David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech’s Logan Pietila (13) fires a shot during a game against Northern Michigan earlier this season in Houghton. Trenton Bliss (28) offers support.

HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech hockey coach Joe Shawhan honored 10 different Huskies with the program’s annual team awards. Senior goaltender Matt Jurusik received the Merv Youngs Award as the most valuable player.

Jurusik was named to the All-WCHA Third Team after he ranked third in the WCHA in save percentage (.924), goals-against average (2.06), and wins (19). He was also ninth in the nation with 2,702 career saves and ninth in the country this season with his 19 wins. Jurusik was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month for December and was twice the WCHA Goaltender of the Week. He had 10 games where he made at least 30 saves with all 10 being Tech wins. He shutout Robert Morris on October 6 with 25 saves and Ferris State on February 15 with 36 saves. He ended his career not surrendering a goal in his last 69:08 after sweeping Northern Michigan in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs.

Trenton Bliss and Alec Broetzman shared the Gary Crosby Memorial Award as the leading scorers of the Huskies after the sophomore forwards tallied 27 points. Broetzman led the Huskies with 16 goals and added 11 assists. Bliss scored 12 goals and added 15 assists. Both were named to the WCHA All-Academic Team.

Broetzman had a hat trick at Robert Morris on October 6 as part of a five-point game. He was named WCHA Forward of the Week after the season-opening sweep. He tallied four points in the series against Clarkson in December and three points in the Winter Carnival finale against Lake Superior State and again at NMU on February 28.

Bliss tallied a hat trick at Northern on February 28 and had a pair of four-game point streaks. He was named WCHA Forward of the Week after scoring three goals, including a pair of game-winners, at Lake Superior State in November. Bliss had six multi-point games and was named to the GLI All-Tournament Team after a goal and two assists as the Huskies won their 11th GLI title on December 31.

Senior co-captain Alex Smith was honored with the George McCarthy Performance Award for Scholastic and Athletic Achievement. Smith was named to the WCHA All-Academic Team for the third straight season. He appeared in all 39 games in 2019-20 and tallied a career-high 23 points on seven goals and 13 assists. Smith was third in the nation with 485 faceoff wins and seventh in the country in career games played with 155. He also led the team with a plus-12 rating. Smith scored the game-winning goal in overtime against LSSU in the Winter Carnival finale as part of a three-point game. He also had a goal and an assist at NMU on February 28 and a pair of assists at Robert Morris (Oct. 7) and Arizona State (Jan. 4).

Senior co-captain Raymond Brice received the Harold Meese Sportsmanship Award. He scored a career-high six goals this season with the Huskies going 5-0-1 in those games. He scored the game-winning goal at Alaska on November 30. Brice was named to the WCHA All-Academic Team for the third straight season.

Logan Pietila was honored with the Norbert Matovich Memorial Outstanding Freshman Award. Pietila skated in all 39 games and was seventh amongst WCHA rookies with 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists. He was named the WCHA Rookie of the Month for December after being the MVP of the GLI. Pietila had a hat trick in the GLI Championship Game as the Huskies won their 11th title after defeating Michigan and Michigan State for the first time in tournament history. He also scored the game-winning goal in triple overtime in Game 2 of the WCHA First Round to defeat NMU and end the second-longest game in program history. He was named WCHA Rookie of the Week after the first round where he had a goal and three assists in the series. Pietila also scored the game-winner at Arizona State (Jan. 5) and assisted on the game-winning goal five times. He led WCHA rookies with his three game-winning goals.

Sophomore defenseman Colin Swoyer was the choice for the Gitzen-Loutit Memorial Award as the outstanding defensive player. Swoyer appeared in all 39 games and led the team with 17 assists while scoring four goals. He was second with 56 blocked shots which was sixth in the WCHA. He was named the WCHA Defenseman of the Week after a three-point weekend in a sweep at Ferris State, including two goals on February 15. Swoyer had a four-game point streak and a pair of three-game point streaks. He was also named to the WCHA All-Academic Team.

The Elov Seger Memorial Most Improved Player Award went to Tommy Parrottino. The sophomore forward was second on the team with 14 goals and added seven assists for 21 points. He was named the WCHA Forward of the Week on March 9 after scoring four goals in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs. Parrottino had a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 1, including the game-winner, and then scored again in Game 2. He also had a natural hat trick on October 26 in a 4-2 win at Bowling Green. His third game-winner was scored on February 14 at Ferris State. Parrottino ended the season on a four-game point streak with five goals and three assists.

Junior forward Justin Misiak was recognized with the Rick Yeo Unsung Hero Award. He appeared in all 39 games and tallied 11 points with two goals and nine assists. Misiak assisted on the game-winning goal four times, including in the GLI Championship Game and the triple-overtime Game 2 when the Huskies swept NMU out of the WCHA Playoffs. Misiak was also named to the WCHA All-Academic Team.

Tyrell Buckley led the team with a 3.82 grade-point average in Psychology and received the John MacInnes Slide Rule Award. The sophomore defenseman was named a WCHA Scholar-Athlete and to the WCHA All-Academic Team. Buckley appeared in three games in 2019-20.

Merv Youngs Award (Team MVP)

The award is named after Merv Youngs, a journalist and editor for the Daily Mining Gazette. Youngs is credited with convincing Doc Gibson to join and organize the Portage Lake hockey organization.

Gary Crosby Memorial Award (Leading Scorer)

The award is named after Gary Crosby who led Tech in scoring his sophomore season and was drafted and signed by the LA Kings after the season. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident soon after. He played 67 games for the Huskies from 1970-72.

Harold Meese Sportsmanship Award

The award is named after Harold Meese, a professor and dean of students at Michigan Tech from 1947-83. He was an active supporter of the Huskies and has a sportsmanship award named in his honor across all sports teams. Meese was inducted into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

George McCarthy Performance Award for Scholastic and Athletic Achievement

The award is named after the late George McCarthy, a former hockey player and member of Michigan Tech’s Sports Hall of Fame. McCarthy played for the Huskies from 1935-38 and was named the team MVP all three seasons.

John MacInnes Slide Rule Award

The award is named after legendary hockey coach John MacInnes who had a record of 555-295-39 from 1956-82. MacInnes was most proud of the fact that 94 percent of his hockey letter winners graduated with degrees. He won three NCAA Championships as head coach of the Huskies and is in the US Hockey Hall of Fame, UP Sports Hall of Fame, and Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Gitzen-Loutit Memorial Award (Outstanding defensive player)

An annual award since the 1957-58 season, the Gitzen-Loutit Memorial Hockey Award, is presented each year to Tech’s most outstanding hockey defenseman in their honor. Robert Gitzen played hockey for Tech from 1949-50. He and team manager Dick Loutit, were killed in a bus accident while the team was traveling home from a series at Michigan State on January 14, 1950.

Rick Yeo Unsung Hero Award

The award is named after Rick Yeo who played hockey for Tech from 1963-66, winning the NCAA Championship in 1965. He was also an assistant coach for Tech from 1973-76 and then the Athletic Director from 1990-2005. He was inducted into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

Norbert Matovich Memorial Outstanding Freshman Award

The award is named after Norbert Matovich who was a freshman hockey player from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1966 he was killed in a car accident over Christmas break.

Elov Seger Memorial Most Improved Player Award

The award is named after Elov Seger, who passed away in the mid-sixties as a result of a brain tumor. Throughout his career, he battled against great odds and was always successful. He played for Tech from 1959-62 and was an All-American in 1962 when the Huskies won the NCAA Championship. He was inducted into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.