Saturday @ UAA; Brett Olson as WCHA co-Rookie of the Week

Here it is Wednesday and at last I will finish writing up on the weekend. Hey, I'm getting better and less lazy at this!

The WCHA basement brothers shared yet another tie last weekend. And again, UAA dominated most of the game. They of course went up early on us, 2-0. That was a bummer, but at least they were doing something to help us out: taking penalties. Before the third had ended, we tied the game 2-2 from two power play goals by none other than BRETT OLSON. This brings Brett's point count for the weekend to 3-1--4. What a great weekend for our awesome freshman.

Those two power play goals also brought our power play to 4 for 8 on the weekend. HOW ABOUT THAT?! Good stuff right there. Not to mention our penalty kill going 100%. Those two factors definitely had a hand in our two earned points this weekend.

Michigan Tech took their first lead in the longest time during the third period thanks to our new guy in up front--Drew Dobson. We were only able to enjoy this lead for a whopping minute and a half as UAA answered back almost immediately. Bummer.

But hey, a tie may not be a win, but it's not loss. I 'm happy with the point. Putting that point with the one from Friday night is like a win. Baby steps.

Hey you know, speaking of Brett Olson, he is not surprisingly WCHA Co-Rookie of the Week, along with RWD favorite Jack Connolly from UMD. Congrats to both Brett and Jack for great wekeends and a great honor. As I have mentioned before, I look forward to each and every week when Mr. Olson is on the ice. Oh geez, I just thought of something gay... but I will share it with my readers. It'll be a last thought type of thing. Here it goes -

The future looks very nice
When Brett Olson is on the ice

Playing Catch-Up

I apologize for my absolute laziness going on lately. What can I say? I've been busy. Let's recap the last few weekends starting with where I left off --

Saturday night in Denver... Tech played hard. It was another absolutely solid game from them in the mile high city. Number 10 was with Number 1 for the entire night. Geoff Kinrade scored his SECOND goal (of the powerplay sort, 4x3) of the weekend to tie it up, 1-1 after 1. DU's Ostrow scored in the second however and DU took the lead. The final blow came with 3.2 seconds left in the game as DU was able to put one in our empty net. The result was obviously a bummer, but man... I was so proud of the guys for how well they played. It was wonderful hockey to watch with sadly nothing to show for it... but such is the story of Michigan Tech Hockey.

The next weekend, we allowed the hostile and abusives into our ice arena as we hosted the Sioux. Friday we gave two up power play goals in the first period. Boo! It seems that UND was out to seek revenge for the defeat at the GLI. They DOMINATED that first period, 15-4 SOG. We were probably lucky to be down by only 2. Second period was rally time. The hardest working guy of the weekend, Alex Gagne, put Tech on the board within the first five minutes of the second. Four minutes later, freshman Brett Olson (who is going to be OUTSTANDING in the years to come), tied up the game. Brett Olson is quickly becoming among many Tech fans' favorite. He's definitely another hard worker for the Huskies and I'm really excited to watch him play in the upcoming years. I can definitely see him wearing the "C" in two years.

The third period on Friday -- another one dominated by the Sioux. Finley fired a rocket into the back of the net. Even if Nolan had gloved it, the sheer energyof that thing probably still would've forced Robby's glove back behind the goal line. It was THAT good. The Sioux outshot Tech 18-6 in that period, but Robby played like a champ. And everyone's favorite little Norweigan, Peter Rohn, tied up the game just a minute and a half after Finley's goal. Tech managed to hold on to the tie, despite the Sioux's utter and complete domination. The Sioux probably deserved more in this game, but oh well. They can get points in other games. The hell with them.

Saturday night versus the Sioux.... yeah.... So what if we lost 5-0? A win is a win and a loss is a loss. We're 1-1-1 against the Sioux this season. I'll take it. =)

Okay, so that brings us Anchorage! Finally. God, what an amazing city this is. I am glad to be back here. So this year, there are four other Misfits and myself that made the trip. We came prepared to take over the Sullivan. I know the five of us can easily dominate in that arena, and sure enough, we did. We started out cheering loudly at the beginning of this game. This was annoying some UAA fans. They spent more time and energy yelling at us to shut up than they did to support their team.

Dear UAA fans sitting around us:

We're not here to annoy you. We have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars and traveled across the continent to support our team, so dammit, that is what we will do. I'm sorry if you don't like it when people cheer for their hockey teams, but it will not stop us.

Our cheering and support makes the guys want to play harder and more desperate hockey. We were rewarded for our time and money spent last night by coming back from a 3-goal deficit.

My advice is to stop directing your energy toward us and focus on your team. The Seawolves need you.

When we went down 3-0, I saw Jamie in front of me point to the net and yell at Nolan, "Robby, GO." That was during the second period, a period that the Seawolves completely dominated. The second period wasn't a total loss though as Jordan Baker was able to at least get us on the board.

It was like music to my ears to hear these high school-aged Seawolves fans saying, "3 to 1, 3 to 1" in such a taunting way... and I knew then karma would run its course. Sure enough, it did.

