PREVIEW: No. 16 Huskies Hit the Road to Face Ferris State

• Michigan Tech officially opens its 95th hockey season with a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association games this weekend (Oct. 16-17) in Big Rapids, Mich., against in-state rival Ferris State.

• The Huskies and Bulldogs played three times last season, with the Tech winning each of those contests. The Black and Gold swept the then No. 8-ranked Bulldogs on Oct. 24-25 in Big Rapids (1-0, 2-1) before beating Ferris, 4-2, in the third-place game at the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 29 in Detroit.

• Michigan Tech has won four of its last five games against Ferris State and is currently riding a three-game winning streak in the series. Overall, the Huskies boast a 12-8-1 all- time record against the Bulldogs, which includes a 6-2-1 record in Houghton.

• Tech owns the longest winning streak in series history (5-0-0), which lasted from Dec. 18, 1982-Nov. 19, 1983.

• The in-state rivals played just twice between the 1983-84 and 2013-14 seasons, as Tech was a member of the WCHA while the Bulldogs played in the CCHA.

• The two programs will conclude the four-game regular-season series Halloween weekend (Oct. 30-31) in Houghton. Ferris State isn't participating in the 2015 Great Lakes Invitational, so the next possible matchup after Oct. 31 would be in the WCHA playoffs. 

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan Tech senior goaltender Jamie Phillips went 3-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .971 SV% against Ferris State last season. Phillips, a seventh-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2012, was named a finalist for the 2015 Mike Richter Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

• Six Huskies have notched multiple points against the Bulldogs during their college careers, with junior forward Reid Sturos (2-1-3) and junior defenseman Shane Hanna (0-3- 3) leading the team with three points each.

• Eleven skaters have earned at least one point in their careers against Ferris State and 18 players have game experience vs. the Bulldogs.

• This weekend marks the fourth year in a row that the Huskies open the regular season on the road and fifth time in the last 10 years overall.

• The Huskies have fared well in their first conference outings of the season lately, winning four of their last five WCHA openers. Michigan Tech's victories have come against Lake Superior State (5-3, 2014-15), Minnesota (5-3, 2012-13), Wisconsin (2-1, 2011-12) and Minnesota State (5-2, 2010-11).

• The Huskies have won six consecutive games in October dating back to 2013-14. Michigan Tech went 5-0-0 in the month last season en route to a 10-0-0 start to the 2014- 15 campaign.

• Tech is 11-2-1 in its last 14 games against teams from Michigan, including five series sweeps and seven wins away from Houghton. The Huskies compiled a 9-2-1 mark against in-state foes last season.

• Michigan Tech went 11-1-2 in conference road games during the 2014-15 campaign. The Huskies won 10 of their first 11 WCHA outings away from Houghton last winter and had the most overall road victories (12) in the nation.

• Tech head coach Mel Pearson owns a 4-3-0 record against Ferris State during his four years in the Copper Country. All seven games have been played during the last two seasons after Michigan Tech was joined in the WCHA by Ferris State, who transitioned to the league after a lengthy stay in the CCHA. 

CAPTAINS

Michigan Tech named its captains for the 2015-16 season during the spring, with senior forward Alex Petan and junior blue-liner Cliff Watson serving as co-captains. Junior defenseman Shane Hanna and junior forward Michael Neville will fill the alternate captaincy roles. Petan and Watson served as alternate captains last winter.

HUSKIES PICKED TO FINISH SECOND, THIRD IN WCHA PRESEASON POLLS

Michigan Tech was picked to finish second in the 10-team WCHA by league media and third by the coaches in the conference. The Huskies, who were within one point of winning the MacNaughton Cup in 2014-15, picked up nine first-place votes in the Bemidji Pioneer Media Poll and claimed on first-place vote in the Mankato Free Press Coaches Poll.

PETAN, HANNA, PHILLIPS HONORED

Three Huskies - F Alex Petan, D Shane Hanna and G Jamie Phillips - were unanimous picks to the All-WCHA preseason team, which was released with the preseason polls last month. Phillips was a member of the All-WCHA First Team in 2014-15, while Petan, already part of the Century Club at Tech, is coming off an All-WCHA Second Team selection and Hanna, who led the WCHA with a plus-24 rating last year, earned a spot on the All-WCHA Third Team for his efforts.

