PREVIEW: No. 17 Tech meets No. 19 NMU

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
• No. 17 Michigan Tech plays No. 19 Northern Michigan this weekend for a CCHA series and for the fourth and fifth time this season.
• The Huskies and Wildcats will meet in Houghton Saturday at 6:07 p.m. and Marquette at 6:07 p.m. Sunday.
• Tech is 12-8-1 overall and 9-5 in the CCHA and split with NMU on November 12-13.

HEALTH & SAFETY LEVEL TWO
• Michigan Tech is currently at Health & Safety Level Two.
• Face coverings are strongly recommended in the SDC and MacInnes Student Ice Arena regardless of vaccination status.
• Tech encourages all fans to please continue frequent handwashing (especially before and after meals), hand sanitization, and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

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.

FOX-UP & TV6 COVERAGE
• TV6 will televise both games across the Upper Peninsula.
• Mark Evans and Dave Ellis will call all the action.
• TV6 and Fox-UP began broadcasting the Tech versus NMU rivalry during the 2013-14 season.

HUSKIES RANKED
• Tech is ranked No. 17 in this week's DCU/USCHO.com Top 20 poll.
• Tech has received votes in all 15 USCHO polls this season and was ranked as high as No. 16 on October 11.
• Tech was in the top 20 four times last season with the highest ranking of 18 on February 15 and January 25.
• NMU is ranked No. 19 this week after a split with No. 1 Minnesota State.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Blake Pietila is the CCHA Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season.
• Pietila backstopped Tech to a CCHA series sweep at Lake Superior State over the weekend with a pair of 3-0 shutouts, earning his fourth and fifth shutouts of the season and now has eight career shutouts.
• Pietila ranks fourth in the nation in shutouts, seventh in goals-against average (1.81), and second in the CCHA in save percentage (.921).

50 YEARS AT THE MAC
• Michigan Tech is celebrating 50 years of hockey at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The first game at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena was played on January 14, 1972.
• Tech defeated Minnesota Duluth 6-5.

GAMES PLAYED RECORD
• Justin Misiak enters the weekend tied with Richard Novak (1984-89) with 165 games played in a Michigan Tech uniform.
• The fifth-year senior forward has 59 career points with 24 goals and 35 assists.
• Misiak is one short of a career-high with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists this season.
• Novak tallied 77 points as a forward with 35 goals and 42 assists. He had an injury-shortened season in 1986-87 which allowed him an extra year of eligibility.

POINTS AT HOME
• Brian Halonen has 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) in 8 games at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. He has 10 points over the last 5 home games.
• Trenton Bliss has 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in the last 5 home games.
• Logan Pietila has a point in the last four home games.

MICHIGAN TECH HOCKEY BOOK
• University Images has a new book on sale, "Michigan Tech Hockey, 100 Years of Memories."
• You can purchase the book for $29.95 in the store or online at MichiganTechHuskies.com/HockeyBook.
• Proceeds from the book will benefit the Michigan Tech Hockey program.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 76-77-14 all-time against NMU, dating back to 1979.
• The Huskies are 39-33-8 in games played at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Tech is 32-43-6 in Marquette.
• The Huskies have won the last nine of the last 10 games and nine straight at the Berry Events Center.

FIRST MEETINGS
• Tech and NMU met in an exhibition game on October 2 at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The teams tied 4-4 and didn't play overtime. Tyrone Bronte, Logan Ganie, Arvid Caderoth, and Tristan Ashbrook scored for the Huskies.
• The Huskies and Wildcats split their first regular-season series on November 12-13 with NMU winning 3-2 in overtime Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena and Tech taking Saturday's game 5-2 at the Berry Events Center.
• Trenton Bliss and Logan Pietila had two goals in the series while Ryland Mosley, Arvid Caderoth, and Brian Halonen also found the back of the net.

LAST SEASON VS NMU
• Tech went 6-0 against NMU last season.
• Trenton Bliss had seven points against the Wildcats last season. Alec Broetzman, Arvid Caderoth, Colin Swoyer all had six points in the season series. 19 Huskies had at least one point.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• NMU is 13-9-1 overall and 7-8-1 in the CCHA. The Wildcats are fifth in the CCHA standings with 21 points and have won three of four games to begin 2022.
• Northern was picked one point behind Tech in fourth place in the CCHA Preseason Poll after going 11-17-1 last season and advancing to the WCHA Championship Game.
• Hank Crone leads the Wildcats with 33 points to rank second in the CCHA. AJ Vanderbeck leads the league with 17 goals.
• Head Coach Grant Potulny is in his fifth season as head coach.

POINTS AGAINST NMU
• Tommy Parrottino – 6 goals, 8 assists
• Alec Broetzman – 7 goals, 6 assists
• Trenton Bliss – 7 goals, 6 assists
• Brian Halonen – 3 goals, 9 assists
• Colin Swoyer – 2 goals, 10 assists

HUSKIES FOR HOBEY
• Trenton Bliss is a Hobey Baker candidate for the third year in a row. The co-captain is second on the Huskies with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists.
• Brian Halonen leads the Huskies with 26 points and 13 goals to rank fourth in the CCHA in goals and eighth in points.
• Pietila is a Hobey Baker candidate for the second straight season. He has started all 21 games and ranks second in the CCHA in goals-against average (1.81) and save percentage (.921).

BY THE NUMBERS
• Michigan Tech ranks fourth in the nation in penalty killing percentage (90.5), power-play percentage (27.4), and is fifth in scoring defense (1.86).
• Tech leads the CCHA in fewest penalty minutes.
• The Huskies are second in the CCHA in shots on goal per game.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Huskies swept Lake Superior State in the Soo with a pair of 3-0 shutouts over the weekend.
• Blake Pietila and Tech have shutout LSSU in three straight games. Brett Thorne, Brian Halonen, and Justin Misiak each had a goal and an assist on Friday. Logan Pietila, Eric Gotz, and Alec Broetzman scored power-play goals Saturday.

CCHA PLAY
• Michigan Tech was in the CCHA from 1981-84 and holds a 50-45-1 CCHA record.
• The last CCHA game Tech played before this season was on February 25, 1984, against Lake Superior State.

CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week on January 17.
• Tristan Ashbrook – CCHA Forward of the Week on November 29.
• 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 80th career game at Bemidji State on November 19, 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)

NONCONFERENCE
• Tech went 3-3-1 in the non-conference schedule.
• The Huskies swept No. 13 Wisconsin on October 8-9 to begin the season.
• Tech fell 2-1 in overtime to No. 17 Notre Dame on October 15 in the home-opener.
• The Huskies split at Clarkson on October 29-30.
• Tech tied No. 3 Michigan and fell to Michigan State in overtime in the GLI Showcase.

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 of 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.