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2022–23 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season

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2022–23 Northern Michigan Wildcats
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceT–4th CCHA
Home iceBerry Events Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall21–17–0
Conference14–12–0
Home10–8–0
Road11–9–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachGrant Potulny
Assistant coachesByron Pool
Nick Peruzzi
Captain(s)Tanner Vescio
Alternate captain(s)André Ghantous
David Keefer
Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons
« 2021–22 2023–24 »

The 2022–23 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season was the 47th season of play for the program and 25th season in the CCHA. The Wildcats represented Northern Michigan University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. They were coached by Grant Potulny, in his 6th season, and played their home games at Berry Events Center.

Season

[edit]

After a solid season the year before, Northern Michigan came into the season ranked for the first time in years and had some decent results early. The Wildcats slipped at the end of October, however, losing 4 out of 5 games which included a loss to Alaska Anchorage who were playing their first games in almost 3 years. NMU arrested their slide in November in part by sticking with freshman netminder Béni Halász in goal. The other issue for the club was trying to reform the offense after the loss of Hank Crone, their leading scorer from the year before. Slowly, the team got used to one another and the new additions were assimilated into coach Potulny's system.

Northern Michigan finished out the first half of their season with a decent record which included splits against both Minnesota State and Michigan Tech. Unfortunately, after returning from the winter break, both the offense and defense struggled. The Wildcats lost 6 out of 7 and tumbled down the standings. By the time February rolled around, the team was in the bottom half of the CCHA standings and had no chance for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Luckily, the Wildcats ended the season with a fairly easy slate of opponents and were able to take full advantage.

After settling down on the back end, the NMU offense exploded against Ferris State, scoring 17 goals in one weekend. Entering the final week of the season, the suddenly-hot Wildcats had a long-shot chance at a homestand in the postseason. First, they needed to take as many points as they could from Bowling Green. The team had to overcome early deficits in both matches but were able to come away with a pair of 4–2 victories. In the meantime, Bemidji State was only able to earn a split and the two teams ended the regular season with 39 points. Luckily for NMU, the Wildcats possessed the tiebreaker and would host the Beavers for the quarterfinal round.

Northern Michigan's inspired play continued into the postseason and, after trading goals with BSU, the Wildcats scored the final 4 markers to walk away with a win in game 1. Bemidji State responded with a strong effort in the rematch but Halász was equal to the task and allowed just one goal on 36 shots. Regulation ended with a 1–1 tie and immediately after the start of overtime the Wildcats were in attack mode. NMU fired three shots on goal in 67 seconds with the final finding the twine.[1] Northern Michigan advanced to the semifinal where they met long-time rival, Michigan Tech. NMU entered the match having lost the last three to the Huskies but erased that memory by scoring three times in the first. After that, Halász had to weather a barrage of shots from Tech but he was up to the task and turned everything aside. A late goal extended their lead but by then the game was well in hand and Northern Michigan skated away with a 4–0 victory.

The Wilcdats reached a conference championship game for the third time under Potulny but were still searching for their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2010.[2] Halász continued his shutout streak and held Minnesota State scoreless through most of the game. Alex Frye scored a pair of goals to stake the Wildcats to a 2–0 lead and all signs were pointing to their winning the title. With less than 3 minutes remaining, everything began to unravel when the Mavericks cut the lead in half while their goaltender was pulled. MSU completed the comeback with their second extra-attacker goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Now, with all of the momentum having swung towards the Mavericks, NMU could only watch as Minnesota State went on the attack in overtime and ended the Wildcats season after just 68 seconds.[3]

Departures

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Cause
Mack Byers Forward  United States Transferred to St. Thomas
Trevor Cosgrove Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with Bridgeport Islanders)
Hank Crone Forward  United States Graduation (signed with Allen Americans)
Hampus Eriksson Forward  Sweden Graduation (signed with Pioneers Vorarlberg)
Tim Erkkila Defenseman  United States Left program (retired)
Oscar Geschwind Forward  Sweden Transferred to American International
Bo Hanson Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers)
Nolan Kent Goaltender  Canada Graduate transfer to Alaska Anchorage
Garrett Klee Forward  United States Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks)
Ian Malcolmson Forward  United States Left program (retired)
Connor Marritt Forward  Canada Transferred to Alaska Anchorage
Joseph Nardi Forward  Canada Graduation (signed with Manitoba Moose)
Ben Newhouse Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with HC Pustertal Wölfe)

