PREVIEW: Tech Plays St. Cloud in Fargo For NCAA First Round

THIS WEEKEND'S NOTES

WEST REGIONAL
• No. 5 Michigan Tech plays No. 13 St. Cloud State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday (March 27). The puck drops at 3:30 p.m. Central/4:30 p.m. Eastern at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.
• It will be Tech's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1981 and the program's 11th all-time. The Huskies have three national championships, winning it all in 1962, 1965 and 1975. They are 13-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• The other semifinal game in the region will have No. 3 North Dakota (27-9-3) playing No. 11 Quinnipiac (23-11-4) at 7 p.m. (CT) on Friday (ESPNU).
• The West Regional Championship Game, and a trip to the Frozen Four, will be played at 8 p.m. (CT) Saturday (ESPNU). The Frozen Four is April 9 and April 11 in Boston.

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 COVERAGE
• ESPN's long-standing commitment to the NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship resumes in 2015 with coverage of every game for the 11th consecutive year, the Frozen Four for the 21st year and the Championship game for the 36th year.
• Friday's game against St. Cloud State can be found at ESPN3.com and through the Watch ESPN App.
• Saturday's West Regional Championship will be shown live on ESPNU
• Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Sean Ritchlin (color commentary) will provide commentary all weekend long.

THIS WEEK'S RANKING
Tech is ranked No. 5 in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls this week. It is the 19th week the Huskies have been in the polls. They have been in the top 11 all 19 weeks and were ranked No. 1 on Nov. 17.

WHERE TECH RANKS IN THE NATION
• Tanner Kero is third in game-winning goals (7), fifth in shorthanded goals (2), 12th in points (45) and 16h with a +22
• Jamie Phillips lead the country in games started (40), wins (28), ranks second for shutouts (tied, 6) and minutes played (2349:07), and third for save percentage (93.5), goals against average (1.71) and winning pct. (.763).
• Petan is third in game-winning goals (7), eighth in points on the power play (19), and 31st in points (39)
• Shane Hanna is sixth with a +27 rating
• Cliff Watson is sixth with 86 blocked shots
• Matt Roy ranks seventh in the nation with 85 blocked shots
• Chris Leibinger is eighth with a +25
• Tech is tied with the most wins (29) and is second in winning percentage (75.0)
• Tech leads in scoring margin (1.77)
• Tech is second in scoring defense (1.77)
• Tech is fourth in goals scored (142) and is fifth in goals per game (3.55)
• Tech's power play is seventh (21.6 percent)

KERO'S HONORS
• Tanner Kero was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He is the third Husky behind Jamie Ram (1994) and Colin Murphy (2005) to be named a finalist. Each NCAA regional features at least one Hobey Baker Award finalist (seven of the 10 total are in the tournament). The winner will be announced the day before the championship game in Boston.
• Tanner Kero was named the WCHA Player of the Year last week. He is the third Husky behind Rob Murray (1971) and Mike Zuke (1976) to receive the award.
• Kero won the WCHA Scoring Title. He had 34 points in league games on 13 goals and 21 assists to become the first Husky since Shawn Harrison during the 1988-89 season to win the award.
• Kero was also named the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year. Geoff Sarjeant (1991-92) and Eli Vlaisavljevich (2009-10) were the only other Huskies to receive the honor.

MIKE RICHTER FINALIST
Jame Phillips was named one of the five finalists for the 2015 Mike Richter Award presented by Let's Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation. Mike Richter will present the second annual award at the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four in Boston.

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 72-67-17. 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 72 wins rank him second all-time at Tech. John MacInnes (555-295-39) is the leader, while Jamie Russell (70-197-37) and Herb Boxer (66-129-8) are ranked behind Pearson.
• 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.
• Pearson played at Michigan Tech from 1977-81. A forward, Pearson put up 56 points (21-35=56) in 97 career games in a Black and Gold sweater and also earned a degree in business administration.
• Pearson has been a part of 22 NCAA Tournament Teams. He was a senior on Tech's 1981 team that finished third. As an assistant coach at Michigan, Pearson went to 21 tournaments and won the NCAA Championship in 1996 and 1998.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• St. Cloud State is 19-18-1 overall and is making its third straight NCAA tournament appearance. It is the sixth appearance since 2007 and 11th overall. The Huskies finished sixth in the NCHC standings with an 11-12-1-0 record. SCSU is ranked No. 13 in the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
• St. Cloud State's last 12 games have been against teams that each finished in the top eight in the PairWise Rankings. St. Cloud State has played 26 of its 38 games against teams that made the NCAA tournament. The Huskies have the second strongest strength of schedule behind Minnesota Duluth.
• Bob Motzko is in his 10th season as head coach with the Huskies in 2014-15. He is 203-154-41 at SCSU.
• Joey Benik (16-22=38) and Jonny Brodzinski (20-17=37) lead the offense while Charlie Lindgren is 18-17-1 between the pipes with a 2.26 goal against average and a 91.9 save percentage. Brodzinski's 11 power play goal lead the country and SCSU's power play percentage (23.7) is fifth in the country.

