Hulking defenseman John Scott has spent the last month with the Minnesota Wild since March 8, as the Wild have been pushing for the NHL playoffs. After playing 44 games and earning 111 penalty minutes for the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Houston Aeros, Scott has provided some punch and much needed grit for the Wild, earning 21 penalty minutes in 17 total games.

The Wild currently sit three points out of a playoff spot with two games remaining, teams still in playoff contention.

Speedy forward Chris Conner has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Dallas Stars, but injuries this season have forced him into extended duty. He hasn’t disappointed, earning a career high 13 points in 36 games. He has also netted 28 points in 30 games with the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL between call-ups.

Since ending his time at Michigan Tech in 2005 Clay Wilson jumped around the UHL before stepping up to the AHL and at the end of the 2007-08 season, the NHL. Wilson played in five more games this season with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers. Wilson currently has 44 points in 68 AHL games, eight among AHL defenseman.

Last night Wilson made his season debut with the Atlanta Thrashers where he played nearly 15 minutes of action while putting two shots on goal and playing nearly a minute on the point of the Thrashers power play.

Wilson will likely get two more chances for the Thrashers who finish their season at home on Thursday and Saturday against the Panthers and Lightning respectively.

Another hulking blueliner, Andy Sutton, was just hitting his stride with the New York Islanders before breaking his foot in December. Before the injury, Sutton had notched two goals and 10 points in 23 games.

Former captain Colin Murphy, who scored 53 points in his final season in the Silver and Gold, has struggled to stay healthy since leaving Houghton. Signed by the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason, Murphy lost a significant portion of this season with a concussion. Despite this, Murphy has notched 25 points in 44 games for the Portland Pirates of the AHL.

In his best offensive game of the season, Murphy netted a natural hat trick on March 30, as the Portland Pirates knocked off the Manchester Monarchs. He has nine points in his last seven games. Additionally, he’s been wearing an assistant captain’s letter as of late.

Former assistant captain Geoff Kinrade has played in four games since joining the defensive corps of the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. The Admirals have no chance of making the AHL Playoffs, but Kinrade is enjoying some quality playing time just the same.

Informed within minutes of joining the squad that he would be in the lineup, Kinrade celebrated the opportunity by notching his first career goal on his first career shot on March 20 against the Binghampton Senators.

Goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak, who left the Huskies before his senior season, spent a large chunk of the first half of the season with the Philadelphia Phantoms while their parent squad, the Philadelphia Flyers, struggled with their goaltending. Unfortunately, he didn’t see any action during the confusion.

The Phantoms finally moved Teslak to the Elmira Jackals in the East Coast Hockey League around mid-season to give him some game time, and all he’s done is lead the Jackals to first place in the North Division and a playoff spot. Teslak is 17-10-1-3 in 33 games this season and has one shutout.

Forward Chris Durno is currently tied for the team lead in scoring with 43 points for the Lake Erie Monsters. Durno’s 17 goals are tops on the squad, but it won’t be enough to push the Monsters into playoff contention in the AHL’s Western Conference. Durno has performed quite well as of late, with four points in his last four games.

Scoring winger Tyler Shelast and former captain Jimmy Kerr are both competing for the Idaho Steelheads, who sit third in the ECHL’s National Conference standings. Shelast has 21 points in 30 games despite bouncing between the Steelheads and the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.

Kerr picked up one point in seven games for the Steelheads before taking a nasty elbow to the head.

Former captain Brett Engelhardt left the American ice arenas this fall for the larger ice surfaces in the German Elite League. Playing wing for the Augsburg Panthers of the DEL, Engelhardt has 16 goals, good for third on the team, and 35 points, good for fourth on the team.

Forwards Tyler Skworchinski and Peter Rouleau have helped lead the Texas Brahmas of the Central Hockey League to a first place finish in the Southeast Division. Skworchinski finished the regular season with 16 goals and 38 points while Rouleau netted 13 goals and 36 points.

In the playoffs, the Brahmas are up 3-0 in their Southern Conference Semifinal series and Skworchinski leads the team with four goals, including a pair in game one.

While the current squad of Huskies didn’t perform the way they wanted to night in and night out this season, former Huskies have succeeded quite well this season. One thing is clear: There is a future in hockey after Michigan Tech, and these players are leading that charge.

The problems began in goal, where senior Rob Nolan, who had won 13 games in the previous two seasons while splitting time with Michael-Lee Teslak, won just twice in 25 tries. Nolan did have the bulk of the Huskies’ seven ties as he earned five of them.

