PREVIEW: Huskies host Vikings in first ever meeting

WELCOMING AUGUSTANA
• Michigan Tech continues non-conference play this weekend against first-time opponent Augustana.
• The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• Saturday is Tadych's Marketplace Foods Kids Day and Skate With The Huskies after the game.
• Tech is 0-4-3 overall and Augustana is 3-2-1.

VIKINGS IN CCHA
Augustana is a full voting member of the CCHA and is in a transitional schedule, playing 16 games (one series against each member) in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons before playing a full league schedule beginning with the 2025-26 season.

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 22nd year behind the microphone.

FLOHOCKEY.TV
• All Michigan Tech home and CCHA games during the 2023-24 season will be live-streamed on FloHockey.tv.
• Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football, and soccer with one subscription.
• FloSports provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription.
• FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

KIDS DAY
• Tadych's of Houghton has purchased 100 youth tickets for Saturday's 3 p.m. volleyball match and 400 tickets for the 6:07 p.m. hockey game.
• Fans can also Skate With The Huskies after Saturday's hockey game. Helmets are required to Skate With The Huskies and the Skate Rental Center will be open to borrow helmets if you forget yours
• Michigan Tech Athletics and Tadych's have partnered together for nearly 20 years on Kids Day.
• Vollerth's will be giving away hot dog coupons for the first 100 at the volleyball match and the first 400 at the hockey game.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Augustana is 3-2-1 overall in its first season of NCAA Division I hockey.
• The Vikings received votes in both national polls this week.
• The wins are from a sweep of Bowling Green and a victory at Colorado College last week.
• Ten different players have at least three points with Hunter Bischoff leading the way with three goals.
• The Vikings have 15 players who transferred in.
• Head coach Garrett Raboin was a captain for St. Cloud and was an assistant for SCSU and Minnesota before being named the first coach of Augustana.

LAST TIME OUT
• Michigan Tech tied 2-2 at St. Lawrence last Friday. Lauri Raiman scored his first collegiate goal in the second period and Marcus Pedersen tied the game with 8.2 seconds left. Blake Pietila had 32 saves. The Skating Saints won the exhibition shootout.
• Tech fell 3-1 at Clarkson on Saturday. Lachlan Getz scored his first NCAA goal. Max Vayrynen made his first start of the season and made 15 saves.

OCTOBER RECAP
Tech went 0-4-3 in the first month of the season.
• No. 10 Michigan Tech skated to a 2-2 tie at No. 17 Minnesota Duluth in the US Hockey Hall of Fame Game on October 7 at Amsoil Arena. Blake PIetila made a career-high 48 saves.
• Tech fell 4-1 to Alaska Friday in the home opener and tied the Nanooks 2-2 Saturday.
• The Huskies fell 4-2 and 5-2 against Wisconsin the following weekend in the Badgers' return to Houghton for the first time since October 2011.
• Tech tied 2-2 at St. Lawrence and fell 3-1 at Clarkson in the last games of the month.
Logan Pietila led the team with three goals and five points. Max Koskipirtti and Kyle Kukkonen had four points while Isaac Gordon and Ryland Mosley added three.

SPORTSCENTER TOP 10
• Logan Pietila's shootout game-winner against Alaska was No. 8 on ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays of the night.
• Logan scored on between-the-legs goal in the 2-1 exhibition shootout win.

PIETILA NOTES
• Blake Pietila ranking amongst active goaltenders
    58 wins – leads nation
    109 games played – leads nation
    19 shutouts – leads nation
• Logan Pietila ranking amongst active players
    4 shorthanded goals – second nationally
    8 game-winners – third nationally
    145 games played – third nationally

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head Coach Joe Shawhan is in his seventh season behind the bench and holds a record of 119-92-23.
• He was named the 2023 CCHA Coach of the Year and is one of only two coaches to take three different Michigan Tech teams to the NCAA Tournament.
• He won his 100th career game at Bowling Green on November 5, 2022, and ranks second 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.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• The Huskies travel to Bemidji State to begin CCHA play next weekend (Nov. 10-11).
• The first home CCHA series is against Ferris State (Nov. 17-18).
• Tech travels to Minnesota State on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 24-25).

NON-CONFERENCE
• Tech tied Minnesota Duluth 2-2 in the season-opener.
• The Huskies lost and tied Alaska in the home-opening series on October 13-14.
• Tech dropped a pair of games to Wisconsin on October 20-21 at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
• The Huskies tied 2-2 at St. Lawrence (Oct. 27) and fell 3-1 at Clarkson (Oct. 28).
• Tech plays Augustana for the first-time ever on November 3-4.
• The 57th annual Great Lakes Invitational is on December 28-29.

GREAT LAKES INVITATIONAL
• Michigan Tech is hosting the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on December 28-29.
• Semifinals: Michigan Tech vs. Alaska, 3:30 p.m., Michigan State vs. Ferris State, 7 p.m.
• GLI Third Place Game, 3:30 p.m., GLI Championship Game, 7 p.m.