TOURNEY NOTES
• ANYBODY'S GAME – Six teams have held the No. 1 position in the national polls at some point this season, making this one of the most wide-open tournaments in memory. Of course, that's always true in a single-elimination tournament – the No. 1 overall seed has only won once in the last five years (Boston College, 2012).
• EXPERIENCE COUNTS – Despite the rise in early departures for the NHL in recent years, college hockey remains a game that rewards experienced teams. The tournament field is a case in point, with nine of the top 11 scorers in the field being juniors or seniors. A number of players in the field turned down opportunities to sign pro contracts last summer to pursue an NCAA championship, including Miami's Austin Czarnik, Boston College's Michael Matheson, Denver's Joey LaLeggia, Harvard's Jimmy Vesey, Minnesota's Kyle Rau and Providence's Jon Gillies, among others.
  NCAA teams with the most seniors
   7 – Boston College, Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Yale
   6 – Harvard, Miami, Michigan Tech, Minnesota, Minnesota State
• BCS BUSTERS – For 11 straight years, at least one school that plays Division II or III in sports other than hockey has reached the Frozen Four. Candidates this year include No. 1 overall seed Minnesota State, RIT, Minnesota Duluth, Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State.

ALL-WCHA SELECTIONS
• First Team: Tanner Kero & Jamie Phillips
• Second Team: Malcolm Gould & Alex Petan
• Third Team: Shane Hanna & Blake Pietila

JOINING THE CENTURY CLUB
• 64 Huskies have reached the century mark all-time, including five who hit the 200-point mark. Mike Zuke is Tech's all-time leader with 310 career points.
• Four Huskies reached the 100-point mark for their careers this year:
    - David Johnstone (March 20, 2015)
    - Alex Petan (February 14, 2015)
    - Tanner Kero (January 31, 2015)
    - Blake Pietila (January 31, 2015)

SERIES INFORMATION
Tech is 28-55-5 all-time against St. Cloud State. The series began in 1948. It will be the first matchup between the former WCHA rivals in the NCAA Tournament. Tech has won only three of the last 21 meetings.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS
Two-Game
• David Johnstone – 5 assists.
• Blake Pietila – 1 goal, 1 assist

LAST TIME OUT
• Michigan Tech made its first appearance in the WCHA Tournament Championship since 1996 on March 21. The Huskies advanced to the title game by defeating No. 9 Bowling Green the day before 5-2. No. 2 Minnesota State won the Broadmoor Trophy with a 5-2 victory over the Huskies.
• David Johnstone had five assists at the WCHA Final Five and was named to the all-tournament team. Johnstone became the fourth Husky this season to reach the 100-point plateau on Friday.
• Tyler Heinonen was also on the all-tournament team after scoring a pair of goals on Friday and adding an assist in the game. Heinonen has six multi-point games this season and has scored two goals twice.

LOOKING AHEAD
The NCAA Frozen Four is at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. semifinal games on April 9 will be broadcasted live on ESPN2 with the National Championship Game on April 11 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

OTHER NOTES
• Jamie Phillips broke the Michigan Tech record for shutouts in a season. He has six this year.
• Tanner Kero was named to the 50th GLI All-Tournament Team
• David Johnstone has two goals against SCSU while Tanner Kero, Riley Sweeney, Blake Pietila and Alex Petan also have a goal.
• Tech has won 15 more games than 2013-14 (14-19-7), matching Boston University for the biggest one-season turnarounds in the country.
• Tech started the season 10-0 for the best start in program history
• Tech is 13-2-1 over its last 16 contests
• Tech was 12-2-2 in road games this season and 11-1-2 in WCHA road games
• Tech Huskies are 2-2 in neutral site games
• Tech is 16-0-0 when leading after the first period and 22-4-0 when scoring first
• Tech is 15-0-1 when Tanner Kero scores
• Nine of Kero's team-leading 19 goals have been scored in the third period
• Nine of Alex Petan's 15 goals have been scored in the second period
• Tech is 13-0-0 when Blake Pietila has an assist and 18-2-0 when he records a point
• The Huskies are 2-1-2 in overtime this season. They defeated Alaska on Jan. 23, tied with NMU on Jan. 9, fell to the Wildcats on Jan. 10, tied at Minnesota State on Feb. 27, and defeated Alabama Huntsville on March 13.
• The Huskies finished 15-5-0 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena this season
• Tech is 18-1-0 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 eight 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.

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.

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.