Freshman Josh Robinson, while not showing the ability to make the big saves much of the season, had an outstanding weekend in mid-December as he beat Northern Michigan on consecutive nights, becoming the first Huskies goaltender ever to do so. Robinson finished the season 4-8-2 overall in 20 appearances.

Four defensemen had very solid seasons with only one being a senior.

Junior Drew Dobson led the blueline crew in scoring with 19 points, but that number is a bit misleading as Dobson spent much of the second half of the season playing wing due to the massive number of injuries the team suffered. Dobson looked more and more comfortable with the switch the longer the season progressed and will give head coach Jamie Russell plenty to think about when setting next season’s lineup.

Sophomore Deron Cousens, who showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman, began to build on that promise with an outstanding second half, notching a career-high 16 points. His season highlight was probably the game-winning goal against Minnesota in that 6-5 overtime victory on March 6. Cousens was named the team’s Most Improved Player for his efforts.

Assistant captain Geoff Kinrade notched 16 points in his final campaign, 15 of which came in WCHA action. Kinrade was the first Huskies’ senior to leave school early this season, as he’s signed on to play with the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.

Behemoth freshman Ricky Doriott was one of two Huskies’ players to finish the season with a positive number in the plus/minus column. His +1 lead the team along with senior Malcolm Gwilliam. Neither player played a full season, but Doriott worked his way into the lineup quite a bit near the end of the season.

The clearest positions where the future is brightest are the three forward positions. As the season progressed, five underclassmen stepped up to lead the squad.

Sophomore Jordan Baker enjoyed a breakout season with 27 points in 38 games. After scoring just nine points on the strength of three goals as a freshman, Baker exploded for 16 goals and led all Huskies in shots on goal with 111. He was named Most Valuable Player.

When freshman Brett Olson first arrived on campus, he garnered comparisons to former Huskies’ captain Colin Murphy, mainly due to the fact that he came to the Huskies as an older freshman at 21. After some early-season growing pains, Olson showed that he may be the player to fill those large shoes as he netted 23 points in 38 games. More impressive, the Huskies’ Outstanding Freshman award-winner led all Huskies in WCHA action with 21 points.

Freshman Alex MacLeod achieved one of the most dubious feats seen on Michigan Tech’s campus in some time – all six of his goals for the season came on the power play. MacLeod started the season with four goals in the early stages of the season but struggled for the majority of the rest of the season. He did finish strong, however, with goals in each of the Huskies’ two playoff games.

Despite only managing seven points, which tied his freshman total, sophomore Bennett Royer continued his development into a strong two-way forward. As a freshman, Royer was a -8 in all games and -5 in WCHA play. This season, Royer finished -5 in all games but was even in WCHA tilts.

While his five points in 20 games don’t look very exciting, it’s easy to forget that freshman Peter Rohn only played in the second half of the season. Out for the first 17 games of the season due to NCAA regulations, Rohn brought some excitement to the Huskies’ lineup almost instantly. His four points in the final 14 WCHA games should improve next season as he’ll be able to hit his stride from day one.

The Huskies closed out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule 4-14-2. The wins came over the likes of Lake Superior State, Alaska-Anchorage and Northern Michigan. The Wildcats finished third in the CCHA Playoffs.

In the second half of the season, the Huskies went 2-11-5. The five ties are especially interesting as the Huskies scored the tying goal in the third periods of four of the five. Not including the ties, the Huskies competed in 12 one-goal games, winning five of those contests.

The power play, which had hovered below 10 percent for much of the season rose to 12.2 percent before the season ended. The penalty kill finished the season at 89.2 percent.

The Huskies scored 27 third-period goals, their best period for scoring on the season. Unfortunately, the Huskies had only 50 points from their eight seniors, and the Huskies are typically a team that relies on their leadership.

While the numbers aren’t overly impressive by any stretch of the imagination, the Huskies did improve as the season progressed, and at the end of the day, that’s what fans want. The win over the Golden Gophers at the end of the season showed just what this team was truly capable of when it played 60 solid minutes.

On March 9, the Huskies earned a 9-0 over Christopher Newport.
The number three doubles squad of freshman Caitlin Hartley and junior Danielle Stoll earned an 8-2 win over Kassi Avent and Megan Brooks. The duo is now 3-5 on the season.

Co-captain Samantha Jang-Stewart and Asel Otunchieva earned an 8-3 win at number two doubles over Kayla Connor and Alannah Suchomel. The pair has improved to 5-2 on the season.

