Chasing MacNaughton S6E10&11: Chasing Hartman and October 18th, 2003

Season 6 Episodes 10 and 11 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide, Chasing Hartman and October 18, 2003. In honor of the Mitch’s Misfits 21st birthday celebration that will be happening next weekend, the Chasing MacNaughton crew was joined by three players that played a key role in the game that spawned the Misfits. Cam Ellsworth, Colin Murphy and Brett Englehardt shared their stories of the players’ perspective of that October 18th, 2003 comeback win in overtime against Northern Michigan.

The Early 2000s Michigan Tech Coaching Carousel

At the time of the game we’re all familiar with in 2003, the Michigan Tech hockey program was in a state of flux, to say the least. All of these players had played for Michigan Tech prior to Jamie Russel’s arrival on campus, and since this was the first year of his tenure, all of the guests talked about their experiences adapting to his style of coaching after the departure of Mike Sertich. They all spent some time reminiscing about “Sertie,” as they had all played for the recently departed MTU coach. All of the former players gave valuable insights as to what the culture at the rink was like during their time.

Part of History

Many of us already know the story of how the Misfits were founded, with THG co-founder Tim Braun taking his shirt off during the incredible comeback that fateful night against Northern Michigan. Matt asked the guests if on the player side, if they were aware that they were part of a huge moment in Michigan Tech history. Brett said that he had no idea it was going to be that big of a moment, and it easily could have been a different story had Tech suffered the overtime loss. Also, everything happened so quickly. Tech turned the tide of the game within 3 minutes. 

Cam chimed in saying that at the end of the game, he vividly remembers fans started to funnel out and then he watched them funnel back in. It was like having the breath taken out of them, but then the fans came to give it back.

Times Are A-Changin’

Matt asked the guests what the energy transition from the ‘02-’03 season to the ‘03-’04 season when the Misfits began to form. Colin talked about how it made a huge difference to the players to feel like the fans and the community care and are involved in the game. Brett recalled times where he would walk into the arena and think to himself “if we can just get the fans going and get the crowd behind us, that could catapult us into a much better game.” There was discussion about how the Misfits have grown since its inception, and how it could rival all of the best student sections in the nation. Rob reminisced about the pep band being able to run amuck around the rink, and he would chase band members around as a little kid.

After that conversation, the players talked about their decision to play at Michigan Tech, their experiences playing for the team and the development they had as players and as people. All three guests talked about how Michigan Tech offered them the opportunity to play more minutes against better competition than they probably would have gotten anywhere else in the NCAA. 

The Butterfly Effect

To wrap up the podcast, the guys talked about the cascading series of events that game had on Michigan Tech history. That is the game that spawned the Misfits, which then spawned Tech Hockey Guide, which then became the podcast, the discord server, and the machine that continues to feed the Misfits. Every Michigan Tech hockey fan from that day forward has a lot to thank for that October 18th, 2003 hockey game.

Cut for Time

This week’s cut content for patrons is approximately 13 minutes long. It includes some opening shooting the breeze with the guests, a potential guest for the annual Bell Let’s Talk episode, lamenting United States’ “bank holidays,” discussion about Rob’s hat, Tim’s new car and another exciting edition of Rob getting dinner.

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. This week’s extended version is about 64 minutes.

RAW AUDIO: This post is for patrons at the Silver Level ($25/ mo) or above which includes unedited audio and usually drops the night the podcast is recorded.
RAW VIDEO: This post is for patrons at the Gold Level ($10/mo) or above which includes unedited video and usually drops the morning after the podcast is recorded.
EXTENDED AUDIO: This post is for patrons at the Black Level ($5/mo) or above which includes extended audio content and usually drops the night after or 2nd morning after the podcast is recorded.

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, and Psychobob on Whatnot.

Check out Tech Leadership 4.0: Leading in a Technologically Driven World and The Power of Deduction: Failure Modes & Effects Analysis for Design: Second Edition written by our very own Old Dog, Mike Anleitner

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.