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

[geezer]

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

It would be much easier if they said on the website who is a center. I went back to last years stats to see who took faceoffs. Yeah, that's not the end-all, be-all, but its all I could think of at the time. And my wings might be messed up, I'm not sure who will play on which wing.

D. Johnstone - B. Pietila - Gordic
Furne - J. Johnstone - Khaira
Gould - Kero - Petan
Lickteig - Rix - C. Pietila

Regular Reserves: A. Pietila, Eick, Holmberg
Probably won't see much ice time: Hietala, Anderson

I don't care about the D pairings, but going off your centers I would make a couple changes:

D. Johnstone - B. Pietila - Khaira (huge upside)
Furne - Kero - Gordic (I want K & G working together)
Lickteig (experience) - J. Johnstone - Petan
fourth line: earn it boys.

[bigblue_dl]

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

I don't care about the D pairings, but going off your centers I would make a couple changes:

D. Johnstone - B. Pietila - Khaira (huge upside)
Furne - Kero - Gordic (I want K & G working together)
Lickteig (experience) - J. Johnstone - Petan
fourth line: earn it boys.

That looks good to me too. I have no problem with giving Khaira a shot at the top line, and if he lives up to the billing, that could be a helluva line, even one of the best in the league.

IMO, the key is going to be the 2nd and 3rd lines. If your line of Furne-Kero-Gordic can put up some points like they should be able to, and that third line hold their own defensively, and chip a goal here and there, they should be good.

[geezer]

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

That looks good to me too. I have no problem with giving Khaira a shot at the top line, and if he lives up to the billing, that could be a helluva line, even one of the best in the league.

IMO, the key is going to be the 2nd and 3rd lines. If your line of Furne-Kero-Gordic can put up some points like they should be able to, and that third line hold their own defensively, and chip a goal here and there, they should be good.

If he didn't live up to the billing, I'd maybe swap Khaira out with Furne, since Furne seems to play up to the level of his line mates. I think Gordic and Kero can work some magic with their passing and tip-ins and put up points against anyone. Especially the foul-smelling, lice-infested gophers. Man I want to watch some hockey.

[Hammy]

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

Just dropping in to mention that Mel Pearson was scouting MN Elite League games on Saturday.

[geezer]

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

I thought I just smelled one of the stinky little bastiges. Did anyone see one run through here?

[bigblue_dl]

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

Just dropping in to mention that Mel Pearson was scouting MN Elite League games on Saturday.

Good. That be fertile recruiting grounds. It would be awesome to see Tech pull more players from that league.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

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

It would be much easier if they said on the website who is a center. I went back to last years stats to see who took faceoffs. Yeah, that's not the end-all, be-all, but its all I could think of at the time. And my wings might be messed up, I'm not sure who will play on which wing.

D. Johnstone - B. Pietila - Gordic
Furne - J. Johnstone - Khaira
Gould - Kero - Petan
Lickteig - Rix - C. Pietila

I think Eick's going to end up being more than a regular reserve. Pearson claims he's a great skater and is good on the PK, both of which we can still use a lot of help with (even if he needs time to adjust). That said, he and Rix will probably be pushing each other for the 4th line center role at first.

Tech probably hasn't had a Top 9 that potentially deep in about 20 years, but it is also pretty young group, with six freshmen/sophomores.

Goalies - I think Genoe will probably get his chance, but if he's not breaking .900 SV% after the first LSSU game, he'll be stapled to the bench very quickly with two capable freshmen waiting in the wings. All it took last season was one mediocre start against AIC for Mel to throw the reins to Robinson, and he ran with his chance, while Genoe looked pretty average in the rest of his limited ice time. I think it was JSR who pointed out that he's an Osgood-sized goalie, and gets beaten high a lot more easily than today's tall goalies. There are ways to overcome that, but an extra 4-5" in height can make all the difference between a 'simple' shoulder save and a goal.

Regardless of who starts, they should get a good workout with our initial slate of LSSU, Goofs, @DU, and Omaha.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

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

A few notes, per Stephen Anderson's Twitter page. He interviewed Pearson, so I assume we can expect to see that in a DMG article this week. Tech had their first captain-led practice today. He focused on the freshmen. "Hyland, Petan, Kharia, Gould...talent level obviously high...2 things quickly apparent: Speed & skill with puck."

[crazytechfan]

It would be much easier if they said on the website who is a center. I went back to last years stats to see who took faceoffs. Yeah, that's not the end-all, be-all, but its all I could think of at the time. And my wings might be messed up, I'm not sure who will play on which wing.

D. Johnstone - B. Pietila - Gordic
Furne - J. Johnstone - Khaira
Gould - Kero - Petan
Lickteig - Rix - C. Pietila

Regular Reserves: A. Pietila, Eick, Holmberg
Probably won't see much ice time: Hietala, Anderson

Seigo - Sweeney
Sova - Stebner
Nielson - Fillion
Regular Reserves: Hyland, Brown
Probably won't see much ice time: Davis

Goalies:
Any of the 3 could emerge, with the early favorite being Genoe, simply because he's a senior.


Waiting for Boosh...

He doesn't post anymore.

[bigblue_dl]

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

After doing some creepin' on some other threads...my jaw hit the floor in the Hockey East tournament thread...they actually think that the Hockey East tournament is better than the Final 5. They sure make some disillusioned people out east!

[UpNorthHockey]

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

My crystal ball for the season:

Goal:

Genoe will open the season but will rotate with Phillips and Copley until one stands out. I think Phillips 50%, Copley 30%, Genoe 20% by year end.