Co-captain Silvia Oliveros and Rondelli cruised to an 8-5 victory at number one doubles over Reagan Travis and Lauren Kelly. The duo is now 11-9 on the season. Oliveros is 15-8 on the season in singles matches.

All six singles matches were won by the Huskies in straight sets.

In their second match of the day, the Huskies earned a 5-4 win over Minnesota State-Mankato on the strength of a 2-1 lead after doubles.

Oliveros and Rondelli cruised to an 8-0 win over Marina Bugaenco and Sara Madigan.
Jang-Stewart and Otunchieva earned a win over Ami Nishida and Casandra Anderson, 8-3.
In singles play, the Huskies got straight set victories from both Rondelli and Jang-Stewart.
Rondelli won 6-2, 6-2, at number two singles over Nishida. She is now 14-6 on the season.
Jang-Stewart made short work of Madigan, 6-2, 6-3, at number three singles. She has improved to 8-10 on the season.

Otchunchieva earned the decisive fifth point for the Huskies with her three-set win over Paige Burke, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, at number four singles. Otunchieva is now 13-6 on the season.

On March 10, the Huskies cruised to a 7-2 win over Aquinas after taking a 2-1 lead in the doubles matches.

Oliveros and Rondelli earned an 8-2 victory over Kelly McGee and Cecelia Vaughn.
Jang-Stewart and Otunchieva earned a timely conquest of Emily Decker and Katie Siegel, 8-3.

In singles action, Oliveros, Rondelli, Jang-Stewart, Otunchieva and Stoll all earned straight set wins with only Otunchieva needing a tiebreaker in her first set. With the win, Stoll is now 6-13 on the season.
In their final match on March 11, the Huskies eased to a 9-0 win over Lincoln.

Five out of the six singles matches were won by the Huskies in straight sets. Only Rondelli’s was different, as her opponent retired.

Hartley’s win at number six singles helped her improve to 4-6 on the season.
The Huskies completed the road trip without the services of freshman phenom Victoria Zhilkina.
The Huskies are now off until March 28 when they will travel to Duluth, Minn., to face the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and the St. Scholastica Saints.

Freshman winger Alex MacLeod notched his sixth power play marker of the season to get the Huskies the lead late in the first period. The goal, which came at 18:54, was assisted by senior center Alex Gagne, who fed MacLeod in front of the net and sophomore defenseman Deron Cousens.

A second period explosion from Sioux captain Ryan Duncan gave the Sioux a two goal lead 11:46 into the second period. Duncan was originally credited with the natural hat trick, but the second Sioux goal was later credited to Chris VandeVelde. Huskies’ head coach Jamie Russell pulled freshman goaltender Josh Robinson after the third goal in favor of senior Rob Nolan.

The Huskies cut the lead to one when sophomore winger Jordan Baker netted a power play goal of his own at 17:31. The goal, Baker’s 16th of the season, came on a four-on-three advantage and was assisted by junior winger Drew Dobson and assistant captain Geoff Kinrade.

The Sioux regained the two-goal lead five and a half minutes into the third.

Dobson cut the lead to one again with his fifth goal of the season with 3:25 to go in regulation, causing the Sioux-friendly crowd to panic. Baker and freshman defenseman Ricky Doriott both assisted on the goal.

Russell pulled Nolan with about a minute and a half to go, but the Huskies couldn’t quite get the puck past Brad Eidsness in the end.

On Friday, the Huskies slowed down the early stages of the game, keeping the Sioux at bay. The strategy frustrated the Sioux through most of the first period, until they broke through at 17:04.

In the second period, the Sioux struck twice in the first 6:08. The first tally was a power play marker at 3:00. The other was even strength. The Sioux outshot the Huskies 17-7 for the period.

Freshman winger Alex MacLeod cut the Sioux lead to two with a power play marker of his own 6:13 into the third period. Senior center Alex Gagne fed the puck to captain John Schwarz, whose shot was redirected by MacLeod past Brad Eidsness, the Sioux netminder.

The Sioux struck twice in 42 seconds around mid-period to put the game out of reach and ending Rob Nolan’s night between the pipes for the Huskies. The first goal was shorthanded, which really handcuffed the Huskies.

Former Huskies’ forward Matt Ulwelling was a linesman for the games.

Huskies Sting Gophers, Earn Split

To start Spring Break off the right way, the Huskies got three goals from Dobson on Friday, March 6, to beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 6-5, in overtime.

