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Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow him on Twitter @RomanStrib.
Posts about Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech signs eight, including three Minnesotans
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: November 30, 2012 - 12:39 PM
Michigan Tech announced its recruiting class for the 2013-14 season earlier this week. It has three players from the state of Minnesota:
* Tyler Heinonen, Delano, 6-0, 190 F, second year with Muskegon of USHL ... Has 8-7-15 in 19 games this season; 21-12-33 in 50 games last season
"Tyler is a pure goal scorer," Huskies assistant Damon Whitten said, according to a Tech news release. "Any time you can add a guy who scores goals naturally, it's a great addition to your program. He's a real dynamic player with his ability to shoot and score."
* Jake Jackson, Oakdale, 5-11, 175. Plays for Tartan. Had 25-19-44 last season.
"He's a great skater who will add a ton of speed to our lineup," Whitten said. "He also has the ability to score goals and play a tenacious game. He really fits the style we are looking to play."
* Dylan Steman, Hanover, 5-10, 180 F. Playing for Cedar Rapids of UHSL. Has 1-7-8 in 17 games. Played high school hockey at Maple Grove.
"Dylan's another great all-around player," Whitten said. "He skates very well, he's tenacious and he has great skill. He'll fill a lot of different roles for our team."
Three players from Michigan:
* Mark Auk, Grosse Point Park, 6-0, 170 D, playing for Port Huron of NAHL. Has 3-9-12 in 24 games.
* Christopher Leibinger, Saginaw, 5-9, 170 D. Plays for Muskegon of USHL. Spent most of last season with Traverse City of NAHL, 5-15-20 and plus-12 in 55 games.
* Joel L'Esperance, Brighton, 6-2, 195 F. Playing for Tri-City of USHL. Has 1-2-3 in 19 games.
And two from other parts:
* Marcus Ericsson, Lulea, Sweden, 6-0, 185, D, playing for Des Moines of USHL. Has three goals in 11 games.
* Michael Neville, Woodbridge, Ontario, 6-0, 180 F. Playing for St. Michael's in Ontario Junior Hockey League. Has 5-15-20 in 17 games.
Said head coach Mel Pearson of this signing class, "As a whole, this group really fits our program's needs with size, speed, skill and character."
DU forward, two Tech players receive WCHA weekly awards
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: January 31, 2012 - 6:51 PMDenver forward Luke Salazar is the WCHA's offensive player of the week. He had a goal and five assists as the Pioneers swept Alaska Anchorage 4-2 and 6-3.
Salazar, a 5-7, 155 senior winger, had a goal and two assists in the first game and three assists in the second for Denver, which moved up to third place in the WCHA standings with the sweep.
He has six goals and 12 assists this season.
The Gophers play at DU in two weeks.
TECH DUO HONORED
Goalie Josh Robinson of Michigan Tech is the defensive player of the week. He stopped 62 of 66 shots as the Huskies tied UMD 4-4 and beat them 5-0. He shut out the Bulldogs the last five periods of the weekend and had a .939 save percentage.
Saturday's shutout was the first against UMD in 105, dating back to a 2-0 loss to visiting North Dakota on March 1, 2008. Robinson, a senior, is 11-9-2 with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
The rookie of the week in the WCHA is Tech forward Blake Pietila. He had an assist on Friday against UMD and a goal and two assists on Saturday.
Lucia: Tech can score goals this season
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 9, 2011 - 2:39 PM"Tech is off to a great start with their new coach," Gophers coach Don Lucia said, referring to Mel Pearson. "He wants to play a much more pressure-based system. They had a good nucleus of returning players. Three of their top four scorers were freshmen. [Jordan] Baker didn't play last year with an injury. He is one of their top scorers. [Brett] Olson only played half their games, he is one of their top scorers as a senior.
"They have some guys who can put the puck in the net. And more than anything else, that is what has been missing from their program the last number of years. But now they are scoring."
Tech is tied for sixth place in the WCHA this season after finishing last the past three seasons.
"They basically had three freshman forwards who had 20 points, which is an outstanding freshman year," Lucia said. "Well, now they are sophomores. And a couple of freshman have come in and scored again. They have six guys who have scored five goals or more so far this year. So they are off to a great start."
Sophomore Milos Gordic leads Tech in goals with seven.
And Gordic, a 6-5, 210 sophomore center, is one of those freshmen who put up numbers last season. He tied for the team scoring lead. He are the three freshmen who were among Tech's top four scorers:
1. (tie) F Gordic 15-6-21
1. (tie) F Ryan Furne, 6-2, 215 12-9--21
4. F Jacob Johnstone, 5-11, 190 4-15--19
OTHER TECH STRENGHTS
"Their specialty teams have been very strong," Lucia said, "and they are getting a great performance from their senior goaltender [Josh Robinson]."
The Huskies have scored 15 power plays and fiven up 14, so they are a plus-one.
Robinson is 7-5-1 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage -- third best in the WCHA.
"They are off to a great start," Lucia said. "They have taken advantage of some of their home games [6-3-1]. Their crowds are coming back, so it is great for their program."
BJUGSTAD CINCH FOR WORLD JUNIORS
Lucia said forwards Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau still have to go through the U.S. tryout camp for the World Junior Championships, but he expects Bjugstad to make the cut down from 29 to 22. The camp starts Dec. 17 in Camrose, Alberta, just outside Edmonton.
"Kyle probably has a little bit of work to do when he gets up there to make sure he impresses the coaches," Lucia said. "But both of them are deserving. Both have had outstanding seasons for us this year. Both of them are terrific teams players and you need that for a short tournament environment. They will be willing to accept whatever role given [them].
