Words Cannot Even Say...

It is difficult to really describe the feelings of a Tech fan after GLI on Friday. If I block out the first game, it was such a perfect night. It has been a LONG time (~7 years) since Michigan Tech has gotten to the championship game.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the Tech coaching staff and the players for making this game end with a desirable result. I really, REALLY needed this. Currently, I am the most grateful college hockey fan and still sitting on Cloud 9.

One wonders what was different about this night as opposed to Tech GLI games in the past. Well, for one, we were playing the defending national champions. Probably pretty much everyone expected us to lose. I have compiled a quick, short list of reasons of things that were...different... this time around; why my team may have won (FINALLY!) on a GLI game:

- Twitch Boy didn't show up (the team is 0-10 when he's there)
- I wore my new black jersey instead of my gold jersey, which hasn't seen a game won at GLI
- The Darkness SAID we would win
- I forgot my camera :(
- Mitch's Misfits VP Andrew Kolbus got his wisdom teeth out earlier that day but still showed up to GLI, not allowing a bloody mouth to stop him from going to hockey
- There was no Spartan Brass (THANK GOD)
- I forgot my gold shoes... left them in Houghton
- I didn't play much of the cymbals for Pep Band, which I normally do at GLI
- My former housemate Rob came to GLI... It was his first GLI ever
- Karma to the State fans that were being jackasses
- Mitch's Misfits VP Andrew wore his amazing new tie ... gold and black striped.. just awesome.

Or maybe... the Huskies just played a great game. Maybe Robby Nolan played like all Tech fans KNOW he can play. Maybe they just got the bounces for once. Maybe they earned this win.

HIGHLIGHTS

Shelast's first goal - AWESOME redirect from Kerr that went right between Lerg's lil' legs.

Jordan Baker's AMAZING hit on a State player. This guy got totally flipped upside down... his feet were up 6' in the air and his head was on the ice. It was like a somersault. This hit was of Mike Batovanja proportions.

Pete Rouleau's rocket shot... beautiful!

I finally got to meet one of my favorite USCHO posters, Providence fan Jon

Robby Nolan got his mojo back. What a GREAT game played by Robby! He kept this Tech in this game and made some really amazing saves. THAT is the Nolan I know.

The atmosphere was created by Michigan Tech fans! UM and MSU fans were fairly quiet during the games, except when their teams scored.

The celebration after Shelast's ENG... FANTASTIC!!

There will be no UM-MSU game this season. :)

WE WON!!!! :D

Win or lose tomorrow, I am quite pleased with a win against my most hated team. I am extremely happy that I FINALLY got to witness at GLI win. And with that said, GO GET 'EM, HUSKIES!

GLI Preview/Pre-tournament Whining 2007

Ok, so the guys couldn't get it done against NMU during my LAST year as a student there. Fine. We'll compromise.

Dear Michigan Tech Husky Hockey Team:

You mother****ers better win at LEAST one game at GLI this year otherwise I will SERIOUSLY flip my lid. I've given you all so much in the past 5 years (even though you weren't all around to know), and I have asked for so little. One win is all I need. Of course I would love more, but I'm not a greedy Tech fan. I just want my GLI-win cherry to be popped this year! The game against MSU is the best place to start. Please win at least one game for me this weekend.

Love,
MeanEgirl

Now, a quick overview of the teams/matchups... I'd put more effort into this, but I'm on dialup right now.

UM vs PC - UM's been playing pretty well this season it seems. Probably expect a win from them, but then again there is a reason these games are played. No one is giving PC the time of day, but don't be too shocked if they come out and make things interesting.

MTU vs MSU - Oh god, how I hate State so much. Sadly, they've been getting lucky a lot this year (similar to post-season last year). I would greatly appreciate it if Tech could finally start finding the back of the net with some QUALITY chances. Not only would it be great for me and my fellow Tech fans if we won, but it would shut up those idiot commentators on FSN-Detroit.

And as for day two: ANYTHING but a UM-MSU championship game PLEASE. I know the FSN-D people always get a hard-on when it happens year after year. No more this year, please.

And to Michigan Tech parents and alumni: Be sure to bring your wallet to GLI. We will be selling raffle tickets for Robby and Michael-Lee's goalie masks from last season, along with 48 other great prizes. Again, this raffle is being put on by the Michigan Tech Blueline Club and all money earned will go directly to Mitch's Misfits and the Huskies Pep Band so that they may both continue their support of our Hockey Huskies!

