PREVIEW: Huskies and Wildcats meet for the second time

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
• No. 13 Michigan Tech plays Northern Michigan in a home-and-away series.
• The Huskies host Friday's game at 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The two teams will wrap up the weekend and season series at 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Events Center.
• The Huskies are 16-7-4 overall and 9-5-4 in the CCHA. NMU is 12-12-0 overall and 8-8-0 in the CCHA.
• The teams split their first meeting with each squad winning on its home ice.
• Holiday Inn Express is the 7th Man Promotional partner for Friday. They purchased 1,000 T-shirts for fans at Friday's game.

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.

FOX-UP & TV6 COVERAGE
• Friday's game will be televised across the Upper Peninsula on FOX-UP, and Saturday's coverage will be on TV6.
• 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.

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.

HOBEY BAKER & MIKE RICHTER WATCH LIST
• Blake Pietila is a candidate for the 2023 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player.
• Pietila is also on the Watch List for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men's NCAA Division I hockey since 2014.
• Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for October, the CCHA Goaltender of the Week four times, and the Most Valuable Player of the Desert Hockey Classic.
• For his career, he has been a two-time finalist for the Mike Richter Award and a two-time Hobey Baker Award nominee.

HUSKIES RANKED
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 13 in this week's DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
• The No. 13 ranking ties the highest of this season and ties last season's top ranking.

CCHA GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
• Blake Pietila is the CCHA Goaltender of the Week for the fourth time this season. He earned the 11th weekly conference award of his career.
• Pietila leads the nation with six shutouts and also ranks fourth nationally with 15 wins, fifth in minutes played, 10th in save percentage (.925), and 13th in goals-against average (2.06).

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Northern Michigan is 12-12-0 overall and 8-8-0 in the CCHA.
• The Wildcats are 5-6 at home and 7-6 on the road.
• NMU was picked second in the Preseason CCHA Coaches' Poll after going 20-16-1 overall last season with a 12-8-1 CCHA record.
• Senior AJ Vanderbeck was a Preseason All-CCHA selection and leads the team with 27 points and 12 goals.
• Head coach Grant Potulny is in his 6th season and is 107-92-11.

HUSKIES AGAINST WILDCATS
• Logan Pietila (5G, 4A)
• Brett Thorne (1G, 7A)
• Arvid Caderoth (3G, 4A)
• Logan Ganie (5G, 1A)
• Jake Crespi (2G, 4A)
• Parker Saretsky (1G, 5A)

FIRST MEETING
• Tech earned 4-of-6 CCHA points against Northern Michigan with a split on December 2-3.
• The Huskies fell 4-3 in overtime Friday in Marquette and bounced back with a 3-1 win in Houghton.
• Kash Rasmussen scored twice Friday and Ryland Mosley scored a pair Saturday, including the game-winner. Logan Pietila and Tyrone Bronte also found the back of the net.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 79-78-14 all-time against Northern Michigan, since 1979.
• The Huskies are 41-33-8 at home and 33-44-6 on the road against the Wildcats.
• Tech went 3-1 against NMU last season, outscoring the Wildcats 18-4 in the three wins. The lone loss was a 3-2 overtime loss on November 12 in Houghton.

STAT RANKINGS
• Ryland Mosley leads the nation with three shorthanded goals and is third with four game-winning goals.
• Blake Pietila leads the nation with six shutouts, is 10th in save percentage (.925), and 13th in goals-against average (2.06).
• Tech is fifth nationally with five shorthanded goals.
• Tech is fourth nationally in penalty-killing percentage (.878).
• The Huskies are fifth in the nation in scoring defense (2.19).

LAST TIME OUT
• Tech earned 4-of-6 CCHA points at Ferris State last weekend. The Huskies won 1-0 Friday and the teams tied 3-3 Saturday.
• Blake Pietila extended his nation-leading shutout mark to six and his school record career shutout mark to 16 while winning his 50th career game Friday.
• Kyle Kukkonen scored the game-winning goal Friday and Logan Pietila had a pair of goals Saturday. Jake Crespi also scored as the Bulldogs earned the extra CCHA point in the shootout.

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head coach Joe Shawhan is in his sixth season behind the bench and holds a record of 111-84-20.
• 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.

DESERT HOCKEY CLASSIC CHAMPS
• Michigan Tech won its second Desert Hockey Classic with a 4-2 win over Arizona State in the semifinal and a 3-2 victory over No. 6 Boston University in the title game. Ryland Mosley and Logan Pietila each had a goal and two assists on the weekend. Evan Orr scored his first career goal Friday.
• Blake Pietila was named Desert Hockey Classic Most Valuable Player after going 2-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. He made 24 saves in the semifinal and 31 in the championship game.

NON-CONFERENCE
• Tech finished 7-2 in its non-conference schedule.
• The Huskies swept at Alaska and against St. Lawrence. Tech also defeated No. 11 Michigan State, Arizona State, and No. 6 Boston University.
• The losses were to Ferris State and No. 18 Western Michigan.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Tech opens the final month of the regular season at Bemidji State on February 3-4.
• Bowling Green travels to Houghton for the annual Winter Carnival series on February 10-11. The nine seniors will be honored Saturday on Senior Day.
• The regular season wraps up at Minnesota State on February 24-25.

GLI RECAP
• Michigan Tech hosted the 56th Great Lakes Invitational at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
• Tech won the GLI Third Place Game 3-2 in overtime over No. 11 Michigan State.
• Arvid Caderoth scored the game-winner on the power play in overtime. Brett Thorne tied the game with 1:13 left with a power play goal. David Jankowski also scored.
• The Huskies fell to GLI Champion No. 18 Western Michigan in the semifinal. Kash Rasmussen scored the lone goal for the Huskies.
• Brett Thorne was named to the GLI All-Tournament Team.

CCHA DEFENSEMAN OF NOVEMBER
• Brett Thorne was the CCHA Defenseman of the Month for November.
• Thorne helped Tech to a 5-1-2 month, posting league-highs in assists (6) and plus/minus (+6) over six games while ranking sixth in points per game (1.00) and seventh in blocked shots (11).
• Thorne has been an integral part of a Tech defense that ranks fifth in the nation in scoring defense (2.0) and eighth in penalty-killing percentage (.867).

CCHA GOALTENDER OF OCTOBER
• 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
• January 23 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• January 9 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• January 3 – Brett Thorne – CCHA Defenseman of the Week
• November 21 – Kyle Kukkonen – CCHA Rookie of the Week
• November 21 – Brett Thorne – CCHA Defenseman 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.

CCHA PLAY
• Michigan Tech was in the CCHA from 1981-84 and holds a 65-52-7 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

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

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.