"Both would represent our country tremendously."
Rau's versatility -- he can play on the power play and penalty kill -- should help his chances of making the team. USA head coach Dean Blais, who also coaches Nebraska Omaha, is looking for players capable of fitting into several roles.
Rau has played left wing for the Gophers, but he could play center in a pinch, too. He was a center all his life.
The Gophers will be without Bjugstad and possibly Rau, just for their two games in the Mariucci Classic on Dec. 30 and 31.
"It will give a couple of other players who maybe haven't had a chance to play much to show what they can do," Lucia said.
THE DON SAYS
* On surging UMD which has a 12-game unbeaten streak (10-0-2): "They are going to be a force the second half of the season, so we are glad we are finished with them right now."
* On freshman forward Seth Ambroz, who broke a long dry spell with a goal last Saturday: "We made a very difficult decision to take him out of the lineup on Saturday [at Michigan State two weekends ago]. We told him we did that because sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward. We told him we thought it would be good for him just to sit up and watch a game and hopefully relax a little bit.
"He came back, had a great week of practice and it was nice to see him get rewarded. We have seen him perform in practice. It has not necessarily carried forth during the game. But he got rewarded [last] Saturday which was good to see."
* On 13-4-1- record so far: "We are sitting in great shape, but at the same time it is not even Christmas. There is a lot of hockey to be played. We have a very difficult second-half schedule within the league. ... As long as we can stay healthy and Kent [goalie Kent Patterson] continues to play like he has, we will be in good shape at the end."
D-man Schmidt hopes Gophers can build upon win streak against Tech
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 9, 2011 - 9:47 AMTrivia question: If the Gophers had to win one faceoff, who would you put out there? The answer is at the bottom of this post.
SO FAR, SO GOOD
The Gophers are ranked No. 2 in both national polls this week and continue to sit atop the WCHA standings, although by just one point over Minnesota Duluth.
So are they satisfied with their first half -- after this weekend, they will have played 14 of their 28 conference games?
"There is much more to do," sophomore defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "Obviously, we'd be happy where we are in the standings.
"With the way we have played in the first half, there is a lot of room for improvement. We had the good stretch in the beginning of the year. We want to get back to that -- those winning ways when we had those good weekends back to back to back. Just continue to move forward as a team."
The Gophers began the season 9-1 and, in that stretch, had five- and four-game winning streaks and rose from oblivion (among the unranked in one major poll) to the nation's No. 1 team for two weeks. They are on a modest three-game unbeaten streak now (2-0-1).
"Like coach Guentzel [associate head coach Mike Guentzel] always says, 'If you are not getting better, you are getting worse.' We just want to continue to get better each weekend," Schmidt said.
Schmidt is fifth on the Gophers in scoring with one goal and 17 assists for 18 points, most on the power play. He is first among defensemen in points by a big margin; sophomore Mark Alt is second with two goals and six assists for eight points.
TECH A CHALLENGE
Michigan Tech, the Gophers opponent this weekend, has had some big wins this seasons, especially at home. The Huskies swept Wisconsin early this year.
"They are much different," said Schmidt, referring to a Tech team that was last in the WCHA the past three seasons. "A lot of their leading scorers last year were freshmen guys. I played against some of those guys in the USHL. They are good players. They have the new coach [Mel Pearson] in there this year. They really have turned the program around. They are doing a lot of good things. Had a good start this season.
"They had a little rough spot there. But they are coming back. They are playing good hockey right now. It is fun to play a good team going into the break. You know where you stand at the end of the first half."
After Saturday, coach Don Lucia is giving his player time off until Dec. 26 although most of them skate or work out a bit on their own. Next week is finals week at the 'U,' always a busy time.
The Gophers' next games are Dec. 30 and 31 when they play in the Mariucci Classic. Their first opponent will be Niagara. Their second opponent will e either Northeastern or Princeton.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Gophers are 8-1-0 at home this season. And that's quite an improvement from the last two seasons.
:"One of our goals at the start of the year with coach Lucia, the coaching staff and our team was that, we wanted to protect home ice as much as possible," Schmidt said. "It has gotten away from us the past couple of years. Not playing well at home. That is one of the biggest things, getting in front of home fans and performing the way we can."
Last season the Gophers were 9-10-3 at home and in 2009-10 they were 10-9-1, not much better. The last time the Gophers had a good record at Mariucci was when the present seniors were freshmen. That season, 2008-09, the Gophers were 11-5-6 and one could argue that's too many ties.
Schmidt said one reason for this season's good record is the team's approach to home games: The Gophers have tried to put "a better product on the ice than what we have seen the past couple of years by working hard and blocking shots. We kind of changed our mentality over the past couple of years."
Answer: For one faceoff, the best Gopher would be Zach Budish, a 6-3 right winger. He has won 17 of 23 draws, or 73.9 percent. Only defenseman Justin Holl has a better success rate and he doesn't count. He has taken just one faceoff.
Patterson among WCHA players of the week
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: October 11, 2011 - 4:33 PMKent Patterson posted his first two career shutouts last weekend against Sacred Heart and the Gophers senior goalie earned WCHA co-defensive player of the week honors for his efforts.
Minnesota State goalie Austin Lee, who shut out RPI, was the other co-defensive player of the week.
The offensive player of the week was Alaska Anchorage junior winger Mickey Spencer, who had four goals and an assist as the Seawolves won their own Kendall Classic.
The league's rookie of the week was Michigan Tech's Blake Pietila, who had two goals and an assist in a victory over visiting American International.
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