Alas! WCHA Previews......10. Michigan Tech

Michigan Tech University

Key losses: Colin Murphy, F; Cam Ellsworth, G; Ryan Markham, F
Key Returnees: Chris Conner, F; Lars Helminen, D; Brandon Schwartz, F; Tyler Shelast, F
Key recruits: Michael Lee-Teslak, G; Alexandre Gagne, F; Justin St. Louis
Projected leading scorer: Brandon Schwartz

Grades:

Offense: C-
Defense: C-
Goalie: C+
Coaching: C+

Analysis:

It’s been a rough um……..decade for Michigan Tech. There hasn’t been a winning season in Copper Country since Bob Mancini’s first season in 1992-1993. Therefore, Michigan Tech gets to open up the WCHA previews by way of Western College Hockey’s “Lake Superior Rule” which states that they automatically gets slated in last until they prove otherwise.

Things started to look a little more positive last season with road sweeps at Duluth and Minnesota. They also totally dominated Canadian school Lakehead in three exhibition games. Despite that, Michigan Tech still finished tied for last in the WCHA, even with St. Cloud actively trying to earn last place.

Head coach Jamie Russell will be heading into his third season and looks to be rebuilding Tech’s team. He was a bit handcuffed in his first season, because former coach Mike Sertich didn’t hand out a number of scholarships, so that Russell could rebuild the program with his own players. It was a great idea on Sertich’s part for the future, but it certainly didn’t help Russell in college hockey’s toughest league only having a CHA number of scholarships. It was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

The pressure will begin to be turned up on Russell both this year and next year now that he is starting to get his own players in. Last year, many of his freshmen were too young to carry the team, but now that they have adapted to college hockey, they will be expected to carry the load.

Tech lost the lone bright spot of their team, Colin Murphy to graduation. Two seniors, Chris Conner and Brandon Schwartz will have to help pick up the scoring slack. As with any rebuilding team, the freshmen will also be asked to contribute right away.

On defense, the Huskies are led by offensive defenseman, Lars Helminen, who is the team’s leading returning scorer. Traffic cone John Scott will miss the first 14 games of the season as a result of his drunken driving incident this offseason.

The Huskies will also have to replace starting goalie Cam Ellsworth, who was the victim of Michigan Tech’s ineptness for the past four years. There were high hopes for Bryce Luker when he arrived in Houghton two summers ago, but he’s been shaky at best so far in his career. It’s likely that the starting job will be handed over to freshmen Michael Lee-Teslak out of the BCHL. Teslak was very highly respected in the BCHL and should help keep Tech in a few games.

Things will always be difficult for Tech. Being in Houghton, Michigan keeps them cut off from the USHL, which serves as the WCHA’s prime recruiting grounds. It’s also hard to lure talented players to Houghton. Despite this, I think Jamie Russell will be able to turn the program around and bring them back to respectability once he gets his own players into the program.