I've been meaning to get the LODE articles typed in every Friday, but this is
the frist time I've had time to. The staff writer, Travis Carpenter, is a
little flamboyant for sports writing...but I guess it will do.
"Icers set to tangle with upstart Tigers"
By: Travis Carpenter, Staff Writer
TIME TO TAME TIGERS
Although tigers are rarely hunted in America, Tech's hockey team hopes
to add some Tiger carcasses to their trophy case as the Huskies travel on
safari to Colorado College this weekend.
The weekend series pits the top two teams in the early Western
Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) season. Tech stands in second place with
a 3-1 WCHA and overall record [Actually it's 4-1 overall--DJC], while the
Tigers of Colorado College have suprised everyone by jumping out to a 4-0
conference and overall record to lead the WCHA. Last year, CC could only
manage six wins in 32 conference games.
MTU coach and Colorado College alumni Bob Mancini was among those
shocked by the Tigers' quick start.
"I don't think many people thought Colorado College would be 4-0 at
this point of the season, including myself," he stated.
The two teams face off tonight in the Broadmoor World Arena at 7:35 p.m.
[EST] while the opening drop of the puck is scheduled for 7:05 [EST] p.m.
tomorrow night. These games can be heard live on WZRK radio 93.5 FM.
Tech hopes that the past will repeat itself as the Huskies swept the
four games these two teams played last year and hold a 63-46-2 lead in the all-
time series.
The Tigers return their top four scorers from last season's team which
finished last in the WCHA including sophomore center May McNeill who led the
team in scoring last year while earning a spot on the WCHA All-Rookie Team.
Senior left wing Jody Jaraczewski, junior center R.J. Enga, and sophomore left
wing Chad Remackel round out the four horsemen who collectively accounted for
68 of CC's 134 goals last year.
Colorado College achieved the top spot in the conference by first
sweeping Minnesota, the preseason favorite to win the WCHA. Last weekend, the
Tigers swept WCHA newcomer Alaska-Anchorage.
This weekend marks the third straight weekend of home play for the
Tigers. With first place in the conference on the line, the Huskies should
come out fired up and prove why they are one of the top ten teams in the
nation.
BEST *and* WORST OF TIMES
Just like the Dickens classic, it was a tale of two cities when the
Huskies tangled with the Northern Michigan Wildcats last weekend.
It was the worst of times Friday night as MTU traveled down to
Marquette to battle their hated rival. Tech took a 2-1 lead into the second
period on goals by Brent Peterson and Martin Machacek. Jeff Mikesch scored the
lone Tech goal in the second stanza as NMU rallied to tie the game 3-3 after
two periods. The third period is where the Huskies saw the wheels fall off of
the applecart as they spent most of the time shorthanded and were outshot 19-6
as the Wildcats reeled off four unanswered goals to come away with a 7-3 win.
It was the best of times Saturday night as the Huskies returned home to
gain revenge.
Whether it is in tiddlywinks or watching the Husky dog mascot pound the
snot out of NMU's mascot "Willy the Wildcat," Techo fans love watching Northern
get beat.
The Michigan Tech Pep Band led the cheers for the largest home crowd in
two seasons as Tech jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead which chased NMU goalie
Dieter Kochan. The Huskies led 4-1 after one period, 5-1 after two, and
crusied to a final 6-3 victory. Brent Peterson was the story of the night as
he pumped in four goals, the first Tech playter since Glenn Merkowski to
accomplish the feat. Sophomore center Pat Mikesch assisted on all four of the
goals. Liam Garvey and Layne LaBel also registered goals in the victory.
Senior netminder Jamie Ram stopped 27 shots and even scored an assist to gain
the win.
The weekend's contests were penalty-filled as Michigan Tech had 22
power play opportunities and Northern had 23 extra-man situations. The Huskies
scored five of those times while the Wildcats managed six goals with the extra
man.
SLAP SHOTS
*Peterson's effort on Saturday made him just the 11th player at MTU to
score four or more goals in a game since the inception of the WCHA.
*MTU has been outshot 62-27 in the third period this season while being
outshot 134-107 for the entire season.
*The Huskies have not won four of their first five contests since the
1984-85 season.
*Tech returns home next weekend for a WCHA match-up with the Wisconsin
Badgers.
*Rules Note: Offside occurs when a memeber of the attacking team
crosses the blue line before the entire puck crosses the entire blue line.
Play is whisteled dead as soon as a member of the attacking team touches the
puck in the offensive zone. This year, a player may not be pushed offside by a
member of the opposing team.
--
On the Net,
Douglas J. "Lefty" Coffman
[log in to unmask]
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