Recruiting

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Isack Bandu Defenseman  Canada 21 Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, QC
Nathan Butler Forward  United States 20 Wylie, TX
Connor Eddy Forward  Canada 20 Victoria, BC
Aiden Gallacher Defenseman  United States 22 Rochester Hills, MI; transfer from Michigan State
Luke Gramer Defenseman  United States 20 Moorhead, MN
Béni Halász Goaltender  Hungary 21 Budapest, HUN
Simon Kjellberg Defenseman  Sweden 22 Nashville, TN; transfer from Rensselaer; selected 163rd overall in 2018
Joey Larson Forward  United States 21 Brighton, MI
Tanner Latsch Forward  United States 20 Muskegon, MI
Zach Michaelis Forward  United States 20 Elk River, MN
Kristóf Papp Forward  Hungary 21 Budapest, HUN; transfer from Michigan State
Artem Shlaine Forward  Russia 20 Moscow, RUS; transfer from Connecticut
Josh Zinger Defenseman  Canada 21 Red Deer, AB

Roster

[edit]

As of September 8, 2022.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2 Sweden Simon Kjellberg Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2000-02-17 Stockholm, Sweden RPI (ECAC) NYR, 163rd overall 2018
4 British Columbia Michael Van Unen Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-02-26 Kamloops, British Columbia Merritt (BCHL)
5 North Dakota Colby Enns Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 1999-09-16 Minot, North Dakota Lincoln (USHL)
6 Alberta Tyrell Boucher Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-06-03 Nampa, Alberta Cowichan Valley (BCHL)
7 Michigan David Keefer (A) Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1997-10-21 Brighton, Michigan Michigan State (Big Ten)
8 Russia Artem Shlaine Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 2002-03-07 Moscow, Russia UConn (HEA) NJD, 130th overall 2020
9 Michigan Joey Larson Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2001-03-27 Brighton, Michigan Muskegon (USHL)
10 Michigan Aiden Gallacher Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-03-20 Rochester Hills, Michigan Michigan State (Big Ten)
11 California André Ghantous (A) Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1998-12-07 Glendale, California Penticton (BCHL)
12 Michigan Tanner Latsch Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-01-02 Muskegon, Michigan Des Moines (USHL)
13 New Jersey Mikey Colella Junior F 5' 7" (1.7 m) 155 lb (70 kg) 1999-06-12 Wenonah, New Jersey Trail (BCHL)
14 California Vincent de Mey Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-11-26 Los Angeles, California Muskegon (USHL)
15 British Columbia Rylan Van Unen Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-02-26 Kamloops, British Columbia Merritt (BCHL)
16 Hungary Kristóf Papp Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 2001-06-27 Budapest, Hungary Michigan State (Big Ten)
17 Minnesota Luke Gramer Freshman D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-07-02 Moorhead, Minnesota Fargo (USHL)
18 Texas Nathan Butler Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2002-01-16 Wylie, Texas Corpus Christi (NAHL)
19 Colorado A. J. Vanderbeck Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-09-23 Monument, Colorado Ohio State (Big Ten)
20 Alberta Josh Zinger Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-08-05 Red Deer, Alberta Brooks (AJHL)
21 British Columbia Connor Eddy Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2002-04-18 Victoria, British Columbia Victoria (BCHL)
22 Minnesota Jett Jungels Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2000-07-14 Edina, Minnesota Edina (USHS–MN)
23 Michigan Jakob Peterson Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 2002-04-18 Marquette, Michigan Amarillo (NAHL)
24 Quebec Isack Bandu Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2001-05-03 Montreal, Quebec Victoria (BCHL)
25 Ontario Brett Willits Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1999-03-16 London, Ontario Chilliwack (BCHL)
26 Minnesota Tanner Vescio (C) Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-04-14 Blaine, Minnesota Fargo (USHL)
27 Minnesota Zach Michaelis Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 2002-05-30 Elk River, Minnesota Trail (BCHL)
28 Michigan Alex Frye Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-07-27 Clarkston, Michigan Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)
29 Manitoba Reilly Funk Freshman (RS) F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 2000-12-23 Portage, Manitoba Youngstown (USHL)
30 Hungary Béni Halász Freshman G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 2001-08-13 Budapest, Hungary New Mexico (NAHL)
31 Minnesota Charlie Glockner Sophomore G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 2000-06-27 Minnetonka, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL)
33 New York (state) Rico DiMatteo Junior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 2001-01-01 Brasher Falls, New York Lone Star (NAHL)

