(Photo Illustration by Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette; David Archambeau/Photo for The Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With a scrimmage against their biggest rival, Northern Michigan, the Michigan Tech Huskies team had a chance to experience something for the first time in nearly a year, a loud, raucous MacInnes Student Ice Arena crowd.

For the Huskies, getting to play at home, even if the game did not mean anything standings-wise, and hear their home crowd cheer them on, was worth every second of action.

“It was fun to get back into having the crowd there,” said Huskies head coach Joe Shawhan in an interview with Dirk Hembroff Monday morning on Mix 93 FM. “The crowd was outstanding, in the game, the entire game. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the game.”

The regular season gets underway this weekend as the Huskies visit the Wisconsin Badgers. Puck drop is 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center.

Huskies hit the road

The Badgers took part in a scrimmage last Saturday, falling 4-2 to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in Chippewa Falls.

This weekend will be the first time the Badgers have faced a CCHA team since losing to the Bemidji State Beavers in the NCAA Tournament in the spring. The Badgers lost several players from that squad, either to professional contracts or to transfers. The Badgers added one player — Michigan Tech sophomore transfer Carson Bantle, but he will not play because of injury.

The Badgers had four players score 31 or more points last season, but none of them returned for this season. The highest-scoring returning scorer is senior forward Roman Ahcan. Ahcan scored nine goals and 22 points in 26 games last season. 

Senior forward Brock Caufield, older brother of Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield, also returns. He scored seven goals and 17 points last season.

A sophomore who could have a big impact for the Badgers this season is Sam Stange. He potted six goals and one assist last season. He also scored against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

A freshman who carries big expectations is defenseman Corson Ceulemans. A draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ceulemans helped Team Canada win gold at the U18 World Championships in Frisco, Texas, scoring a goal and eight points in six games.

In goal, the Badgers feature a duo in sophomore Cameron Rowe, who split time with former Huskies netminder Robbie Beydoun last season, and junior transfer Jared Moe. 

Rowe went 9-2-1 last season with a 2.00 goals against average. Moe went 7-5-1 as a freshman with a 2.46 goals against average, making the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Last season, he saw action in just three games, going 2-0-0 with a 3.45 goals against average.

Lessons learned

In the game itself, the Huskies found themselves down 2-0 just over six and a half minutes into the contest, but found a way to fight back, getting goals from newcomer Tyrone Bronte and junior winger Logan Ganie before the first period came to a close.

“We were being outshot 7-1 and we were down 2-0 before we really had a chance to get through all of our line combinations,” Shawhan said.

Early in the third, the Huskies got goals from sophomore center Arvid Caderoth and junior winger Tristan Ashbrook just 61 seconds apart to start the period. Unfortunately, the Wildcats got a power play goal a little over five minutes later to even things.

While they did not have the final outcome they wanted, Shawhan and his staff were able to use the scrimmage to see which players might quickly develop some chemistry together.

“We mixed a lot,” he said. “We wanted to take looks at different combinations, different people playing with different people.”

Player development

What was important for Shawhan was getting to evaluate where players are in their development.

“What I really wanted to see out of that game, what I wanted to see first of all, were the players that took a step,” he said. “We know what some players can do…Are they developing? Are they getting better? We did see that. I also wanted to see, in a big way, the transfer players that we had coming in, see how they performed.

“You see one thing in practice from a lot of guys. You really want to see what they can do in the game.”

Two players who Shawhan felt showed that they had taken strides were junior center Parker Saretsky and senior winger Brian Halonen.

“Overall, I very much liked his energy level,” said Shawhan when asked about Saretsky. “I liked his line play. He is, maybe, the smartest player. He is certainly in the Top 3 in hockey intelligence. His energy level is good. He still needs to put on some size and strength. I think it will help him a great deal.”

Halonen notched three assists against the Wildcats, while Saretsky showed some physical presence.

“He’s a player that, for three years, and he is one of a couple, they have been pretty consistent in what they do,” said Shawhan. “They are 10, 12, 13-goal guys, right around 20-point guys. You want to see a little bit of growth.

“We have been talking to him consistently, and working with him, doing drills with him, doing video with him, on these things that he can do better. Brian has really worked on it, especially this offseason, and in his attention and focus on certain aspects in practice. You saw it in the game.”