Category: Michigan Tech Huskies

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Posted on Posted in CCHA, Michigan Tech Huskies, On Location, St. Thomas Tommies

This is the next installment in our On Location series where we live tweet a college game (or games) that we attend in person and then later post an article here on the site. This is a special instance in that it’s in essence a combination of our On Location and Relevant Rewind series because the game took place November 19, 2022, and we’re just pulling it out of the vault and posting it now.

The St. Thomas men’s hockey program hosted Michigan Tech for a weekend CCHA series in November 2022. Heading into the weekend, the Tommies held an overall record of 2-10 while the Huskies were sitting at 6-3-2. At the time, Michigan Tech led the all-time series 12-4-2; one that dated back to 1922. The majority of these games took place before St. Thomas joined Division I prior to the 2021-22 season.

The St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, is the current home to both the men’s and women’s hockey teams at St. Thomas. It’s also home ice for St. Thomas Academy boys hockey. The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena will open on the St. Thomas campus in St. Paul next season and will be the new home of the Tommies’ hockey and basketball programs. The new arena is expected to seat 4,000 hockey fans; more than quadruple the number of fans that the current rink can accommodate.

Outside photo of St. Thomas Ice Arena

The inside lobby of the arena includes a lot of history. There are three large photos over the main entrance showcasing teams from the past, including an action shot of an outdoor game from many decades ago. There are also banners hanging throughout the lobby of St. Thomas Academy alumni who went on to play Division I hockey.

Past St. Thomas men's hockey team photo.
In game action photo of an historical game played by St. Thomas outdoors.
Historical photo of a St. Thomas men's hockey huddle around the goal.

The visiting Huskies defeated the Tommies in the Friday night game after a big third period. We attended the second game on Saturday night. The St. Thomas faithful were on hand but there was also a good amount of Michigan Tech fans in attendance. Michigan Tech looked to put the Tommies away early to earn a sweep. The Huskies scored six minutes into the game and then again just over a minute later to make it 2-0. They would add a third goal less than three minutes after that. But the Tommies responded. The home team took advantage of a five-minute power play and scored with just under five minutes to play in the opening frame. And then again just 13 seconds later. The high-scoring first period ended with Michigan Tech up 3-2.

St. Thomas celebrates a goal on the ice against Michigan Tech in 2022.

After a five-goal first period, no teams scored throughout the second period. That carried over to the first seven minutes and twenty-seven seconds of the final period until Tim Piechowski scored for St. Thomas to tie the game. He picked a great time to score his first goal of the season. At the end, the Tommies found themselves with a power play in the final three minutes of regulation. But Ryland Mosley of Michigan Tech flipped the script and scored a shorthanded goal to take a late lead. The Tommies closed out regulation on a power play and pulled the goalie but came up short with the two-man advantage.

Michigan Tech shoots on goal during the second period of a game at St. Thomas in 2022.

The Huskies won the game 4-3 to sweep the weekend series. Michigan Tech led in the number of shots as well 29-18. This win put Michigan Tech at 5-0-1 over St. Thomas since the Tommies arrived in Division I. This was already the eighth time St. Thomas lost by just one goal in the young season. The Tommies would end the 2022-23 season with a record of 11-23-2. Michigan Tech would make it to the semifinals of the CCHA tournament and then receive an at-large bid to the NCAA national tournament to face off against Penn State. It ended up being a tough one for Michigan Tech as the Nittany Lions won 8-0 as part of the group of big ten teams that rained fire in the opening round that season.

St. Thomas and Michigan Tech shake hands after a 4-3 Huskies win in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
St. Thomas and Michigan Tech shake hands after a 4-3 Huskies win in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

Michigan Tech will visit Mendota Heights this weekend in the final CCHA regular season series. It’s a pivotal set of games that will decide home ice between teams that are separated by just two conference points (or 0.028 percentage points). Saturday’s game will be the final regular season hockey game played at St. Thomas Arena for the Tommies. They’re just trying to ensure it won’t be the last one they play there.

