockey reunion on August 4-6, 2022 in Houghton.
• Very few collegiate hockey programs can celebrate important milestones in their history and Michigan Tech Hockey joined the elite ranks as 100-year-old legends.

JOE SHAWHAN HOUR
• The Joe Shawhan Hour can be heard every Monday morning at 10 a.m. on Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ.
• Host Dirk Hembroff and Coach Shawhan talk about the previous weekend and the upcoming matchup.
• Fans can listen live to the Joe Shawhan Hour on the radio at Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ, online at TheMix93.com or Pasty.com, or by using your favorite radio streaming app. The show will also be posted for on-demand listeners at MichiganTechHuskies.com.

2020-21 RECAP
• Tech finished with a 17-12-1 overall record and had a winning season for the first time since 2017-18.
• The Huskies were 6-7-1 in the WCHA and finished fifth in the standings.
• Blake Pietila broke the school records for best save percentage (.934) and goals-against average (1.81) for a season.
• Brian Halonen ranked sixth in the nation with four game-winning goals.
• Arvid Caderoth ranked third amongst all college hockey freshmen with 16 assists.