In the third, Brett Olson put us to within one goal. What a PLAYMAKER he is! He also assisted on Baker's goal in the previous period. The future of this team looks bright with Brett. I can't wait!

The time's ticking down... and then with 2:15 left in regulation, Baker gets a penalty... one that I believe was for retaliation, but I can't comment too much on it. According to one of the Tech fans that did see it, I guess UAA's Clark was hitting at Baker's facemask and Baker was getting sick of it, so he tried to move him over, and Clark dropped like the pansy he is. When Baker got that penalty called on him, he was SO ANGRY. I watched the look on Clark's face as he skated away and it was a look of accomplishment and pride. According to one UAA fan, whose identity will be kept secret, "Clarky is a sneaky bastard." UAA fans know what's up! I hate cheating in hockey, but hey, I guess you need to do what you need to do for you team and to get the win.

If it's one thing I believe in though, it's KARMA. Clark's little stunt didn't pay off for UAA as Tech was able to score shorthanded with about 28 seconds left in regulation...!!! Derby Kitti of all guys! Absolutely perfect. Derby works hard day in and day out... He is FINALLY rewarded and rewarded with something great.

Tonight's game is going to be an absolute battle. The Seawolves are very frustrated, understandingly so, and are in need of giving to their fans who are all on the brink of insanity. If Tech wants to win tonight, they're going to have to turn it up a few notches from their play last night.

Man, this is a long blog entry.... Sorry if you actually read this.

Denver - Night One

16.8 seconds. SIXTEEN POINT EIGHT SECONDS.

That was rough. Very rough. First and foremost, I must say that I am ABSOLUTELY SO PROUD of my team. Michigan Tech played SO WELL in the Magness. I know I've said this before, but I will say it again because it applies here: the Huskies deserved better.

There is pretty much one picture that can sum up the game -

It was up... then it was down... then up again, then down and down further. Then it was the top... The top is the point where one's FAVORITE player scores to tie the game with less than one minute left. Then with 16.8 seconds left, the roller coaster went down down down. Down to China! Ugh. This is probably the most depressed I've been this season... or at least close. It's tough for a game to end like that though. So heartbreaking. It was like the oxygen was just removed right from my lungs.. and that's a huge bummer because being up here in the mile high city, there's not much there to begin with.

I'm sure the team is heartbroken tonight... but let that be a reason for them to come out and play hard tomorrow... throughout the entire game. They're going to steal one somewhere if they keep playing like they did Friday night in Denver.

On a side note, Denver fans are amazing... amongst the best in college hockey.

That is all.

EDIT: No wait. That's not at all. Michigan Tech beat UND in the third place game at UND! Okay, now that's all.

At Least We Swept NMU Last Weekend

I can't remember EVER being so disgusted at GLI. I think yesterday's game was the WORST I've seen my team play all season and I've seen some pretty bad stuff out of them. Well hey, at least it wasn't televised... because it would've been a COMPLETE embarrassment. Hell, it already was. I really don't even know what to say about it. The powerplay was typical for this team... with most of them being spent in the neutral end or our own end. As usual, the team couldn't get anything going. I don't think the Huskies had more than 2 or 3 scoring chances the entire game. I know my guys can play a hell of a lot better than they did last night... and I expect that they will tonight against the Sioux.

A NATURAL HAT TRICK scored against us in like the first ten minutes?! What a bunch of crap. I'd like to know what happened to Robo last night. I don't fault him at all for the third goal since he had a UM player on top of him. FOUR goals against on TWO saves?! That's not the Robo I know. Hopefully we can put that terrible showing behind us and never let it happen again. Should be interesting to see who gets the nod tonight.

Bleh, I don't even know what else to say. I haven't been this disgusted with my team since the BSU series. Get it together, Michigan Tech. >=(

Oh, here's one, or rather the only, positive from last night: Our penalty kill was 100% successful. At least we got SOME luck last night.

Shut out six times and counting............

WCHA Players of the Week - Schwarz and Robo

Two out of three ain't bad. From here:

WCHA Defensive Player of the Week • John Schwarz, Sr., D, Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech University’s John Schwarz, who helped key a strong defensive effort while helping the Huskies to a home-and-home non-conference sweep over Upper Peninsula rival Northern Michigan last weekend, has been named Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for Dec. 23-29.

A 6-3, 215-pound senior from Calgary, Alberta, Schwarz and his Michigan Tech teammates held the Wildcats to just one goal in the two-game series while winning 2-1 in Houghton last Friday (Dec. 19) and 1-0 in Marquette last Saturday (Dec. 20). The Huskies blanked NMU on all seven of their power-play chances in recording their first sweep of the 2008-09 season and first over the Wildcats since 1994. Playing a lead role on the blueline, Schwarz was credited with six blocked shots on the weekend and also earned a +1 plus/minus rating.

Schwarz, who serves as team captain for the Huskies, has contributed a goal and nine assists for 10 points over his 108-game collegiate career at MTU.