HUSKIES IN THE NHL
• John Scott – San Jose Sharks
Scott has appeared in 33 games during the 2014-15 season with the Sharks. As of March 24, he has two goals, one assist and 75 penalty minutes. Scott played at Michigan Tech from 2002-06. He has played in 269 NHL games.
• Chris Connor – Washington Capitals
Connor appeared in two games this season with the Capitals on March 15-16. He played at Tech from 2002-06 and has appeared in 180 career NHL games. In 50 games with the AHL's Hershey Bears this season, he has 17 goals and 30 assists.
• Pheonix Copley – Washington Capitals
Copley served in a backup role for the Capitals on January 10. He is 13-3-3 in 21 games with the AHL's Hershey Bears this season. Copley has a 2.16 goals against average and 92.3 save percentage

HOCKEY REUNION
Michigan Tech will have a hockey reunion in Houghton on August 7-8, 2015. Featured events for the weekend include a golf outing and alumni game.

TECH'S TOURNAMENT HISTORY

1956
Broadmoor World Arena – Colorado Springs, Colorado
3/16 – Michigan Tech 10, Boston College 4 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/18 – Michigan 7, Michigan Tech 5 (NCAA Championship)

1960
Boston Arena – Boston, Massachusetts
3/17 – Michigan Tech 13, St. Lawrence 3 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/19 – Denver 5, Michigan Tech 3 (NCAA Championship)

1962
Utica Memorial Auditorium – Utica, New York
3/16 – Michigan Tech 6, St. Lawrence 1 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/17 – Michigan Tech 7, Clarkston 1 (NCAA Championship)

1965
Meehan Arena – Providence, Rhode Island
3/19 – Michigan Tech 4, Brown 0 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/20 – Michigan Tech 8, Boston College 2 (NCAA Championship)

1969
Broadmoor World Arena – Colorado Springs, Colorado
3/14 – Cornell 4, Michigan Tech 3, OT (NCAA Semifinal)
3/15 – Harvard 6, Michigan Tech 5, 2OT (NCAA Third Place Game)

1970
Original Olympic Arena – Lake Placid, New York
3/20 – Clarkson 4, Michigan Tech 3 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/21 – Wisconsin 6, Michigan Tech 5 (NCAA Third Place Game)

1974
Boston Garden – Boston, Massachusetts
3/15 – Michigan Tech 6, Harvard 5 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/16 – Minnesota 4, Michigan Tech 2 (NCAA Championship)

1975
St. Louis Arena – St. Louis, Missouri
3/13 – Michigan Tech 9, Boston University 5 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/15 – Michigan Tech 6, Minnesota 1 (NCAA Championship)

1976
Denver Arena – Denver, Colorado
3/25 – Michigan Tech 7, Brown 6, 2OT (NCAA Semifinal)
3/27 – Minnesota 6, Michigan Tech 4 (NCAA Championship)

1981
Quarterfinal: Schneider Arena – Providence, Rhode Island
3/20 – Michigan Tech 7, Providence 3
3/21 – Michigan Tech 6, Providence 5
Tech wins two-game, total goal series 13-8

Championship Site: Duluth Arena – Duluth, Minnesota
3/26 – Minnesota 7, Michigan Tech 2 (NCAA Semifinal)
3/28 – Michigan Tech 5, Northern Michigan 2 (NCAA Third Place Game)

LATEST HOCKEY HEADLINES

• 03/24/15 - VIDEO: Final Five Recap - Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 03/23/15 - The Mel Pearson Show 
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• 03/22/15 - Tech Selected to NCAA Tournament; Play St. Cloud Friday in Fargo 
• 03/22/15 - VIDEO: Michigan Tech Hockey - NCAA Selection Show 
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• 03/20/15 - Hockey Huskies Advance to WCHA Championship after 5-2 Win over BGSU! 
• 03/19/15 - Kero Named Finalist for Hobey Baker; Vote Now! 
• 03/19/15 - VIDEO: BGSU Preview: Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 03/18/15 - Phillips Named Finalist for Mike Richter Award 
• 03/17/15 - VIDEO: UAH Recap: Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 03/16/15 - Huskies Ranked No. 4 in the Nation Heading to WCHA Final Five 
• 03/16/15 - Michigan Tech Fan Information for WCHA Final Five 
• 03/14/15 - Huskies Sweep Chargers To Advance To WCHA Final Five 
• 03/13/15 - Heinonen Ends Longest Game in Tech History 
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• 03/12/15 - VIDEO: Alabama Huntsville Preview - Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 03/11/15 - PREVIEW: Tech Hosts Alabama Huntsville In WCHA First Round 
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• 03/10/15 - VIDEO: NMU Recap: Follow The Huskies In The Crease 
• 03/09/15 - Kero Is WCHA Scoring Champ 
• 03/09/15 - Heinonen Named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week 
• 03/08/15 - Huskies Host Alabama Huntsville In WCHA First Round 
• 03/08/15 - VIDEO: 2015 Hockey Senior Night 
• 03/07/15 - Huskies Sweep NMU To Wrap Up Regular Season 
• 03/06/15 - Seniors Lead Huskies To Win Over NMU Friday