Northern Michigan University’s Medrick Bolduc, front right, positions himself in front of the net as Michigan Tech's Kalem Parker, behind Bolduc, and Huskies’ goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz, left, would see a tipped shot that goes wide during their CCHA hockey game played at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton on Nov. 7. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE – The NMU hockey team exits the holiday break with a clash against Upper-Peninsula rival, the Lake Superior State Lakers.

After competing in the Great Lakes Invitational holiday tournament last season, the Wildcats (1-19-0, 1-11-0 CCHA) had a full holiday break this year, aside from Tobias Pitka who is captaining team Slovakia at the 2026 U20 World Junior Championships. Pitka and Slovakia will play Canada in the quarterfinals today.

The Wildcats and Lakers play a rare Saturday and Sunday weekend series from Taffy Abel Arena, with puck-drop for both games coming at 6:07 p.m. The matches are available for streaming on Midco Sports Plus, and fans can also tune into the Radio Results Network (100.3 The Point) to listen on the airwaves.

The Wildcats welcomed a pair of freshmen at the holiday break: goalie Max Weilandt (Des Moines, USHL), and defenseman Olivier Beaulieu (Chilliwack, BCHL). This series marks the first time that either could see action in a Wildcat uniform.

Part of the reason for the Saturday-Sunday series is that the Lakers (6-13-1, 3-9-0) competed in the Holiday Face-Off this season, a holiday tournament hosted by Wisconsin that featured #2 Wisconsin, #8/7 Western Michigan, #12 Boston College, and Lake State. The Lakers were up 2-1 over Wisconsin halfway through the second before ultimately falling 2-3, and would meet Boston College in the third place game. Similar to the first game, LSSU held a 3-2 lead over BC in the third period, but the Eagles stormed back with a pair of goals from Will Vote to down the Lakers 4-3.

While the all-time meeting record between the two sides is 84-58-13 in favor of the Wildcats, the Lakers have had the upper hand in recent memory. NMU is 1-5-0 the last six against LSSU, and have been out-scored 25-9 in that stretch. The last meeting between these teams came on February 8, 2025, where Grayden Slipec scored the overtime game-winner.