2022–23 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season
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
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 with goals from Joey Larson, Mikey Colella, Andre Ghantous, and Michael Van Unen 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 David Keefer finding the twine.[ 1] New York Rangers prospect Simon Kjellberg 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] [ 3]
Departures
Recruiting
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
As of September 8, 2022.[ 4]
No. S/P/C
Player
Class
Pos
Height
Weight
DoB
Hometown
Previous team
NHL rights
2
Simon Kjellberg Senior
D 6' 3" (1.91 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
2000-02-17
Stockholm, Sweden RPI (ECAC NYR 2018
4
Michael Van Unen Senior
D 6' 1" (1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
1999-02-26
Kamloops, British Columbia Merritt (BCHL —
5
Colby Enns Senior
D 6' 2" (1.88 m)
201 lb (91 kg)
1999-09-16
Minot, North Dakota Lincoln (USHL —
6
Tyrell Boucher Junior
D 6' 1" (1.85 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
1999-06-03
Nampa, Alberta Cowichan Valley (BCHL —
7
David Keefer A Senior
F 5' 10" (1.78 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
1997-10-21
Brighton, Michigan Michigan State (Big Ten —
8
Artem Shlaine Junior
F 6' 1" (1.85 m)
188 lb (85 kg)
2002-03-07
Moscow, Russia UConn (HEA NJD 2020
9
Joey Larson Freshman
F 6' 1" (1.85 m)
198 lb (90 kg)
2001-03-27
Brighton, Michigan Muskegon (USHL —
10
Aiden Gallacher Junior
D 6' 1" (1.85 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
2000-03-20
Rochester Hills, Michigan Michigan State (Big Ten —
11
André Ghantous A Senior
F 5' 9" (1.75 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
1998-12-07
Glendale, California Penticton (BCHL —
12
Tanner Latsch Freshman
F 6' 2" (1.88 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
2002-01-02
Muskegon, Michigan Des Moines (USHL —
13
Mikey Colella Junior
F 5' 7" (1.7 m)
155 lb (70 kg)
1999-06-12
Wenonah, New Jersey Trail (BCHL —
14
Vincent de Mey Senior
F 6' 1" (1.85 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
1997-11-26
Los Angeles, California Muskegon (USHL —
15
Rylan Van Unen Junior
F 6' 1" (1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
1999-02-26
Kamloops, British Columbia Merritt (BCHL —
16
Kristóf Papp Junior
F 5' 11" (1.8 m)
176 lb (80 kg)
2001-06-27
Budapest, Hungary Michigan State (Big Ten —
17
Luke Gramer Freshman
D 5' 9" (1.75 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
2002-07-02
Moorhead, Minnesota Fargo (USHL —
18
Nathan Butler Freshman
F 5' 10" (1.78 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
2002-01-16
Wylie, Texas Corpus Christi (NAHL —
19
A. J. Vanderbeck Senior
F 5' 11" (1.8 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
1997-09-23
Monument, Colorado Ohio State (Big Ten —
20
Josh Zinger Freshman
D 5' 11" (1.8 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
2001-08-05
Red Deer, Alberta Brooks (AJHL —
21
Connor Eddy Freshman
F 6' 1" (1.85 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
2002-04-18
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria (BCHL —
22
Jett Jungels Junior
F 5' 8" (1.73 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
2000-07-14
Edina, Minnesota Edina (USHS–MN —
23
Jakob Peterson Sophomore
D 6' 3" (1.91 m)
172 lb (78 kg)
2002-04-18
Marquette, Michigan Amarillo (NAHL —
24
Isack Bandu Freshman
D 6' 2" (1.88 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
2001-05-03
Montreal, Quebec Victoria (BCHL —
25
Brett Willits Junior
F 5' 10" (1.78 m)
174 lb (79 kg)
1999-03-16
London, Ontario Chilliwack (BCHL —
26
Tanner Vescio C Senior
D 6' 2" (1.88 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
1998-04-14
Blaine, Minnesota Fargo (USHL —
27
Zach Michaelis Freshman
F 6' 1" (1.85 m)
203 lb (92 kg)
2002-05-30
Elk River, Minnesota Trail (BCHL —
28
Alex Frye Senior
F 6' 0" (1.83 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
1998-07-27
Clarkston, Michigan Alaska Anchorage (WCHA —
29
Reilly Funk Freshman (RS )
F 6' 3" (1.91 m)
194 lb (88 kg)
2000-12-23
Portage, Manitoba Youngstown (USHL —
30
Béni Halász Freshman
G 5' 11" (1.8 m)
184 lb (83 kg)
2001-08-13
Budapest, Hungary New Mexico (NAHL —
31
Charlie Glockner Sophomore
G 6' 3" (1.91 m)
181 lb (82 kg)
2000-06-27
Minnetonka, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL —
33
Rico DiMatteo Junior
G 6' 3" (1.91 m)
161 lb (73 kg)
2001-01-01
Brasher Falls, New York Lone Star (NAHL —
Standings
Schedule and results
Date
Time
Opponent#
Rank#
Site
TV
Decision
Result
Attendance
Record
Regular Season
October 1
6:07 PM
Bowling Green
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Glockner
L 4–6 2,967
0–1–0 (0–1–0)
October 2
6:07 PM
Bowling Green
Berry Events Center • Marquette, 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 Arena • Hamilton, New York ESPN+
Glockner
W 3–2 827
2–1–0
October 8
4:00 PM
at Colgate *
Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York ESPN+
Halász
W 4–1 518
3–1–0
October 14
7:30 PM
at #14 Notre Dame *
Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana Peacock
