Season 6 Episode 24 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide; Ass In The Crease. This week, Tim Braun and Rob Gilreath were joined by multi-channel broadcaster Dave Ellis. In this episode they discussed Michigan Tech’s season so far, Dave’s favorite players on Tech’s roster and the injury situation at Tech.
Dave’s impressions on Michigan Tech’s season
The overarching theme of the episode was how the first half of the season went for Michigan Tech. Dave thought that Tech has had a screwy season so far with a lot of weird games. Dave was baffled that Isaac Gordon didn’t score more goals in the first half of the season. Tim asked Dave which Tech player was his biggest surprise. Dave thought Logan Morrell was the player who had developed the most from the start of the season. All of the guys agreed Morrell has been a breath of fresh air in the faceoff circle for Tech. Dave also complimented Rylan Brown for his play and increased ice time. Ultimately, Dave gave his MVP pick to goaltender Derek Mulahy and the way he has stepped up in after the injury to Max Vayrynen. This lead the guys down a rabbit hole discussion on possible angles for Tech to add another goaltender to the roster at the holiday break.
Tim talked about how excited he’s been to see Stiven Sardarian develop in the first half of the season. Dave talked about Tech’s opponents recognizing Stiven’s talent and targeting him during the games in an attempt to get under his skin. The guys talked about how much Stiven likes to have the puck on his stick and Dave called out his ability to make tough passes at times.
The guys shifted their focus to the defensive side of the rink and talked about how head coach Joe Shawhan is not playing with his preferred defensive lineup. Dave thought that Alex Nordstrom should consider switching back to defense to help with the shortened bench. The guys talked about how important it will be for Tech moving forward to keep the penalty kill time to a minimum in an effort to save the defense from constantly having to be on the ice. The guys talked about the goaltending situation at Tech and what possible solutions might exist for the team in the second half of the season. They discussed the lack of options in the transfer portal and speculated whether Tech would bring in Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev early. This lead to another rabbit hole conversation about the upcoming NCAA rule changes which will allow CHL players to retain their NCAA eligibility.
Bemidji State series review
Sprinkled into the conversation about the first half of Tech’s season was talk about Tech’s series last weekend against Bemidji State. Tim thought it was nice to see so many different Huskies score, but bemoaned the fact that all the goals came in one game rather than being spread out. The guys talked about how unexpected the final score line was given the two teams defensive first systems. All of the guys agreed that at least two of the Tech goals were not the fault of Bemidji goaltender Mattias Scholl. Rob brought up the xG numbers from the weekend and Tim pointed out that good things happened when Tech crashed the net. Dave talked about xG showing off a teams talent level and how Tech will likely have to work hard to match their xG compared to teams with elite scorers. Tim expressed frustration at the lack of success for Tech during the shootout.
Cut for time
This week’s cut time for Patrons is approximately 3 minutes long. Tim shared his journey on catching up on the podcast episodes he missed while sick. The guys talked about special teams maths.
Learn More
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