PREVIEW: Huskies host LSSU for CCHA series

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
• Michigan Tech hosts Lake Superior State for a CCHA series at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday.
• Tech is 5-3-1 overall and the Lakers are 1-6-0.
• The Huskies and Lakers will also meet on December 16-17 in the Soo.

VETERAN'S DAY
• In honor of Veteran's Day, all veterans and active military personnel will be recognized during Friday's Michigan Tech hockey game.
• Tickets for veterans and active military personnel are $5 off with Military ID at the Central Ticket Office. Veterans can purchase tickets online using promo code: Military05.

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.

100 WINS FOR JOE
• Joe Shawhan won his 100th career game on Friday at BGSU.
• Shawhan is in his sixth season and ranks third in wins by Michigan Tech hockey coaches.

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.

LAST WEEKEND
• Michigan Tech split its first CCHA road series of the season at Bowling Green last weekend.
• The Huskies won 3-2 Friday and fell 6-1 Saturday.
• Logan Ganie scored the game-winning goal in the third period Friday with Parker Saretsky and Ryland Mosley also scoring in the victory. Blake Pietila was two short of a career-high with 41 saves.
• Trevor Russell scored the lone Tech goal on Saturday.

TECH LEADERS
• Ryland Mosley leads the Huskies with 10 points, ranking fourth in the CCHA.
• Kyle Kukkonen's eight points are second in the CCHA amongst rookies.
• Parker Saretsky and Ryland Mosley each have four goals to lead the team.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
• LSSU is 1-6-1 overall and 0-2-0 in the CCHA. The lone victory is over Clarkson.
• The Lakers have yet to play a road game.
• LSSU was picked sixth in the Preseason CCHA Coaches' Poll only two points behind Tech.
• The Lakers went 18-18-1 overall last season and finished fourth in the conference standings with a 13-14 record.
• Senior forward Louis Boudon and junior defenseman Jacob Bengtsson were named to the 2022 Preseason All-CCHA Team. Boudon leads the team with eight points.
• Head coach Damon Whitten enters his ninth season.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 53-28-8 all-time against Lake Superior State, dating back to 1969.
• The Huskies are 33-12-2 in games played in Houghton.
• Tech is 5-4-1 against the Lakers in the last 10 games and went 3-1 against them last year with the last three being shutouts.

FIRST MEETING
• The Huskies and Lakers met on October 1 in exhibition play in Houghton with Tech winning 5-2. Logan Ganie scored twice while Chris Lipe, Ryan O'Connell, and Kyle Kukkonen also found the back of the net. Blake Pietila made 23 saves.
• Tech went 3-1 against LSSU last season, shutting out the Lakers in the last three games.

CCHA TEAM STAT RANKING
• Tech leads the CCHA in goals against per game at 2.11.
• The Huskies are second in penalty kill percentage (.875), shots on goal (30.22), and fewest penalty minutes (9:06).

HIGHLIGHT REEL GOAL
• Kash Rasmussen's third-period goal against St. Lawrence on October 28 checked in at No. 8 on ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Night.
• The power play tally was Rasmussen's first collegiate goal after he whacked it out of midair and into the back of the net.

CCHA PLAYER OF THE MONTH
• Blake Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for October.
• He earned the monthly honor for the fourth time in his career and was also named a runner-up for HCA National Goaltender of the Month.
• Pietila led CCHA goaltenders in save percentage (.944), goals-against average (1.51), and wins (4) during October.

CCHA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• October 17 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• October 31 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week

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.

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 100-80-17.
• He won his 100th career game at Bowling Green on November 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 57-49-4 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 October 7.
• Tech swept at Alaska on October 13-14.
• The Black and Gold swept St. Lawrence on October 28-29 in the only home non-conference series.
• 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.

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.

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.