University of St. Thomas Athletics
Michigan Tech
Game Notes -- Men's Hockey travels to No. 13-ranked Michigan Tech
1/12/2023 3:19:00 PM | Men's Hockey
St. Paul, Minn. - St. Thomas Men's Hockey (5-14-1 overall, 4-9-1 CCHA) travels to face No. 13-ranked Michigan Tech (14-6-3, 7-4-3) for a Friday-Saturday Jan. 13-14 series set for Houghton, Mich. Puck drop is 6:07 p.m. Minnesota time on Friday evening, and 5:07 p.m. on Saturday.
The Huskies are tied for third place in a tight pack atop the conference with half of the league season yet to go. Tech is 9-2-3 in games decided by two or less goals, while the Purple are 2-11-1 in similar two-goal or less margins. Tech's Blake Pietila has been named CCHA Goalie of the Week three times already this season.
In its second season of Division I play, St. Thomas continues to improve, It is 3-2-1 over its last six games. The Purple are coming off a Dec. 16-17 home series vs. Ferris State which resulted in a split -- a 7-4 win, followed by a 4-2 loss capped by a Ferris empty-net score. Coach Rico Blasi's team also played a Dec. 31 road exhibition game at Minnesota-Duluth, resulting in a 2-1 Bulldog victory. UMD had just played then No. 1-ranked Denver to a pair of overtime losses.
Tech won 6-2 and 4-3 in two previous meetings played last November in Mendota Heights. Last season, Tech won on home ice 6-1 and 4-3 (overtime), and won 2-0 and tied 3-3 in the games at St. Thomas.
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Friday's live video streams can be accessed here:
https://www.flohockey.tv/signup?redirect=%2Flive%2F42194
Saturday's live video streams can be accessed here:
https://www.flohockey.tv/signup?redirect=%2Flive%2F52163
Friday's Live stats can be found here: https://www.michigantechhuskies.com/sports/mice/2022-23/boxscores/20230113_bp0q.xml
Saturday's Live stats can be found here: https://www.michigantechhuskies.com/sports/mice/2022-23/boxscores/20230114_1lpq.xml
Live audio can be accessed at SkorNorth AM 1500 listen live.
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Most Improved D-I Men's Hockey Teams -- From 2021-22 to 2022-23
(60 D-I programs -- Through games of Dec. 15)
Based on Winning Percentage
+.289 Penn State (17-20-1 in 2021-22 to 15-5-0 in 2022-23)
+.278 Michigan State (12-23-1 to 12-7-1)
+.278 Niagara (11-22-3 to 9-5-2)
+.240 St. Thomas (3-32-1 to 4-13-1)
+.237 St. Cloud State (18-15-4 to 14-4-0)
+.224 RIT (18-16-4 to 12-4-0)
+.208 Merrimack (19-15-1 to 13-4-0)
+.181 Ferris State (11-24-1 to 7-7-2)
Based on Fewer Goals Allowed Per Game
Princeton 1.17 less per game (3.94 apg to 2.77 apg)
St. Thomas 1.14 less (4.64 to 3.50)
Merrimack 1.01 less (2.83 to 1.82)
Maine 0.96 less (3.36 to 2.40)
Northern Michigan 0.93 less (3.68 to 2.75)
Miami 0.92 less (4.25 to 3.33)
Ferris State 0.81 less (3.75 to 2.94)
Based on Improved Scoring Margin
+1.84 Michigan State (Minus 1.19 per game to plus-0.65 per game)
+1.83 St. Thomas (Minus 2.94 to minus 1.11)
+1.83 Princeton (Minus 1.68 to plus 0.15)
+1.80 RIT (Minus 0.61 to plus 1.19)
Based on More Goals Scored Per Game
+1.39 RIT (2.42 gpg to 3.81 gpg)
+1.09 Michigan State (2.11 to 3.20)
+0.88 Boston U. (3.06 to 3.94)
+0.86 Quinnipiac (3.31 to 4.17)
+0.76 Minnesota (3.54 to 4.30)
+0.72 Niagara (2.28 to 3.00)
+0.70 St. Thomas (1.69 to 2.39)
Close Calls
As part of its D-I learning curve, the Purple have 21 losses by one or two goals so far in the D-I era (10 so far this season). That includes a 4-10 mark in one-goal decisions, and an 0-11 slate in games decided by two goals.
Did You Know?
- Eight of the Toms' losses have come vs. top-10 ranked Penn State and St. Cloud State and top-20 ranked Minnesota State and Michigan Tech
- This season, 10 Tommie defeats are by one or two goals. The Purple have led or been tied in the third period in eight of their losses.
- Luke Manning has 23 career D-I goals at Air Force and St. Thomas. Manning scored goals in five of his last seven games last season, and has contributed goals in six of his last 14 games in 2022-23.
- Last season (36 games), the Toms were outscored by a near 3-to-1 margin, 167-61. In this season's 20 games the Purple have been outscored by a 71-52 margin.