WCHA Rookie of the Week • Josh Robinson, Fr., G, Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech University goaltender Josh Robinson, who yielded just one goal in a two-game, home-and-home victory sweep over Northern Michigan last weekend, is the Red Baron® WCHA Rookie of the Week for Dec. 23-29.

A 6-0, 185-pound freshman from Frankenmuth, Mich., Robinson started back-to-back games in the same weekend for the first time in his collegiate career, stopping 56 of 57 shots on goal in the series for a .982 saves percentage and posting five shutout periods. Robinson stopped 36 of 37 shots on goal in a 2-1 triumph last Friday (Dec. 19) in Houghton and then came back last Saturday (Dec. 20) in Marquette to post a 20-save shutout as Michigan Tech prevailed by a 1-0 count. The two wins stretched Michigan Tech’s unbeaten streak to three games at 2-0-1 and enabled them to post their first sweep of Northern Michigan since 1994.

On the 2008-09 season, Robinson sports a 2.33 goals-against average over 488:45 of action between the pipes to rank fifth among WCHA goaltenders overall and owns a .902 saves percentage and 3-4-1 record.

A Taste of Something New

At long last! The greatness that I have been waiting for all season long has surfaced. Moments like these are why I am such a die-hard Michigan Tech fan. They are far and few in between, but when they occur, they're extra special and put me (and my fellow Tech fans) on Cloud 9 for days or longer. It's kind of like me golfing: I'll get one nice hit every nine holes that will keep me coming back to that game.

Well, we have finally swept Northern Michigan. I've only been following Michigan Tech since the 03-04 season and the last time the good guys swept was back in '94. Ah, the Jamie Ram days.

I must say... the underclassmen are AMAZING. While things are pretty rough this season, especially because of injuries, I'm a lot more optimistic about the future than I may have EVER been. The next two or three seasons are going to be pretty good.

But let's talk about this past weekend.

Both games we scored the first goal, including Friday's ever-so-RARE first period goal. In fact, it's only our FOURTH first period goal this season. I think the team should spend more time focusing on the first period during practices. For sure.

On Friday, especially in the second half of the game, NMU completely took over. As a fan in the stands at the rival game, when we have a one goal lead and the other team is completely dominating the game, it gets a little scary. Why does my team stop playing offense?? I'm sure our goaltender Josh Robinson wonders the same thing... but we'll get back to him in a minute.

So we swept NMU... and to that Coach Kyle said, "They absolutely deserve the wins. They did a great job and were able to score on opportunities when we weren’t. They were solid defensively on both ends of the ice and they beat us.” ... and to Coach Kyle I say... what a load of crap. Eighteen shots against in a single period on Friday? We only had 12 shots the WHOLE GAME on Saturday. We scored 3 times the whole weekend. The winner in this whole thing is Josh Robinson. HE deserved the wins. Michigan Tech was not the clearcut victor if you watched the games. I believe it was a mediocre effort for both teams.

Moving on...

Jordan Baker. Oh man, watching him this past weekend, I couldn't help but think of Chris Conner. He had some crazy moves to keep the puck away from the STD-infested Wildcats. Jordan had but one assist on the weekend, but he currently leads our team in goals and points. And if you watch him play, that fact is not all too surprising. We've got two beautiful seasons left of him. For such a small stature, he's such a physical presense on the ice. He had some massive Batty-like hits this weekend. I hope to see much more of that this season.

OH HEY! How about that Peter Rohn guy?! He might even be shorter than Mr. Baker, but he's definitely one of the hardest working guys on the ice. Much more to come on Little Peter later... including an overdue questionnaire. But for now, keep in mind that since he has been playing in games for the Huskies, we have not lost a game yet....

So for fun, I should comment on NMU goaltender Brian Stewart. Wow, what a TOOL. Although, this is not something new to me. He is the ROBBIE EARL of goaltenders. If you breathe too hard on him, he will flop all over the ice as if he has been shot. I swear, I thought he died about 4 times this past weekend. If I were an NMU fan, I would be EMBARRASSED about the terrible acting that Stewart does on the ice night in and night out. CUT THE CRAP. Just play HOCKEY. Your stupid games aren't fooling anyone, you idiot.

On the opposite end of the goaltender spectrum, we have Michigan Tech goalie Josh Robinson. What a guy! Yep, that's right, readers. My players wear halos on their heads 24/7. ;) Anyway, Josh Robinson, or Robo as he will be referred to from now on, is HOT right now between the pipes. He let only one goal in this weekend on 56 shots. He had a chunk of that goal, but not enough to stop it. After this past weekend, Robo now has an overall save percentage of 90%, the only Michigan Tech goalie that can say that right now. He also picked up his first career shutout as a Michigan Tech Husky on Saturday... I asked him how he felt after helping his team sweep NMU:

"It was very exciting. Northern is our biggest rival and anytime you get a win, it's a special one; but when you sweep, it's an extra special weekend."

Not only did Josh get his first career shut out and help his team to sweep the Wildcats, but he will go down in the record books as the first goaltender from Michigan Tech to have shut out NMU! Here are his thoughts on that:

"It's pretty cool being able to be the first Michigan Tech goalie to shutout Northern. I don't think any of us knew that it had never been done until Marksy told me after the game. I'm excited that I was able to get my first shutout this weekend and it just adds a little more to it being against Northern."

