THIS WEEKEND'S NOTES

WEST REGIONAL
• No. 5 Michigan Tech plays No. 13 St. Cloud State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday (March 27). The puck drops at 3:30 p.m. Central/4:30 p.m. Eastern at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.

• It will be Tech's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1981 and the program's 11th all-time. The Huskies have three national championships, winning it all in 1962, 1965 and 1975. They are 13-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

• The other semifinal game in the region will have No. 3 North Dakota (27-9-3) playing No. 11 Quinnipiac (23-11-4) at 7 p.m. (CT) on Friday (ESPNU).

• The West Regional Championship Game, and a trip to the Frozen Four, will be played at 8 p.m. (CT) Saturday (ESPNU). The Frozen Four is April 9 and April 11 in Boston.
 

TV COVERAGE
• ESPN's long-standing commitment to the NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship resumes in 2015 with coverage of every game for the 11th consecutive year, the Frozen Four for the 21st year and the Championship game for the 36th year.
• Friday's game against St. Cloud State can be found at ESPN3.com and through the Watch ESPN App.
• Saturday's West Regional Championship will be shown live on ESPNU
• Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Sean Ritchlin (color commentary) will provide commentary all weekend long.
 

THIS WEEK'S RANKING
Tech is ranked No. 5 in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls this week. It is the 19th week the Huskies have been in the polls. They have been in the top 11 all 19 weeks and were ranked No. 1 on Nov. 17.
 

WHERE TECH RANKS IN THE NATION
• Tanner Kero is third in game-winning goals (7), fifth in shorthanded goals (2), 12th in points (45) and 16h with a +22
• Jamie Phillips lead the country in games started (40), wins (28), ranks second for shutouts (tied, 6) and minutes played (2349:07), and third for save percentage (93.5), goals against average (1.71) and winning pct. (.763).
• Petan is third in game-winning goals (7), eighth in points on the power play (19), and 31st in points (39)
• Shane Hanna is sixth with a +27 rating
• Cliff Watson is sixth with 86 blocked shots
• Matt Roy ranks seventh in the nation with 85 blocked shots
• Chris Leibinger is eighth with a +25
• Tech is tied with the most wins (29) and is second in winning percentage (75.0)
• Tech leads in scoring margin (1.77)
• Tech is second in scoring defense (1.77)
• Tech is fourth in goals scored (142) and is fifth in goals per game (3.55)
• Tech's power play is seventh (21.6 percent)
 

KERO'S HONORS
• Tanner Kero was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He is the third Husky behind Jamie Ram (1994) and Colin Murphy (2005) to be named a finalist. Each NCAA regional features at least one Hobey Baker Award finalist (seven of the 10 total are in the tournament). The winner will be announced the day before the championship game in Boston.
• Tanner Kero was named the WCHA Player of the Year last week. He is the third Husky behind Rob Murray (1971) and Mike Zuke (1976) to receive the award.
• Kero won the WCHA Scoring Title. He had 34 points in league games on 13 goals and 21 assists to become the first Husky since Shawn Harrison during the 1988-89 season to win the award.
• Kero was also named the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year. Geoff Sarjeant (1991-92) and Eli Vlaisavljevich (2009-10) were the only other Huskies to receive the honor.
 

MIKE RICHTER FINALIST
Jame Phillips was named one of the five finalists for the 2015 Mike Richter Award presented by Let's Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation. Mike Richter will present the second annual award at the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four in Boston.
 

