A Minor Setback...

The Daily Mining Gazette has the *full story*...

The quick version is that prize MTU recruit Casey Pierro-Zabotel will not be playing for the Huskies until the December 15th game against NMU (Saturday night, in Houghton).

According to coach Jamie Russell, his ACT and/or SAT scores are just a few points short of the threshold required for full NCAA eligibility. Therefore, Casey will continue to play junior hockey with the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL and take the tests again in October. Hopefully he will be better prepared on his second try. Most people I know improved the second time they took such tests, so because he was supposedly so close to the necessary threshold, I'm not too concerned. But we could have used him much sooner.

Russell was quick to stress that he contacted Casey, Casey's adviser and the Pittsburgh Penguins (who recently drafted him) as soon as he heard the news, and that all three are in agreement that Michigan Tech is still where he should develop. It would be very easy for him to bolt for a Canadian major junior team, but the consensus seems to be that he should stick to his plans, which is good news for Tech fans.

While it would be easy to panic right now, there is really no reason to do so. Let's examine a few things about this team...

1. We still have Teslak and Nolan, both of whom I expect will have excellent seasons. At least one of them should be among the country's Top 5 goalies, and likely in contention for the top spot all season.

2. We still have our top two point-getters from last season, Peter Rouleau (7-23-30) and Tyler Shelast (15-9-24).

3. Still coming in October are Deron Cousens, Eric Kattelus, Bennett Royer and Jordan Baker, all solid players and good recruits. Cousens will probably try to fill Helminen's shoes as an offensive defensemen, Kattelus should help out our PP numbers, and I expect all of them will put up some points.

4. We still have a solid core of defensemen, all with at least one year's experience under their belts. Our freshmen d-men started to look pretty capable towards the end of last season, blocking shots and being aggressive.

Furthermore, I expect most, if not all of our upperclassmen to take their play up another notch from last season. As I said in a comment on MEg's blog, with plenty of hard work, practice, and smart play, I don't see why this team cannot have a solid winning record by the time Casey arrives. The schedule for the first half looks like this (exhibition games omitted)...

October

12/14 - Northern/LSSU (Superior Cup)
19/20 - MSU-Mankato
26/27 - North Dakota

November

02/03 - @ Wisconsin
09/10 - St. Cloud State
16/17 - @ UM-Duluth
30 - @ Minnesota

December

01 - @ Minnesota
14 - @ Northern
15 - Northern
28 - Michigan State (GLI)
29 - Michigan/Providence (GLI)

So there will be 9 home games, 7 away games and 2 "neutral" games through the end of the December, for a total of 18 contests. The hardest games will probably be home against the Sioux and on the road at the Goofs. Wisconsin will be strong, but they are a very young team that will be prone to mistakes in the first half and while Connelly is pretty good in the net, he's no Elliott. St. Cloud will be a bit softer this season without Goepfert backstopping them, but they still have a lot of scoring punch.

I'm sure the games against Northern will be as hard fought and up for grabs as they normally are, but I think Tech has a bit of an edge in talent, plus two of them will be at home. And as usual, the team must be careful not to overlook even UMD and MSU-M, as just about any WCHA team can take out another on any given night.

Bottom line - I think the team is very capable of being, say, 10-4-1 by the time Casey suits up for his first game as a Husky on December 15th. Panicking is not acceptable yet!