Halász
L 1–3 5,002
3–2–0
October 16
5:00 PM
at #14 Notre Dame *
Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana Peacock
Halász
L 4–5 3,521
3–3–0
October 21
7:07 PM
Alaska Anchorage *
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
W 9–1 2,481
4–3–0
October 22
6:07 PM
Alaska Anchorage *
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
L 1–3 2,898
4–4–0
October 28
7:07 PM
Alaska *
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
L 1–2 2,338
4–5–0
October 29
6:07 PM
Alaska *
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
W 3–2 2,321
5–5–0
November 4
7:07 PM
at Lake Superior State
Taffy Abel Arena • Sault 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 Arena • Sault 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 Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
W 2–0 2,506
8–5–0 (4–1–0)
November 12
6:07 PM
Bemidji State
Berry Events Center • Marquette, 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 Center • Mankato, 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 Center • Mankato, Minnesota KEYC
Halász
L 1–4 4,562
9–7–0 (5–3–0)
December 2
7:07 PM
#19 Michigan Tech
Berry Events Center • Marquette, 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 Arena • Houghton, Michigan (Rivalry )FloHockey
Halász
L 1–3 4,025
10–8–0 (6–4–0)
December 9
7:07 PM
at Ferris State
Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan FloHockey
DiMatteo
L 2–5 1,891
10–9–0 (6–5–0)
December 10
6:07 PM
at Ferris State
Ewigleben Arena • Big 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 Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
L 2–5 2,229
11–10–0 (7–6–0)
January 7
6:07 PM
#19 Minnesota State
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
DiMatteo
L 3–5 2,766
11–11–0 (7–7–0)
January 20
8:07 PM
at Bemidji State
Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota FloHockey
Halász
L 0–4 1,808
11–12–0 (7–8–0)
January 21
7:07 PM
at Bemidji State
Sanford Center • Bemidji, 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 Arena • Houghton, 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 Center • Marquette, 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 Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
L 2–4 2,365
12–15–0 (8–11–0)
February 4
6:07 PM
Lake Superior State
Berry Events Center • Marquette, 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 Arena • Mendota 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 Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota FloHockey
Halász
L 2–4 870
14–16–0 (10–12–0)
February 17
7:07 PM
Ferris State
Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan FloHockey
Halász
W 9–2 2,464
15–16–0 (11–12–0)
February 18
6:07 PM
Ferris State
Berry Events Center • Marquette, 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 Arena • Bowling 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 Arena • Bowling 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 Center • Marquette, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 1)FloHockey
Halász
W 7–3 3,116
19–16–0
March 4
6:07 PM
Bemidji State *
Berry Events Center • Marquette, 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 Arena • Houghton, 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 Center • Mankato, 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 . [ 5]
Scoring statistics
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
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
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
Players drafted into the NHL
+ incoming freshman
[ 10]
References
^ "SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2023" . College Hockey Inc . March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023 .^ "Northern Michigan Wildcats Men's Ice Hockey Record Book" (PDF) . Northern Michigan Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2019 .^ "Minnesota State engineers late comeback to win second consecutive CCHA playoff championship" . USCHO.com . March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023 .^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster" . Northern Michigan University Wildcats. Retrieved July 31, 2018 .^ "2022-23 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule" . Northern Michigan Wildcats . Retrieved August 25, 2022 .^ "Northern Michigan Univ. 2022-2023 Skater Stats" . Elite Prospects . Retrieved March 2, 2020 .^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll" . USCHO.com . Retrieved November 26, 2019 .^ "Six Are All-CCHA Second Team Selections" . CCHA . March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023 .^ "CCHA All-Rookie Team Announced" . CCHA . March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023 .^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2023 NHL Draft" . USCHO.com . Retrieved July 9, 2022 .
Playing venues Head coaches Seasons Conference affiliations
CCHA (1977–1984, 1997–2013, 2021–present)WCHA (1984–1997, 2013–2021) Rivalries Culture & lore All-time leaders National championships Frozen Four appearances NCAA Tournament appearances Conference Tournament titles
