PREVIEW: Huskies get back to CCHA action at St. Thomas

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
• Michigan Tech travels to St. Thomas for a CCHA road series.
• The puck drops at 8:07 p.m. Eastern Thursday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the Saint Thomas Ice Arena.
• Tech is 9-8-4 overall and 6-4-0 in the CCHA. The Tommies are 9-10-1 overall and 7-5 in the CCHA.
• The teams will meet in Houghton on March 1-2 on the final weekend of the regular 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.
• 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.

GLI CHAMPS
• Michigan Tech won its 12th Great Lakes Invitational Championship on December 29 at Van Andel Arena.
• The Huskies came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Alaska 3-2 in overtime in the semifinal.
• Tech tied No. 7 Michigan State 3-3 and then defeated the Spartans 1-0 in the shootout.
• Jack Works had a hat trick in the title game and was named GLI MVP.
• Blake Pietila stopped a career-high 54 shots and then made all three saves in the shootout and was also named to the GLI All-Tournament Team.
• Ryland Mosley and Chase Pietila were also honored on the GLI All-Tournament Team.

CCHA GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH
• Blake Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for December.
• It's the seventh time in his career that he was named the conference goaltender of the month.
• Pietila went 3-2-1 between the pipes with only one regulation loss in December. He held a 2.31 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.

NEW ADDITION TO THE ROSTER
• Austen Swankler was added to the active roster before the GLI.
• Swankler played 71 games over the past two seasons with Bowling Green.
• He has tallied 70 collegiate points with 27 goals and 43 assists.
• Swankler was named to the All-CCHA First Team in 2022-23 and to the CCHA All-Rookie Team in 2021-22.

SCOUTING THE TOMMIES
• St. Thomas is 9-10-1 overall and 7-5-0 in the CCHA. The Tommies are 5-2-1 at home.
• UST was picked fifth by the coaches and sixth by the media in the CCHA Preseason Polls after going 11-23-2 last season.
• Head coach Rico Blasi enters his third season. Blasi coached Miami for 20 years and had 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of Frozen Fours.
• Lucas Wahlin leads the team with 21 points and is tied with Mack Byers with eight goals.

SERIES INFO
• Tech is 17-5-2 all-time against St. Thomas, dating back to 1922.
• The Huskies are 5-0-1 against the Tommies in Minnesota
• Tech went 5-1-0 against UST last season with a pair of wins in Minnesota in November, a weekend split at home in January, and a sweep in the opening round of the CCHA playoffs in March.

HUSKIES AGAINST TOMMIES
• Kyle Kukkonen – 4 goals, 2 assists
• Jed Pietila – 6 assists
• Logan Pietila – 1 goal, 3 assists
• Ryland Mosley – 2 goals, 2 assists

POINT STREAKS
• 4 Game – Chase Pietila – 5 assists
• 2 Game – Kyle Kukkonen – 4 assists
• 2 Game – Logan Pietila – 1 goal, 1 assist

STAT RANKINGS
• Tech is ranked 11th in the nation in team blocked shots (286).
• Tech leads the CCHA in power play percentage (.242) which ranks 13th nationally.
• The Huskies have scored 16 power play goals which is second in the CCHA and 19th nationally.
• Isaac Gordon is tied for fifth amongst all college hockey freshmen with 10 goals.
• Chase Pietila leads the team with 13 assists which ranks third in the nation amongst rookie defensemen.
• Blake Pietila ranks 12th in the nation with 503 saves this season.

KOSKIPIRTTI AT WJC
• Freshman Max Koskipirtti was on Finland's roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship. Finland fell to Czechia 8-5 in the Bronze Medal game.
• Koskipirtti has skated in 19 games for the Huskies this season at center. He has tallied three goals and nine assists and is a plus-4. Koskipirtti scored the game-winning goal at Minnesota State (Nov. 25) and had a pair of assists against Augustana (Nov. 3).
• Blake Pietila (USA – 2013), Liam Garvey (USA – 1993), Pat Mikesch (USA - 1993), Jim Storm (USA - 1991), and Damian Rhodes (USA - 1988) are the previous five Huskies to play in the WJC.

HAT TRICK NOTES
• Ryland Mosley, Isaac Gordon, and Jack Works have each netted a hat trick this season.
• Western Michigan and Northeastern also have three hat tricks this season and Northeastern is the only other team to have three different players with a hat trick.
• The last time Tech had three hat tricks in a season was 2019-20 when the Huskies had five.