Pathetically Adorable(or not particularly bad)

For anybody wondering the straights of Houghton or Marquette this weekend who happened to stumble upon a group of loud fans in Minnesota and North Dakota, I would like to apologize because you have in fact experienced THE INVASION.

And now I must pose a question to you. Listen closely because there may be a pop quiz on this later. So you're in a bar talking to a girl (or guy, whatever floats your boat) who you are interested in. This girl already has enough drinks in her that she probably won't be making the best decision in the world, but not enough that's she's noticeably incoherent. She says. "you're kind of cute." How do you respond? Think quickly; you only have precious seconds before she realizes you have never been hit on before and decides to look for somebody else.

So what do you say? "You're pretty cute yourself," "you're not exactly an ugly duckling yourself," "I would tell you how beautiful you were, but I'm afraid that even if I compared you to the Mona Lisa or a sunset or any of the most beautiful sights to ever grace this plane of existence, I would still fail by leaps and bounds to adequate grasp the depth of your beauty," or how about "you are so beautiful I would skip the third period of a game tied at 7 a piece just if it meant that I would have the opportunity to look into your eyes," or even "girl you so fine even if you went to Northern I would still take a run at that."

If you gave any of the above answers, good, you're not completely hopeless. In fact a vast majority of the answers you give in this situation are going to be okay. In fact I use to believe there really no way you could blow this opportunity short of comparing a girl to your mother or an ex-girlfriend, and in some occasion even one of these might work. With all that said I finally have found one of the absolute worse things a man could say, are ready, are you sure cause here it comes "you're not particularly bad."

Yes you read that right "you're not particularly bad". Really you're better off saying "you're the prettiest girl I can get to talk to me in here" or "I'm desperate and you will do." Not saying that anybody I know has said anything like this, just giving a word of advice to all those around to never do that again.

And with that I segment into the hockey part which will in short be a summary of the hockey that I viewed this weekend as the Huskies took on the Wildcats of Northern Michigan, breaking down my time into several key categories and doing an in depth analysis.

1)Goaltending: Pretty Good
Teslak gave up one goal in sixty-five minutes of play with the one goal coming off of a bad rebound after the puck bounced off of one hid defender skates really giving him no chance to do anything. Nolan turned in a solid performance Saturday making a lot of quality saves that a lesser goalie would of let in for sure, I once again feel more then confident have No Goalin Nolan in net.

2)Defense: Not Particularly Bad
The Huskies played strong defense all weekend, they stopped alot of shots before they reached the Teslak on Friday and a lot more Saturday night playing in front of Nolan, however I believe that all of Northern goals this weekend came off of turnovers, or poorly played pucks in our own defensive zone.

3)Intensity: Not Particularly Good
Friday night I felt it, they wanted to play hard, they wanted to hit people, they wanted to score, they wanted that game and I could feel it. Saturday not so much, if you can't fired up to play your in state rivals a game after your entire fan based followed you to another arena and took the place over only to watch your starting goalie taken out of the game and a game that clearly dominated from whistle to whistle end in a brawl and and a tie game, there's a problem.

4)offense: Particularly Bad
65 shots on goal, 1 goal. What more do I have to say this team can't score against Northern, maybe it's because they're so use to scoring with Northern girls that scoring on their guys just feel weird, or maybe it's the complete and total opposite, maybe they've heard so many times the pitfalls of scoring in Northern that didn't want to put the puck in the net without proper protection.

That's my recap, I don't think it was particularly bad, and hopefully the rest of the college hockey season will bring more moments that are not particularly bad or better yet pretty good.

Hang On....

Due to stupid finals week... I'll recap the game on Wednesday... after I'm done with all my finals and junk I have to do. Hang in there!

The Greatest Story Ever Told (okay maybe second best)

October 13, 2006 | MTU-1 NMU-1 | :03 remaining

The End.

*Special thanks to Reynolds for this excellent picture, hopefully this weekend we will be able to get a couple more just like it.

The Commandments of Mitch's Misfits

As an experienced road tripper, I have witnessed and been through some things on the road at various hockey arenas. I've seen excellent displays of class by opposing fans and I've seen and experienced first hand quite the opposite. Also, being a hockey fan, I have heard many stories of classless acts done by various fan bases; things involving words that shouldn't be yelled out in a hockey arena, batteries, a cheerleader named Molly, inappropriate treatment of mascots, and angry fans throwing things at their own team.