- Two freshmen, Cooper Gay and Josh Eernisse, have joined a short list of Toms to record a multi-goal game this season. Gay's happened on Nov. 4 against Minnesota State. Eernisse's did it Nov. 25 against Lake Superior State and again Dec. 16 vs. Ferris. Also on that list is junior Mack Byers, who has four such instances this season (Oct. 29 against Ferris State; Dec. 1 and again Dec. 2 against Bemidji State; and Dec. 16 vs. Ferris). Manning also scored two on Dec. 16 vs. Ferris.
- Eernisse and Byers each have 10 goals already in 2022-23. That broke the Toms' D-I school record for goals in a season set last year by Manning.
- The Toms had their third sellout crowd of the season Oct. 28 (961 spectators), a program record in the 20-year run at the STA rink. They drew 800-plus fans each night Nov. 18-19 vs. Michigan Tech.
- St. Thomas has seven regular-season series left to play.
Bemidji Trip
The Toms played Dec. 2-3 at Bemidji State -- their 10th weekend in a row of competition. They fell 6-4 on Friday, then tied 2-2 on Saturday -- gaining their first point in the standings against a Minnesota foe in the team's brief D-I history. Mack Byers scored two goals in each game, Lucas Wahlin recorded four total assists, and Aaron Trotter saved 63 of the 71 shots he faced.
He's the Coach
Rico Blasi is the 25th head coach since 1920 for Tommie Men's Hockey, one of two Tommie coaches to rank in the current top 50 all-time for wins among all college hockey coaches. Terry Skrypek had a 23-year run with St. Thomas and won 415 games from 1987-2010 to rank 44th on the elite list. Blasi is close behind at No. 47. Rico coached 20 seasons at Miami (Ohio) and is now in season two with the Tommies. He ranks 17th among all active men's coaches and 12th among active D-I head coaches with his 406 wins. Blasi has 11 returning players and 17 newcomers this season in year two with the Toms.
Quoting Coach Rico Blasi (after Dec. 16 win over Ferris State)
"(Ferris is) a good team, they come after you, they play hard, they are physical. If you are not ready to play that kind of game they are going to beat you. I thought our guys did a good job of understanding that tonight and playing our game.
"(We have) a new team (from last year), we have 17 new guys, we don't sit there and compare to last year... Now if you ask me (what is different) from the beginning of this year, I think our guys are starting to feel like they can make plays, like they belong... A lot of times when you are growing like this, and everybody's talking about being close (on the scoreboard) and those moral victories that you guys continue to ask me about. We're not about moral victories, because we feel like we can play. And we have to go out and play. We're here. We're not a Cinderella story. We're here. You have to play... Really, it's a mindset. Are we in our second year in existence as a Division I? Yes. But that's not what we talk about. We talk about how we are going to get better.... Our guys are starting to play together and starting to understand how to play with confidence. We still have a long way to go, don't get me wrong, but the guys are starting to do a good job with that."
Hockey Honors
Tommie Men's Hockey continued a weekend of firsts on Nov. 28 when it had two of the four players chosen as CCHA Players of the Week: Goaltender of the Week Aaron Trotter, and Rookie of the Week forward Josh Eernisse. Both are freshmen.
Two weeks ago, Jake Braccini was named CCHA Rookie of the Week. A Hanover, Minn., native and Buffalo High graduate,
Braccini scored a goal and three assists in a split vs. Ferris State. Both of his goals were scored on the power play, and he is tied for 12th among CCHA players with three power-play goals on the season. Braccini has collected three goals over his last six contests. His 11 points (four goals, seven assists) rank him tied for fifth on his team in scoring. The Toms previously had only had three CCHA Players of the Week in the two-year D-I era, and none in the same week. Trevor Zins (Defenseman) and Tim Piechowski (Rookie) were selected last season, and Ethan Gauer (defenseman) was honored earlier this season.
Trotter recorded his first college shutout with 23 saves in the Toms' Friday, Nov. 25 4-0 defeat of Lake Superior State. He came back on Saturday, Nov. 26 and stopped 21 of 22 shots in a 2-1 win that gave the Purple their first weekend series sweep of their D-I era. Trotter and his teammates killed off all five Laker power plays on the weekend. The Victoria, B.C. native now has a goals-against average of 3.15 and a .896 save percentage. He's ranked first nationally among D-I freshmen goalies in minutes played and saves, and ranks 6th nationally among goalies in minutes played (827) and seventh nationally in saves (431 in 16 contests).
An Apple Valley, Minn., native, Eernisse scored the first two goals to jump start the Toms in Friday's shutout win. He came back Saturday and scored a short-handed goal in the third period for a 2-0 lead in an eventual 2-1 victory. Eernisse scored 10 goals in 85 games over the previous two seasons with Tri City in the USHL.
Tommie D-I Era, Most Games Scoring a Point (Current Players)
17 -- #16 Luke Manning, #8-Cameron Recchi and #4-Nolan Sawchuk
13 -- #2-Trevor Zins and 3-Lucas Wahlin
12 -- #9-Matthew Jennings
10 -- #12-Tim Piechowski, #6-Josh Eernisse, #11-Ryan O'Neill, and #18-Ethan Gauer
9 -- #22-Mack Byers
8 -- 19-Luc Laylin
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Click HERE to access complete Tommie Men's Hockey weekly game notes
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