The Gophers struck just 2:21 in. Senior winger Justin St. Louis evened the game at 6:24 on a miscue by Gophers’ goalie Alex Kangas.

The Huskies exploded out of the gates in the second period, as Dobson struck twice in a 48-second span to start the second period. After Kangas was pulled, Baker gave the Huskies a three-goal lead by the time five minutes had gone by.

The second half of the period belonged to the Gophers, who pulled even with a pair of goals in the last 20 seconds.

Dobson regained the lead for the Huskies 10:19 into the third. The Gophers managed to even the game with just under four minutes left.

In the extra session, Cousens fired a shot from the point on the power play and found the back of the net to give the Huskies the win.

On Saturday, Nolan made 23 saves in a 2-0 loss as the Gophers earned the fifth and final home playoff spot.

For full details of the games, head over the MTU Lode Web site and read the live blogs.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” said head coach John Barnes. “They’ve given their all and made sacrifices to get here, and now we’ve accomplished one of our goals.”

The game was a back-and-forth affair for the first 11 minutes before Tech seized control. Two straight 3-pointers from Katie Zimmerman jumpstarted a 29-6 run to close the half. Katie Wysocky added 10 points and Sarah Stream had five more during the run that put the Huskies up 43-21 at halftime.

“We wanted to set the tempo,” said team captain Sarah Stream, who was named to the NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team. “We hit those shots early, and it fired us up and gave us confidence.”

The Black and Gold drained 8-of-10 first-half 3-pointers and Tara Ferris kept it going in the second half. Her triple pushed the margin to a game-high 25 points early in the second half before UIndy began its surge. The Greyhounds (24-10) used an 8-0 run to close the gap to 12 with nine minutes to play.

Tech answered with six points from Wysocky to expand the lead to 16. The Huskies made five-of-six free throws in the waning minutes for the final margin of 17.

“It was tense for a few moments there, but the team responded,” said Barnes. “They took care of the ball and made free throws to get the win.”

Wysocky totaled 19 points and 16 rebounds in the game en route to being named the tournament’s most outstanding player. She had a combined 56 points and 42 rebounds in the three-game regional.

“Everyone came to play tonight,” said Wysocky. “It was a total team effort the whole weekend. Nobody cares who gets the points as long as we’re winning.”

Stream paced the team in scoring tonight with 20 points to go with six assists. Danae Danen added 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Zimmerman posted eight more points and was also an all-tournament team selection.

Shooting was the key for Tech as it went 50 percent from the field including 53 percent (9-of-17) from behind the arc. The Huskies also won the battle of the boards with a 36-24 rebounding edge.

Indianapolis was held to 35 percent from the floor, including 26 percent in the opening half.

“I’m privileged to coach this team,” said Barnes, who came into the tournament searching for his first NCAA win and is now 3-3. “We’ve been striving to get this program back to the Elite 8 since I arrived.

“I’m honored to represent the Midwest Region at the next level. We’re going to San Antonio with big expectations. We’re not done yet.”

Michigan Tech, which has improved its record to 27-6, will now face Minnesota State Mankato in the national quarterfinal game March 24 at noon. The Mavericks won the Central Region title with a 72-61 victory over Fort Lewis.

All 2009 Women’s Basketball Elite 8 games will be played at St. Mary’s University’s Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.

The women (9-5 overall, 5-4 GLIAC) will face five opponents beginning with nationally-ranked Nova Southeastern on Friday, March 6. The Sharks (4-1 overall, 3-1 SSC) are fresh off a win over Florida Tech.
“(The Sharks) will be our toughest opponent,” said head coach Mike Axford.

On Sunday, March 7, the Huskies will face off against Bethel College. The Pilots are a NAIA Division III opponent who will be playing their first matches of the season in Florida.

The Huskies will face Christopher Newport, another Division III opponent, on Monday, March 9. The Captains were picked to finish third in the USA South Preseason Poll.

On Tuesday, March 10, the Huskies will face the Aquinas Saints, their third and final Division III opponent. The Saints are nationally ranked in the NAIA.

To finish out thier trip, the Huskies will face Lincoln University on Wednesday, March 11. The Blue Tigers will be beginning their spring schedule.

“They are better than last year,” said Axford. “We would like to beat them again.”
The men’s (2-1 overall, 0-0 GLIAC) first match will be on Monday, March 9 against Aquinas College. The Saints are 2-1 already this spring.

On Tuesday, the Huskies will play two matches, the first against Salve Regina University. The Seahawks, NAIA Division III, will be beginning their spring schedule in Florida.