HUSKY HAT TRICKS
• Isaac Gordon had a hat trick in the 6-4 win over Augustana on Friday. He scored a goal in each period.
• Ryland Mosley netted a hat trick in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over the Vikings. He scored Tech's last three goals, including the overtime game-winner.
• The last time Tech had hat tricks on back-to-back nights was October 17-18, 2003 against Northern Michigan. Chris Conner scored a goal each period in a 4-3 OT NMU win in Marquette. Colin Murphy scored four goals the next night in a 7-6 OT win for the Huskies at the Mac. Tech trailed 6-3 with 2:06 remaining. Nick Anderson scored at 17:55, Murphy at 18:34, again at 19:32, and then he won the game 2:58 into overtime.
• Jack Works had a hat trick in the GLI Championship game. He scored on the power play in the first period and added a pair of third-period goals. He was named MVP of the tournament after helping the Huskies to their 12th title.

CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Jan. 2 – Jack Works – CCHA Forward of the Week
• Jan. 2 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• Jan. 2 – Chase Pietila – CCHA Defenseman of the Week
• Jan. 2 – Chase Pietila – CCHA Rookie of the Week
• Dec. 4 – Blake Pietila – CCHA Goaltender of the Week
• Nov. 27 – Ryland Mosley – CCHA Forward of the Week
• Nov. 27 – Matthew Campbell – CCHA Defenseman of the Week
• Nov. 6 – Isaac Gordon – CCHA Rookie of the Week
• Nov. 6 – Chase Pietila – CCHA Defenseman of the Week

CCHA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
• Isaac Gordon was named the CCHA Rookie of the Month for November after he tallied nine points for the Huskies in the second month of the season.
• Gordon scored seven goals and added a pair of assists in November. He had 23 shots on goal and was a plus-3.

GAMES WIN RECORD
• Fifth-year goaltender Blake Pietila set a school record with his 59th career win on November 4 with a 6-4 victory over Augustana. He stopped 19 shots to earn the victory.
• Pietila won 14 games as a sophomore, 21 as a junior, 23 as a senior, and eight so far this season.

DECEMBER RECAP
• Tech went 3-2-1 in December and 2-2 in CCHA action.
• The wins were over Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, and Alaska.
• The penalty kill went 14-for-15.
• Ryland Mosley led the team with six points on three goals and three assists.
• Logan Pietila (3-2=5), Isaac Gordon (2-3=5) and Chase Pietila (0-5=5) had five points and Jack Works led with four goals.

NOVEMBER RECAP
• Tech went 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the CCHA during November.
• Tech split with Bemidji State and Ferris State before sweeping Minnesota State.
• Ryland Mosley and Isaac Gordon both had nine points in the month with Gordon leading the way with seven goals.
• Jack Works (4-2=6), Arvid Caderoth (3-3=6), Max Koskipirtti (1-5=6), and Chase Pietila (0-6=6) all had six points.
• Blake Pietila went 5-1 between the pipes and Max Vayrynen went 1-1.

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 on October 14 was No. 8 on ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays of the night.
• Logan scored on a between-the-legs goal in the 2-1 exhibition shootout win.

PIETILA NOTES
• Blake Pietila ranking amongst active goaltenders
    66 wins – leads nation
    123 games played – leads nation
    20 shutouts – leads nation
    1,895 saves – third nationally
• Logan Pietila ranking amongst active players
    5 shorthanded goals – second nationally
    9 game-winners – fourth nationally
    161 games played – third nationally

COACH SHAWHAN
• Head Coach Joe Shawhan is in his seventh season behind the bench and holds a record of 128-96-24.
• 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 return home next weekend to host Bemidji State (Jan. 19-20).
• The month wraps up at Lake Superior State (Jan. 26-27).
• The first weekend of February is against NMU. The teams meet in Marquette on Friday and Houghton Saturday.

NON-CONFERENCE
• Tech went 3-4-4 in the 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 swept Augustana in the first-time meeting with 6-4 and 4-3 overtime wins on November 3-4 in Houghton.
• In the 57th annual Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 28-29) Tech defeated Alaska 3-2 in overtime and tied No. 7 Michigan State 3-3.

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)
• Austen Swankler – Nashville Predators (2022), Vegas Golden Knights (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.
• Austen Swankler played 71 games over the past two seasons with Bowling Green. He has tallied 70 collegiate points with 27 goals and 43 assists. He was named to the All-CCHA First Team in 2022-23 and to the CCHA All-Rookie Team in 2021-22.
• 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