PREVIEW: Huskies hosts St. Lawrence in non-conference series

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
• Michigan Tech hosts its only non-conference homes series of the season this weekend, welcoming the St. Lawrence Saints.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Tech is 2-2-1 and St. Lawrence is 3-2-0.
• The teams last played in November 2011 in New York with a weekend split.

TADYCH'S KIDS DAY
• Saturday is the annual Tadych's Kids Day at Michigan Tech. Tadych's Marketplace Foods of Houghton has purchased and gave away 500 youth tickets for Saturday's Michigan Tech football and hockey games.

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 21st year behind the microphone.

FLOHOCKEY.TV
• All Michigan Tech home and CCHA games during the 2022-23 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 USHL, Atlantic Hockey and ECHL schedule.
• Download the FloSports app today on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and the App Store.

TOP NOTCH D
• Tech's penalty kill is tops in the CCHA ranks fifth in the nation at 93.8 percent.
• Tech leads the CCHA and ranks 11th in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 2.2 goals per game.

PRESEASON ALL-CCHA
• Senior goaltender Blake Pietila was named to the Preseason All-CCHA Team.
• He was a semifinalist for Mike Richter Award and was named to the All-CCHA Second Team as a junior.
• Last season, Pietila ranked second in the CCHA in goals-against average (1.99), wins (16), shutouts (5), saves (614), and was fourth with a .911 save percentage in CCHA games last season.

LAST WEEKEND
• Tech began CCHA play last weekend with a loss and tie with Bemidji State at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The Beavers won 5-2 Friday and the teams tied 2-2 Saturday with BSU earning the extra CCHA point with a shootout win.
• Logan Ganie and Ryland Mosley scored Friday.
Kyle Kukkonen scored a pair of power-play goals in the third period Saturday to tie the game.
• Blake Pietila made 37 saves Friday and Max Vayrynen had 24 saves Saturday in his first collegiate start.

TECH LEADERS
• Through the first five games, Ryland Mosley and Nick Nardella lead the Huskies with five points.
• Kyle Kukkonen, Ryland Mosley, Logan Pietila, and Parker Saretsky each have a pair of goals.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
• St. Lawrence is 3-2 overall this season. The wins are over Merrimack and a sweep of Colorado College. The Saints have fallen to UMass Lowell and New Hampshire.
• Head coach Brent Brekke is in his fourth season.
• SLU was picked seventh in the ECAC Preseason Poll
• The Saints went 11-19-7 overall last season with a 7-10-5 record in the ECAC.
• The Saints return 62 of 72 goals and 163 of 199 points to the lineup from last season.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 7-3-2 all-time against St. Lawrence, dating back to 1960.
• SLU last came to Houghton in January 2011. The teams tied 4-4 Friday and the Saints won 6-0 Saturday.
• The last meeting was in November 2011 in Canton, New York. Tech fell 3-2 in Game 1 and won 3-1 in Game 2.

CCHA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• October 17 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week

NHL DRAFT PICKS
• Kyle Kukkonen – Picked by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2021 NHL Draft as the 162nd overall pick in the sixth round.
• Ryan O'Connell – Picked by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2017 NHL Draft as the 203rd overall pick in the seventh round.

CAPTAINS
• Senior Logan Pietila along with juniors Arvid Caderoth and Brett Thorne are the captains.
• Junior Ryland Mosley is the alternate captain.

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head coach Joe Shawhan is in his sixth season behind the bench and holds a record of 97-79-17.
• He won his 90th career game at St. Thomas on February 5, 2022, and ranks third in wins by a Tech hockey coach.
• 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.

CCHA PLAY
• Michigan Tech was in the CCHA from 1981-84 and holds a 56-48-4 all-time CCHA regular season record.
• The Huskies are 3-6-2 in the CCHA Playoffs with the three wins over Ferris State.

ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
• Blake Pietila – CCHA Second Team (2021-22)
• Arvid Caderoth – All-WCHA Rookie Team (2020-21)
• Tyrone Bronte – All-WCHA Rookie Team (2020-21) with Alabama Huntsville

NON-CONFERENCE
• Tech plays nine non-conference games this season.
• The Huskies lost at Ferris State on Oct. 7.
• Tech swept at Alaska on October 13-14 and hosts St. Lawrence on October 28-29.
• The Great Lakes Invitational is on December 27 and 28. Tech opens up against Western Michigan and will face either Michigan State or Ferris State on Day 2.
• Tech travels to the Desert Hockey Classic at Arizona State. The Huskies play the Sun Devils on Day 1 and either UConn or Boston University on Day 2.

