Season 5 Episodes 26, 27 and 28 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide; GLI Coverage. This week was a special week of coverage from the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) and featured Rob Gilreath as the main host. Rob was joined by a slew of others during the course of the week including regular Chasing Mac host Matt Cavender, his brother Paul Gilreath, current Misfits president Kellan Meloche and “Technological” speller Dylan “The Diaz” Diaz, Misfits co-founder Chris Nesbitt and last, but not least, Alaska super-fan Britton (Britt) Anderson. There are three parts to the GLI coverage: The pre-tournament coverage, coverage after Michigan Tech’s first game against Alaska, and post-tournament celebratory coverage.

Pre-Tournament Coverage

The pre-tournament coverage featured Rob, Matt, Paul and Britt on the mics. A large chunk of the conversation focused on old hype videos for Alaska Fairbanks, and what became known as the “Space Bear” video. The guys talked about hoping to see Michigan Tech get back on track leading into the second half of the season. With Britt representing Alaska, the guys discussed how difficult it is for independent teams to make the NCAA tournament. They also talked about Alaska nearly making the tournament last season. The conversation stayed at a national tournament level for a while and the guys talked about the possibility of bringing campus sites into the fold for the NCAA Tournament.

Getting the focus back to the tournament on hand, the guys gave their predictions for the GLI, starting with the Michigan State/Ferris State matchup. Paul thought Michigan State would win by four, Matt thought they’d win by seven, Britt thought it could be a trap game for Michigan State but ultimately predicted a 5-2 Michigan State win and Rob thought State would win by 3.

Turning to the Michigan Tech/Alaska game, Matt thought it would be the most exciting game of the weekend and the guys talked about the offensive firepower both Michigan State and Alaska have. Britt picked Alaska to win a close game, Matt predicted a 4-3 Tech win, Paul said his heart was with Michigan Tech but his head picked Alaska and Rob picked a 5-1 Tech win.

In-Tournament Coverage

After Michigan Tech and Alaska wrapped up their game, Rob and Matt were joined by current Mitch’s Misfits President Kellan Meloche and Misfits member Dylan Diaz and the four of them recorded during the Michigan State/Ferris State game. Kellan and Dylan showcased their after game reports that they post to X (formerly known as Twitter). The guys talked about Michigan Tech’s win versus Alaska and Dylan talked about being impressed with Austen Swankler’s play in his first game in a Michigan Tech jersey. Kellan thought his player of the game was Ryland Mosley and Dylan thought his was Logan Pietila. The guys talked about hockey being a random sport where the best team doesn’t always win.

Rob asked Kellan what other Misfits trips are planned for the season. Kellan talked about going to LSSU. Matt asked Kellan and Dylan to talk about the atmosphere at the Mac during the most recent game against Northern Michigan. They both thought it was the loudest they’d heard the Mac. The guys talked about the atmosphere that the Misfits create and Kellan talked about the living room that was present during in the Mac during the Northern Michigan game.

Kellan decided to take the reigns and ask Matt what he thinks the Misfits do best currently and what they could improve on. Matt thought the best part was how the organization has grown and how he loves all of the student side standing during the games rather than just the Misfits themselves. Matt thought that new chants needed to be introduced and that chants should be going the entire game.

Kellan then asked Rob if there has been a time in his Tech hockey life that’s been more amusing than the current era. Rob thought the last 10 years with making the national tournaments has been fun, but also reminisced about the old days as a kid wandering around the Mac and learning to skate with the Michigan Tech players.

The guys also talked about the pandas that talk to opposing players in the penalty box during Michigan Tech games at the Mac. Kellan talked about some opposing players really enjoying that but also getting annoyed when the pandas read the rules to them about the penalty they took.

We Are The Champions

The post-tournament coverage was split into two different parts. There was a short recording prior to the championship game featuring Rob, Matt and Chris Nesbitt. The guys talked about the origins of the Misfits and allowed Chris to set the record straight on any falsities that Tim has spewed on the podcast. Chris talked about his role in the Misfits when the organization was created, which was mainly being the cheer leader during the games. Chris also talked about being in charge of the “marketing” for the Misfits around campus.

The largest post-tournament segment was after the championship game was completed. Rob, Paul Gilreath, Chris Nesbitt and Britt Anderson were joined (virtually) by Tim to discuss Michigan Tech’s win against Michigan State to be crowned GLI champions. The guys talked about Michigan Tech’s rough second period and the extremely low shot count they posted. Britt thought that the game was a “heart versus talent” type game and that Michigan Tech seemed to want the win more.

The guys discussed the All-Tournament Team selections and Tim bemoaned the fact that he submitted his ballot prior to Jack Works scoring his hat trick. The guys talked about Works’ game and how well Michigan Tech’s 4th line played. Chris talked about Michigan Tech needing to play like they did for an entire 60 minutes moving forward. Later in the recording the guys talked about Blake Pietila being selected as the All-Tournament goaltender.

The guys also talked about Van Andel Arena and how it works/does not work as a host venue. They all agreed that the atmosphere at this year’s edition of the GLI was great and that Michigan State, Ferris State and Alaska fans traveled well. Chris did wish that more of the concourse was opened and the guys complained about the ticket prices and fees as well as the cost of food and beverages.

The guys briefly looked ahead to the rest of Michigan Tech’s season. They discussed Arvid Caderoth’s injury and Tim hoped that getting Max Koskipirtti back from the World Junior Championship would help the team as well.

Learn More

For additional information and more episode liner notes, check out our episode overview on Tech Hockey Guide. To make sure we can afford all our fancy equipment we purchased for the podcast and the THG website in general, please check out our Patreon page and consider joining. Patrons at our Black Level or above receive an authentic MTU jersey patch and access to extra podcast content including extended versions of our other episodes.

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Mitch’s Misfits Amazon wishlist is still having items added as we figure it out, but you can take a look by clicking here and a reminder, if you rate the Podcast 5-stars, we’ll read your review on the podcast. Thanks again to our sponsors: Arcadia Insurance Group and Aaron Pieltia, Fiebke Dental in downtown Rhinelander, Wis. and Livonia Technical Services.

Follow us on twitter at ChasingMacPod. Join our Discord server for discussions covering Michigan Tech hockey and more. You can submit questions through our email address, ChasingMac@techhockeyguide.com. Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate and review to help us reach more people, and tell your friends. Please check out Jonathan Zamaites’ series previews every Friday, Mike Anleitner’s Old Dog in Texas column every Wednesday, Zach Aufdemberge’s Analytics With Augie and Nathaniel Brose’s nationwide hockey columns. Also, keep an eye out for new recruiting articles that Nathan Cima writes. As always, special thanks to our patron saint Doc McResin for his generous donation to get this thing running, we hope you enjoy. Also, thanks to The Thank You Notes for all the bumpers in today’s episode. If you like what you hear, check them out at thethankyounotes.bandcamp.com.

Nick Holmes
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