Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

[Flashy Man]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Once again this season Tech Hockey Guide will be providing fans with a means of chatting live during games at http://www.techhockeyguide.com/live/.

[eye4talent]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Michigan Tech has picked up a commitment from Des Moines (USHL) Defenseman, Marcus Ericsson. As you might expect from the name, he was born in Sweden and until the 2012-13 season, he has played Jr Hockey in Sweden, in fact, in Lulea, where bigblue_dl was for work earlier this year of all places. He's 6'1" but didn't put up many points with his teams so probably more of a stay at home d-man. Likely to join the huskies for 2013-14.

watched him play Friday night against the NTDP U17 Team. looked ok. played a regular shift and was on the 1st unit PP. played the body a few times and showed he has a physical side. seemed to have trouble at times with the speed/quickness. good hockey sense and made some nice passes. did a lot of little things well.

[Madison Husky]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

For those of you that want an alternate streaming source besides pasty.net (which always seems to max out or drop my stream), you should be able to hear the games via Mix 93 on the TuneIn website or Android app.

The website for the PC stream is: http://tunein.com/radio/The-Mix-93-935-s30290/#

[manurespreader]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

For those of you that want an alternate streaming source besides pasty.net (which always seems to max out or drop my stream), you should be able to hear the games via Mix 93 on the TuneIn website or Android app.

The website for the PC stream is: http://tunein.com/radio/The-Mix-93-935-s30290/#

No offense but tune in only works part of the time and sometimes it drops right at game time. Just sayin.. Not any better than pasty if you ask me. Hopefully this year will be better though. I use tune in a lot.

[mtu_huskies]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Mel Pearson show summary from 10-1, Meet the Coaches is Thursday 7PM, is anyone going that report back?

Feels great it's finally game week.
Still only have 2 hours a week with team, first official full day is Saturday.
Special teams are a concern until you get more time to work on it.
Hard without the on ice time to see Freshmen.

Line and freshman:
Working on lines, start thinking during the summer
Have a pretty good idea of what they'll look like
Lineup is fairly set, we have a couple injuries, Chad Pietila has been out for 2 weeks, groin pull
Jake Johnstone tweaked an ankle last week, not sure if he'll be ready this weekend, could be 2 weeks to 6 weeks
Jujhar, they call him JJ, will be a top 9 forward, big body, playing center, good in front of the net, needs to pick the pace up a bit, get significant PP time, team him up with skill players, he distributes the puck, pass first guy, with Petan right now, they look good, will add experience/Defense on the left side of that line
JJ appears physically ready, at NHL combine, he was excellent, ahead of the freshmen curve physically, 18 year old, true freshmen

Petan - you'll see skill, can't teach, him and Gould are two pure scorers, he shoots to score
Freshmen will have up and downs, and will have to play against some guys 4/5 years older than them, really like their talent

Eick - has speed, he sticks out, if he gets a step on someone, hard for Dman to catch up, need to tell him to score, expand his role and show him he has better offense than his numbers have shown
He'll create some scorring chances on the PK, hopefully can burry those shorthanded chances

Questions:
Two biggest areas you'll look at during exhibition game?
Goaltending, want to see freshmen in action, Brock has played 3 games, they'll give us a good match
Overall feel for some of the new players/kids that didn't play last year

Same question but for intrasquad?
All players will play in that game, will make it as much a game situation as you can. Great opportunity for community outreach for our team. Will have autograph session afterwards.

Goalie situation, have any seperated themselves yet?
Don't know who we'll start against Brock. Not sure if we'll play 3 or 2 goalies. We do have a game the following Thursday. Both freshmen are good, we have a small book on Kevin, we'll see.

On Walker Hyland - good offensive skills/instincts, 40 pts in BCHL, has fit in well, a lot of depth on defensemen, 9 bodies, all capable of playing

Where do Davis and Brown fit in on defense?
Tommy had a great summer, ready to go, looks good, being a senior he knows what it takes to win. He's such a competitor. Jimmy has looked much improved, he had a good freshmen year, very capable, adds toughnes on blueline. We'll have tough decisions, players will make decision for you.

Will Jimmy crack the lineup? Yes, no questions, he'll have the opportunity, where and how much is TBD with all the Dmen. He looks improved, stronger and more confident.

Dirk wondered about some Forwards that are trying to earn spots in lineup:
They all work hard and have played in some games. Lickteig has great speed, expecting his best year. Holmberg is capable player, give some size and he has some touch around the net. With the change in coaching and speed of the game they wanted to play may have caught him off guard. Aaron Pietila adds toughness and speed. Hietila has some skill. Problem is not enough games/time to give kids time in games. Need to go with best lineup. All of them are capable D1 players. They'll all get an opportunity, need to show coaches/teammates you're ready to contribute.

Tanner Kero will better with age. He got off to a great start, then hit a wall. If Mel could've changed one thing, maybe would've given him a game off or two, but kept playing him. Skating is more powerful, stronger. He's healthy and ready to go. He had a nagging injury most of the year last year, upper body.

Milos Gordic has adapated to how we want to play. He's had to push his skating and has gotten better. He can score, good around the net, big body. He's in his best shape.

