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Michigan Tech goaltender Blake Pietila catches a shot by Minnesota State forward during a game Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022, at John McInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambault/For the Gazette)
HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team opens its 2023-24 season with the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game against the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Saturday at 8:07 p.m. in Duluth, Minnesota.
The Huskies enter the season with high expectations, but the situation is much different than it was 12 months ago, when they allowed the fewest points in the CCHA. While expectations were tempered by the lack of a veteran presence, the Huskies pleasantly surprised everyone with a record of 24-11-4 overall and 15-7-4 in CCHA play. The Huskies ended the season with two losses, first at home to Northern Michigan in the CCHA semifinals and then against Penn State in the NCAA Tournament in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“I thought I achieved too much last year.” Coach Joe Shawhan said: “The players did a good job and I give them full credit. I think my expectations were definitely exceeded by the players’ performance.”
Fast forward to this week. The Huskies boast a rich returning core. Behind him are fifth-year goaltender Blake Pietila and fifth-year center Logan Pietila. Behind him is sophomore winger Kyle Kukkonen, who scored 18 goals and 27 points as a freshman. Behind him is senior defenseman Jed Pietila. He went from a player who missed games in his first two seasons with the Black & Gold to a calming presence on the blue line with one goal, 16 points and a +11 rating.
“It’s hard to win as a first-year student.” said Shohan. “It’s hard to win when you rely on freshmen. So the more veterans we can have, and the more impactful veterans we can have coming back, the more we’ll be set up for success.
“What you get out of a freshman is what you get. In our case, it’s rare that you have an exceptional freshman like Kyle Kukkonen, who becomes an impact college hockey player right away. That being said, they… ’s return is why the coaches have so much respect for us.”
The Huskies were picked in the preseason as the favorites to win this season’s CCHA by both the media and coaches.
“I think a lot of it is what the team doesn’t know. We finished second last year, but they’re noticing that we’re coming back quite a bit. And who should they pick as a coach? I don’t know if he knew that.” It’s across the board. ”
Blake Pietila returns after a season in which he started 37 games and posted a 23-11-3 record. He posted a 2.15 goals against average and a .924 save percentage and won CCHA Player of the Year and CCHA Goaltender of the Year awards. He was named a Top 3 finalist for the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goaltender and a Top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
He also broke school records for shutouts in a season (10) and career (20) while also becoming the school’s leader in all-time wins (58).
“He obviously gives us stability.” Mr. Shohan said: “It gives us a chance to win every night.”
He will be backed up by sophomore Max Vailinen, who appeared in nine games and started two last season. He posted a 2.32 goals against average and a 1-0-1 record.
Blake Pietila will be faced with an untalented, different-looking defensive corps like Brett Thorne and Chris Lipe. But the Huskies do have Jed Pietila, and junior Trevor Russell is back this season after playing in 16 games last season due to injury.
Shawhan and his staff are excited about the acquisition of Matthew Campbell, the player who ultimately chose Quinnipiac, and the transfer acquisition of former Boston College player Lachlan Getz, who starred against the Huskies last year. A healthy sophomore, Kasper Vaharautio, played in three games late last season after recovering from an injury.
At Jed Pietila, Shohan likes the way he approaches his game.
“He’s evolved into one of our most consistent defensive players.” Mr. Shohan said: “15-16 points, second in the core of the defense. He’s a tough competitor who plays with a little edge. People respect that type of player. It’s no surprise that he received some attention (from the team’s conference media).”
Russell led the Huskies defense in scoring despite being limited to 16 games. Shohan and his staff have been working with him to increase his effort level throughout his shifts, and his coach likes what he sees.
“He’s playing his best hockey right now as far as I can see.” said Shohan. “What I mean is his attention to detail. His focus is better than I’ve ever seen him. He’s got the size. He’s got the power. He’s got the ability. What he needed to learn from a development standpoint was to impact the game, play every shift and play every moment of every shift with intensity. , I’m seeing more from him than I’ve ever seen before.”
The Huskies return their entire top line in forward Logan Pietila, senior winger Ryland Mosley and Kukkonen.
Mosley made an offensive leap last season, going from five goals and 13 points as a sophomore to 12 goals and 31 points as a junior. Shawhan hopes to find a way to increase that total to more than 40 points this season, something both Brian Halonen and Trenton Bliss were able to accomplish as seniors.
Logan Pietila had another 20+ point season with 11 goals and 22 points. He scored at least 20 points in three of his four seasons with the Black and Gold.
“If Mosley can translate that into a 30, 40-point year, Pietila is really, almost consistently a 20-point guy.” Mr. Shohan said. “We’re hoping that someday he can evolve and raise that to a legitimate first- or second-line point total. 20 points is a third-high for a player on a great team.” He is a player who is equivalent to the top of the line and the bottom of the second line.”
Shawhan acknowledged that the Huskies’ struggles on the power play last season may have held back both Mosley and Logan Pietila.
“If everything stays the same and we can improve the power play, I think we can add six, seven, eight points to each player on the power play.” He said.
Kukkonen’s second half was much stronger than the first half of last season, and Shohan feels he is poised to continue blossoming this season.
“I hope so.” said Shohan. “He’s determined. He’s a determined athlete. He’s very competitive and driven.”
Two other players who blossomed during the season for the Huskies last year were junior wingers Jack Works and Levi Stover. Works scored eight goals and 17 points in his first season with the Huskies. Stauber joined the lineup and had two goals and five points in 31 games.
Two newcomers who will have a big impact on the Huskies’ offense are second-year transfer Patrick Marcinkevich and freshman Isaac Gordon.
Marcinkevich played in 24 games as a freshman at Long Island University, scoring six goals and 27 points. Similar to Tristan Ashbrook, Shawhan loves what he sees in Marcinkevich’s game offensively, but wants him to play in the 200-foot game, and the young man are trying hard to learn it as quickly as possible. Shohan said he encouraged Marcinkevich to watch old movies of Russian legend and NHL star Igor Larionov. That’s because the sophomore felt he could learn a lot from the player affectionately known as “Laryonov.” “Professor.”
Gordon has a right-handed shooting sniper who played in 58 games with the Sioux Falls Stampede last season, scoring 22 goals and 41 points.
“I love everything about Isaac.” said Shohan. “He’s a great kid, introspective and extremely hardworking. Everything about him is contagious because he has a contagious personality.”
The Huskies also have two freshman forwards from Finland who could have great careers at Michigan Tech in Lauri Lyman and Max Koskipilti.
Lyman scored 16 goals and 30 points last year with SM Saluja for the Pelicans U20 team. Koskipirutti also played for Chicco-Espoo’s SM Salja. He served as alternate captain last season, scoring 14 goals and 39 points in 44 games.
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The Huskies and Bulldogs are scheduled to face each other Saturday at 8:07 p.m. at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.