PREVIEW: Tech hosts St. Thomas to open CCHA Playoffs

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
• No. 11 Michigan Tech hosts St. Thomas this weekend for a best-of-three CCHA Mason Cup Quarterfinal series.
• The Huskies are the No. 2 seed and the Tommies are No. 7.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday, 6:07 p.m. Saturday, and, if necessary, 5:07 p.m. Sunday.
• Tech is 22-9-4 overall and went 3-1 against the Tommies in the regular season.

OTHER MATCHUPS
• No. 8 Lake Superior State at No. 1 Minnesota State
• No. 6 Ferris State and No. 3 Bowling Green
• No. 5 Bemidji State at No. 4 Northern Michigan
• The CCHA Tournament Semifinal is March 11 at the two highest remaining seeds.
• The CCHA Mason Cup Championship Game is March 18 at the top remaining seed.

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.

HUSKIES RANKED
• Michigan Tech is ranked No. 11 in this week's DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for the second week in a row.
• The No. 11 ranking is the highest for Michigan Tech since April 13, 2015, when the Huskies checked in at No. 9 in the final poll of the 2014-15 season.

CCHA GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
• Blake Pietila is the CCHA Goaltender of the Week for the seventh time this season after he stopped 68-of-71 shots he faced in a CCHA split at No. 12 Minnesota State to wrap up the regular season.
• Pietila earned his school record and nation-leading ninth shutout of the season Friday with 35 saves while extending his school record to 19 career shutouts.

CCHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Kyle Kukkonen is the CCHA Rookie of the Week, earning a weekly award for the third time as a freshman. He scored the game-winning goal in the third period in Friday's 2-0 shutout of the Mavericks. Kukkonen tied Saturday's game with a shorthanded goal with 1:05 left.
• Kukkonnen has 16 goals this season to lead all CCHA freshmen and rank fourth overall. He has scored five power-play goals and four game-winning goals this season.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Tech's 22 wins are the most since the 2017-18 season.
• The 22 wins in the regular season are the most since 2014-15.
• Coach Joe Shawhan needs one victory to tie for second in all-time wins at Michigan Tech at 118.
• Blake Pietila needs two wins to tie Michigan Tech's all-time goaltender win record at 58.

SCOUTING THE TOMMIES
• St. Thomas is 11-21-2 overall and 10-14-2 in the CCHA. The Tommies earned at least one win over all seven other CCHA teams this season.
• UST is 4-12-1 with wins at Ferris State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, and Lake Superior State.
• UST was picked eighth in the Preseason CCHA Coaches' Poll only two points behind Ferris State after going 3-32-1 last season.
• Head coach Rico Blasi enters his second season. Blasi coached Miami for 20 years and had 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of Frozen Fours.
• NMU transfer Mack Byers leads the team with 24 points and 17 goals.

FIRST MEETINGS
• Tech swept St. Thomas in Minnesota on November 18-19. The Huskies won 6-2 Friday and 4-3 Saturday. Kyle Kukkonen had a pair of goals Friday, Ryland Mosley and Jack Works scored each night while David Jankowski, Jake Crespi, Trevor Russell, and Chris Lipe also found the back of the net. The Huskies never trailed on the weekend.
• No. 13 Tech split with St. Thomas at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena on January 13-14. The Huskies shutout the Tommies 2-0 Friday for Blake Pietila's fifth shutout of the season. UST won 3-2 Saturday. Parker Saretsky, Tristan Ashbrook, Levi Stauber, and Evan Orr scored on the weekend.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 15-5-2 overall against St. Thomas, dating back to 1922.
• The Huskies are 10-4-1 against the Tommies at home.
• This is the first playoff meeting between the two teams.

HOBEY BAKER & MIKE RICHTER WATCH LIST
• Pietila is a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men's NCAA Division I hockey since 2014.
• Blake Pietila is a candidate for the 2023 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player.
• Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for January and October, the CCHA Goaltender of the Week seven times, and the Most Valuable Player of the Desert Hockey Classic.

STAT RANKINGS
• Blake Pietila leads the nation with nine shutouts, is third in save percentage (.930), and fourth in goals-against average (1.95).
• Ryland Mosley is second in the nation with three shorthanded goals and is sixth with four game-winning goals.
• Kyle Kukkonen is also sixth in game-winning goals (4).
• Tech is second in the nation in penalty-killing percentage (.870).
• The Huskies are second in the nation in scoring defense (2.06).
• Tech is fourth in wins (22) and sixth in winning percentage (.686).
• Tech is sixth nationally with six shorthanded goals.

LAST TIME OUT
• No. 11 Michigan Tech split at No. 12 Minnesota State to wrap up the regular season.
• The Huskies shut out the Mavericks 2-0 Friday and fell 3-2 Saturday.
• Kyle Kukkonen scored each night with Logan Pietila and Tristan Ashbrook also scoring. Blake Pietila made 68 saves on the weekend.

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head coach Joe Shawhan is in his sixth season behind the bench and holds a record of 117-86-20.
• 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.

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 GOALTENDER OF JANUARY
• For January, Pietila held a 1.37 goals-against average and .947 save percentage while going 6-1-1 with three shutouts.
• He led the NCAA in shutouts, goals-against average, and save percentage among goaltenders who played five games.
• Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week three times during January and was the MVP of the Deseret Hockey Classic after leading the Huskies to the title with 55 saves on 59 shots.

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
• February 27 – Kyle Kukkonen – CCHA Rookie of the Week
• February 27 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• February 13 – Kyle Kukkonen– CCHA Forward of the Week
• February 13 – Brett Thorne – CCHA Defenseman of the Week
• February 6 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• January 30 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender 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 69-54-7 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.