PREVIEW: Huskies Play Wildcats To Wrap Up Regular Season

THIS WEEKEND'S NOTES

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
• No. 4 Michigan Tech wraps up the regular season with a WCHA series against Northern Michigan this weekend (March 6-7). The Huskies and Wildcats meet at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Friday and the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Saturday. Both games start at 7:07 p.m.
• Tech's six seniors will be honored on the ice after Friday's game. Jimmy Davis, Blake Hietala, David Johnstone, Tanner Kero, Blake Pietila and Riley Sweeney will be recognized.

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.

TV BROADCAST - FOX UP
This weekend's series will be televised live on Fox UP. Mark Evans (play-by-play), Dave Ellis (color) and Rebecca Himmelstein (sideline) will call all the action.

THIS WEEK'S RANKING
Tech is ranked No. 4 in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. It is the 16th week the Huskies have been in the polls. They have been in the top 11 all 16 weeks and were ranked No. 1 on Nov. 17.

HOME PLAYOFFS
Tech locked up home ice with its Feb. 7 win over Bemidji State. The WCHA home playoff series will be on March 13-15. It will be a best-of-three series against a to-be-determined opponent. Tech last hosted a WCHA home playoff series during the 1992-93 season.

MACNAUGHTON CUP & PLAYOFF PICTURE
Scenarios for Michigan Tech are:
• Win the cup and No. 1 seed with two wins and two Minnesota State losses
• Share the cup and No. 2 seed with two wins and one Minnesota State point
• No. 2 seed with three points or less

WHERE TECH RANKS IN THE NATION
• Tanner Kero is fourth in shorthanded goals (2), fourth in game-winning goals (6), seventh with a +21, and 10th in points (41)
• Jamie Phillips is second in wins (23), fifth in save percentage (93.4), and sixth in goals against average (1.80)
• Petan is third in game-winning goals (7), sixth in points on the power play (18), and 17th in points (38)
• Shane Hanna is third with a +26 rating
• Matt Roy ranks fourth in the nation with 73 blocked shots and 12th with a +20
• Cliff Watson is fifth with 74 blocked shots
• Tech is tied for the most wins (24) and is second in winning percentage (73.5)
• Tech is second in goals scored (123) and is third in goals per game (3.62)
• Tech is second in scoring defense (1.82)
• Tech leads in scoring margin (1.79)

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 67-66-17. 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 67 wins rank him third all-time at Tech. John MacInnes (555-295-39) and Jamie Russell (70-197-37) are the top two. Pearson's last win moved him past Herb Boxer (66-129-8).
• 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.

JOINING THE CENTURY CLUB
• Alex Petan became the 63rd player in Tech history to reach the 100-point mark for his career with a goal and two assists at Alaska Anchorage. His third-period goal on Feb. 14 put him in the Century Club.
• Co-captains Tanner Kero and Blake Pietila each had five points in Tech's series sweep of Alabama Huntsville and both players notched their 100th career point on Saturday to become the 61st and 62nd players in Tech history to join the Century Club. Kero's third period assist on Brent Baltus' goal gave him 100. Pietila's third period assist on Joel L'Esperance's goal gave him 100 points.
• David Johnstone is looking to join his teammates in the Century Club. He is four points shy with 96 points on 36 goals and 60 assists.
• 63 Huskies have reached the century all-time, including five who hit the 200-point mark. Mike Zuke is Tech's all-time leader with 310 career points.

SERIES INFORMATION
NMU leads the all-time series 68-52-14. Tech won 3-of-4 games against the Wildcats last season. In league games, Northern holds a slim 34-33-3 edge. Tech is unbeaten in five of the last seven meetings.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS
One Game
• David Johnstone – 1 goal
• Chris Leibinger – 1 goal
• Tanner Kero – 1 assist
• Michael Neville – 1 assist
• Matt Roy – 1 assist
• Cliff Watson – 1 assist

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Northern Michigan is 14-14-6 overall and 11-11-4 in the WCHA. The Wildcats sit one point behind Bemidji State for the final home playoff spot. They have won three of their last four games.
• Walt Kyle is in his 13th season as head coach of Northern. He has led the Wildcats to six 20-wins seasons, the 2009-10 NCAA Tournament, and is 236-220-55 at NMU.
• Darren Nowick (7-15=22) and Gerard Hanson (5-14=19) lead NMU's offense. Mathias Dahlstrom (9-7-4 , 92.4 save percentage, 2.18goals against) and Michael Doan (4-7-2, 91.5, 2.77) have split time between the pipes.

