David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech forward Trevor Kukkonen attempts a shot during a game against Clarkson Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — With a sweep at home to open the season and then getting swept two weeks later, the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team has opened their season 2-2 This weekend, they begin their defense of the Mason Cup, awarded to the CCHA playoff champion, by facing their most familiar rivals, the Northern Michigan Wildcats.

While the Huskies did not have the same kind of success last weekend against Clarkson that they had against Alaska to open the season, coach Joe Shawhan felt better about the progress his team was making.

“From a coaching standpoint, obviously, you want different results,” he said. “But, I came out of both of those games this weekend with every indicator that we’re a much better team than we were Saturday night, and overall, against Alaska.

“Against Alaska, the first night, the first two periods were okay. We had a really good third period. We hoped that that would parlay into a good game Saturday night. And it, you know, and it didn’t. We won the game. But win or lose, I saw more long-lasting achievements and growth this past weekend than I did prior to that.”

Part of the reason for that excitement was the play of the line of junior Trevor Kukkonen, freshman Tom Leppa, and sophomore Lauri Raiman.

“That group, as a unit, had good synergy,” Shawhan said. “I mean, they led us in virtually every statistical category that lends itself to driving offense, and is indicative of strong defensive play. The only real time that that line had any trouble on the weekend was when a different centerman was there out there in place of Leppa for whatever reason, a face off, or something, a mismatched line off of an icing where we were in the middle of a change or whatever it might be. So, that line has synergy. The sum of the work of the group is more than the individual part.”

The only thing that the unit did not do was score a goal, although they were on the ice for the Huskies’ lone goal on Saturday when alternate captain Chase Pietila scored.

“That line as a whole, we’d like to take some of them and put them with some other players, try to get other players going,” said Shawhan. “But, we don’t want to take away from their growth either, because at some point, I think, I look at “Kukks’ in practice, he’s scoring goals in practice. “I said to him yesterday, ‘Now listen, look what you’re doing here. Do it in the game. You’re getting the same looks, same things. Why not? You know what I mean? Why not? What’s the limit? Don’t limit yourself because now it’s a game, and I’m not used to doing this.'”

The Huskies have scored just six goals in the first four games. Shawhan feels that his group has the ability to score much more than that, but right now it needs some work.

“We do have a couple guys that you’d expect to get things out of, but they have to find their game,” he said. “They have to figure out their game and develop the synergy. You can’t float around.

“There’s a lot that goes into creating a scoring chance. We have guys right now that are, when they’re not the guy immediately on the puck, they’re drifting to areas where they want somebody to get them the puck. (Which is) tough to do at times. At other times, we have the ability to (get the puck there). We certainly have the time and space to get the puck to guys so that they should be getting open, but guys are showing the ability to do that.”

While saying that, Shawhan is also quick to point out that he does not believe his skilled players are not trying to do what they can do best.

“It’s not that the effort’s not there,” he said. “It’s figuring out the game, because if they don’t, they risk gripping the stick tight, getting nervous, and, going into a bit of a shell where in their mind, they’re working a million miles an hour. But, really, what we’re seeing on the ice is not a million miles an hour. When you have confidence in your game, and you can dissect it, and understand, and you have a good understanding and a good foundation of the game, a good structure, at the base level, everything will fall into place.”

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

After a pair of losses to Arizona State last weekend, the Wildcats come into this weekend 1-5 on the season. Despite being picked near the bottom of the CCHA, Northern Michigan, as Shawhan feels, is better than their record shows.

“When I look at it, I don’t think there’s a lot of difference between us and Northern overall,” he said. “Now, we have a little bit more experience, you would say, at a couple of positions. But, in overall productivity, how they’re playing, and how they play, I think that the weekend’s a toss-up. I think they probably feel the same way. They feel they’re playing against really good teams. They’re defending well. They’re playing hard. They’re controlling some play, and they’re getting it from their depth. We’re doing the same thing.”

Sophomore defenseman Tynan Ewart leads the team in scoring with one goal and four points in six games. Sophomore forward Tanner Latsch is tied for the team lead in goals (2), and has three points so far. Freshman defenseman Joe Schiller also has three assists in his first four collegiate games.

Senior goaltender Ryan Ouellette has taken over the net. While his stats say he should be finding more success, it has not happened quite yet. He is 1-4 in five starts with a 2.42 goals against average and a .941 save percentage.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Wildcats will face off Friday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette at 7:07 p.m. Saturday, the two teams will come up to Houghton to battle at 6:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.