Last weekend featured two top-ten matchups, and a very determined Minnesota-Duluth took command in a one-sided win over Minnesota Friday night at Minnesota, and then held Minnesota off Saturday night at Minnesota-Duluth, knocking Minnesota out of the #1 ranking, down to #4, and elevating Minnesota-Duluth five spots to #8; who would be the new #1?  Miami of Ohio pulled into North Dakota Friday night, took an early lead, and held on to a narrow win over North Dakota, while North Dakota came back Saturday night with a one-sided win on their home ice.  North Dakota held at #2, and Miami of Ohio held at #7.

So who would be the new #1?  Michigan Tech swept Bemidji State, pushed their record to 10-0, and rose up four spots to the #1 ranking, the first time since 1976.  Boston University beat Maine and held at #3, and UMass-Lowell split with Penn State, nudging Lowell down a spot to #5.  Colgate earned a win over St. Lawrence, and a tie with Clarkson, and held at #6.  Denver’s lopsided win over Colorado College nudged Denver up a spot to #10, and Mankato held at #9 on its idle weekend.

So Michigan Tech is 10-0, and the inquiring College Hockey Update reader may be prompted to ask:  Can Michigan Tech be stopped?  Six of their wins have been over Lake Superior, Alaska Anchorage, and Bemidji State, none of the three of which are having very good years at all (2-10-0, 4-6-2, 3-7-0).  Four of the wins came against Ferris State and Michigan (#23 and #28), which perhaps isn’t the greatest accomplishment in the world either (6-5-0, 4-5-0), even though they were highly ranked when Tech played them (#8, and #15 at the time).  But then they are winning every single game they play, so there is no real way to tell their limit right now.  Perhaps this weekend’s matchup with #9 Mankato State will be a test and an indication, and if not, perhaps their December 12 and 13 matchup with #8 Minnesota Duluth will be the test.  But if nothing appears to be “exposed” on either of these two weekends, their schedule appears to be fairly clear sailing all the way until their rematch at Mankato on February 27 and 28 . . . .  They do have four games in there against #17 Northern Michigan and two games against #18 Bowling Green along the way as well.  Not long ago some people questioned if highly ranked ECAC teams could compete outside of the ECAC . . . .

Michigan Tech received some big time help over the weekend from junior forward Alex Petan, of Delta, BC.  the 5′ 8″ 155 lb. forward scored a goal in Friday night’s 2-1 win over Bemidji State, and scored another goal in Saturday night’s 4-2 win over Bemidji State.  So far this season he is first on the team in goals scored with five, and tied for third in assists with five.  Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, he played for Coquitlam of the BCHL for two years.  In 2010-11, he scored thirteen goals and made twenty assist; in 2011-12, he scored thirty-eight goals, and made fifty assists.  In his freshman year at Michigan Tech, he was first on the team in goals with fifteen, and tied for first in assists with 19.  His sophomore year he was tied for second in goals with eleven, and was third in assists with seventeen.  His hometown of Delta, BC, is immediately south of Vancouver, and is just over the border from Port Roberts, WA.; it has a population of 100,000.

Michigan Tech?  Did you know that Michigan Tech has won three NCAA Hockey Championships?  They had an excellent run under Coach John MacInnes, from 1956 to 1982.  During that time the team was 555-295-39, and won the NCAA Championship in 1962, 1965, and 1975.  They were also in the final game in 1956, 1960, 1974, and 1976.  So, they were in the final game three years in a row from 1974-76.  MacInnes was from Toronto, and was the goalie at the University of Michigan.  He played in the  NHL for the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings before coming to Michigan Tech.  He died at the age of 58 in 1982.  The team is now coached by Mel Pearson of Edina, MN., who played at Tech from 1977-81 and was a team captain.  He started coaching as an assistant at Tech from 1985-88, went to Michigan as an assistant and an associate from 1988-2011, and became the head coach at Tech in 2011.  His record in his first three years is 36-46-13, but he’s already changed that to 46-46-13!  His team this year skews a little younger, with ten freshmen, nine sophomores, six juniors, and seven seniors.  Coach Pearson’s father, also Mel Pearson, played professional hockey from 1957-73, and played in 38 NHL hockey games among five different seasons, four with the Rangers, and one with the Penguins.

Michigan Tech was founded as a mining school in 1885, and evolved into a University with a total enrollment of 7,000 graduate and undergraduate students; its faculty numbers 450.  Tech sits on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake on a 925 acre campus.  The main part of the campus is compact, and features a number of tall, low-rise to high-rise buildings.  I assume it’s laid out this way because of the winter weather.  59% of the students are engineering majors, and Tech offers 130 degree programs among its five colleges and schools.  A notable alum is Tony Esposito, goalie for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks for a long number of years.  In addition, current NHL’er John Scott, played at Tech from 2004-08.  Their teams are called the Huskies, and the hockey team plays at the John MacInnes Student Arena, which was completed in 1972, and seats 4,466.

Michigan Tech is located in Houghton, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula.  It is a longer drive to get there from Detroit than it is to get from Detroit to Washington, DC.  Houghton’s population of 7,700 is spread among the town’s 5 square miles, and it sits on the southern shore of Portage Lake.  Houghton is the county seat of Houghton County.  The area was largely populated because of the opportunity to mine copper.  Copper was originally mined there by the Native Americans.  The average low in January is 7, and the record low is -26.  And from what I hear, it is an amazing place for hunting in the winter and fishing in the summer.  Thanks to John McLean for agreeing with me that Michigan Tech had a great history to write about, and for pointing me in the direction of some good Michigan Tech information.

This weekend features a great top ten matchup — as mentioned earlier, #1 Michigan Tech hosts #9 Mankato State for two games.  Two top ten teams will play top twenty teams as #2 North Dakota travels to play two games at #16 St. Cloud State, and #5 UMass-Lowell travels to play two at #25 Notre Dame (UMass-Lowell beat Notre Dame last night, and tonight’s game is on NBC Sports Network at 4:30pm Pacific Time.

This provides the top ten teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=94 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom