PREVIEW: Huskies head to Bemidji for first CCHA road series

THIS WEEKEND'S SERIES
• Michigan Tech travels to No. 20 Bemidji State this weekend for its first CCHA road series of the season.
• The puck drops at 8:07 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday at the Sanford Center.
• The Huskies and Beavers will meet in Houghton on January 28-29.

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.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 16-18-7 all-time against Bemidji State, dating back to 2007.
• The Huskies are 8-13-1 in games played in Bemidji.
• The Beavers won five of the six meetings last season, including a sweep of the Huskies in the WCHA Playoffs.
• Tech shutout BSU 3-0 on December 13, 200 at the Sanford Center for the lone win over the Beavers.

CCHA PLAY
• Michigan Tech was in the CCHA from 1981-84 and holds a 42-41-1 CCHA record.
• The last CCHA game Tech played before this season was on February 25, 1984, against Lake Superior State.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• BSU is 6-4 overall and 5-1 in the CCHA. The Beavers have swept Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State and split with Bowling Green.
• The Beavers were picked second in the CCHA Preseason Coaches Poll only four points behind Minnesota State.
• Tom Serratore is in his 20th season as head coach of the Beavers.
• Owen Sillinger leads the team with 12 points while Tyler Kirkup has six goals.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Blake Pietila holds a 1.66 goals-against average and .931 save percentage through nine games. He leads the CCHA in both categories and is ninth nationally in GAA and 14th in save percentage.
• Tech is third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 1.67 goals per game.
• Tech's power play is third in the nation at 93.5 percent.
• The Huskies are 11th in power play percentage (25 percent) and scoring margin (1.22).

LAST WEEKEND
• The Huskies split a CCHA series with Northern Michigan.
• The Wildcats won 3-2 in overtime Friday in Houghton with the Huskies winning 5-2 Saturday for the eighth straight win by Tech in Marquette.
• Trenton Bliss scored both nights while Logan Pietila had two goals Saturday. Ryland Mosley, Arvid Caderoth, and Brian Halonen also scored on the weekend.

CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• 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 75th career game at Wisconsin on October 8, 2021.
• 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)

NHL TRAINING CAMP
• Seven former Huskies were at NHL Training Camps.
• Pheonix Copley – Washington Capitals
• Tanner Kero – Dallas Stars
• Jujhar Khaira – Chicago Blackhawks
• Joel L'Esperance – Dallas Stars
• Jake Lucchini – Montreal Canadiens
• Mitch Reinke – Pittsburgh Penguins
• Matt Roy – LA Kings

NONCONFERENCE
• Tech plays seven nonconference games this season.
• The Huskies swept Wisconsin on October 8-9 to begin the season.
• Tech fell 2-1 in overtime to Notre Dame on October 15 in the home-opener.
• The Huskies split at Clarkson on October 29-30.
• The GLI will be a showcase with the Huskies playing at Michigan on December 29 and Michigan State on December 30.

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.
• Matthew Quercia played three seasons and 81 games at Boston University. He comes to Tech with 18 collegiate points (nine goals, nine assists). Quercia and Colin Swoyer were teammates in the USHL at Sioux Falls.
• 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 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.