Defense:

Seigo/Sweeney
Sova/Fillion
Nielsen/Stebner

Hyland will give Sweeney competition but won't see much ice time
Davis and Brown will see very limited ice unless they really light it up in practice, each might play in season opener

Forwards:

DJohnstone/BPietila/Khaira
JJohnstone/Furne/Petan
Kero/Gordic/Gould
Rix/Eick/CPietila

Eick and Lickteig will rotate on 4th line
Chad and Aaron Pietila will rotate on 4th line
Holmberg Hietala and Anderson will not see much ice time

Freshman predictions:
Khaira will live up to his billing - 30 points
Petan will be better than expected - 25 points
Gould will have a 20 point season
Eick will have a 6 point season
Hyland will not crack the top 6 D this year

Look for BPietila, Furne and the Johnstones to have big years

Tech will sweep LSSU/NMU and deep scoring lineup will help Tech finish above .500.

[JOHN SCOTT ROCKS]

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

I don't care about the D pairings, but going off your centers I would make a couple changes:

D. Johnstone - B. Pietila - Khaira (huge upside)
Furne - Kero - Gordic (I want K & G working together)
Lickteig (experience) - J. Johnstone - Petan
fourth line: earn it boys.

Pearson's been talking up Gould as a player who could have gone to any school he wanted but chose tech; to not include in the top 2 lines or at very least top 3 seems a little silly.

[JOHN SCOTT ROCKS]

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

My crystal ball for the season:

Goal:

Genoe will open the season but will rotate with Phillips and Copley until one stands out. I think Phillips 50%, Copley 30%, Genoe 20% by year end.

Defense:

Seigo/Sweeney
Sova/Fillion
Nielsen/Stebner

Hyland will give Sweeney competition but won't see much ice time
Davis and Brown will see very limited ice unless they really light it up in practice, each might play in season opener

Forwards:

DJohnstone/BPietila/Khaira
JJohnstone/Furne/Petan
Kero/Gordic/Gould
Rix/Eick/CPietila

Eick and Lickteig will rotate on 4th line
Chad and Aaron Pietila will rotate on 4th line
Holmberg Hietala and Anderson will not see much ice time

Freshman predictions:
Khaira will live up to his billing - 30 points
Petan will be better than expected - 25 points
Gould will have a 20 point season
Eick will have a 6 point season
Hyland will not crack the top 6 D this year

Look for BPietila, Furne and the Johnstones to have big years

Tech will sweep LSSU/NMU and deep scoring lineup will help Tech finish above .500.

I find it humorous that the consensus seems to be that it's going to be "difficult" to crack the top six on Techs D corp yet with essentially the same corp. Fillion stepped in at the halfway point last year and became a top four. Why, because he's mobile and can move the puck. If Hyland is mobile and can move the puck, he'll have no problem cracking their top six D. BTW, Davis is mobile and can move the puck; he does need game experience to improve his decision making but to think he doesn't have a chance at the top six I believe is over estimating Techs D.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

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

The D is the hardest to predict. Some would say goaltending is our greatest concern, but IMO our biggest barrier to home ice in the WCHA playoffs is the defense and special teams. I don't think anyone's 'Top 6' spot is totally safe, except for Seigo. Our PP started well enough, but faded a bit down the stretch - it needs to be over 20% all year. I feel the coaching staff will be implementing other facets to our PP this year which should help. Our PK was much improved at 81-82% percent, but it still needs a lot of work - ideally it should be 85%+. A combination of improvement and taking fewer penalties should be the main objectives in upping that percentage this year.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

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

Here are this week's additions to the collection and I promise one more great item will arrive hopefully no later than Monday.
(Hint - It's not a jersey... but it was worn above the waist so don't bother guessing some D-man's jock that posted a -6 some game and left it on the ice.):

This is one of the last missing game worn styles for the modern era of my collection dating all the way back to the late 1980s. Still missing are the 1993-94 home jersey (one year style) and any of the throwbacks worn for GLI games (given to the players). The jersey style below was used 2003-06, however this #13 jersey was only used 2004-05 (Batovanja, then changed to an odd looking non-matching #17 after Ellsworth left who took his white jersey) and was used again in 2005-06 (Angelow). The interesting part is that in 2006 when these jerseys first became available I passed on several of them because I was so frustrated that every one I saw had the name removed and was team signed. However the next two years, the same thing was done for all the jerseys and since they were all going to be this way I realized I had no choice but to add these modified items to the collection. I'm glad to get this one now to fill in the gap left when I passed these over many years ago.



Since I have added the above jersey to my collection, I will make the jersey below available to someone else. I will sell it for $175 including shipping to anywhere in the lower 48. This jersey should have been worn by Clay Wilson during these years, but for whatever reason I see no signs that this jersey was ever worn. Maybe he decided to wear a different size? I think it was even signed at a different time than the other jerseys of this style as all the signatures are higher up on the jersey than the others. See the link that follows for a list of who signed the jersey (25 in all) but it includes among others NHLers John Scott, Chris Conner and Clay Wilson. Since it was not worn, it is very clean and would be a great jersey to display or wear to games if you're not into the "filth" of game used jerseys.
http://www.johnsonsjerseys.net/hocke...ips.html#2006H

FOR SALE: $175


Lastly we have this USHL jersey from current Huskies D-man Dan Sova worn during his last year with the Waterloo Blackhawks when he served as an alternate captain.
Enjoy the history,
Ryan J