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October 15, 2007

Michigan Tech not only team with two-headed goaltending monster

By Shane Frederick

They say that you need a short memory to be hockey goaltender.

Apparently, a lot of folks who follow college hockey have short memories, too.

Minnesota State opens the 2007-08 season Friday and Saturday with a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at Michigan Tech.

Tech is considered a team on the rise this season and for good reason.

The Huskies finished in a tie for sixth place in the conference a year ago. It was their highest finish since 1993 — Tech had six last-place finishes in the 13 seasons in between — and earned a trip to the WCHA Final Five with an upset of Colorado College in the first round of the playoffs.

The Huskies didn’t lose much from last year’s team and return a pair of junior goalies who are being called the best tandem in the country.

“We have higher expectations,” coach Jamie Russell said. “We’re an older, veteran team, we’re very strong defensively and we have great goaltending.”

Michael-Lee Teslak had a .916 save percentage last season and led the conference with a 2.00 goals-against average.

Teslak’s partner, Rob Nolan, had a .910 save percentage and was fifth in the league, allowing 2.26 goals per game.

The WCHA graduated some outstanding goalies after last season, among them St. Cloud State’s Bobby Goepfert, Wisconsin’s Brian Elliott and Colorado College’s Matt Zaba. Their departures not only leave their respective alma maters with some big holes to fill this year, but they’re causing a lot of people to turn north, point to Michigan Tech’s pair and say, “Look what’s happening in Houghton.”

What people may be forgetting is that two seasons ago, when Teslak and Nolan were freshmen, neither was considered the top rookie goaltender in the WCHA.

That title belonged to Minnesota State’s Dan Tormey.

Tormey won 14 games that season and had a .902 save percentage and 2.83 goals-against average. His teammate and fellow rookie, Mike Zacharias, won three games, stopped 89.3 percent of his shots and allowed 3.63 goals per game.

The Huskies duo wasn’t far behind. Teslak had a .902 save percentage and allowed 3.68 goals per game while winning seven games. Nolan (.888, 4.05) won none.

Last year, Teslak improved to 11 wins and Nolan won seven, while Tormey struggled early before going down with a cut hand that required surgery. Zacharias stepped in and went 10-9-6, a record that included a 2-2 tie a 2-1 win against Teslak and Nolan, respectively.

Mavericks coach Troy Jutting said Monday that he hasn’t decided on his opening-night starter yet, but he appears to have two good choices.

Just as — you might remember — Michigan Tech does.



Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. He also has a hockey blog.

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