Northern Michigan Hockey announces 2022-23 schedule

Courtesy: NMU Wildcats

MARQUETTE, Mich. – NMU hockey has announced its 2022-2023 schedule.

The ‘Cats finished 20-16-1 overall and 12-13-1 in conference competition. Home game times will be set for 7:07 p.m. on Fridays and 6:07 p.m. on Saturdays.

Opening weekend will see NMU take on Bowling Green State on Oct. 1 and 2 at the Berry Events Center. Last season NMU was 3-0-1 against the Falcons, outscoring them 19-11 in the four contests. Both games will be played at 6:07 p.m.

The ‘Cats then have back-to-back road trips on the weekends of Oct. 7 and 8 at Colgate, and Oct. 14 and 16 at Notre Dame. Northern faced off against Colgate twice last season, winning both games and decisively outscoring the opponent 10-5. Northern played Notre Dame once at home last season and will now have an away series versus the Fighting Irish.

The team then comes home to the Berry for a back-to-back homestand against Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks on Oct. 21 and 22 and the 28 and 29. The ‘Cats last played the Alaska teams in the 2019-2020 season. They were 1-1 against Fairbanks and 2-0 against Anchorage. NMU holds the all-time series record against Fairbanks at 42-14-12 and is 26-12-1 against Anchorage.

The ‘Cats travel to Lake Superior State on Nov. 4 and 5 after coming off a CCHA first-round series win at Lake Superior, where it took all three games to win while outscoring the Lakers 12-8. The ‘Cats hold the overall head-to-head advantage at 78-52-13.

The ‘Cats host the Mason Cup semi-finalists Bemidji State the weekend of Nov. 11 and 12. Bemidji finished 3rd in the CCHA in 2021-2022.

NMU then travels to the Mason Cup champions and the NCAA DI runner-up Minnesota State the weekend of Nov. 18 and 19. Before losing to Denver in the NCAA DI championship game, Minnesota State was on a 25-1 run with their only loss in that span coming against the ‘Cats by a score of 4-2.

The ‘Cats will go into a home-and-home series against Michigan Tech on the weekend of Dec. 2 and 3. The Friday game will be held in Marquette and Saturday will be in Houghton. The team then travels to Ferris State for games on Dec. 9 and 10. The ‘Cats went 3-1 against the Bulldogs during the 2021-22 season, outscoring the opposition 22-14.

After the break, the ‘Cats host Minnesota State on Jan. 6 and 7 of 2023 for their final regular-season matchup with the Mavericks.

The team has an away series against Bemidji State on Jan. 20 and 21, and then another home-and-home against Michigan Tech on Jan. 27 and 28.

The ‘Cats face off against the Lakers at home for their last meeting of the regular season on Feb. 3 and 4.

The Wildcats then travel to St. Thomas for an away series on Feb. 10 and 11. The ‘Cats hosted St. Thomas last season for the first meeting in the team’s history, winning both contests by scores of 4-1 and 8-3.

NMU is set to host Ferris State for their last meeting of the regular season, as well as the ‘Cats’ last regular-season home series, on Feb. 17 and 18.

The Wildcats’ regular season will finish against the team they also play to start the season, with an away series in Bowling Green on Feb. 24 and 25.

The CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs are set to start with the quarterfinals series taking place Mar. 3-5, the single-elimination semifinal games on Mar. 11, and the Mason Cup Final on Mar. 18, 2023.

Last season the ‘Cats scored 131 goals while averaging 3.5 goals per game, and were 22.5% effective on the powerplay with 34 power-play goals.