Northern Michigan University, Michigan Tech hockey teams to square off this weekend
Trending
Northern Michigan University's Demico Hannoun, center, and Alaska-Fairbanks' Tayler Munson slam into the glass with the Wildcats' Anthony Paskaruk near the action on Feb. 9 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Journal photo by Corey Kelly)
What is known is that the No. 16 Wildcats (20-11-3, 18-6-2 WCHA) have already clinched a playoff spot as well as home ice in the first round of the WCHA tournament. But they still don't know what seed they'll be or who they will play.
There is also the possibility that the Wildcats could make the NCAA postseason without winning the WCHA tourney if they're ranked high enough in the important national Pairwise rankings.
For that to happen, though, Northern would have to keep winning while hoping other teams falter.
NMU head coach Grant Potulny isn't sweating the details now, but did say his team is aware what will happen after this weekend is over.
"We had player meetings last week and we talked about the big picture," he said. "You have to keep your eye on the big picture, but it's a slippery slope to start looking at things that are down the road.
"None of that matters if you don't take care of what's in front of you. That's not coach-speak. All year, I've wanted our guys to enjoy where we're at and some of the successes that we've had. I don't want to take that away from them at this point, but the reality of the situation is that you're guaranteed four more games.
"As much as you want to look at the Pairwise and you want to look at where you're at, we're not high enough that we can have the luxury to look any farther than past the first 20 minutes of the game.
"We've kind of adjusted the way we look at games. Instead of one 60-minute game, we look at one period. It's a 20-minute game right now. That's the most important thing on Friday night. The first game is 20 minutes and we have to make sure that we're ready for that.
"This isn't coach-speak. You hear coaches say all the time that 'It's about the next game.' It is but where we've worked to get to this point, I don't want us to lose our sight on that we worked so hard to get here. Let's not look past what got us here.
"That's going to be a little bit of a challenge for us. Not that it's any different for any other program at this time of the year. Teams that are in contention for the tournament, it either can push you or can derail some of your focus. I would be really disappointed if we would derail at all for this weekend.
"Now knowing the rivalry, I expect us to be at our best."
Speaking of that rivalry, the Wildcats will deal with Michigan Tech (16-14-5, 11-10-5) this weekend in a home-and-home series. Tech is coming off an eventful weekend, losing to Arizona State on Friday, then bouncing back to earn a win Saturday that also included some "extracurricular" activities.
Huskies head coach Joe Shawhan got into a heated argument with Sun Devils coach Greg Powers during the postgame handshake and some fisticuffs broke out between opposing players. But the event apparently didn't rise to the seriousness of any discipline needing to be handed out.
The Huskies and Wildcats are pretty evenly matched, though the Huskies struggle on both the penalty kill (46th overall) and in net. Tech has played three goaltenders this year and none of them have played consistently enough to earn the top spot. So the Wildcats may play multiple goalies this weekend.
Last weekend, NMU was on a bye and with Minnesota State-Mankato sweeping Ferris State, the Wildcats dropped into second place in the WCHA standings, five points behind the Mavericks but still three up on Bowling Green State. Even though Northern gave up the top spot, Potulny still thinks the bye was a benefit.
"It was a tough stretch for us," he said. "I think with the travel and the Sunday game and the short weekend going into (Alaska) Fairbanks, there was a lot going on. We had some guys that were a little bit nicked up. We had to get some pop back in our legs and I thought it was a good opportunity for that.
"We had a lot of off days last week, a lot of days without coaches. Sometimes they might need a break from us, too. I think it was a good opportunity to get healthy and get right and get ready for a good week of preparation."
Unlike Northern, the Huskies' postseason fate has already been decided as they own the No. 5 seed and will spend their first playoff weekend at No. 4 Bemidji State. When asked if he wished if he knew who his team would be playing to open the playoffs, Potulny felt that it wasn't a big deal.
"I don't think it matters," he said. "I'm sure Joe (Shawhan) is up there talking about us I would guess. I don't think he's talking about Bemidji.
"Even if we had known who we'd be playing next, it wouldn't be any different than a regular season (game). Yeah, you know who's next, but it's about who you're playing right now.
"All those teams, it's one of about four that you could end up playing, they all have different things that are challenging. Some of them have a forward group that's challenging, some have good goaltending and some are really physical. It doesn't really matter I don't think. You'll find out and then after the weekend, you'll have a whole week to prepare for it anyway."
Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.