Ready to stay home: Northern Michigan University hockey team can clinch home ice in 1st round of WCHA playoffs this weekend
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This weekend: Northern Michigan University at Alabama-Huntsville, 3:07 p.m.
Northern Michigan University's Robert Fosdick goes after the puck during a game against Lake Superior State on Jan. 20 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Journal photo by Corey Kelly)
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MARQUETTE -- To say that the Northern Michigan University hockey team is on a roll right now might be an understatement.
The No. 19 Wildcats have won six straight games and moved into first place in the WCHA last weekend with a pair of wins at Alaska-Anchorage.
NMU (17-10-3, 15-5-2 WCHA) has 49 points and is three points ahead of Bowling Green State and four ahead of Minnesota State-Mankato.
Northern has already clinched a playoff bid, much earlier than last year, and now it has a chance to do something bigger.
If the Wildcats pick up at least four points this weekend at Alabama-Huntsville, they will earn a home spot in the first round of the playoffs, a goal they had before the season started.
Combining this opportunity with their first-place standing and you have a positive Wildcats' locker room.
"I think with winning always comes confidence," NMU co-captain Zach Diamantoni said. "I think we're getting contributions throughout the lineup, which is really good right now, especially toward the end of the season.
"We have a lot of guys playing at a really high level, so the confidence is really high right now."
The Wildcats may feel confident, but getting those four points in Alabama will be tough. The Chargers (9-17-2, 8-12-2) have split their last three series, including upsetting Bemidji State last Friday. Huntsville also tends to play better at home than on the road, but has already defeated Northern once in a series held in Marquette.
Statistically, the Wildcats are better than UAH in the four major categories, but are reasonably similar on team defense with Northern 26th in the nation and Huntsville 38th.
The Chargers have one main scoring threat in Josh Kestner (17 goals, 23 points), who is tied with NMU's Robbie Payne for the WCHA lead in goals. Kestner also has some good support from Tyler Poulsen (13 assists) and Christian Rajic (eight goals, 14 points).
Brennan Saulnier is also a key contributor, but he'll miss this series and Huntsville's next one due to a two-game league suspension combined with another two games handed out by the NCAA due to a high number of game-misconduct penalties.
"I expect a really tough series and a really physical series," Northern assistant coach Byron Pool said. "They're one of those teams that come at you hard and come at you hard with four lines.
"There's not a lot of difference between their first and fourth line. They played extremely hard here and they got the split. They're one of two teams that has done that this season, so I think that speaks highly of them.
"I think our guys are to the point where they are starting to respect everybody. They really enjoy the place they are holding in the standings, and I don't think they're willing to give it up that easily. So we'll be ready as well … it's going to be a tight, hard-checking, physical series."
Looking at the sweep in Anchorage, Pool says he is pleased with how the Wildcats played, especially with the grueling journey.
"I think any time you come back with six points, you're extremely happy," he said. "It's not an easy place to go to. The travel plays a big part in that and we're still trying to figure out as a staff what is the best way to do it.
"The Fairbanks trip, we went up Wednesday and we felt by Saturday, the time change had started to have an effect on us. So we switched it up last week and we went up Thursday and that's just a tough travel day.
"But the guys were really sharp on Friday and I think they're laser-focused on where we're at in the season and what they could potentially accomplish here. So having their attention isn't a problem."
When asked how it feels as a coach with NMU in first place, Pool said it was important, but at the same time, there is still a lot of work to be done.
"I think you don't want to overplay it, but you don't want to underplay it either," he said. "I do think that the guys need to feel proud about it and they need to feel good about what they've accomplished to this date because there's been a lot of hard work.
"So now they're starting to see some of the benefits and reap some of them for their hard work. But at the same time, there's a lot of hockey left to be played. When you look at the standings, Nos. 1 to 4 right now it's really tight and you could finish in first, which would be ideal, or you could finish fourth.
"I think right now we're trying to just concentrate on ourselves and go into it week by week."
Unlike most weeks where NMU plays on Friday and Saturday, the Wildcats take on Huntsville at 3:07 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.