PRESEASON ALL-CCHA
• Senior goaltender Blake Pietila was named the Co-Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches.
• Blake Pietila was on the Preseason All-CCHA Team for both the coaches and media.
• Sophomore forward Kyle Kukkonen joined the Preseason All-CCHA Team for both coaches and media.
• Senior defenseman Jed Pietila was named to the media's Preseason All-CCHA Team.

NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
• Kyle Kukkonen – Anaheim Ducks (2022, 2023)
• Blake Pietila – Dallas Stars (2023)
• Trevor Russell – New Jersey (2022, 2023)
• Max Vayrynen – Calgary Flames (2023)

NHL DRAFT PICK
• Kyle Kukkonen – Picked by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2021 NHL Draft as the 162nd overall pick in the sixth round.
• Kukkonen is the 84th Michigan Tech player to be drafted by an NHL club.

CAPTAINS
• Seniors Logan Pietila and Arvid Caderoth are the captains.
• Seniors Ryland Mosley and Blake Pietila and sophomore Kyle Kukkonen are alternate captains.

TRANSFERS
• Tyrone Bronte played at Alabama Huntsville in 2020-21. He was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team after tallying 13 points on four goals and nine assists in 22 games.
• Matthew Campbell was a member of the NCAA National Championship Quinnipiac Bobcats during the 2022-23 season. He appeared in one game.
• Lachlan Getz played one season at Boston University, appearing in 16 games. He played against the Huskies in the Desert Hockey Classic Title game.
• 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.

PRESEASON CCHA COACHES POLL
• Tech was picked first in the Preseason CCHA Coaches' Poll, with a point edge of Northern Michigan.
• Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, and Bemidji State round out the top four.
• St. Thomas and Minnesota State tied for fifth with Ferris State and Lake Superior State rounding out the poll.

PRESEASON CCHA MEDIA POLL
• Tech was picked first in the Preseason CCHA Media Poll.
• Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, and Minnesota State were also in the top four.
• Bemidji State, St. Thomas, Ferris State, and Lake Superior State were in slots five through seven.

BLAKE PIETILA HONORS LAST SEASON
• First Team All-American
• CCHA Player of the Year
• CCHA Goaltender of the Year
• All-CCHA First Team
• Mike Richter Top 3 Finalist
• Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist
• Desert Hockey Classic MVP
• School record shutouts in a season (10) and career (20)
• Tied for the school's all-time wins record (58)

KYLE KUKKONEN HONORS LAST SEASON
• CCHA Rookie of the Year
• Unanimous selection on CCHA All-Rookie Team
• Scored the fifth-most goals by a Michigan Tech freshman in program history and his 18 goals were the most by a Tech freshman since 1988.
• Winter Carnival MVP

ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
• Blake Pietila – CCHA Player of the Year (2022-23), CCHA Goaltender of the Year (2022-23), CCHA First Team (2022-23) & Second Team (2021-22)
• Ryland Mosley – CCHA First Team (2022-23)
• Kyle Kukkonen – CCHA Rookie of the Year (2022-23) & All-CCHA Rookie Team (2022-23)
• Arvid Caderoth – All-WCHA Rookie Team (2020-21)
• Tyrone Bronte – All-WCHA Rookie Team (2020-21) with Alabama Huntsville

HUSKIES AT NHL TRAINING CAMPS
• Trenton Bliss – Detroit Red Wings
• Pheonix Copley – LA Kings
• Brian Halonen – New Jersey Devils
• Michael Karow – Dallas Stars
• Tanner Kero – Colorado Avalanche
• Jujhar Khaira – Minnesota Wild
• Joel L'Esperance – Detroit Red Wings
• Jake Lucchini – Minnesota Wild
• Mitch Reinke – Seattle Kraken
• Matt Roy – LA Kings
• Mark Sinclair – Ottawa Senators
• Colin Swoyer – Washington Capitals

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
• Tech's roster boasts players from five different countries.
• United States: 16
• Canada: 6
• Finland: 4
• Sweden: 2
• Australia: 1

RETURNERS
• Tech returns 20 players from last season with 12 forwards, five defensemen, and three goaltenders.
• The Huskies return their top three scorers with Ryland Mosley (31), Kyle Kukkonen (27), and Logan Pietila (22).
• Jack Works (17) and Jed Pietila (16) also notched over 15 points.

FRESHMEN
• Tech has seven freshmen on the roster with four forwards and three defensemen.
• Forwards: Henry Bartle, Lauri Raiman, Max Koskipirtti, Isaac Gordon.
• Defensemen: Cameron Moger, Chase Pietila, Nick Williams.

PIETILA TIMES FIVE
• Logan and Blake Pietila are twins and are joined by younger brother Chase. Blake is a goaltender, Chase is a defenseman, and Logan is a forward.
• 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.

2022-23 RECAP
• Tech made its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 and its third under Shawhan.
• The Huskies finished 24-11-4 overall and second in the CCHA with a 15-7-4 record.
• Tech won the Desert Hockey Classic with wins over Arizona State and No. 6 Boston University and went 7-2 in its non-conference schedule.

BLUE LINE CLUB
The Michigan Tech Blue Line Club provides additional resources to the hockey program, enabling hockey student-athletes to pursue success both in the classroom and on the ice. The annual membership drive is now open.