As the president of Mitch's Misfits, Michigan Tech hockey's relatively new student section, I hope that visiting fans have only positive things to say about us upon departure of Houghton. I like to instill class, sportsmanship, and respect in Michigan Tech hockey fans. So here for you now, I'd like to present an idea that I thought of about two years ago and something that I would like implement this season. Ladies and gentleman, I give you the Commandments of the Misfits:

I. Thou shalt always stand, remove thy cap, and be RESPECTFUL during the Star Spangled Banner.
II. Thou shalt ALWAYS stand upon hearing the Michigan Tech Fight Song and clap along proudly.
III. Thou shalt always treat opposing fans with respect.
IV. Thou shalt not yell out obscenities.
V. Thou shalt never throw anything onto the ice, with exceptions of hats, and ONLY hats, for Husky hat tricks.
VI. Thou shalt arrive ON TIME to the game and never leave early, regardless of the score.
VII. Thou shalt continue to support the Huskies all season long, regardless of their record.
VIII. Thou shalt despise the Northern Michigan Wildcats with all one has and bask in every victory against them.
IX. Thou shalt always represent Mitch's Misfits, Huskies Hockey, and Michigan Tech with dignity, pride, and class.
X. Thou shalt be loud and supportive of the Michigan Tech Huskies at every game.

If every Misfit can put forth an effort to follow and live by these commandments at our own arena and all others, there is no doubt in my mind that it will make us the best that college hockey has to offer. I would also encourage all other hockey fans to strive to improve their sportsmanship as well. As always, the THB staff welcomes your comments and thoughts.

Curses!

Okay, so evidently, whenever a fan from another team goes to a Tech game and cheers for Tech, they lose. So, sorry guys, it's my fault. I take full responsibility.

MEg asked me, "Why do other fans always want to be Tech fans?" Well, that's not a direct quote, but I've been up since like 6:30, so forgive me for not recalling it exactly.

I think, historically, the answer isn't exactly complimentary. I think people cheered for Tech because they figured they were pretty harmless, or even because they felt bad for them. I also think people have cheered for Tech because they want to hook up with MEg. I also know I will be killed for writing that, but I've lived a good life. Tonight, I cheered for Tech because 1. I was sitting with Tech fans 2. MEg forced me to cheer for Tech 3. Tech is very similar to TDogs and 4. They were playing TStinkin' Gophers!

I'd like to apologize to Tech fans for the crappy conditions of the roads. I mean, there wasn't THAT much snow, and it's not like we live in freaking HAWAII or something. We SHOULD know how to clear our MAJOR HIGHWAYS. And the city streets were disastrous: I almost got stuck about 50 million times, probably because I drive a Saturn and not, oh, a Patton Tank.

It took me quite awhile to get to the arena, which majorly sucked, and my "date" for the evening had ditched me to go save lives or fight fires or something. Oh well, his loss, as Gopher wins seem to be hard to come by. There were plenty of other ticketholders missing, and our entire group (approx. 10 people) managed to sit behind the Tech bench (key for viewing my favorite Huskies, RN and JR!) for the whole game. Those ticketholders? Literally fair-weather fans.

MEg is a very popular person. I don't like this, as I love attention and she was TOTALLY ignoring me for people like Melmac, Flagguy, Flagguy's tall friend, her "boyfriend" from last year's Old Chicago Schmooze 'n' Booze, BPH, Shirtless Guy, etc. NOT COOL. Also, I really wish she had given me a Cliff's Notes on Misfits cheers, as there were very few I could participate in, since there were so many words. I just clapped along in my ill-fitting Huskies windbreakers and Mardi Gras beads, and waved and blew kisses to the Gopher student section when they chanted "Husky Women." I pointed out that MEg, the three girls behind us, and I equalled probably one St. Cloud fan. And that's being polite to St. Cloud!

(I should point out that MEg is a slave driver when it comes to posting. I VOLUNTEERED to write this article and she is breathing down my neck pestering me to finish it. Therefore, if you think it sucks, just remember it was written under duress. And if I get crap grades in Accounting, it will be because she is making me do this article RIGHT NOW instead of studying.)