In the second match, the Huskies will face Dowling College. The Golden Lions are picked to finish fourth in the East Coast Conference and will be a tough test for the Huskies.

The men will have another two-match day on Thursday, March 12. First up will be Wesleyan University. The Cardinals are 5-2 on the season in NAIA Division III action.

The second of those matches for the Huskies will be against St. Cloud State University. St. Cloud has seen the most action of all the teams thus far, as they have played 10 matches, winning nine.

Ideally, both teams would like to finish their trips with winning records. For the men, the matches against Dowling and St. Cloud are especially important in determining regional rankings at the end of the season.

Both teams came out with intensity and neither was able to decipher the opponent until nearly ten minutes in when Greg Ross fired a one-timer passed the outstretched Fair Warning goaltender. Just a few moments later, captain Drew Madek scored the first of his three goals with a laser from just outside his own crease. The Abnormal Force never looked back as Tyler Reno contributed three goals of his own, giving him an astounding 90 goals on the season. Brad Lynn prevented Andrew Kaiser, The Abnormal Force from earning the shutout.

This game marked the sad end of a broomball era as Rachel Wussow, Assistant Director of Student Activities will no longer oversee broomball, Dustin Sommer will end his time as the Broomball Chair and the three rinks will need to be moved in future seasons for the upcoming highway re-routing. Thank you for relying on the Michigan Tech Lode for exclusive broomball coverage. Please check the March 4 print edition of the Lode for a comprehensive season-in-review article.

The Huskies (5-22-7 overall, 1-18-7 WCHA) broke the scoreless tie on their second good opportunity of the night.

Sophomore winger Jordan Baker stole the puck at his own blueline, blew past a Bulldogs’ defenseman, cut in on Bulldogs’ netminder Alex Stalock and beat him with a deke to his backhand. The goal, Baker’s 14th of the season, came at 7:39.

“The pucks are just coming to me right now,” said Baker. “I just saw the opportunity there and poked the puck by (the defenseman).”

The Huskies did a great job of forechecking for the next couple of shifts, and it looked like the Huskies might hold on to this lead, but the Bulldogs (16-9-7 overall, 10-8-6 WCHA) had other ideas.

The Bulldogs evened the game at 11:36.

In the second period, the Huskies had a golden opportunity to regain the one-goal lead as Baker and freshman forward Peter Rohn skated in on a two-on-one, but Baker’s shot sailed over Stalock and the net.

The Bulldogs took their only lead of the game on the power play at 13:31.

The Huskies needed to come out hard in the third period to make up for struggling through the second, and senior winger Derek Kitti evened the game 7:08 into the third as he one-timed a pass from junior defenseman John Kivisto. Kivisto picked the puck up off the boards to feed Kitti for his third goal of the season.

“We were trying to get a lot of pucks to the net,” said Kitti. “Kivisto was just able to get a pass to me, and I put it in.”

After forcing the Bulldogs to ice the puck with about a minute left in regulation, both Baker and freshman center Brett Olson had outstanding chances to give the Huskies the lead, but neither could find a seam in Stalock.

In the extra session, Baker had two great chances in front of Stalock off a pass from Dobson but couldn’t manage to bury either one.

With the seven ties, the Huskies tied the WCHA record for ties in league play.

Special teams success was the story Friday night, as the Bulldogs had two power play goals and one shorthanded goal en route to a 4-1 win over the Huskies.

Olson got the Huskies the lead when he netted his sixth power play marker of the season. Olson took a pass from sophomore defenseman Deron Cousens across the rink and buried a wrist shot at 4:28. Assistant captain Geoff Kinrade also assisted on the goal.

“We knew that we wanted to come and jump on them right away,” said Olson. “Once we start moving the puck well, we are dangerous.”

The Bulldogs answered back a little over a minute later at 5:31 with a power play goal. They took the lead with another power play goal 3:58 into the third period.

On the fifth Huskies’ power play, the Bulldogs extended their lead to three with a shorthanded marker at 18:28.

Russell called a timeout to try to rally his troops and pulled Robinson for the final minute of play, but the Bulldogs intercepted a pass at their own blueline, fed a forward on the move, and he notched an empty netter to ice the game.

The Huskies are off this weekend to rest up before taking on the No. 14 Minnesota Golden Gophers, whose ranking is sure to fall given the fact that they were swept by the No. 18 Colorado College Tigers over the weekend.

The former top-ranked Gophers now sit seventh in the WCHA with just one win in their last eight games.