Well, it was quite the exciting weekend, but it's over... and the team is only looking ahead to the GLI right now. We'll be starting out with a rematch of last year's championship game against Michigan. Michigan is sitting in the middle of the CCHA right now. Hopefully we can pull through and take another shot at the championship game on Sunday. After all, this is OUR tournament, dammit. It's too bad that Michigan State has to be there this season though. They may prove to be a bigger cupcake than any of the invites to UMN's yearly crappy holiday tournament that they can't even win.

I'm going to go ahead and take a guess that Robo's getting the nod for Saturday at GLI. This is HUGE for him, as his hometome of Frankenmuth, MI is only a short distance away. I asked Josh about the GLI and who's coming to watch him. Here's what he said:

"Well, the GLI is actually very close to my hometown of Frankenmuth. The Joe is only an hour an a half from my house too. I'm expecting to have quite a few people in the stands for the games. My list of people that are coming is pretty long so here it goes.... Mom and Dad, Brother, possible my grandparents, my goalie coach from back home and his son... and I have quite a few friends who go to State and Michigan who will be there cheering against me haha. Obviously, my goal is to win the GLI and have our banner flying all year in the Joe."

Well, Josh... I hope you make your goal this season (and that you get new friends... like people who DON'T go to MSUcks). It is probably best achieved by letting in very few goals and making your team score more of them. It's going be hard to win a tournament by scoring only three goals all weekend. The rest of the Huskies need to step up and do their part.

DECC the Halls

...That wasn't so bad. We didn't win, but we didn't get swept by UMD! Nor did we get shut out! I'm going to say what I've been saying all along... my team looks fine... they just can't finish. Nothing really new to report there.

Our goal on Friday was a beaut. More should go down like that. Everything was set up so nicely and it went as it should've. Baker was fed a great pass that was able to tip in and up past Stalock. This happened right in front of me and made me very happy. The goal on Saturday... eh, it was down in the other end. I didn't get a good view of it at all. Studly freshman BRETT OLSON got our second goal of the weekend, his third of his career. Good stuff.

Get this... BOTH of the goals that Michigan Tech scored this weekend were powerplay goals! We have GOT to be pushing 8 or 9% on power plays now! Oh! I just looked it up... we're at 8.7% overall and 8.1% in the conference. Not too shabby!

Let's see... other comments I have.... Oh, dear team: STAY OUT OF THE FRICKIN' BOX. We had TWO 5x3 goals scored against this weekend. If we did away with both of those, we may just have won on Saturday with our piddly one goal. Plus, whenever we go down 2 men, it gives me a heart attack. And then when the other team inevitably scores, I get more pissy than I do for even strength goals against us. So uh... let's play smarter hockey and limit ourselves to ONE Husky in the penalty box at a time. Thanks.

So there's NMU weekend coming right up. Oh boy. This is going to be some great hockey.... or not. Neither team is really making much of any waves in their respective conferences. Tech is going to need to set things straight this weekend and make up for that crappy first game played against NMU earlier this season. If we don't get at least one win this weekend, I'm going to be EXTREMELY upset. I worked yesterday during the great blizzard of '08 and for 11.5 hours today so I can take Friday off to watch my team WIN a game against the pukes from STDU.

A Stupid Format for a Stupid Game

From the first picture... to the second....




What's going on??

Why are we so despised by the hockey gods?















To sum up this game -

To Sum EVERYTHING Up...

Numbers and Other Stuff

This past weekend goes to the Mavericks.

4 hours of PTO.

728 miles.

2 games.

4 3 Husky-scored goals.

2 more losses.

ZERO points.


Boo to all that... except the Husky goals part. Although a larger number would've been better. Am I wearing the gold and black goggles? I thought they played alright this past weekend. Many may disagree with me. I do have one complaint though: PASSING. I swear by it, if this team can fix that issue, things will start happening! That's a pretty big problem to have. It can and does screw up all aspects of the Husky game. For example: the power play! That's obviously one of the areas of concern. One of the things I notice about all the teams we play -- their passing is so much cleaner than ours. And what do you know! The opponent wins more games than we do.

I believe my team does have the talent it takes to win games. That's very optimistic talk coming from someone like myself; I like to be negative more often than positive. We get the chances. Anyone who watches Michigan Tech hockey will agree with me -- the chances are there. The bounces just normally don't go our way, or else we get Mason who "intended" to blow the whistle right before we score so he'll take away all of our legit goals in a game. Yeah, I said it. But there were two amazing things that happened this past weekend that rarely happen to this team, it seems. First, the Mavericks got a goal taken away from them. It's usually always us that something like that happens to. I must say, it's a great feeling being on the other side once. And secondly, we got a bounce. I can't remember exactly what happened, but Maverick assistant captain Blake Freisen helped to put a puck in his own net. It crossed the goal line ever so slowly. Just awesome.