So, the game was rather disappointing. It looked good, as the Huskies put the puck in the net first, but it was overruled by Goon's BFF Don Adam. Kinrade (the goal scorer, and also a Hottie) was the only player (other than MLT and LIF) on the ice at the time, and when it was waved off, I could swear there was a tear in his eye. The Gophers scored soon after, but the Huskies came back to tie it on a goal from Seth Green. Oops, I mean Peter Rouleau. SHAVE YOUR BEARD, DUDE. Then the powers-that-be started hyperventilating at the though of the Mighty Mighty Gophers getting swept by the lowly Huskies, so Mr. Belding got on the phone to Mikey, and then Malcolm Gwilliam was called for a CFB 5/10. The Huskies killed off the entire penalty, which was totally sweet, but then things just kind of... sucked. There were some not-so-fantastic defensive breakdowns that led to a few breakaways by random Gopher players, but MLT is a genius (no, he doesn't "stand on his head" to make those amazing saves... he just makes them because he is THAT GOOD you idiots!) and kept the game within reach. Sadly, the Huskies were never able to get much going offensively, and in the 3rd period only had 2 SOG, which is quite a depressing number. I was surprised that JR didn't pull MLT, since he pulled him against TUMD and then left the net empty after the first ENG, but you never know what's going on inside that handsome head of his.

Watching this game was especially frustrating because I was getting text messages of TUMD game, and they were losing as well. The sad thing was, I was pretty sure that, by watching how Tech played, I was watching how T'Dogs played, except we got a SHG. However, I can also guarantee you that the Mavs looked NOTHING like the Gophers, but that's self-evident.

I guess this is my way of making up for missing TInvasion, which sounds like SO MUCH FUN, and we all know I am the Anti-Fun. I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Was It Worth It?

The picture to your left is of two guys named John Flansburg and John Linnell, the geniuses behind the awesome band known as They Might Be Giants. I have been a fan of TMBG since 1999, when my then boyfriend introduced their greatness to me.

Well, these guys came to Michigan Tech on the night of Saturday 1 December 2007... the same night that Michigan Tech played their second game of the series against Minnesota in Minneapolis.

When I found out that TMBG was coming to Tech, my first reaction was "they're still together?!" Next, I saw that it their show date fell on one of my favorite road trips - UMN. I decided that, although a tough call, I'm skipping the UMN trip and going to see this classic band. The day that TMBG tickets went on sale, I was the first one in line and got tickets for the center in the front row.

Well, we all know by now that... I didn't exactly go to the TMBG concert as planned. Once hockey season got here, I got back into hockey mode. Three days before the series began, I caved and of course decided to go to Minnesota, even though I knew I should not have.

The question remains... was it worth it?

Friday's game started out very frustratingly for the Tech faithful. Going down 2-o to the Gophers was rough... but with goals from John Schwarz, Deron Cousens (FINALLY! and with less than 5 minutes left in regulation to tie the game) and an overtime tally from Gagne ... It was definitely a turn around that night. Each of those three Huskies scored their first goals of the season. The feeling of coming back from being down two goals to come back and win during OT is pretty indescribable... especially for a Tech fan... especially on the road... and especially against Minnesota, no matter how much poorer their team may be this season. That win made us 4-1 in our last five games in the Mariucci against the Gophers. Not too bad, eh?

So with the feelings felt on Friday, it seemed to already be worth missing the concert. I would've been willing to bet that Tech would take at least one game. Many of you may have seen me talking about my hockey dreams lately. So far my hockey dreams for this season were 100% correct. During the offseason, I also had a dream that we split with Minnesota on the road. I was ready to bank on that one.

And as I dreamed, a split it was. I wasn't too upset after the loss. I was fully prepared for it.

So far, the trip has been worth it... but the suffering and paying of this trip will continue until at least Thursday of next week, so my mind could ( and probably will) change at anytime M-W of this weekend.

By the way, I heard that the TMBG concert was amazing... But of course it would be.

Expect THB's favorite guest writer to write up an entry on her experience at the Saturday MTU @ UMN game. Should be a good one.

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Now I'm going to start a new part of the THB that I should do after each game/series. This is called "Why We Won/Lost" ... a special segment where I will make up an excuse as to why we didn't get the W or what it was that enabled us to win.

We'll start out with the Friday night game vs Minnesota. Why we won: Michael-Lee Teslak made some key saves for us throughout the game. Also, although he had been playing strong all game long, UMN's goaltender, Kangas, completely missed a save that he should've easily had, costing the Gophers the game in overtime. Wasn't the prettiest goal, but Tech doesn't get many of those, so WE'LL TAKE IT!

Saturday 1 December 2007: Why we lost - getting our early goal taken back by minimal goaltender interference kind of knocked the wind out of my team. Combine that with how UMN scored soon after that to take first official blood and a poorly called "checking from behind" penalty called on Malcolm Gwilliam after he hit some guy in the side. Even though Tech was able to kill all five minutes of the penalty, it was quite an exhausting task, plus we were down a man. And lastly.... why we lost: the Gophers wanted the two points more than anything and they were fully ready to earn them.. and that they did.