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Tech looks forward to playing in front of fans at the 53rd GLI

Michigan Tech’s Justin Misiak keeps the possession from Lake Superior State’s Kyle Chatham, Dec. 15, 2017 at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. (Daily Mining Gazette/David Archambeau)

HOUGHTON — It’s no secret that Michigan Tech loves its home crowd. When the Huskies play at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena, the energy is palpable. The black and gold clad fans come in all shapes and sizes, from Tech graduates to the Mitch’s Misfits, to community members and families. But regardless of age or situation, they all cheer for the Huskies, something that coach Joe Shawhan has come to appreciate over the years.

That is one of the reasons he is looking forward to hitting the road for the 53rd annual Great Lakes Invitational on Jan. 1 and 2.

Tech will face a new opponent, Michigan State, and play at a different arena at Little Caesars, but the crowd will be packed with familiar faces when the teams square off on Jan. 1 at 2:30 p.m.

“We always draw well here,” Shawhan said. “There are a lot of Michigan Tech grads here because of the automotive industry and the different engineering endeavors. For some reason, when we come here it feels like we are the home team; the crowd is always in our favor.”

Plus, with several players from downstate on the roster, the Huskies will get a chance to play in front of friends and family, upping the ante.

“They know about this tournament, they grow up knowing about it, coming to watch it, so especially for the young guys to get a chance to play in it will be a lot of fun for them,” Shawhan said.

But even with the crowds and the added excitement, Tech will have its hands full with Michigan State, especially after coming off such a long break. The Huskies played their last game on Dec. 16, recording a tie against Lake Superior State. Tech picked up a much-needed extra WCHA point on a Jake Jackson shootout goal, putting them in second place in the standings. Still, the game left Shawhan disappointed.

“Hopefully we just needed a break,” he said. “We didn’t play poorly, we just didn’t have the jump, but maybe part of that as well was Lake Superior and how hard they played. Right now, everyone is happy to be back and happy to see each other, so hopefully, the excitement of being back, excitement of this new building and the crowd will create energy for us.”

Tech will use the tournament, which also features Michigan and Bowling Green State, to work on revamping its power play. The Huskies struggled early in the season to score on the advantage and saw the issue reemerge against LSSU. They were 1 for 8 in the two-game series.

Tech and Michigan State are nearly identical when it comes to special teams. Tech scores on 18 percent of power-play opportunities, and MSU scores on 21 percent. Both teams kill 80 percent of their opponents’ chances.

Tech’s personnel, however, may hold a slight advantage over the Spartans. MSU relies on five players to do nearly all of its scoring: Mitch Lewandowski and Taro Hirose have 21 points this season, Patrick Khodorenko has 15, and Cody Milan and Carson Gatt each have 11. After that, no player has more than five points.

But the Huskies have eight players with double-digit points and four more with at least seven.

“We know that they have a good nucleus of players that they play a lot,” Shawhan said. “They play their top line a lot, so it can be very difficult to match lines with them because if you do that then you will be really limiting and shortening your bench.”

Shawhan certainly has high hopes for his top line — Brent Baltus, Jackson and Alex Smith — but he doesn’t plan to match them up with MSU’s top line exclusively. Instead, while the Spartans shorten their bench, Shawhan is hoping to take advantage of his team’s depth.

Tech (9-7-5) serves as the tournament’s host and has appeared in the GLI all 52 times, winning 10 of those and finishing second 15 times. Michigan State (8-9-1) has participated 44 times, with 12 first-place awards and 14 second-place finishes.

INJURY REPORT

Sophomore defenseman Keegan Ford is out for the season after having ACL surgery. He was injured during Tech’s game against LSSU on Dec. 16. Ford played in all 21 of Tech’s games thus far, with eight points (seven assists and one goal).

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