PREVIEW: Hockey Travels to Michigan for Nonconference Series

THIS WEEKEND'S NOTES

THIS WEEK'S SERIES
Michigan Tech heads downstate for a nonconference series at the University of Michigan this weekend. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. both nights from Yost Ice Arena.

SERIES INFO
Tech is 96-124-5 all-time vs. Michigan, dating back to 1921. The Huskies are 42-76-3 in games played in Ann Arbor.

LAST MEETING
Michigan defeated Michigan Tech 4-2 in last year's GLI Championship at Joe Louis Arena. Jake Jackson and Brent Baltus scored for the Huskies. The two teams met three times during the 2014-15 season. Tech swept UM in Houghton on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 before falling to the Wolverines in the GLI semifinal. Tech last traveled to Ann Arbor during the 2013-14 season, falling 3-2 and 2-1 on Nov. 1-2.

FORMER ASSISTANT COACH HONORED
Former Michigan Tech assistant coach Bill Muckalt will be honored Friday as a member of Michigan's 1996 NCAA National Championship Team. Muckalt coached with Mel Pearson at Tech from 2011-15 and is the current Head Coach and General Manager of the Tri-City Storm of USHL.

OFFENSIVE BLUE LINE
Tech's five top point getters are defensemen. Shane Hanna leads with two goals and two assists. Mark Auk (1-2=3), Matt Roy (1-2=3), Dane Birks (0-3=3), and Mitch Reinke (0-3=3) all have over two points.

LAST WEEKEND
• Michigan Tech took five out of a possible six WCHA points in its home opening series against Alabama Huntsville. The Huskies won 7-3 Friday and tied 1-1, earning an extra point with a 3-on-3 overtime win.
• Eight different Huskies scored the team's eight goals on the weekend.
• The Huskies went 5-of-9 on the power play on the weekend to improve to 6-for-34 (17.5 percent), ranking them 17th in the country. The penalty kill was 10-for-11 in the series.
• John Scott and his family spent the day at Michigan Tech on Friday. John spoke at a sold out Blue Line Club luncheon at noon and then dropped the puck in a pregame on-ice ceremony. John donned a Michigan Tech sweater from 2002-06 before going on to play 286 career NHL games, including the 2016 NHL All-Star Game where he was a team captain and named the MVP.

PLAYER STORYLINES VS. UAH
• Senior forward Reid Sturos scored a power play goal Friday night and gave Tech a 3-on-3 overtime win with the first game winner in WCHA history on Saturday. Sturos is tied for the team lead with two goals.
•  Senior defenseman Shane Hanna had a goal and two assists over the weekend—both coming Friday night. He scored an unassisted power play goal late in the first period and added assists on Tech's sixth and seventh goals. Hanna's two goals rank him in a tie for first among WCHA defenseman and he ranks third in the country in blocked shots (14).
• Freshman defenseman Mitch Reinke tallied a pair of assists Friday. He assisted on Mark Auk's first period goal and Alex Smith's third period power play tally. Reinke leads the nation's rookie defensemen in games played (5), assists (3), and assists on the power play (2).
• All three goaltenders saw action on the weekend. Matt Wintjes picked up his second career win on Friday, while Devin Kero got his first start at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena Saturday. Both stopped 21-of-22 shots in each game. Freshman Angus Redmond played the final 12:08 of Friday's game, making five saves.

