Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

[stuckinwi]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Subscribing...

[manurespreader]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Are we bringing in more goals than we are losing? Are we going to be better defensively? Can we get more secondary scoring? Will goaltending be more consistent?
How are we compared to other teams in our league on a recruiting basis?

[Burnt Orange Husky]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Has next season's schedule been released yet?

[gfmorris]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Has next season's schedule been released yet?

Last I heard, the conference schedule was done. They might release that this weekend.

GFM

[JOHN SCOTT ROCKS]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Let's take a look at the producers:

Blake Pietila 35 14-10-24, 39 8-20-28
Alex Petan 37 15-19-34, 39 11-17-28
Tanner Kero 33 11-13-24, 40 15-10-25
David Johnstone 32 10-19-29, 25 11-9-20

Shouldn't we expect improvement from these guys? Granted DJ had the injury but Petan and Pietila regressed in goals. All of them regressed in points per game.

Pietila did not regress in points per game by the way, Kero and DJ actually both increased in goals which is improvement, and it's pretty apparent to me on why both Petan and this team struggled from last year. Reason number one being Jujar Khaira who assisted on over half of Petans goals last year and created a tremendous amount of time and space for Petan that was very apparently lacking this year. He was also a major reason, along with Steven Seigo, why the power play operated at 21% compared to 15% this year (along with very little creativity or movement).

Can you honestly expect any better results from a team that lost possibly their most dominant forward from last year, who's captain played banged up since game one because he didn't want to end his year with surgery, who's 3 best defensemen are freshman (and all but one of the rest sat the stands for either short or long periods of time throughout the year) and can't get consistency from either of their starting goaltenders?

They were a team that was five forwards deep for their top six, a few defensemen and a consistent goaltender short of being a good team. They were predicted fourth by the coaches (just going on a limb but I want to say the coaches poll has been fairly accurate on predicting tech's finishes in the past, typically within a place or two, granted it's been a relatively easy prediction), they lost fourth by one point, got fifth, and lost in the playoffs to the team that beat them out of fourth. How is this under achieving? Maybe it's unrealistic expectations.

They met expectations and possibly overachieved IMO with the loss of Khaira, and early season injuries to Blake and DJ. In college hockey a coach is essentially the coach and GM as he's responsible for the talent pipeline as well. In my opinion, from following tech's recruiting for the past 15 years, this is by far the most talent that tech has ever assembled in their system, which is a credit to the GM. I can forsee Tech finally having a solid six D corps in 2-3 years , which Tech has not had in the past 20 years. We'll see how it pans out but I'd be surprised if there isn't improvement. Regarding entertainment value, there is no comparison in watching these Pearson teams compared to the Russell era. Regarding goaltending, I'd not be surprised to see Kero as their starter at some point next year if Copley can't get it together. From what I've heard Phillips is a good as gone and if Winches? didnt' get playing time this year with basically a wide open door at times, I really can't see him threatening next year. So worst case Kero's number two but Copleys been inconsistent for two years now.

[manurespreader]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Pietila did not regress in points per game by the way, Kero and DJ actually both increased in goals which is improvement, and it's pretty apparent to me on why both Petan and this team struggled from last year. Reason number one being Jujar Khaira who assisted on over half of Petans goals last year and created a tremendous amount of time and space for Petan that was very apparently lacking this year. He was also a major reason, along with Steven Seigo, why the power play operated at 21% compared to 15% this year (along with very little creativity or movement).

Can you honestly expect any better results from a team that lost possibly their most dominant forward from last year, who's captain played banged up since game one because he didn't want to end his year with surgery, who's 3 best defensemen are freshman (and all but one of the rest sat the stands for either short or long periods of time throughout the year) and can't get consistency from either of their starting goaltenders?

