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Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

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Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

I'm from New England so I'll post about there later but hotels in n h much cheaper, as are rental cars
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

I didn't notice the Kaiser/handshake deal. May have to go back and rewatch. Was it just a conversation between Mel and him?
I did notice Mel's long conversation with the ref after the Sat game.

Mel Pearson Show summary for 1-26:
Bottom line, have to find a way to get points, hats off to our players, injuries & getting behind etc, they continued to play hard and found a way to get 2 Ws
Have to be careful with getting behind, our 1st period goals for is our worst by a margin, can't say we play poorly, just can't score
We need to start scoring and getting/playing with lead, but we don't panic
Some teams sit on the lead, pack it in defensively, as coaches need to try and change it up to get away from that, look at everything
Thought they'd be hard fought/close games, a lot of credit to Muckalt, Shawhan, Shelast for bringing along other players that are playing now due to injuries, P. Anderson/Vallis
Patrick Anderson-he's a plus player, he works hard no matter situation, he'll only get better with more games
A lot of conversation goes into deciding who gets in like Anderson/Vallis, want to do right thing for individuals and team, biggest thing is putting players in that have earned it

On Friday:
0-0 after 1, 1st time this year we were sluggish/flat didn't have the energy even though decent 1st period
1-0, L'Esperance, good breakout by Liebinger, big goal, put other team on their heals, but then penalty, L'Esperance slashing, shoot ourselves in foot
1-1, UAF PPG, a little blown coverage on PK, had 2 D and both backed off maybe thinking the other one had the UAF guy
1-2, Morley backdoor, took a penalty in a tied 3rd period game, have to manage game better, concerns Mel most
1-3, big goal by UAF, bang-bang play
Could tell not a lot was going our way at that point, penalties etc
2-3, Petan PPG, there was some contact in front of the net, but fortunate it counted, their guy pushed Tech near goalie, gave us the spark we needed
We'll look back at these 2 points and see that these points really helped us.
3-3, L'Esperance 39 secs later, good for Joel he's played well and hasn't had the points, their D makes a bad pass behind the net, he carries it out front
Talked to our team about GB/Seattle game, have to play til the end, don't know what's going to happen
Good for our players, really like this team sticks with it
4-3, Pietila OT game winner, L'Esperance kept it alive, Gould's pass had to be perfect for Blake, good/quick shot by Blake, good play
Good for Blake, he's skating, things are going in for him, blocking shots, taking less penalties

On Saturday:
Our team was more dialed in and ready to go
Unfortunate news that Eick couldn't play, no Neville/Heinonen/Johnstone, glad Vallis was ready to go
Our team had a good game, but thought it'd be another tough game, UAF only been swept once on road, and had always gotten at least a point against top 25 teams
Team more energized in morning meeting, we moved the puck better, skated better, better forecheck, better breakouts
0-1, Morley PPG, point shot got through, 1 Dmen in front of net and 2 UAF forwards
Had a few PP before that but looked sloppy
1-1, Leibinger, needed something to get us back in the game, good patience and wrist shot
1-2, UAF scores less than 1 min to play in 1st, Leibinger tried to get it out, couldn't and trapped, have to learn from those
Intense locker room, Mel is fairly positive, but we talked a lot of team defense, felt we got away from that, disappointed, they're like our kids, want to work with them and get them better
2-2, Pietila PPG, one-timer from Gould, perfect pass, much better 2nd period
Good defensively that 2nd period, Wintjes was in that period, didn't like the 2nd goal by Jamie, felt team needed that spark
3-2, Kero GWG, good forecheck, created offense off that, good play by Baltus to see Tanner there, Kero/Petan playing well, Baltus a good part of that line, he gives everything every night, happy for him
What was the reason they reviewed that goal? Didn't get a reason. Bothers Mel, fans/players into it, then stoppage. Supposedly the goalie told the linesman to review the goal. Can anyone ask for a review these days? no idea, ref is right there, should've said no

On UAH this weekend:
Swept northern a few weeks ago
They don't give up much, will be low scoring/tight checking
Friday night is season ticket holder appreciation night, for season ticket holders, free popcorn, free GA ticket to upcoming Northern game, free hockey Tshirt with $25 purchase
Saturday junior hockey night, skate with the huskies, $5 for youth tickets

Tonight: Huskies night out, coaches talking at the Rock House? Great opportunity to be up close with coaches.

