Michigan Tech 2014-2015

[huskyfan]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

so, are we doing weekly thread for the UAA series?

[MaizeRage]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

remember last fall, Lake State started out 5-0 including sweeping eventual national champion Union, shot up the rankings early, we all know how that season turned out for them. I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin.

LSSU started last season 4-0-1 but were a -58 in shot differential in those five games. Good luck sustaining that for very long. Tech, on the other hand, is +49 in shot differential so far.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

LSSU started last season 4-0-1 but were a -58 in shot differential in those five games. Good luck sustaining that for very long. Tech, on the other hand, is +49 in shot differential so far.

Michigan Tech is doing a ton of things right from putting up shots, blocking shots, scoring goals in the run of play and on the PP, the PK has been spectacular. They certainly haven't been perfect and the other team has looked the better for stretches but never for very long and Phillips has come up with the big saves when the team has needed him to. I love what I've seen so far and the way Mel talks in the post game about getting lucky with Michigan, etc...I know he won't let them get complacent. I also really like the mixture of leadership (with upperclassmen so far leading the way, not falling of a cliff) and young guys hungry to show they belong.

I love seeing the points come from all over but especially from the big names at the top who have so often crumbled on the the pressure of expectations. There is one sophomore and one frosh mixed in with all seniors and juniors in the top 8 in scoring thus far...with Pietila, Johnstone, Kero and Petan at the top, where they belong leading this team by example.

If there is anything the Huskies really need to work on its discipline. Being 1st in pentalies/game and 14th in the country in PIM/game is not going to work out for them long term. The good news is they've managed to stay away from majors and misconducts, but the rate of 7.5 penalties per game isn't a good one...You can't expect to go 6/7, 7/7 every night on the PK.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

I have been most impressed with the Huskies power play unit, which was on full display on Saturday vs Michigan. These guys see the ice very well and move the puck even better, especially Hanna on the point. Even at even strength Tech passed D-to-D very effectively to get shots on net.

On the PP I thought they tried to go through the box a bit too often. Maybe that is how you keep the other team honest and keep pressure off the point men. Make them stay down at the dots and respect the cross ice pass for the one-timer. Gosh knows Johnstone has showed that if he gets it cleanly, there is a good chance he buries it. I can remember seeing other teams put on clinics like this against us, but I don't ever recall seeing a Huskies team this confident with the puck during the man advantage.

The PK is a close second. Michigan passed the puck around the perimeter of the zone at will and Tech was content to just sit back in the box and let them play around the edges all night. Only when a Michigan player fumbled the pass did Tech put pressure on the puck handler. I'm sure that is part of the system they are being taught because they were very disciplined and very consistent in this manner.

I'm sure the staff will be talking at length about bad penalties. If you're saving a scoring chance that's one thing, but in your own offensive or the neutral zone, those are penalties that need to be avoided. A team that is clicking on the power play will bury you, just like Tech did to Michigan this past weekend. You give up four power play goals, you are not going to beat anyone in D-I hockey, much less a top team. Giving the other team even a half dozen chances with the man advantage, odds are they will bury one or more.

Overall, having the video package (as crappy as it is) this season is new to me. I have not watched the Huskies week to week since the late 1990s. The level of play at times is amazing and of course at other times you still want to look away or throw something across the room. Watching complete games and series gives a much more complete picture of the Huskies as a team and I like what I see this season so far. In some regards I've never seen a Huskies team do some of what is being done this year. From recent memory, the goal on the delayed penalty call Saturday night is one of the best examples of team play I have ever seen from the Huskies, or any team for that matter. It was a thing of beauty.

Ryan J

[mtu_huskies]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Michigan Tech is College Hockey News' team of the week.
http://www.collegehockeynews.com/new...k_michigan.php

From Twitter, commit Chris Gerrie playing in the AJHL was one of the recruits in attendance this weekend.

@Chris_Gerrie9 Can't thank the @mtuhky organization enough for a great weekend, more than excited to become a husky in years to come.

[geezer]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

The league office is as savvy as ever:

Playing in front of sellout crowds, MTU outscored the Wolverines 10-3. Junior G Jamie Phillips stopped 54-of-57 shots he faced over the weekend, while a whopping 16 different Widcats skaters registered a point.

[huskyfan]

The league office is as savvy as ever:

ouch!

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

The league office is as savvy as ever:

This is why MTU can't have nice things

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

I don't know whats worse: The league confusing Tech with NMU, or the league being so innept that they don't spell "wildcats" correctly.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Heard an interesting bit of analysis during the Devils v Blues games this evening. An NHL franchise with good special teams, when you add the PK and PP% together your goal should be to get about 105%, meaning you score more on special teams than you give up. It made me curious...
Michigan Tech through three weekends:
97.1% PK + 22.2% PP = 119.3%

Ryan J

[aparch]

Heard an interesting bit of analysis during the Devils v Blues games this evening. An NHL franchise with good special teams, when you add the PK and PP% together your goal should be to get about 105%, meaning you score more on special teams than you give up. It made me curious...
Michigan Tech through three weekends:
97.1% PK + 22.2% PP = 119.3%

Ryan J

Hmmm. Interesting look at those stats, as CollegeHockeyStats.net combines their special teams stats as so:
(PK success + PP success) / (PK attempts + PP attempts)

Giving Tech a combined special teams of .6, good for fifth in the nation.

I wonder what everyone's combined stats would be using the method you saw.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Those PP numbers are a bit skewed considering they potted 4 against Michigan on Saturday, but you can't deny the PK effectiveness early on (especially in the past four games). Still plenty to work on though.

[stuckinwi]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Those PP numbers are a bit skewed considering they potted 4 against Michigan on Saturday, but you can't deny the PK effectiveness early on (especially in the past four games). Still plenty to work on though.

How does that skew the numbers? They are the numbers... The PP on Saturday was vicious. Gloriously vicious.

[oldish husky]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

When you are fourth in the nation in goals scored per game and fourth in the nation in goals against per game, you will win a lot of hockey games.

[huskyfan]

I don't know whats worse: The league confusing Tech with NMU, or the league being so innept that they don't spell "wildcats" correctly.

this.