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MARQUETTE -- Halloween was on Wednesday, which is the time where people go door to door asking the famous question of Trick or Treat.
The Northern Michigan University hockey team went through a similar situation recently, only it didn't ask for anything.
Last Saturday, the Wildcats were "tricked" by having a goal taken away late against Bemidji State and then got completely fooled by giving up the winning breakaway goal to the Beavers with less than a second remaining.
Earlier this week, the Wildcats (2-4, 1-1 WCHA) got somewhat of a "treat" earlier this week as the WCHA sent a letter to the team saying that the officials were wrong and that their goal against the Beavers should've counted. However, that "treat" is like when you go to your neighbor's house on Halloween, knock on their door and they give you a box of raisins. Technically, you got something, but it's just going to end up in the trash anyway and it just makes you want to egg your neighbor's car (or the WCHA headquarters).
"In any sporting event, there's human error and there's the ability for human error," NMU head coach Grant Potulny said. "In that situation, we received a letter from the league apologizing for the misjudgment in the call. You feel bad for your guys because I thought in the back half of the game, we came alive and we haven't really yet so far. It was just line after line after line and I felt really confident that we were going to score, whether it was at the end of the game, or in overtime. It was a tough call and we're still trying to win the game. Guys are just trying to make plays and their player made a great play and scored (on) a breakaway."
If NMU was hoping to get a better treat this weekend, it's not going to be handed to them, that's for sure. The Wildcats head to No. 9/10 Bowling Green State and the Falcons (5-1-1) are flying high. BGSU is coming off a win and a tie with No. 7/9 Ohio State and in that Friday victory, the Falcons fired eight goals into the back of the net. They're also averaging 5.14 goals per game and are 32.5 percent on the power play, so to say BGSU is good offensively might be an understatement.
"All of those things are real, but I think this game is about two very good programs and a little bit of contrasting style," Potulny said. "We need to make sure that our energy, effort and physicality is high, but we also need to do what we do. I think as a team, they might be a little more volume shooting than we are. They get guys to the net and there's great physicality out of them, so we need to be prepared for that, but we also need to be us. We need to possess the puck and make plays and play on our toes. When you get a chance to shoot it, you've got to shoot it because there's not a lot of room, especially in their rink. They're very good at home, so anytime you get the puck in the scoring area, it's on your stick, off your stick. Hopefully, we can get going to start the game because it's hard if you're chasing the game against them."
The last time NMU faced the Falcons, it was in the second round of the WCHA Playoffs where the Wildcats prevailed in the three-game series thanks to an overtime goal by Troy Loggins in the deciding third game. When asked if he's expecting anything different from BGSU this time around, Potulny said not so much.
"They're just playing at a really high level right now," he said. "Coaches coach a certain way and you don't really change so much of your opinion on how the game should be played. They haven't changed a lot there but their guys are having great starts and it's kind of contagious when you start going the right way. It can just build and snowball and they've had a great start to the year."
The Falcons swept the three main WCHA Players of the Month categories Monday with Max Johnson getting Forward of the Month, Alec Rauhauser earning Defenseman of the Month and Ryan Bednard notching Goaltender of the Month honors. Johnson currently tied for first in the nation in points (13) and picked up a hat trick against the Buckeyes in that blowout win, so he's going to get a lot of attention from the Wildcats this week.
However, NMU has its own group of talented players that could give BGSU some fits as well. Loggins and Adam Rockwood may be off to slow starts, but once they start connecting, they'll be hard to stop. Perhaps the Wildcats' biggest scoring threat right now is junior forward Darien Craighead, who scored twice against Bemidji State last weekend.
Potulny says part of Craighead's success is because of his ability to take advantage of the chances he gets.
"I think part of it is opportunity," Potulny said. "He's on the top power play (unit) and he's playing with (sophomore forward) Joe Nardi and obviously, there's a lot of opportunity there that maybe he didn't get as much last year playing on the third line. That's part of it and I expected him to have a great year."
Looking back on Saturday's unfortunate ending to the game, Potulny has moved on from the controversial call and said the team is moving forward as well.
"It was just one of those games where you have three breakaways and I think you hit two or three pipes," he said. "In a normal type of game, we probably finish two of those at minimum, so the game is in a different spot and maybe that goal doesn't have the same impact it does on the outcome. I do feel like it was a step in the right direction for our group and I almost feel it refocused us to a point that is necessary for us to be successful."
The puck drops at 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday in Bowling Green, Ohio.