Even with two lucky things happening to us last weekend, we just couldn't win. THIS is the weekend to start turning things... against those stupid Beavers at Bemidji State... those WCHA-member wannabes. The hell with that! The Huskies need to shut them down this weekend and show the college hockey world that the Beavers are not worthy of being in the WCHA. We need to SWEEP them this weekend, just like what happened the last time these teams met. If we lose one or both games this weekend, I'm going to be pretty steamed.

UMN Recap; Looking Ahead to MSUM at Home

One point out of the weekend. Considering that we got that one point from the now #1 Gophers, it isn't such a bad deal. We were able to salvage a tie on Saturday and ALMOST won it at the last second. Special thanks to Jay Barriball for missing two WIDE OPEN nets. More thanks to Robby Nolan for playing a great game--a great series--this weekend. Robby made some amazing saves that I haven't seen out of him in like two years. He deserves much kudos for the great job he did this past weekend.

Sunday's game... what a bummer that was. Michigan Tech was outplaying Minnesota in every way. It took two stupid penalties to turn the game around in only an instant. Despite the game being turned around so quickly, the Huskies kept at it. They had SO MANY great opportunities, but Kangas stood tall. In the end, Tech got 38 shots through to Kangas, but Kangas chose that day to have his first career shut out. That jerk.

Tech outplayed the Gophers on Sunday and the Gophers are lucky to have gotten their two points. I am SO PROUD of my team for all of their effort and heart put out there this weekend. We didn't get the results, but I can't be TOO upset with how great they played.

My thoughts on my team--they have the talent, they just need a little more luck to go with that. OH! And how about Johnny Kivisto's CLANKING of the crossbar? Oh man... that was so close. If the net was only a half inch taller, that would've been a goal. So yes, more luck and the ability to finish.

So, this weekend we have the Mavericks at home. Last season, the Mavericks were the only team that Michigan Tech swept at home. Can we repeat the sweep this season? With Zacharias in goal for the Mavs, it's a tall order. Having seen Zacharias play the Sioux earlier this season, he's one tough cookie. And as for the rest of the team, I've only seen them play one game this season, but from what I have seen, their passing is nice... much better than Tech's. This might prove to be a pain this weekend.

And lastly, I just have a few things to say to the players -

1) WIN. I hate driving through the state of Wisconsin all the way to Michigan Tech to see my team lose to a bunch of pansies in purple.... or ANYONE for that matter.

2) STOP taking STUPID penalties! Play SMART! We no longer have Chris Conner playing on our team, so typically good things do not come from us being a man or two short.

...Um, I guess that's all I have for now. I thought I had more, but apparently not.

(Btw, Blogger is being EXTREMELY stupid and not registering my enters... so I made the first couple of words of each paragraphs a different color. Blogger sucks.)

MEg becomes NMU Fan

It's true.

OMGWTFBBQ

Alright, I've done enough whining, time to face the cold, hard truth. The Huskies just finished taking it right up the ass in Madison, losing 0-6, including five, count 'em, FIVE Badger PP goals. Friday, Tech lost a 2-3 bout in which they tried to sneak back into the game when it was already too late.

Where do we go now? Onward to Minneapolis next weekend, to face a Gopher squad that completed a third period thumping of their own against New Hampshire, winning 6-2. One thing is for sure - play like that next weekend, and the Gophers will have zero problem torching us faster than one of my grandpa's gasoline-soaked bonfires. As I pack my bags, I can only prepare for the worst and hope the Huskies prove me dead wrong.

UAA Recap; UW Preview

Ok, so I've been slacking a bit this week... and this season. Cut me some slack. That reminds me, I still need to introduce you all to Peter Rohn. That'll come sometime this season.

So.... the UAA series. It seems so long ago now. I remember that we split the series. I also remember that we absolutely BIFFED it on all the minutes of 5-on-3. We've been extremely unsuccessful in that area this season. I can't even begin to tell you how many 5-on-3's for over a period of a minute that we've been given this season. We just can't do anything with it. By the way, "biffed" is one of the most awesome words ever.

The power play was rather successful this weekend (not the 5-on-3, obviously) ... at least more successful than normal for the Huskies. It was just one weekend though. We'll see if that trend continues.

What a recap, eh? Hey, I do what I can around here. Work keeps me busier than school. Oh, and on a side note, I'd just like to say that UAA fans are the most amazing fans that there are.

Now, onto this weekend... I'm looking forward to another fun weekend in the Kohl Center. The Badgers haven't been doing well lately. This is either because they've had a tough schedule or that they're stupid cheeseheads. Maybe a little bit of both. Either way, Michigan Tech needs to at least split this weekend... because taking a game in front of 14,000 angry fans is a VERY beautiful thing. Plus we could always use the WCHA points. Wisconsin doesn't need them.

And lastly... Go Huskies!

Teenage Angst

A wild Friday evening at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, filled with penalties and much whining by the U-18 Team. They supposedly have some of the best talent in junior hockey, but they sure as hell don't have the sportsmanship or class. I guess that's what happens when you put a bunch of prima donnas on the same squad.

