This past weekend, the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team finally made its home debut with a series against the Ferris State Bulldogs. Both teams had drastically different lineups from those they put on the ice last season, and a big reason for that was the coaching changes at the top for both programs. With experienced coaches Joe Shawhan and Bob Daniels replaced by Bill Muckalt and Brett Riley taking over, both teams played a different style than Huskies fans were used to seeing in years past.

Riley is a third-generation coach, whose grandfather coached the 1960 U.S. Olympic team, and his father coached Army for several seasons.

Among the new faces Riley brought to Ferris State was Calumet native Tanner Rowe. Rowe, now a junior, played center on Friday night, and helped create a scoring chance on his first shift by jumping in on the forecheck and then setting up a play to his teammate in front. Late in the first period, he was at it again, driving through the Huskies defense before feeding the puck over to another teammate.

He had a scoring chance of his own with about 3:15 left in the contest, when he blasted a one-timer from the slot that Huskies netminder Owen Bartoszkiewicz stopped. Saturday night, he had a shot just over two minutes into the game, and added another later in the game.

Getting a chance to play in front of family and friends this past weekend was a thrill for Rowe.

“It was obviously a blast having all my family and friends and support system here,” he said. “So, it was a good time and a lot of nerves, maybe a little nerves, in the first game, but once the first two or three shifts were done, it was fine.”

He was also excited about getting to see his family after each game.

“No matter what the outcome is of the game, it’s always nice knowing that your mom and dad, and family, is all here supporting you,” he said. “It’s been nice to get off the ice and come up here, see all of them, and spend it with them too.”

Rowe was happy with how he played in the Friday night game.

“I thought, first game I was feeling really well, and obviously it didn’t really go our way that first night, and, obviously, the second night, too. But, second night, just legs were a little heavier,” he said. “Try to find a way and dig deep. Overall, like I said, the weekend wasn’t the best way we wanted to (play), but I think we have to go next week, just prepare, and forget about it. Past is past.”

With Riley taking the reins at Ferris State, he tried to build a team quickly, using the portal to do it. That meant a lot of transfer players, including Rowe.

“Obviously, we have 13 seniors on our team this year, so we have a lot of new guys, and older guys, too,” Rowe said. “So, it’s been a lot better for me, obviously, getting more opportunity, from Michigan to here, so it’s been a lot better for me, and my confidence is getting there, too.”

Rowe showed some of that confidence, especially on Friday night, when he drove past Huskies defenders before making passes to his teammates. He also showed some confidence in the way he forechecked, which helped create scoring chances as well.

He likes the way that Riley is allowing the players to figure things out on their own in practice and games.

“In practice, he’s pretty detailed, and he kind of just lets us play, too,” said Rowe. “Obviously there’s structure to every team, but he kind of lets us play the game. You just have to follow the structure here and there sometimes, but ultimately it just comes on to you.”

While he has not scored yet in six games with the Bulldogs, he did have an assist in the season-opener against Miami, in a 6-4 loss.

Rowe compared the experience of playing CCHA hockey to Big Ten hockey.

“(In) the Big Ten, there’s a lot of skilled players in that conference, so it’s a little bit different, but, obviously, there’s a lot of good, skilled players in this conference, too,” he said. “It’s just nothing too crazy. Like I said, it’s just a little bit more skilled in the Big Ten. But here, there’s good guys to play against, too.”

Also, with so many other transfers on the roster, Rowe is not the only player trying to find his way with the Bulldogs.

“I think half of our team is all transfers, so it’s kind of nice,” he said. “I’m not just the only one that was transferring in there, so it’s kind of nice to kind of have some returners from the past years and also new guys. (We are) trying to turn the program at Ferris State around, and hopefully, next week can get some two big wins against Lindenwood.”