They were a team that was five forwards deep for their top six, a few defensemen and a consistent goaltender short of being a good team. They were predicted fourth by the coaches (just going on a limb but I want to say the coaches poll has been fairly accurate on predicting tech's finishes in the past, typically within a place or two, granted it's been a relatively easy prediction), they lost fourth by one point, got fifth, and lost in the playoffs to the team that beat them out of fourth. How is this under achieving? Maybe it's unrealistic expectations.

They met expectations and possibly overachieved IMO with the loss of Khaira, and early season injuries to Blake and DJ. In college hockey a coach is essentially the coach and GM as he's responsible for the talent pipeline as well. In my opinion, from following tech's recruiting for the past 15 years, this is by far the most talent that tech has ever assembled in their system, which is a credit to the GM. I can forsee Tech finally having a solid six D corps in 2-3 years , which Tech has not had in the past 20 years. We'll see how it pans out but I'd be surprised if there isn't improvement. Regarding entertainment value, there is no comparison in watching these Pearson teams compared to the Russell era. Regarding goaltending, I'd not be surprised to see Kero as their starter at some point next year if Copley can't get it together. From what I've heard Phillips is a good as gone and if Winches? didnt' get playing time this year with basically a wide open door at times, I really can't see him threatening next year. So worst case Kero's number two but Copleys been inconsistent for two years now.

Quite well said and welcome back JSR!.

And here's another subject to ponder. Now that Mel has been here 3 years, can he still recruit with the same success down the line?
I like the pipeline and so forth but I'm worried that without more wins recruiting might suffer.

[mtu_huskies]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Per Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona on twitter @cmorganfoxaz

Sources: NCAA free agent hockey signings: Alaska F Cody Kunyk expected to sign w/Tampa; Michigan Tech G Pheonix Copley to sign w/Washington

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Pietila did not regress in points per game by the way, Kero and DJ actually both increased in goals which is improvement, and it's pretty apparent to me on why both Petan and this team struggled from last year. Reason number one being Jujar Khaira who assisted on over half of Petans goals last year and created a tremendous amount of time and space for Petan that was very apparently lacking this year. He was also a major reason, along with Steven Seigo, why the power play operated at 21% compared to 15% this year (along with very little creativity or movement).

Can you honestly expect any better results from a team that lost possibly their most dominant forward from last year, who's captain played banged up since game one because he didn't want to end his year with surgery, who's 3 best defensemen are freshman (and all but one of the rest sat the stands for either short or long periods of time throughout the year) and can't get consistency from either of their starting goaltenders?

They were a team that was five forwards deep for their top six, a few defensemen and a consistent goaltender short of being a good team. They were predicted fourth by the coaches (just going on a limb but I want to say the coaches poll has been fairly accurate on predicting tech's finishes in the past, typically within a place or two, granted it's been a relatively easy prediction), they lost fourth by one point, got fifth, and lost in the playoffs to the team that beat them out of fourth. How is this under achieving? Maybe it's unrealistic expectations.

They met expectations and possibly overachieved IMO with the loss of Khaira, and early season injuries to Blake and DJ. In college hockey a coach is essentially the coach and GM as he's responsible for the talent pipeline as well. In my opinion, from following tech's recruiting for the past 15 years, this is by far the most talent that tech has ever assembled in their system, which is a credit to the GM. I can forsee Tech finally having a solid six D corps in 2-3 years , which Tech has not had in the past 20 years. We'll see how it pans out but I'd be surprised if there isn't improvement. Regarding entertainment value, there is no comparison in watching these Pearson teams compared to the Russell era. Regarding goaltending, I'd not be surprised to see Kero as their starter at some point next year if Copley can't get it together. From what I've heard Phillips is a good as gone and if Winches? didnt' get playing time this year with basically a wide open door at times, I really can't see him threatening next year. So worst case Kero's number two but Copleys been inconsistent for two years now.

You off all people making excuses is quite funny. This is college hockey, if you're doing things right, you're typically losing the best players each year. Losing Khaira certainly sucked but Minnesota State lost Eriah Hayes. You don't think he was a huge part of their offense but they managed to finish 2nd and guys like Bryce Gervais (8-5-13 to 15-8-23) and Johnny McInnis (13-9-22 to 20-16-36) stepped up their game.

I'm not saying we're headed in the wrong direction and yes I got lazy in my previous analysis generalizing that they all regressed on Pts/Gm basis. I'm just pointing out that we didn't really see anyone progress statistically. CJ Eick is the only guy who drastically increased his point total going from 3-4-7 in 36 to 5-13-18 in 40.

I love what I see from the pipeline, especially on the blueline. There isn't a single recruit on the blueline. Top to bottom that group should be fun to watch grow from this year's frosh to Cooper Watson, they all have great potential to be special. The future is certainly bright with more draft picks than we saw throughout Russell's tenure. Guys like Alex Gillies, Demico Hannoun, Joel L'Esperance, Chris Gerrie give me hope. Sure seems like there is more fire power lined up, I just want to see that fire power nurtured and continue to develop once they get here.

[oldish husky]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Per Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona on twitter @cmorganfoxaz

Sources: NCAA free agent hockey signings: Alaska F Cody Kunyk expected to sign w/Tampa; Michigan Tech G Pheonix Copley to sign w/Washington

I didn't see that one coming. But then again, I'm not exactly on the inside track with this stuff.

[HuskyNation]

Per Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona on twitter @cmorganfoxaz

Sources: NCAA free agent hockey signings: Alaska F Cody Kunyk expected to sign w/Tampa; Michigan Tech G Pheonix Copley to sign w/Washington

I wonder how much Shields' departure had to do with this, possibly leading to the inconsistency this year. I still think it is not a good decision for Copley to leave this early, considering he is getting the bulk of the playing time.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

I didn't see that one coming. But then again, I'm not exactly on the inside track with this stuff.

I had 4 flight risks, Copley, Phillips, Johnstone and Pietila.
I have a feeling that the lack of a "full time" goalie coach like Shields made this decision easier for Copley.

Caps announced his signing according to twitter.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Per Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona on twitter @cmorganfoxaz

Sources: NCAA free agent hockey signings: Alaska F Cody Kunyk expected to sign w/Tampa; Michigan Tech G Pheonix Copley to sign w/Washington

IMO, Copley's not ready for the AHL, but I wish him the best of luck. At least he is signing with a team that hasn't had a dominant #1 goalie in years. So there may be an opportunity there if he improves quickly in the next year or two under a full-time goalie coach and gets a couple of breaks, but with Halak a Capital now, it's less likely.

From our standpoint, that would free up D. Kero's spot, and perhaps makes it a bit more likely that Phillips sticks around. If he goes, we're back to square one with two goalies who have essentially zero college game experience, though Kero would be a pretty old freshman, and his BCHL regular season numbers were quite sharp for a rookie in a league known for "run & gun" hockey (playoffs were another story).

[huskyfan]

Per Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona on twitter @cmorganfoxaz

Sources: NCAA free agent hockey signings: Alaska F Cody Kunyk expected to sign w/Tampa; Michigan Tech G Pheonix Copley to sign w/Washington

true.
I'm sad. he was fun to watch.

[mtu_huskies]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Great post JSR.

Sad to see Pheonix go, but good luck to him. As Mel said one Monday, no one on this team is ready to take the next step, and you should be over ready so you can put your best foot forward at the next level. Hopefully Pheonix does that.

Are there parallels to Teslak leaving early too? Didn't he want a goalie coach as well. From my memory, Teslak was better and still got burried in the minors.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

Copley signs with Caps organization...
http://capitalstoday.monumentalnetwo...pheonix-copley

Ahhh **** **** **** **** **** *****.
In other words it would have been nice to see him stay another year (or two).
Well time for Mr Winnipeg Jets to step up his game and come back as the solid #1 netminder next season.
Ryan J