Posted on Posted in Big Ten, CCHA, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan Tech Huskies, Michigan Wolverines, NCHC, Western Michigan Broncos
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The Great Lakes Invitational tournament began in 1965 with Michigan Tech as the host team. The Huskies were the only Michigan-based team that participated that year. At least three of the four teams that have participated each year since the 1979 tournament have been Michigan-based Division I men’s teams. The champion is awarded the MacInnes Cup.

The 2013 edition of the tournament was unique in that it took place outdoors at Comerica Park in Detroit. It was held the final weekend in December and included four Michigan teams: Michigan Tech, Western Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State. This was the third time this grouping of teams had faced off against one another in the tournament. However, it was the first time this tournament was played outdoors.

This 49th edition of the tournament was included as part of the festivities around the 2014 NHL Winter Classic that took place on New Year’s Day. In that game, the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout at Michigan Stadium. The NHL game at Michigan Stadium was originally scheduled to occur the previous year – along with an outdoor Great Lakes Invitational tournament – but everything was pushed back due to the 2012 NHL lockout that season.

The first game of the 2013 Great Lakes Invitational was between Michigan State and Michigan Tech. The announced crowd was more than 25,000 on December 27. The Spartans came into the game with a 5-9-1 record in the first year of Big Ten Hockey. Michigan Tech had already swept the Spartans in Houghton, Michigan, the previous month. The Huskies also had a losing record of 6-9-5 in the new-look WCHA. Michigan State scored two early goals in the third period to go up 2-1. But Alex Petan of Michigan Tech scored the equalizer 8:13 into the period and that’s how it remained until the end of regulation. A shootout was needed to determine which team would advance to the tournament championship the following day. Michigan Tech’s Ryan Furne scored the shootout winner in the fifth round to send the team to the championship.

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The second game of the Day 1 was between Michigan and Western Michigan. Sitting at a 10-2-2 record, the Wolverines were the favorite to win the tournament. Western Michigan sported a 7-8-3 record and represented the brand-new NCHC conference. The Broncos were the runner-up in the previous year’s Great Lakes Invitational. The two teams had yet to face one another that season prior to the tournament. The Wolverines got on the board first with a shorthanded goal by JT Compher in the second period. But the Broncos bounced back and scored two of their own before the second frame was over. The Wolverines tied the score in the third and that’s how it remained at the end of regulation. With just nineteen seconds left in overtime, Josh Pitt scored the game winner for Western Michigan to send the Broncos to the title game.

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The MacInnes Cup would be awarded to either Michigan Tech or Western Michigan on December 28. But first the consolation game would be played between Michigan and Michigan State. The two rivals had yet to play that season. The Spartans surprised the college hockey world by shutting out Michigan 3-0. With many people picking Michigan to win the tournament, the team ended up in 4th place out of four teams.

More than 26,000 fans were in attendance to see which team would be the first to hoist the MacInnes Cup outdoors. It was a rematch of the previous year’s Great Lakes Invitational championship game that saw the Huskies blank the Broncos 4-0. In this rematch, the teams were evenly matched and both had great scoring chances. At one point in the second period Daniel Holmberg of Michigan Tech hit the cross bar for no goal. By the end of the game, shots were 33-31 in favor of Michigan Tech yet no goals had been scored. The game would be decided in overtime. It only took two minutes and one second for Justin Kovacs to score the game-winning goal. It was the second time the Broncos won the Great Lakes Invitational and first time since 1986.

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The same four teams will participate in this year’s Great Lakes Invitational. It will be the fifth time this grouping of teams will participate in the tournament (with the fourth being in 2016.) However, it will be a showcase tournament with games being held at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing and Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. The first two games will be held December 29 when Michigan State will host Western Michigan and Michigan will host Michigan Tech. The two visiting teams are scheduled to swap ice arenas the following night with Michigan State hosting Michigan Tech on Saturday and Michigan hosting Western Michigan. Unfortunately, Michigan announced December 27 that the team is cancelling the game on Saturday against Western Michigan. The official release stated health and welfare protocols but it sounds like it is not due to COVID but instead to prevent wear and tear on a roster that is missing five players to the IIHF World Junior Championship in Canada. This tournament will look different than previous iterations and no champion will be crowned for the second year in a row since last year’s tournament was canceled due to COVID. But the bright spot is that college hockey will be showcased again this holiday season in the state of Michigan.