HUSKY BITES
• Shane Hanna's 124 games played rank him tied for second in Division I. Ferris State's Ryan Lowney leads with 126. Hanna, a senior defenseman, has played every game of his career.
• Tech's 8-player senior class is tied for the third largest in the country. Sacred Heart and Vermont both have 10 seniors.
• Six Huskies are from below the Mackinac Bridge. Reid Sturos, Joel L'Esperance, and Todd Kiilunen hail from just north of Ann Arbor in Brighton. Matt Roy (Canton), Chris Leibinger (Saginaw), and Mark Auk (St. Clair Shores) also hail from the lower peninsual.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Michigan is 2-1-0 on the season and ranked No. 11 in this week's USCHO.com Top 20 Poll and No. 12 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll. The Wolverines split with Union to begin the season and defeated Ferris State, 2-1, in a one-game series in Big Rapids last weekend.
• The Wolverines finished 25-8-5 overall last year and won the Big Ten title with a 12-5-3 league record. They won the Big Ten Championship Game and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional before falling to North Dakota.
• Red Berenson, the 2016 Big Ten Coach of the Year, is in his 33rd season as the head coach of the Wolverines.

COACH PEARSON
• Mel Pearson is in his sixth season as Michigan Tech's head hockey coach in 2016-17. His record with the Huskies is 96-81-23. He was named the WCHA Coach of the Year in 2015-16 and 2011-12—his first with the Huskies.
• Pearson's 96 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 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.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Huskies round out October with a home and away series with Northern Michigan (Oct. 28-29). Michigan State and Lake Superior State are the first two opponents in November.

HALL OF FAMERS
• Former hockey players Brent Peterson and Scott White and the 1975 National Championship team will be inducted into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame on October 29.
• Brent Peterson played hockey for the Huskies from 1991-95 as a left winger. He played in 158 career games, tallying 80 goals and 64 assists.
• Scott White played 154 games from 1985-89. He also served as an assistant coach for the Huskies from 1994-99. As a player, White racked up 93 points on 20 goals and 73 assists from the blue line.
• The 1975 team finished with a 32-10-0 record and defeated the University of Minnesota 6-1 at St. Louis Arena to capture the third national title in school history. The Huskies also won the WCHA Tournament after finishing second in the WCHA regular season.

RETURNERS
The Huskies return 19 letterwinners from last year's MacNaughton Cup winning team with 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. Matt Roy, Jr., D (All-WCHA Second Team), Tyler Heinonen, Sr., F (All-WCHA Third Team), Shane Hanna, Sr., D (All-WCHA Third Team), and Jake Lucchini, So., F (WCHA All-Rookie Team) all were honored by the WCHA in postseason awards.

TOP POINT GETTERS
The top returning point getters for the Huskies from last season are Tyler Heinonen, Sr., F (15-12=27), Joel L'Esperance, Jr., F (16-10=26), Matt Roy, Jr., D (7-13=20), and Brent Baltus, Sr., F (9-10=19).

IN THE PRESEASON WCHA POLLS
Tech was selected second in both the Mankato Free Press Coaches' Poll and the Bemidji Pioneer Media Poll. Bowling Green received the nod in both polls.

PRESEASON ALL-WCHA
Matt Roy was named to the Preseason All-WCHA Team as a defenseman in both polls. The junior had a breakout season last year, finishing third among WCHA defensemen in points with 16 while posting a league-high seven goals from the blue line.

NEWCOMERS
Tech has nine incoming freshmen for the 2016-17 season. The class consists of six forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender.

NHL DRAFT PICKS
• Senior defenseman Cliff Watson was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks (168th overall).
• Junior defenseman Matt Roy was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round (194th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft
• Sophomore defenseman Dane Birks was drafted in the sixth round (164th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013 NHL Draft.
• Sophomore Jake Jackson was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

CAPTAINS
Senior defenseman Cliff Watson is this season's captain. Seniors Brent Baltus, Shane Hanna, and Michael Neville will serve as assistant captains.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The Huskies also travel to Michigan State (Nov. 4-5) in nonconference play before the GLI. Michigan, Michigan State and Western Michigan are this year's GLI field. Tech rounds out nonconference play at Notre Dame on Jan. 6-7.

ON THE RADIO
Mix 93.5 WKMJ broadcasts all Michigan Tech hockey games. Dirk Hembroff will call all the action in his 15th year behind the microphone. You can also listen to the game online at Pasty.com.

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.