On Brock:
Can dress 22 players, 2 extra
Will play some line combinations and mix it up to see chemistry

On intrasquad:
Will have tents setup outside, game is at 3PM, will play two halves, it will be entertaining and after the game kids can have posters signed and get autographs and a barbeque after
Mel likes this better than last year during December, last year there was a break in the schedule, but there may be another one in 2nd half of season

Media preseason poll:
Gophers will be tought, defending champion, Mel not surprised Bujstad is back
Get your tickets for UMN series, will be heck of a series
UW picked 4th, good talent played better at end of the year
We were picked 9th, told player doesn't matter where we get picked, just guys like Dirk that don't know much about hockey, we have something to prove
UND picked 2nd, very good, lot of injuries last year
We have UMN and UND coming to Houghton, get your tickets
Our schedule is more difficult, both non-conference and WCHA pod we're in, play UMD 4 times
Seigo to Mel is one of best Dman in league, he's ready to have a breakthrough year

Meet the coaches is on Thursday, Begg hockey center in ice arena
All coaches will be there except Muckalt, he's in BC recruiting
Thursday 7PM, begg hockey center (players lounge area), bring your questions, there will be refreshments
The Monday email was inaccurate, it is in Begg hockey center, not blueline room!
We have a new feature this year, In the Crease, good questions, equipment, recruiting, future opponents, lockerroom changes, we encourage people to come out and bring questions
When can people get a tour of the locker room? It's a possibility this Thursday to open it up, good to go behind the scenese to see what's been done
It's an arms race, some nice places like UND etc, we're making nice improvements, when the Mac gets packed, no other place liek it in college hockey, people right on top of you

Anxious this week, going to turn the heat up a bit, can't be too intense, getting into game time, but it's a long season
Brock is a good opponent, Mel wanted a good team that will make us work not one we would blow out
Not sure what jerseys on Saturday, will try to wear all three this weekend, one on Sat and each side will wear the remaining two on Sunday

[Flashy Man]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Quite a few updates on THG. Updated the recruiting grid, added all of the new head shots, reorganized the schedule with more information to be added there.

[stuckinwi]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Quite a few updates on THG. Updated the recruiting grid, added all of the new head shots, reorganized the schedule with more information to be added there.

Looks good, also nice to see that the live chat is back. It's nice to ***** about the refs with others not fortunate enough to be at the games

[mtu_huskies]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Tech hockey guide looks good, looking at the recruiting grid, I'm surprised at the bump in the number of forwards slated for next year. I wonder if that will decrease.

Stephen Anderson's freshmen article today in on Gould
http://www.mininggazette.com/page/co....html?nav=5009

It's been out there awhile, but here's a St. Cloud article on Ben Storm's recruitment.
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120...sey=nav%7Chead

[redwing61]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Tech hockey guide looks good, looking at the recruiting grid, I'm surprised at the bump in the number of forwards slated for next year. I wonder if that will decrease.

Sure. If Jake Kauppila couldn't make the USHL this year, I don't see him in Houghton next year.

Max Vallis is going to play three years according to Stephen Anderson, so he should probably be bumped up a year in the grid.

[geezer]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Tech hockey guide looks good, looking at the recruiting grid, I'm surprised at the bump in the number of forwards slated for next year. I wonder if that will decrease.

Stephen Anderson's freshmen article today in on Gould
http://www.mininggazette.com/page/co....html?nav=5009

It's been out there awhile, but here's a St. Cloud article on Ben Storm's recruitment.
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120...sey=nav%7Chead

I don't know if that's cool having a "season ticket holder" doing your recruiting for you, St. Cloud.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

Sure. If Jake Kauppila couldn't make the USHL this year, I don't see him in Houghton next year.

Max Vallis is going to play three years according to Stephen Anderson, so he should probably be bumped up a year in the grid.

you are correct on both accounts.

Vallis should start 2013-14 but belongs in the "orange" band with this year's frosh and will be a senior 2015-16 and I expect that kauppila will be in USHL in 2013-14, not in Houghton and be a frosh for 2014-15.

[Flashy Man]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

I don't know if that's cool having a "season ticket holder" doing your recruiting for you, St. Cloud.

That could probably be a recruiting violation.

[Flashy Man]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

you are correct on both accounts.

Vallis should start 2013-14 but belongs in the "orange" band with this year's frosh and will be a senior 2015-16 and I expect that kauppila will be in USHL in 2013-14, not in Houghton and be a frosh for 2014-15.

Corrected

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

That could probably be a recruiting violation.

depends if the season ticket holder is considered a booster I would think.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2012-13 Preseason Thread: Draft picks, video feeds, and Mel, oh my

It's been out there awhile, but here's a St. Cloud article on Ben Storm's recruitment.
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120...sey=nav%7Chead
"Storm, who said he had a 3.5 grade-point average in high school, is undecided on what he wants to major in but is considering either business or engineering."

Hmmm...
MTU = Engineering
SCSU = Business

I guess we can chalk that up as decided on the "business" side of the ledger. I'm confident that with the type of recruits Pearson and staff have been landing, if SCSU showed Storm more love than Tech right in his backyard, then Mel decided he has seen better that he wants on the roser rather than Storm.
Ryan J