Huskies hockey ranked No. 19 in USCHO Poll
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HOUGHTON -- The Michigan Tech hockey team is ranked No. 19 in the USCHO Preseason Poll. The Huskies begin their season on Oct. 2-3, hosting No. 14 Minnesota.
Second-year Head Coach Bill Muckalt returns 21 players from a season ago when Tech went 23-13-3. Tech was the top pick in both CCHA Preseason Polls by the media and the coaches. Assistant captain Max Koskipirtti, a senior forward, was named to the Preseason All-CCHA Team by both the coaches and media and was joined by captain Isaac Gordon, a senior forward and senior goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz on the coaches’ selections.
"We have 18 returning skaters, three returning goaltenders to our group," said Muckalt during the CCHA's recent Media Day coverage. "It's nice to have some continuity. Excited about that."
Muckalt loves what Koskipirtti and Gordon bring offensively night in and night out. However, new faces from around college hockey could help with scoring depth.
"Max has been good," Muckalt said. "'Stiv' (Stiven Sardarian) was a big-time offensive player for our group last year, but it won't all fall on the shoulders of Max or Isaac. We brought in Connor Roulette, who has an extensive resume. He's an NHL draft pick ... He's put up points wherever he has been.
"Gio Morneau, coming over from Lindenwood, has demonstrated that he can produce at the college level. So, we are excited about those new additions."
Beyond Roulette and Morneau, who are both juniors, Muckalt really likes his returning cast, given the experience they gained a year ago.
"The returning group looks a little bit stronger," he said, "a little bit more mature. They understand the standard, the expectation, the culture. I think it (the scoring) will be a little bit by committee as well."
The Huskies were picked first by the CCHA coaches in their annual preseason poll.
"We certainly thank everybody for their vote, but, having said that, we don't kid ourselves," said Muckalt. "We know how tight this is. Just to put things in perspective, if we had scored one more goal, if you look at two of our losses last season, one cost us a chance to be a league champion, and the other cost us a chance to be in the NCAA Tournament. It just shows you the depth and how important every game is. That's really the next step for this group."
Michigan Tech also has non-conference weekends at St. Cloud State (Oct. 9-10) and back home versus Alaska (Oct. 16-17) before getting into CCHA play on Oct. 23-24 at Ferris State.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.