TRANSFERS
• Ryan O'Connell played four seasons (2018-22) and 117 collegiate games at Ohio State. He tallied 25 points with two goals and 23 assists for the Buckeyes and was a member of 2019 Big Ten regular season championship and NCAA Tournament squad.
• Jack Works began his collegiate career with 15 games over the past two seasons with Denver. He tallied one assist with the Pioneers in his NCAA debut and was a member of the 2022 NCAA National Championship team. Works was named an AHCA All-America Scholar (2020-21) and was on the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team (2021-22).
• David Jankowski played four seasons (2018-22) and 110 games for St. Lawrence. He tallied 53 collegiate points with 20 goals and 33 assists and was the team captain in 2021-22. The Saints won the 2021 ECAC Tournament Championship. Jankowski was named to ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team.

PAT MIKESCH – HOF
• Pat Mikesch will be inducted into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame on November 11 as a member of the class of 2022.
• Mikesch hockey for the Huskies from 1992-96 and is seventh all-time at Tech in career scoring with 169 points and sixth in career assists (112).
• He was named to the 1992-93 WCHA All-Rookie Team and played for Team USA at the World Junior Championships that season.
• Mikesch went on to play eight years of pro hockey in AHL, IHL, ECHL, and Germany and then returned to Michigan Tech as an assistant coach from 2004-11.

IN THE PRESEASON CCHA POLL
• Tech was picked fifth in the Preseason CCHA Coaches' Poll.
• Minnesota State, Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, and Bemidji State were picked ahead of the Huskies.
• Lake Superior State, Ferris State, and St. Thomas rounded out the poll.

RETURNERS
• Tech returns 18 players from last season with 13 forwards, four defensemen, and a goaltender.
• Fourteen Huskies returners saw significant ice time last season with Logan Pietila (23), Brett Thorne (17), Tristan Ashbrook (16), Arvid Caderoth (16), Ryland Mosley (13) being the top returning point-getters.

FRESHMEN
• Tech has 10 freshmen on the roster which ranks eighth in the nation for the largest freshmen class.
• Forwards: Kyle and Trevor Kukkonen, Kash Rasmussen
• Defensemen: Oliver Bezick, Frank Dovorany, Topi Heiskanen, Evan Orr, Kasper Vaharautio
• Goaltenders: Michael Morelli, Max Vayrynen

PIETILA TIMES FOUR
• Logan and Blake Pietila are twin brothers. Logan is a forward and Blake is a goaltender.
• Cousin and next-door neighbor Jed Pietila is a defenseman.
• Other Pietilas to play for the Huskies were Phil Pietila (2002-05), Aaron Pietila (2009-13), Chad Pietila (2011-13), and Blake Pietila (2011-15).
• Jimmy Pietila is currently a student assistant for the Huskies.

NHL TRAINING CAMP
• Twelve former Michigan Tech hockey players were at NHL Training Camps.
• Trenton Bliss (Detroit)
• Pheonix Copley (Los Angeles)
• Brian Halonen (New Jersey)
• Michael Karow (Dallas)
• Tanner Kero (Dallas)
• Jujhar Khaira (Chicago)
• Joel L'Esperance (Detroit)
• Jake Lucchini (Ottawa)
• Mitch Reinke (Pittsburgh)
• Matt Roy (Los Angeles)
• Colin Swoyer (Pittsburgh)
• Cliff Watson (Chicago)

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.

2021-22 RECAP
• Tech finished with a 21-13-3 overall record and was the No. 2 seed in the CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs with a 16-8-2 mark.
• Tech received votes in every poll throughout the season and finished No. 14.
• Tech received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, making its 14th all-time NCAA appearance and the second under head coach Joe Shawhan.
• Seven Huskies signed professional contracts after the season.
• The Huskies finished third in the nation in penalty-killing percentage and were fourth in power-play percentage and scoring defense.