In the aftermath of calamitous events—typhoons, stock market crashes, building collapses and the like—investigators look back and usually find salient clues that could have tipped off the masses before the catastrophe: an ill wind, over-leveraged mortgage securities, a rusted out beam. 

As we look at this CCHA quarterfinal between a national power (No. 12 Tech) and a PairWise bottom-feeder (No. 47 Ferris), we might find ourselves oblivious to some tell-tale clues, indicators that might point toward a newsmaking series that goes the limit. Let’s take a closer look. 

Clue No. 1: Recent Events

Ten days ago in Big Rapids, Michigan Tech’s season nearly imploded after Ferris pushed the Huskies to overtime in their series opener. The next night, Ferris held a two-goal lead in the third period of the finale. As every CCHA fan knows, Shawhan’s troops rallied, masking Saturday's tie by winning the shootout, and escaping Big Rapids without permanent damage. 

The Huskies moved on to play a vigorous series with national No. 1 Minnesota State, and although they were swept at home, Tech was competitive enough to feel good about their chances in the national tournament. Despite the CCHA quarterfinal series looming with Ferris, Shawhan spent most of his radio show on Monday talking about MNSU, not the Bulldogs.

Ferris, on the other hand, split with Northern Michigan last weekend, knocking the Wildcats out of home-ice contention with a convincing 4-2 road win. 

“We’ve had success on the road,” said veteran coach Bob Daniels, and looks forward to this series in Houghton. “We feel comfortable, we won’t be in awe.” 

Clue No. 2: Goaltending

On first blush, this category appears to be a landslide in favor of Michigan Tech. Huskies ace Blake Pietila was just named a Richter Award finalist for the second time, and sports a lofty .920 save percentage. Ferris State’s Logan Stein is entrenched in the .880s, a contrast clearly tilting towards the favorite. But before abandoning the investigation, look at the minutes logged, and the trends of these two goalies.

Pietila has been a beast of burden this year, playing a whopping 1,932 minutes in goal for Tech. Stein is fresher, serving only 1,254 minutes in the FSU crease. Stein played arguably his best game of the year this past Saturday while defeating Northern, turning aside 38 out of 40 shots faced (95 percent). Daniels knows plenty about playoff goaltending—he’s ridden hot goalies to a 6-4 career record in the NCAA tournament, and he likes his current guy. 

“Our save percentage in the first half was .870, and in the second half it was around .905,” said Daniels. “That extra save makes a world of difference.” 

One additional clue: Logan Pietila has been removed from a game only once this season. He was chased from his net by Ferris, 13 days prior to Friday’s puck drop. Last season Pietila was a far fresher goalie, reflected by his .934 save percentage, 14 points higher than this year’s mark. The burden placed on Pietila this year is starting to show. This weekend’s two starting goalies appear to be trending in opposite directions.

Clue No. 3: Secret Weapon

Both teams know the top line of their opponent—Daniels is in awe of Tech’s premier unit of Brian Halonen, Tristan Ashbrook and Tommy Parrottino, “As good a line as there is in college hockey,” said Daniels. He also knows that Shawhan will zero in on his high-scoring trio of Liam MacDougall, Stepan Pokorny and Justin Michaelian. But Daniels has helped a slender freshman blossom this season, a sniper who might be a difference-maker this weekend—Kaleb Ergang. 

“He’s really starting to figure the game out,” said Daniels of Ergang. “He’s got a gift offensively.” 

Ergang has scored five goals and totaled nine points in his last 10 games, and has earned a slot on the Bulldogs third line alongside Mitch Deelstra and Dallas Tulik. If FSU can get a goal or two from them, they might extend this series, and send shock waves throughout college hockey.

Daniels is realistic—he knows his club must play a near-perfect game in order to compete with the national power he has yet to beat in four tries this season. 

“If we stay out of the box, if we’re tight on our line changes, and we can score some goals on the power play, we’ll be in it,” said Daniels. “Whether we can knock them off, it depends, but we’ll be in the series. I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes three games.”

Prediction: Ferris creates more heartburn for Joe Shawhan, but his Huskies prevail in a dramatic three-game set.