Tech started strong out of the gate, picking up an early PP goal off a rebound that was buried by freshman Brett Olson, with assists from Alex Gagne and Deron Cousens.

John Kivisto made it 2-0 early in the second period with an awesome shot from the inside the top half of the left circle. Who knew the guy had it in him? Olson and Geoff Kinrade picked up assists on the play.

RPI recruit Jerry D'Amigo cut Tech's lead in half on a shot that evaded Robinson with just over five minutes left to play in the second, but the Huskies regained the two-goal lead when sophomore Eric Kattelus wristed a bullet over Haxwell's left shoulder. The goal again came on the powerplay, with assists from Drew Dobson and Eli Vlaisavljevich (yes, I looked up the spelling).

The third period scoring began with Gwilliam capping off Tech's scoring, apparently poking in a puck that Haxwell mishandled (my interpretation from what I could see sitting in Section N). That turned out to be the game-winner, when UNH commit Ryan Bourque scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to bring the U-18s within a goal, but not close enough.

Haxwell? He's not just a goaltender, he likes rough play too! He hauled down a Tech player (once again, I didn't see who it was from my end of the ice) and held him there for a good five seconds while the refs stared off into space and didn't call anything. Of course, a makeup call came a bit later on, but still, pretty funny shit. I'm sure Jerry York will approve of such play when he shows up at BC. (/sarcasm)

The game was a penalty-fest, with the high schoolers acting like a bunch of little pussies once they had dug themselves into a big hole, hacking it up all over the ice. Of course, Russell wisely did not allow the Huskies to throw any serious punches (for obvious reasons), though I was pretty sure Ryan Bunger would've been more than happy to rearrange BC commit Kenny Ryan's face, after he jumped on Bunger's back and started cheapshotting him without even taking his own helmet off.

*sigh*

Kids these days...

Anyway, exhibition hockey is finally over with, and next week we're hosting the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves for a pair of WCHA games in Houghton. UAA is 4-1-1 through their first six regular season games, including a 3-1 defeat of Maine, and a 3 pt. weekend at home against the Bulldogs of Duluth. This is shaping up to be a tough Anchorage squad that MTU should not take lightly, like they did last season. Coming out flying and playing a consistent, strong 60 minutes of hockey should be the goal for both nights.

To Our Injured Huskies

Over 20% of the team is out with injuries right now. That's um... that's a lot of guys that we need to be healthy instead of hurt. I wanted to do something special for them... maybe send a card or something, but we all know I'm too lazy for that. So I looked online for 'get well soon' images. As expected, there were teddy bears and balloons, roses and sunshines, other flowers and hearts. Then I found something that would be more likely to appeal to the team and that fits the situation a little better.

Before I get to that, here's a breakdown of the player outages that Michigan Tech is currently experiencing -

• Schwarz: Up to 8 weeks, depending on how he heals
• Angelow: Sounds like 2-4 more weeks
• St. Louis: Not playing this weekend, sounds questionable for UAA
• Reddick: 6-8 weeks
• Licktieg: 4-6 months
• Doriott: 2-4 weeks

(Special thanks to F2B&G for compiling that information since I'm too lazy to)

So to my injured guys, I leave you with this...


No, I don't know why her ass is throbbing, but that's not the issue here. Just listen to her, guys!

"Pat, I'd Like To Buy A Goal..."

Make that multiple goals.

This weekend was not the greatest way to start conference play, but it could've been much worse. Indeed, the Huskies were swept by the #3 Colorado College Tigers, 2-0 and 4-2.

On Friday evening, the stellar play of senior goaltender Rob Nolan kept the Huskies alive for most of the game. He stopped 36 of 38 shots, including 18 shots alone in the 2nd period, making several outstanding saves. Unfortunately, the offense gave him absolutely no support after the first 10 minutes of the game, with the Tigers spending a majority of the time in the MTU zone. CC's Scott McCulloch capitalized on a shorthanded breakaway after poking the puck away from Deron Cousens at the blueline and skating it down the ice, deking right and beating Nolan five-hole with a backhand. That goal turned out to be the game winner. Alex Gagne fanned on what was probably the best opportunity all night for the Huskies to beat reigning WCHA Player/Rookie of the Year, CC sophomore goaltender Richard Bachman, taking just one second too long to shoot the puck.

Saturday evening, Tech started out slow, handing the Tigers a goal in the first five minutes of the game and beginning the parade to the sin bin that has become all too familiar with Husky teams as of late. Bachman robbed Ryan Bunger with a diving save on Tech's best offensive chance in the first period. Finally, in the second period, sophomore Jordan Baker got MTU on the board, poking the puck home in the midst of a crease fustercluck, with freshman Alex MacLeod picking up his first collegiate assist after scoring two PP markers last weekend, and sophomore Bennett Royer also grabbing his first assist of the year. Unfortunately, a mistake by the Tech defense early in the third allowed Bill Sweatt to capitalize on a pass from Eric Walsky, skating in behind the defenders and wristing a shot into the top-corner of the net over Nolan's left shoulder. Steve Schultz extended CC's lead to two goals with a PP marker about halfway through the third.