COACH PEARSON
• Mel Pearson is in his fourth season as Michigan Tech's head hockey coach in 2014-15. His record with the Huskies is 72-67-17. He was named WCHA Coach of the Year in his inaugural campaign in 2011-12 and has guided the Huskies to their best three-season stretch in the last 20 years with 43 wins.
• Pearson's 72 wins rank him second all-time at Tech. John MacInnes (555-295-39) is the leader, while Jamie Russell (70-197-37) and Herb Boxer (66-129-8) are ranked behind Pearson.
• Pearson's 43 wins in his first three years are the third most a Tech coach has had after the first three seasons. Jim Nahrgang had 56 wins during his three-year tenure. Bob Mancini had 45 wins during his first three seasons.
• Pearson played at Michigan Tech from 1977-81. A forward, Pearson put up 56 points (21-35=56) in 97 career games in a Black and Gold sweater and also earned a degree in business administration.
• Pearson has been a part of 22 NCAA Tournament Teams. He was a senior on Tech's 1981 team that finished third. As an assistant coach at Michigan, Pearson went to 21 tournaments and won the NCAA Championship in 1996 and 1998.
 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• St. Cloud State is 19-18-1 overall and is making its third straight NCAA tournament appearance. It is the sixth appearance since 2007 and 11th overall. The Huskies finished sixth in the NCHC standings with an 11-12-1-0 record. SCSU is ranked No. 13 in the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
• St. Cloud State's last 12 games have been against teams that each finished in the top eight in the PairWise Rankings. St. Cloud State has played 26 of its 38 games against teams that made the NCAA tournament. The Huskies have the second strongest strength of schedule behind Minnesota Duluth.
• Bob Motzko is in his 10th season as head coach with the Huskies in 2014-15. He is 203-154-41 at SCSU.
• Joey Benik (16-22=38) and Jonny Brodzinski (20-17=37) lead the offense while Charlie Lindgren is 18-17-1 between the pipes with a 2.26 goal against average and a 91.9 save percentage. Brodzinski's 11 power play goal lead the country and SCSU's power play percentage (23.7) is fifth in the country.
 

TOURNEY NOTES
• ANYBODY'S GAME – Six teams have held the No. 1 position in the national polls at some point this season, making this one of the most wide-open tournaments in memory. Of course, that's always true in a single-elimination tournament – the No. 1 overall seed has only won once in the last five years (Boston College, 2012).

• EXPERIENCE COUNTS – Despite the rise in early departures for the NHL in recent years, college hockey remains a game that rewards experienced teams. The tournament field is a case in point, with nine of the top 11 scorers in the field being juniors or seniors. A number of players in the field turned down opportunities to sign pro contracts last summer to pursue an NCAA championship, including Miami's Austin Czarnik, Boston College's Michael Matheson, Denver's Joey LaLeggia, Harvard's Jimmy Vesey, Minnesota's Kyle Rau and Providence's Jon Gillies, among others.
  NCAA teams with the most seniors
   7 – Boston College, Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Yale
   6 – Harvard, Miami, Michigan Tech, Minnesota, Minnesota State

• BCS BUSTERS – For 11 straight years, at least one school that plays Division II or III in sports other than hockey has reached the Frozen Four. Candidates this year include No. 1 overall seed Minnesota State, RIT, Minnesota Duluth, Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State.
 

SERIES INFORMATION
Tech is 28-55-5 all-time against St. Cloud State. The series began in 1948. It will be the first matchup between the former WCHA rivals in the NCAA Tournament. Tech has won only three of the last 21 meetings.
 

LAST TIME OUT
• Michigan Tech made its first appearance in the WCHA Tournament Championship since 1996 on March 21. The Huskies advanced to the title game by defeating No. 9 Bowling Green the day before 5-2. No. 2 Minnesota State won the Broadmoor Trophy with a 5-2 victory over the Huskies.
• David Johnstone had five assists at the WCHA Final Five and was named to the all-tournament team. Johnstone became the fourth Husky this season to reach the 100-point plateau on Friday.
• Tyler Heinonen was also on the all-tournament team after scoring a pair of goals on Friday and adding an assist in the game. Heinonen has six multi-point games this season and has scored two goals twice.
 

LOOKING AHEAD
The NCAA Frozen Four is at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. semifinal games on April 9 will be broadcasted live on ESPN2 with the National Championship Game on April 11 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
 

OTHER NOTES
• Jamie Phillips broke the Michigan Tech record for shutouts in a season. He has six this year.
• Tanner Kero was named to the 50th GLI All-Tournament Team
• David Johnstone has two goals against SCSU while Tanner Kero, Riley Sweeney, Blake Pietila and Alex Petan also have a goal.
• Tech has won 15 more games than 2013-14 (14-19-7), matching Boston University for the biggest one-season turnarounds in the country.