Questions for Mel:

What are your thoughts On 4x4 play this year?
We've been better. Early in year, just OK. Defensively we were giving up too much. Need to get better.

After Saturday, what was convo with refs?
Late in the game, they iced the puck. During race to the puck, ref waved off icing even though Roy was clearly ahead of UAF.
He also called a major on ice earlier in the year, on a play that shouldn't have been a minor. Just ref the game fair.
It can influence the game.

Is coach satisfied with reffing this weekend?
Yes, they did a good job. Two of better refs in college hockey. Don't always agree, but it's a judgment thing. Overall a real good job.

Concern about Phillips confidence?
Not playing as well. Could be confidence/Technique/work ethic/breaks, he has to find his game. Shawhan can work on it. He's not playing poorly, been good Fridays, getting away from him Sat. A lot is mental, some physical.

Does Jamie have to learn to play through bad goals?
Yes, just like a team does. Next shift is important after a bad goal. Put it in the past, shake it off.
Jamie's fine.

It appears #23 Kaiser, had an aggressive hand shake with Mel?
Not give a lot of details, in 33 years, usually after Sat Mel's shaken whole teams hands win/loss. There's been chippy/hot games.
Never had a player make the comments he made to Mel, will leave it at that. Talked to our team about it after, never want a call from another coach about our player saying something to another team's coach.
You win with class, more importantly you lose with class.
All other players on their team were fantastic. Frustrating year with no post-season.

If 1980-81 Huskies played 2014-15 what would game be like?
Players are so much better, conditioning, training, speed. Custom sticks these days. That 80/81 team might find a way to win. Won 29 games that year, good team.

Pietila be better taking faceoff and going to wing?
He's on a roll now. Like him at C to get involved defensively, more freedom to go get puck. At wing can get locked near wall. With structure of team, not deep at C with Neville out. He's in right position.
He's got versatility, not sure where he'll end up as a pro.

When do you expect Johnstone/Neville back?
Neville is skating. Possible this weekend.
Johnstone cleared to play. Just has some pain, up to him for when to tell coaches he's ready. He played really well last game at Northern.

Feedback from recruits you're brining in. What do they think of atmosphere?
Awesome, we had a kid in, can't say name but he committed before he left. enjoyed whole experience.

Sturos hasn't shown up on score sheet lately. How has he graded out otherwise?
Pretty good, Saturday was one of his better games. Did a lot more things this weekend. Needs to continue to work hard. Stick with it, he'll be fine.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

Interesting about the handshake stuff, my honest feeling is nothing more should be said between an opposing player and coach other than good game and good luck, that's the respectful way to do it, I am curious about going back and rewatching to see if I see anything as well. I do know Dirk mentioned that handshakes were going slow and there may have been words but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary other than Mel talking to the ref afterwards.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

Fun fact for the week. With a sweep this weekend Mel Pearson would tie Bob Mancini with the 4th most wins as head coach in program history. Boxer & Russell are both within reach as well this season.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

stuckinwi said:
Yes, but it opens up the chance for MSU and UND to be in Fargo, and us then in SB.
Click to expand...

If you're thinking that UND could slip to a 2 seed, there's no reason why Mankato, UND and Tech couldn't be the 1-3 seeds in that region. Mankato and UND being 1-2 does not mean much for where Tech could be, unless Tech is a 4 seed, then they couldn't be matched up with MSU as a 1.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

Regarding Jagger Williamson...
Biddco said:
Does he have moves like Jagger?
Click to expand...
More importantly, does he have moves like Jagr (from ANY decade he played)?
bigblue_dl said:
Here's the travel situation at this point:
Click to expand...
It's official, bigblue_dl will be serving as travel agent for all Huskies fans once our seeding is set. I won't even have to use Kayak with this type of info at my fingertips.