Standings

[edit]
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#12 Minnesota State †* 26 16 9 1 2 4 1 52 83 56 39 25 13 1 126 81
#13 Michigan Tech 26 15 7 4 0 1 0 50 68 54 39 24 11 4 103 88
Bowling Green 26 12 12 2 0 2 1 41 89 76 36 15 19 2 114 114
Northern Michigan 26 14 12 0 3 0 0 39 82 77 38 21 17 0 123 103
Bemidji State 26 12 11 3 3 1 2 39 73 63 36 14 17 5 94 97
Ferris State 26 9 14 3 1 2 3 34 62 91 37 14 19 4 92 131
St. Thomas 26 10 14 2 1 1 0 32 69 81 36 11 23 2 86 117
Lake Superior State 26 8 17 1 2 1 1 25 52 80 36 9 25 2 71 118
Championship: March 18, 2023
† indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 1 6:07 PM Bowling Green Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Glockner L 4–6  2,967 0–1–0 (0–1–0)
October 2 6:07 PM Bowling Green Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Glockner W 4–3 OT 2,064 1–1–0 (1–1–0)
October 7 7:00 PM at Colgate* Class of 1965 ArenaHamilton, New York ESPN+ Glockner W 3–2  827 2–1–0
October 8 4:00 PM at Colgate* Class of 1965 ArenaHamilton, New York ESPN+ Halász W 4–1  518 3–1–0
October 14 7:30 PM at #14 Notre Dame* Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana Peacock Halász L 1–3  5,002 3–2–0
October 16 5:00 PM at #14 Notre Dame* Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana Peacock Halász L 4–5  3,521 3–3–0
October 21 7:07 PM Alaska Anchorage* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 9–1  2,481 4–3–0
October 22 6:07 PM Alaska Anchorage* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász L 1–3  2,898 4–4–0
October 28 7:07 PM Alaska* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász L 1–2  2,338 4–5–0
October 29 6:07 PM Alaska* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 3–2  2,321 5–5–0
November 4 7:07 PM at Lake Superior State Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 3–1  1,958 6–5–0 (2–1–0)
November 5 6:07 PM at Lake Superior State Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 5–3  1,978 7–5–0 (3–1–0)
November 11 7:07 PM Bemidji State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 2–0  2,506 8–5–0 (4–1–0)
November 12 6:07 PM Bemidji State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász L 1–4  2,875 8–6–0 (4–2–0)
November 18 8:07 PM at #8 Minnesota State Mayo Clinic Health System Event CenterMankato, Minnesota KEYC Halász W 3–2  4,344 9–6–0 (5–2–0)
November 19 7:07 PM at #8 Minnesota State Mayo Clinic Health System Event CenterMankato, Minnesota KEYC Halász L 1–4  4,562 9–7–0 (5–3–0)
December 2 7:07 PM #19 Michigan Tech Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Rivalry) FloHockey Halász W 4–3 OT 4,263 10–7–0 (6–3–0)
December 3 6:07 PM at #19 Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan (Rivalry) FloHockey Halász L 1–3  4,025 10–8–0 (6–4–0)
December 9 7:07 PM at Ferris State Ewigleben ArenaBig Rapids, Michigan FloHockey DiMatteo L 2–5  1,891 10–9–0 (6–5–0)
December 10 6:07 PM at Ferris State Ewigleben ArenaBig Rapids, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 5–2  2,001 11–9–0 (7–5–0)
January 6 7:07 PM #19 Minnesota State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász L 2–5  2,229 11–10–0 (7–6–0)
January 7 6:07 PM #19 Minnesota State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey DiMatteo L 3–5  2,766 11–11–0 (7–7–0)
January 20 8:07 PM at Bemidji State Sanford CenterBemidji, Minnesota FloHockey Halász L 0–4  1,808 11–12–0 (7–8–0)
January 21 7:07 PM at Bemidji State Sanford CenterBemidji, Minnesota FloHockey, FOX 9+ Halász W 5–2  1,773 12–12–0 (8–8–0)
January 27 7:07 PM at #13 Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan (Rivalry) FloHockey Halász L 0–3  4,179 12–13–0 (8–9–0)
January 28 6:07 PM #13 Michigan Tech Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Rivalry) FloHockey Halász L 1–4  4,260 12–14–0 (8–10–0)
February 3 7:07 PM Lake Superior State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász L 2–4  2,365 12–15–0 (8–11–0)
February 4 6:07 PM Lake Superior State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 3–1  2,738 13–15–0 (9–11–0)
February 10 8:07 PM at St. Thomas St. Thomas Ice ArenaMendota Heights, Minnesota FloHockey Halász W 3–0  898 14–15–0 (10–11–0)
February 11 7:07 PM at St. Thomas St. Thomas Ice ArenaMendota Heights, Minnesota FloHockey Halász L 2–4  870 14–16–0 (10–12–0)
February 17 7:07 PM Ferris State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 9–2  2,464 15–16–0 (11–12–0)
February 18 6:07 PM Ferris State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan FloHockey Halász W 8–3  3,779 16–16–0 (12–12–0)
February 24 7:07 PM at Bowling Green Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio FloHockey Halász W 4–2  3,103 17–16–0 (13–12–0)
February 25 7:07 PM at Bowling Green Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio FloHockey Halász W 4–2  4,498 18–16–0 (14–12–0)
CCHA Tournament
March 3 7:07 PM Bemidji State* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 1) FloHockey Halász W 7–3  3,116 19–16–0
March 4 6:07 PM Bemidji State* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 2) FloHockey Halász W 2–1 OT 2,269 20–16–0
March 11 6:07 PM at #10 Michigan Tech* MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan (Semifinal, Rivalry) FloHockey Halász W 4–0  3,930 21–16–0
March 18 7:07 PM at #12 Minnesota State* Mayo Clinic Health System Event CenterMankato, Minnesota (Championship) FloHockey Halász L 2–3 OT 4,805 21–17–0
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[5]

