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Kiilunen ready for larger role with Huskies

Dave Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech’s Todd Kiilunen (21) celebrates a goal during Winter Carnival with Dane Birks (4), Dylan Steman (8), Jake Jackson (10) and Thomas Beretta (13).

HOUGHTON — With losing six defensemen over the past two seasons to graduation or professional contracts, fans are asking themselves who will protect the space in front of the net this season. That job falls on a relatively untested group of defenders which features one junior and one redshirt sophomore along with a group of sophomores who saw varying amounts of ice time last season.

One of the elder statesmen by default is Brighton native Todd Kiilunen. He is looking to make the most of his third season in Black and Gold, while still having three years of eligibility left.

The mechanical engineering major comes in with 18 games under his belt. He knows that the road in front of him is not an easy one, but he feels that he is ready to contribute to whatever head coach Joe Shawhan asks him to.

“This is my third year here, so I have some experience,” Kiilunen said. “I think we have a good group of guys this year. I think we’re just working hard right now to get ready for our first weekend against (Minnesota-)Duluth, then hopefully we’ll get off on the right foot and have a good start to the year.”

The lefthanded defender picked up just one assist last season, in his first career game at Alaska. Not known for his offense prowess, the 5-foot-11, 189-pound Kiilunen has proven to be a 200-foot player with more of a focus on his own end first.

“I came on the team as a walk on my freshman year and I didn’t get any playing time,” he said. “I just worked on getting better every day. My sophomore season, I worked my way into the lineup for 18 games. I think I gained a lot of experience in that.”

Kiilunen is entering the ranks of an upperclassman and is hoping to etch a more permanent spot on the roster. He joins junior transfer Keegan Ford, who is returning to action after missing half of the 2017-18 campaign with a knee injury, as players with more than one season of college hockey work under their belts. “Moving into this year, I’m continuing to work to get better (by) establishing a permanent role in the lineup (while) doing whatever I can to help the team,” Kiilunen said.

With the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs coming to Houghton fresh off winning the Frozen Four last season, it will be important that the Huskies use their collective team speed and their attention to the little things that make teams successful, as the Bulldogs will be hungry to defend their title.

“I think after last year’s success we’ve just got to keep a lot of those good things going that we had, especially in the playoffs,” said Kiilunen. “We were really clicking.

“We (just need to) play with a lot of pace to start the year. We have a good (first) opponent, so we just want to play fast and detail-oriented and get off on the right foot. I think that will help help carry over our success from last year.”

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