5/28/20240 Comments
However, not everything was sunshine and rainbows as in life some players will need to take a step back and try to gear up for some meaningful improvement. Here we saw some players seize the opportunity, with Kasper Vähärautio and Alex Nordstrom showing great potential both earning at least another look in this coming weekend. Saturday’s game was a good example of this as coach Shawhan scrambled the lines after a terrible Friday loss against Fairbanks. Lines are still being worked through by the coaching staff and the college game is still being learned by several freshmen after being thrown into starting roles. Its really tough to judge this Huskies team after only three games. Additionally, the offense hasn’t yet started to click either. One the defensive end, he hasn’t gotten much in the way of help with a few defensive misplays causes goals against. It isn’t to say that his play has regressed, but more so that he looks human to start the season. Speaking of Blake, his last three starts have had some ups and downs. Whether those shots are successful or not will be up to Tech’s defense and one Blake Pietila. One thing is certain though, this UW team is primed to take a lot of shots. In the BSU game it was solely Sholl keeping the Beavers competitive while the North Dakota defense and goaltending was up to the challenge shutting them out. Here we see a slightly different picture as the instat data shows that the Badgers were either the better team or very close to being the better team both days. We can look to those previews games with our instat data as well to see if our hunches hold up: Currently his numbers are boosted due to the Augustana series and I would think last weekend’s set of games is a better metric to judge him by, at least for now. Here we find his numbers to be a GAA of 2.46 and a. However, like most things in life, there is a bit of nuance to his hot start.Īfter shutting out the Augies making a total of 43 saves on that particular weekend, his number returns to earth if you look at just the last two games he’s played.
Junior netminder Kyle McClellan has been given the nod in net all season so far and has put up some great numbers on paper. They have all made meaningful impacts so far it’s the upperclassmen leading the way, at least when point totals are being looked at. In addition to their new freshmen, the Badgers picked up some players in the transfer portal as well in Tyson Dyck (UMass) and three Minnesota State players in Christian Fitzgerald, David Silye, and Simon Tassy. Like Mike Hastings teams in the past, the roster looks very balanced in point totals and once again he has an anchor in net: All this to say, we really don’t know the state of Wisconsin hockey at this point. Then the Badgers would go on to lose in Grand Forks to a markedly better North Dakota team. Additionally, they are 1-1 against more established programs, beating Bemidji State in a game where goaltender Mattias Sholl nearly stole the Beavers the game with a program record 57 save performance.
That being said, with the sweep of Bowling Green it does add some weight to the Augies (not to be confused with THG’s own, better Augie). They are 3-1, but two of those wins came against Augustana. This Wisconsin Team is a bit of an enigma so far this season. New head coach Mike Hastings will return to the Copper Country, but sporting cardinal and white instead of purple and gold. Tech will continue their non-conference schedule against an up and coming Wisconsin team in the process of righting the ship after going astray for the past few years. However, here we are week 3 of the NCAA men’s ice hockey season and our Michigan Tech Huskies are currently winless while the Augies have a full two wins already. If you were to ask me “who would have more wins going into week 3 of the season Michigan Tech or Augustana?” I would have bet the farm on Tech.
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