Huskies hockey returns home to face Nanooks
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HOUGHTON -- With a 3-2 overtime win Friday, and a 5-3 loss Saturday, the No. 14 Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team improved to 3-1 on the season thanks to a split on the road against the St. Cloud State Huskies. Michigan Tech returns home this weekend, only to face a scrappy opponent in the Alaska Nanooks for the final non-conference series the Huskies will play before the Great Lakes Invitational in late December.
Huskies coach Bill Muckalt liked some of what he saw from his team against St. Cloud, but not necessarily all of it.
"Obviously, split on the road," he said, "it’s hard to sweep in college hockey. (I) like a lot of things about our game. Some areas where we can improve, kind of house cleaning items. We have to vacuum the carpet dust a little bit, and it was a short week. No excuses. Not anything like that, but it was a shorter week. I didn’t feel like we had quite as much juice as I would have liked."
Yet, Michigan Tech was in position to sweep in the third period Saturday.
"Having said that, we were in the third period on Saturday night with an opportunity to sweep an opponent," said Muckalt. "So, I like that part of it. Had a couple of mistakes that cost us. Had a chance to, with the goalie pulled, a Grade 'A,' and another one that it was a bobbled puck.
"I think it’s good for our team to have some adversity. We didn’t like the results. We’re going to learn from it. We’re going to get better."
One big positive for the Huskies was the return of co-captain Isaac Gordon, who missed the season-opening series with an injury. While he did not factor in the scoring Friday, Gordon did score Saturday.
"I thought he was fantastic," Muckalt said. "Little rusty on Friday. I thought he was awesome. Scored a great goal for us. Isaac Gordon is an unbelievable kid. He’s an unbelievable leader. He’s a tremendous captain. Does so many things for our program behind the scenes, on top of being such a good player.
"Love seeing him every day. He’s got a smile on his face. He’s an extension of our coaching staff. But, yeah, it was great to have him back and contribute. He’s a fun kid to coach."
Of course, inserting Gordon meant someone else had to come out of the lineup.
"It’s the toughest part of my job," said Muckalt. "We have depth on this team. We have some guys that aren’t playing. I have to do a better job. I have to get some guys involved, create that competition. It’s hard when you’re having success as a group and as a team. But, I really like our group from top to bottom. There’s tough decisions.
"If you ask a member of our team, and go around the room right now, who’s happy, who’s satisfied, there’s not one guy. It takes a village. It takes a team. It takes a group. The guys that play, or guys that score, take advantage of it. But, our identity is we’re only as strong as our weakest link as a group, and we know that, and we believe in that. We need everybody. It’s not just scoring, or getting the credit, it’s what we do every day. That process, it’s so valuable to our group and that feeds our culture."
Another positive for the Huskies was a goal from sophomore defenseman Reid Andresen Friday. Andresen's tally was the product of a tic-tac-toe passing play including junior forward Giovanni Morneau, who picked up his first point as a Husky.
"It’s great, and Gio Morneau made an unbelievable play," said Muckalt. "I think one of the things we identified with the goalie, and his style, was how over aggressive he was. It was a great play by 'G.' "I think Reid Andresen is just such a smart hockey player. He’s headsy. He’s cerebral. He thinks the game. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. It was good to see him get on the board. He’s got a knack. He makes good decisions out there."
Scouting the Nanooks
The Alaska Nanooks are 1-3 on the season after a trip to the East Coast where they defeated then-No. 11 Boston College, 3-2, before falling to Union, 7-1. The Nanooks were swept by then-No. 15 Boston University the weekend before, but took the Terriers to overtime in the opening game.
"This weekend is going to be races, battles, intensity," said Muckalt. "They’re going to compete. They’re a well coached team. They beat Boston College, and had a tough one against Union, but we know that we’ve got to discourage their will, their want, and it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be difficult, and it’s going to be we’re going to have to play disciplined. We’re going to have to play to our brand, play to our identity."
Sophomore forward Davis Borozinskis scored two goals against Boston College, which puts him in the team lead through four games. Junior forward Joel Lehtinen has a goal and an assist. Sophomore forward Misha Danylov leads the team with two assists.
In goal, fifth-year goaltender Tyler Shea has started three of the first four games. He sports a 2.02 goals against average and a .940 save percentage.
Game times
The Huskies and Nanooks are set to start Friday at 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Saturday, the two teams meet at 6:07 p.m.