Scoring statistics

[edit]
Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
André Ghantous RW 38 13 25 38 32
A. J. Vanderbeck C 35 13 19 32 33
Artem Shlaine C 38 11 21 32 18
Joey Larson RW 36 13 14 27 14
Kristóf Papp C 38 11 15 26 21
David Keefer RW 38 15 10 25 8
Michael Colella F 37 7 11 18 25
Alex Frye C 38 6 12 18 16
Josh Zinger D 38 3 13 16 12
Simon Kjellberg D 32 4 10 14 24
Connor Eddy C 35 4 6 10 14
Vincent De Mey F 34 7 2 9 22
Mike Van Unen D 36 3 5 8 36
Aiden Gallacher D 38 2 5 7 39
Reilly Funk C 23 1 6 7 21
Colby Enns D 32 1 5 6 10
Tanner Vescio D 23 2 3 5 8
Rylan Van Unen F 14 4 0 4 17
Jett Jungels F 13 1 3 4 6
Zach Michaelis C 15 1 1 2 2
Brett Willits C 16 1 1 2 10
Béni Halász G 35 0 2 2 0
Tyrell Boucher D 28 0 1 1 12
Rico DiMatteo G 2 0 0 0 0
Jakob Peterson D 3 0 0 0 2
Nathan Butler F 5 0 0 0 7
Charlie Glockner G 5 0 0 0 0
Isack Bandu D 9 0 0 0 6
Luke Gramer D 14 0 0 0 4
Total 123 190 313 407

[6]

Goaltending statistics

[edit]
Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Béni Halász 35 1941:24 19 15 0 75 855 3 .919 2.32
Charlie Glockner 8 256:01 2 1 0 13 111 0 .895 3.05
Rico DiMatteo 3 74:13 0 1 0 5 33 0 .868 4.04
Empty Net - 22:37 - - - 10 - - - -
Total 38 2294:15 21 17 0 103 999 3 .890 2.69

Rankings

[edit]
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 (Final)
USCHO.com NR - NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today 20 20 NR 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[7]

Awards and honors

[edit]
Player Award Ref
André Ghantous CCHA Second Team [8]
Béni Halász CCHA Rookie Team [9]
Josh Zinger
Joey Larson

Players drafted into the NHL

[edit]
Round Pick Player NHL team
4 118 Hampton Slukynsky Los Angeles Kings

† incoming freshman [10]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2023". College Hockey Inc. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Northern Michigan Wildcats Men's Ice Hockey Record Book" (PDF). Northern Michigan Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  3. ^ "Minnesota State engineers late comeback to win second consecutive CCHA playoff championship". USCHO.com. March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  4. ^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Northern Michigan University Wildcats. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  5. ^ "2022-23 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". Northern Michigan Wildcats. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "Northern Michigan Univ. 2022-2023 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  7. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Six Are All-CCHA Second Team Selections". CCHA. March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  9. ^ "CCHA All-Rookie Team Announced". CCHA. March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  10. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2023 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 9, 2022.