LAST MEETING
January 9, 2015 | No. 8 Michigan Tech came back from a 3-1 deficit to take the game to overtime and earn a 3-3 tie. Tanner Kero, Tyler Heinonen and Shane Hanna scored while Jamie Phillips stopped 21 shots.
January 10, 2015 | For the second night in a row, the two teams went into overtime. NMU scored 2:47 into the extra session for the win. Heinonen, Dylan Steman, Malcolm Gould and Brent Baltus scored Tech's goals. Phillips had five saves in the first while Matt Wintjes had 16 in the second two periods.

24 GAME WINNERS
The Huskies have 24 wins for the first time since the 1980-81 season and are 24-7-1 overall and 19-4-1 in the WCHA. Tech finished 29-14-1 in 80-81. A Husky hockey team has won 20 games 17 times in the program's history.

LAST TIME OUT
• Tech extended the nation's longest unbeaten streak to nine games with a 1-1 tie against Minnesota State on Feb. 27 but fell for the first time on the road in WCHA play with a 4-2 loss Feb. 28.
• Goaltender Jamie Phillips stopped a career-high 43 shots on Friday, including 18 in the third period. He added 27 saves on Saturday. The Winnipeg Jets draft pick ranks fifth in the nation in goals against average (1.80) and sixth in save percentage (93.4).
• Reid Sturos, David Johnstone, and Chris Leibinger scored Tech's goals on the weekend. The three goals tied for the fewest amount scored on a weekend this season. It happened three other times this year.

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 2015 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on April 10 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championships in Boston.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The first round of the WCHA playoffs is March 13-15 with the Final Five on March 20-21. Tech has clinched home ice next weekend for the first time in 22 years.
• NCAA Regionals are March 27-29 and the Frozen Four is April 9 and April 11 in Boston.

OTHER NOTES
• Tech is 11-2-2 in road games this season and 10-1-2 in WCHA road games
• Tech is 12-0-0 when leading after the first period and 18-3-0 when scoring first
• Tech is 13-0-1 when Tanner Kero scores
• Nine of Kero's team-leading 17 goals have been scored in the third period
• Eight of Alex Petan's 13 goals have been scored in the second period
• Tech is 12-0-0 when Blake Pietila has an assist and 16-1-0 when he records a point
• Alex Petan (2-8=10), Shane Hanna (2-7=9), Blake Pietila (1-8=9), and David Johnstone (4-4=8) lead the Huskies in points against NMU
• The Huskies are 1-1-2 in overtime this season. They defeated Alaska on Jan. 23, tied with NMU on Jan. 9, fell to the Wildcats on Jan. 10 and tied at Minnesota State on Feb. 27
• Pietila has scored Tech's last two overtime game winners
• The Huskies are 12-5-0 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena this season
• Tech is 16-1-0 when scoring four or more goals.
• Tech has five shorthanded goals this season: Sweeney (vs. Bemidji State) Kero (Ferris State at GLI and at Wisconsin), Eick (at Bemidji State) and Hietala (at Alabama Huntsville). Tech won all five games.
• After not having any empty net goals in 2013-14, the Huskies have seven this season.

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.

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.

LATEST HOCKEY HEADLINES

• 03/04/15 - Pietila Ranked No. 45 On SB Nation's Top NHL Prospect List 
• 03/03/15 - Kero, Eick, Baltus Named WCHA Scholar-Athletes 
• 03/03/15 - MiHockeyMag: Hot in Houghton 
• 03/03/15 - VIDEO: MSU Recap: Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 03/02/15 - Huskies Ranked No. 4 This Week 
• 03/02/15 - The Mel Pearson Show 
• 02/28/15 - Huskies Fall At Minnesota State Saturday 
• 02/27/15 - Battle Of Second And Third Ranked Teams Ends In Draw 
• 02/27/15 - Phillips Nominated For Mike Richter Award 
• 02/26/15 - Blue Line Club Has Tickets Available For Suite 
• 02/25/15 - VIDEO: Minnesota State Preview: Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 02/24/15 - PREVIEW: Huskies Head To Mankato For Showdown With Mavericks 
• 02/23/15 - Huskies Suite South Available For WCHA Playoff Series 
• 02/23/15 - Phillips Ranked No. 76 in SB Nation's Top NHL Prospects 
• 02/23/15 - Tech Hops Up To No. 3 In Both Polls This Week 
• 02/21/15 - VIDEO: Top 10 Goals From The Last 18 Games 
• 02/20/15 - VIDEO: Husky Netminders Talk About Their Masks 
• 02/19/15 - Kero Named College Hockey MVP of Michigan 
• 02/17/15 - Gould Makes NCAA Top Five Plays This Week 
• 02/17/15 - VIDEO: UAA Recap: Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 02/16/15 - Hockey Huskies Up To No. 4 In the Nation 
• 02/14/15 - Tech Scores 10, Shuts Out UAA For WCHA Sweep 
• 02/13/15 - Huskies Win Seventh Straight, Defeat UAA Friday 
• 02/13/15 - Kero Named Finalist for Senior CLASS Award; Vote Now