Ryan J
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

JohnsonsJerseys said:
Regarding Jagger Williamson...
More importantly, does he have moves like Jagr (from ANY decade he played)?

It's official, bigblue_dl will be serving as travel agent for all Huskies fans once our seeding is set. I won't even have to use Kayak with this type of info at my fingertips.

Ryan J
Click to expand...
Here's the hint, use ITA Matrix.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

<3_Blizzard said:
Fun fact for the week. With a sweep this weekend Mel Pearson would tie Bob Mancini with the 4th most wins as head coach in program history. Boxer & Russell are both within reach as well this season.
Click to expand...

It's really scary that Jamie Russell is #2 on the all time wins list when he had all of 1 winning season and IIRC all of 2 seasons with more than 10 wins even.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

<3_Blizzard said:
Fun fact for the week. With a sweep this weekend Mel Pearson would tie Bob Mancini with the 4th most wins as head coach in program history. Boxer & Russell are both within reach as well this season.
Click to expand...
Some additional thoughts on this subject: There are only TWO coaches in the history of MTU hockey with winning career records - MacInnes and Mike Fay who coached the 1921-22 team to a 8-3-1 record in his only season as head coach. There is also a pretty darn good chance that Mel will be #2 in wins all-time by the end of this season. If he does this, he will also have an overall winning record as a head coach at Tech. As of today his career record is 61-65-16.

Here is the short list of most career wins as a head coach at MTU:
555 MacInnes
then a bit of a gap to
70 Russell (eight seasons of 8, 8, 7, 18, 14, 6, 5, 4 wins along with 197 losses)
66 Boxer (five seasons)
63 Mancini (four seasons)
61 PEARSON (Started season #4 with 43)
58 Renfrew (five seasons)
56 Nahrgang (three seasons)
 
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Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

The recruiting list grows, Malcolom Gould's younger brother (turns 19 in April), Gavin Gould committed.

He's currently 2nd on the team in scoring with 18-29-47 in 44 games. He's also 21st in the league.
 
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Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

Shirtless Guy said:
The recruiting list grows, Malcolom Gould's younger brother (turns 18 in April), Gavin Gould committed.

He's currently 2nd on the team in scoring with 18-29-47 in 44 games. He's also 21st in the league.
Click to expand...

Turns 19 in April, but he's 5th in BCHL scoring amongst players under 19.

Now let's get Gerald Fabbro's grandson.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

<3_Blizzard said:
Fun fact for the week. With a sweep this weekend Mel Pearson would tie Bob Mancini with the 4th most wins as head coach in program history. Boxer & Russell are both within reach as well this season.
Click to expand...

With a sweep, Michigan Tech would also reach the 20-win mark for the first time since 1988.
 
Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

I have to say I'm pretty happy!. No check that, I'm REAL happy. I expected us to be competitive after Coach Pearson was hired, but we are much more than that, and it appears we will be better for a long time to come.

If I might be permitted though, we have to get the puck deep more. Too often we turn it over mid ice, and we are going to get burned if we keep doing that. Second, the breakout has to be better. Lots of times we are working just to get it out, instead of working to get a scoring chance. We have to have better puck movement in our own end. Sometimes it looks like we are not patient enough, and we really struggle with the real heavy forecheck some teams put on.

Third, the special teams have to be better. And Forth, we have to be more creative once we do get a rush going. We are too predictable with the puck and we don't move it around enough. To me, the key is to get the defenders confused, and end up with one of them out of position. Heinonen did a real good job of that on that winning goal vs Duluth, but we could do a lot better.

Overall though, I like our team;)
 
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Re: Michigan Tech, best season in 30 years, part two!

stuckinwi said:
16 seems a bit young doesn't it?
Click to expand...

Just for comparison, Joel L'Esperance committed when he was 16. We also have 4 other recruits that committed when they were 16 or younger
Tristan Rostagno (15)
Travis Brown (16)
Jake Kauppila (16)
Jake Gingell (16)

redwing61 said:
Turns 19 in April, but he's 5th in BCHL scoring amongst players under 19.

Now let's get Gerald Fabbro's grandson.
Click to expand...

you are correct, sorry.
 
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