The Huskies called their TO and pulled Nolan with 2:31 to play in regulation. The move paid off when freshman Brett Olson scored his first collegiate goal, firing the puck through traffic and past Bachman with 21 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, CC iced the game with a long-range ENG that slipped into the empty net with about 2 seconds left on the clock, leading to the final score.

Overall, Tech played two tough road games against the pre-season favorite to repeat as WCHA champions. On Friday the offense failed to get anything going, and on Saturday the Tigers' talent simply prevailed. I'm looking forward to the Winter Carnival matchup slated between these two teams here in Houghton. Maybe all it'll take is a little of the Huskies Pep Band and the Misfits to get Bachman to cough up five goals again. ;)

The U-18 kids are in town next weekend, which should be a good exhibition tune-up to help ensure we don't completely embarass ourselves by not sweeping the Seawolves out of the MacInnes the following weekend. It'll also allow time for lingering injuries to do some healing before four straight WCHA series against Anchorage, Wee-sconsin, Arrogance!!1!11, and the Landcows.

"You Can't Always Get What You Want...

...but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need." ~Mick Jagger

First of all, props to Yager for the awesome photo.

So we wanted to sweep this weekend, but of course, we didn't. Red Light Robbie struck again, but thankfully the weekend wasn't a total waste of my time and money.

After Nolan's questionable performance on Friday night, Josh Robinson (or "Robo", as he apparently goes by in the locker room) got the nod on Saturday against the Lakers and notched his first collegiate W with a solid performance that included a few clutch saves to preserve the one-goal victory.

I am proud of this team though. Even after Rob began playing head games with himself right out of the gate, the Huskies in front of him never really gave up and it eventually paid off when they scored the final two goals of the evening; they needed that. They didn't whine about some pussy little finger injury in order to get a break (I'm looking at you Brian Stewart), and only took one penalty the whole night. They delivered big hits, battled hard in the corners, and deserved better than what they got.

A lot of the NMU fans I ran into on Friday were serious douchebags. No, I'm not talking about any of the Puckheads - they're the cool, diehard fans (even if I do hate their team). I'm referring to those drunk bandwagon 'fans' who only show up to rivalry games to antagonize the opposing fanbase and aren't really there to watch hockey. They would do better to stay out of the arena in the future.

Saturday night, Tech went up twice only to give up the tying goals thereafter. They overcame a nasty CFB on Geoff Kinrade towards the end of the second period that drew blood and sent him to the locker room for stitches, head bandages, and a fresh jersey. Kinner insisted on coming out to play the third and still battled out there, playing solid shifts. The Huskies peppered LSSU goalie Brian Mahoney-Wilson with shots and finally, with about five minutes remaining in regulation, Jordan Baker banged home a rebound off a quick shorthanded rush led by Drew Dobson and the team never looked back.

With only a few exceptions, the LSSU fans I ran into were classy in spite of their team's loss and the fact that seven guys managed to turn their arena into MacInnes East. Of course, the fact that one particular group of them were relatives of Chris Conner may have had something to do with my impression. ;)

Also, it'd be awesome if there could be a battle of the LSSU band and the Huskies Pep Band sometime in the future, though I'm not sure exactly how it would go down since bands technically aren't allowed to play in opposing hockey arenas anymore, and I doubt the home team would want them there anyway in most cases. That banner above prompted one of their 'tones to come running over and tell us to bring our band next time, and we would have a throwdown. :D

The WCHA schedule gets rolling this weekend with a pair of games against the Tigers out in Colorado Springs. Jamie Russell seems to think the NMU debacle wasn't entirely Nolan's fault, so it's very likely that Robbie will get a chance to redeem himself on Friday evening, squaring off against reigning WCHA Player (and Rookie) of the Year, Richard Bachman. I'm sure the Tigers' offense will put up plenty of shots on the big ice, so if he's up to task, he should be able to get a rythym going. If not, look for Robo between the pipes on Saturday, with a chance for the Huskies to light up CC's backup Drew O'Connell.

A Preview of What's to Come?

Sigh. We lost our exhibition game to Toronto. Embarrassing.

Is this a preview of what's to come?? No. I'm sure Coach Russell was just seeing what a lot of the freshmen are made of. Goaltending was the difference in this game. Nolan turned in a .8125 save percentage for the night while Brownell, Toronto's goalie, was able to manage .976, despite our best efforts to lower that.

The Huskies were also not physical enough. There were a few hits, but not enough. We need someone to step up and act as a Batty. There just wasn't the jump in their skate stride like there should be!

The passing looked pretty sloppy at times. It was definitely frustrating to watch. Luckily it's only the beginning of the season. Luckily that game didn't count. There's some time left yet to get to where we should be.

And our powerplay? Ugh. There really isn't too much good to say about it. There were 2 times of a minute or more of 5 on 3, and we did NOTHING with it.

Hopefully we'll be looking a lot better next weekend. Key to beating NMU: FINISHING. Let's work on finding the back of the net!