PETAN NAMED COLLEGE HOCKEY NEWS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN

F Alex Petan was one of just 12 players nationally to be named to the College Hockey News preseason All-America teams. The 5-foot-9 forward from Delta, B.C., has scored double-digit goals in each of his first three seasons in Houghton.

PHILLIPS PART OF MIKE RICHTER AWARD WATCH LIST

Senior G Jamie Phillips was honored as one of 20 goaltenders on the Mike Richter Award watch list for 2015-16 by Let's Play Hockey magazine. Phillips was a finalist for the award last year after posting 28 wins, a 1.754 goals against average and .933 save percentage. The Ontario native also set the Tech single-season shutout record with six. 

RETURNING FIREPOWER

Tech returns a good portion of its goal and point production off the 2014-15 team that ranked fifth in the nation in goals-per-game (3.51) and sixth among all NCAA teams in points-per-game (9.49). The Huskies' lineup gets back the fifth-most goals (99) and third- most points (266) in all of college hockey.

STRONG BLUE LINE

Seven blue-liners with game experience and all three goaltenders from last season return to Michigan Tech this year. That group helped the Huskies finish with a national-best plus- 70 goal margin and the second-lowest goals-against average (1.80) in the NCAA last winter.

PEARSON ENTERS FIFTH YEAR

Head coach Mel Pearson begins his fifth season behind the Tech bench this weekend. Pearson has won 72 times in his four years in Houghton, including 12 victories against top-10 teams. Pearson-led teams have also compiled a 2-1-1 record against No. 1 ranked teams. Already the second-most winningest coach in Tech hockey history, Pearson has orchestrated an incredible turnaround of the hockey program at Michigan Tech.

NHL DRAFT PICKS

Five players on the Michigan Tech roster have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Tech's five drafted players is the most of any program in the WCHA.

The list of players drafted includes:

• Senior goaltender Jamie Phillips is a pick of the Winnipeg Jets, who took him in the seventh round (190th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft.

• Junior blue-liner Cliff Watson was selected in the sixth round (168th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks.

• Sophomore defenseman Dane Birks was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the sixth round (164th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.

• Sophomore defender Matt Roy went to the Los Angeles Kings during the seventh round (194th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.

• Freshman forward Jake Jackson was taken by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.

BREWSTER TO WORK WITH WORLD JUNIOR TEAM

Michigan Tech athletic trainer Brian Brewster will represent the United States at the 2016 World Junior Championship Dec. 26-Jan 5 in Finland. Brewster is one of several ties between Michigan Tech and USA Hockey. Brewster has previously represented the U.S. at numerous international events, including serving on the staff of the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team and several stints with the U.S. National Inline Team during the International Ice Hockey Federation World Inline Championships.

LAST TIME OUT

Michigan Tech cruised to a pair of exhibition victories last weekend (Oct. 9-10) over Laurentian at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Freshman forward Brett Boeing and junior winger Brent Baltus both scored twice in the opener to propel the Huskies to a 5-1 win. Five different players - Mike Neville, Jake Jackson, Alex Petan, Patrick Anderson and Alex Gillies - found the back of the net in a five-goal third period and all three Tech goalies - Jamie Phillips, Matt Wintjes and Devin Kero - combined for a 17-save shutout. The Huskies outshot Laurentian, 100-34, on the weekend and capitalized on three power-play tries. 

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES

Be sure to follow Michigan Tech hockey on social media for the latest news and coverage of the program. The Huskies are on Twitter (@mtuhky), Facebook (/MichiganTechHockey), Instagram (@mtu_hockey) and Snapchat (mtuhuskies). Join the conversation using hashtags #mtuhky and #FollowTheHuskies.

ON DECK

The Black and Gold stay in Michigan to play UP rival Northern Michigan in a home-and- home series next weekend. Friday's game is in Marquette before the teams travel to Houghton for the series finale. Both contests are scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on TV6 as part of the Michigan Tech-Northern Michigan rivalry series.

MEL PEARSON SHOW

Back for another season is the Mel Pearson Show featuring Coach Pearson and Dirk Hembroff discussing all things Michigan Tech hockey. The show airs live on Mix 93 FM every Monday at 10 a.m. and can be heard anytime on MichiganTechHuskies.com.

WCHA.TV

Followers of the WCHA can watch every league game live online thanks to WCHA. tv. Several subscription options are available, including league-wide and single-team packages. Additional details can be found on the WCHA website or by logging on directly to WCHA.tv.