Meet Your Freshmen 2008: Brett Olson

First of all, I'd like to thank Brett Olson for this entry. Without him, this wouldn't be possible. Not only did he answer my questions, but he has unknowingly provided me with a photo of him to use... because for whatever reason, his roster pic isn't up yet.

As usual, we'll get things started off with some words from Coach Russell. Coach thinks Brett "will be an impact player. [He is] already 21 but a late bloomer. Brett has some great leadership qualities."

I for one am very excited to see what Brett has to offer the Huskies, not only this season, but for the following three years also. If he's as good at hockey as he is doing interviews, it's going to be an amazing 4 years!

#16
Position: Center
Last Team: Waterloo (USHL)
Hometown: Superior, WI
Birthday: 2/19/1987
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 175 lbs


THB: Was there any other place you had your sites on… like… UMD?
Brett Olson (BO): Yes, there were other places that had been recruiting me. UMD was one of them. My goal was to play in the WCHA, so when the opportunity presented itself I felt that Michigan Tech would be a great fit. [I'm glad you picked us over Daloot. Especially since you were amazing at doing this interview!]

THB: What do you think about Houghton and Michigan Tech so far?
BO: I really like the Houghton area as well as Michigan Tech. The area is pretty similar to my hometown and not too far away. Michigan Tech is a great place to get an education and the campus isn't very big so it's easy to get around and the people are friendly as well as interesting.

THB: What are your expectations of your hockey coaching staff for this season?
BO: My expectations of the coaching staff are very positive. I like what they have done with the program over that last few years. Getting to know them and experience their insight for the game is something I look forward to being apart of. I expect they will push me and help me develop as a person and player.

THB: Do you have an unusual talent or interesting fact about you that you’d be willing to share with the Tech Hockey Blog readers?
BO: I guess I wouldn't say I have an unusual talent but an interesting fact might be that I have a chocolate lab back home and he doesn't play fetch. That's kind of weird, might be interesting.

THB: Did you watch a lot of the 2008 Summer Olympics?
BO: Yes, that's all I had on TV from when it started to the finish. I think it's probably the greatest event in the world and can't wait for the Winter Olympics next.

THB: How is dorm life treating you?
BO: Pretty good, but it's still early.

THB: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
BO: I have no idea. Maybe save it for a rainy day.

THB: What’s your favorite TV show?
BO: Everybody Loves Raymond. [Oh geez. Well at least you didn't say Will and Grace.]

THB: Compare your hometown of Duluth, MN to that of Houghton, MI.
BO: Actually, I'm from Superior, WI which is right across the bridge from Duluth. My hometown is about twice the size of Houghton and you don't have to walk up or downhill everywhere there. The outdoors are very similar and we are right on Lake Superior so there are a few similarities. [Hm. I guess I got some false information before I sent this out. PS, Duluth is way better than Superior. If I had known you were from Superior, I would've asked you another question... pertaining to deer... of the dead type.]

THB: What can you tell me about Mitch’s Misfits?
BO: From what I saw while I was on my visit up here a year ago they seem like a very energetic group and get into the game. It's nice to have fans like that.

THB: Do you ever spontaneously break out into movie quotes?
BO: Yes. [Apparently not Office Space ones though... even when being set up... :P]

THB: What is the greatest number of times in which you have skipped a rock?
BO: Maybe 8. I haven't skipped a rock in a long time.

THB: What team are you most excited about beating this season?
BO: UMD, because it's basically going back to my hometown.

THB: Tell us your feelings on the skating treadmill.
BO: I don't want to talk about the skating treadmill. [Aww... it isn't THAT bad now, is it? You may hate what it does to you, Brett... but the rest of the Tech fans love it.]

THB: What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
BO: Nothing, I have never had a Klondike Bar. [You know, I don't think I've ever had one either... but I would at least do a jumping jack or something for one. It's gotta be worth at least that.]

THB: What are your favorite websites to visit?
BO: YouTube and Hockey websites.

THB: Does the noise and energy level of your home crowd affect the way you play the game?
BO: I definitely think that noise and energy level can create a home-ice advantage and is always great to have on your side, but you have to be prepared to play the game how you play it every night anywhere.

THB: What was the best feeling you’ve ever had while playing hockey?
BO: I have two. Winning the Anderson Cup with my Jr. team the Waterloo Blackhawks in the USHL and winning the Wisconsin State Hockey Championship twice with my high school. [Um... Brett.. I think that adds up to three...]

THB: Do you like to play video games? If so, which ones?
BO: I'm not really a "gamer" but will play a game or two here and there.

THB: Do any of your other family members play hockey?
BO: Yes, both my younger sister and brother.

THB: Is there anything you’d like to say to all the Michigan Tech fans out there?
BO: I am looking forward to a successful season and excited to get underway. I know we have a very loyal, energetic, and knowledgeable fan base and can't wait to play in front of them. For Mitch's Misfits, don't be afraid to do a little homework on the teams coming in to play us. Find some dirt on the other guys; get into their heads. It can be pretty hilarious when the whole crowd is chirping guys on the other teams.


I've been doing these interviews for three years now... and this may be the best one I've ever gotten back. Thanks again, Brett!