Despite those setbacks, the Wildcats are a .500 team at 3-3 since the calendar turned to 2025. Their modest 4-21-1 overall and 3-14-1 league records also show that NMU has more than doubled its points percentage in the conference standings, the basis for how teams are doing in the league this season.

It’s simple division, dividing the number of points earned into the total possible points. For Northern, that’s 11 points out of a possible 54, a .204 percentage. Around Christmas, the Wildcats were hovering under .100 and weren’t really on a trend at improving that.

At least until the Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids, as despite a pair of losses, Northern was competitive in a 2-0 loss to national No. 1 Michigan State in the semifinals and a 4-3 overtime loss to Tech in the third-place game.

Since then, NMU split against another nationally ranked team, Minnesota State-Mankato, swept Bemidji State at the Minnesota’s school rink and lost 3-2 and 4-0 in a home-and-home encounter with MTU.

Northern Michigan University goaltender Ryan Ouellette makes a save during a game played against Michigan Tech played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Now Northern wants to prove that the Berry Events Center can be an inhospitable place for visitors when CCHA fourth-place team Bowling Green State comes in for games at 7:07 p.m. today and 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

Streaming video coverage will be available on Midco Sports Plus with the games also broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 The Point.

Fan can also follow @NMUHockey on X (Twitter) to get updates leading up to the games and for live updates while the Wildcats are on the ice. Or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the hockey schedule for links to live video, live audio, live statistics, ticket information, a series preview and the teams’ histories.

One special event scheduled for this weekend is Saturday night being Yooper Night, featuring Northern players wearing one-of-a-kind jerseys that pay tribute to the Upper Peninsula’s hockey heritage. Plaid and U.P. logos will be a major theme in what is being worn.

Fans will be able to get in on this tribute as jerseys will be available in a silent auction, both at the Berry and online through the NMU Facebook page.

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Hobey Baker dreaming

NMU senior goaltender Ryan Ouellette has been nominated for this year Hobey Baker Award, the college hockey equivalent to the Heisman Award in major college football.

Online voting opened last week and runs through midnight on March 9 and can be conducted online at https://hobeybaker.com/vote/.

Ouellette, one of new head coach Dave Shyiak’s most important finds after he was named Wildcats’ head coach in July, is among CCHA and national leaders in a number of categories.

He’s third in the conference with his average 29.50 saves per game and fourth in saves percentage at .921, while only ranking seventh in goals against average, 2.77, because of the shots on goals he faces.

Northern was wildly outshot early in the season, more than 2-to-1 a couple months in, and while they’ve cut the ratio down to about 3-to-2, that’s still a 310-shot deficit, 900-590.

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Recent numerical success

During this month’s six games, CCHA statistics show some of the progress made by the Wildcats:

• They’re second by winning 52.5% of their faceoffs;

• Allowed 17 goals, the fourth fewest in this nine-team league, and only gave up nine goals in 5-on-5, third best;

• Nearly doubled their scoring from 1.3 goals per game in the first three months of the season to 2.2 goals an outing now;

• And tightened up defensively, allowing 3.5 goals per game before the new year compared to 2.8 in 2025.

NMU Sports Information also found individual numbers for multiple Wildcats in these last half-dozen contests:

• Ryan Duguay is second in the CCHA and 11th nationally with five goals, while he also leads the league with three power-play goals;

• Jakub Altrichter is fourth with eight points and third with five assists, and he also leads with a plus-6 on the plus-minus;

• Jesse Tucker is fourth with 62 faceoff wins, and among league centers with 100 or more faceoffs, he’s also sixth in faceoff win percentage at 53.4%;

• Ouellette is third in the league with 147 saves, and among with goalies with at least six games played, his goals-against and saves percentage are both second;

•

Tynan Ewart leads the CCHA in the past month and is fifth nationally with 17 blocked shots, while teammate Anthony Cliche is second league-wide and ninth in the country with 16. As a team this month, NMU is No. 1 nationally with 123 blocks.

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Facing the Falcons

In this weekend’s matchup, the Falcons are in a tight battle for home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, sitting fourth with only four teams getting home berths.

All-time, Northern leads the series vs. Bowling Green 64-59-11 and is 33-27-8 at home, dating back to the NMU program inception in 1976.

In the past dozen games, the Wildcats have an 8-4 advantage, including 3-1 at home, even with BGSU winning just before Christmas 2-0 and 4-3 in Ohio.

In the pair of December games vs. the Falcons, Northern’s Aidyn Hutchinson had a goal and assist with seven teammates getting a point, including goals by Tucker and Cliche.

BG senior forward Brody Waters leads the CCHA with 14 goals, even though he’s only 10th in points with 19. His goals are also 11th in the nation, while his nine power-play goals are No. 1 in NCAA Division I.

The Falcons’ Ryan O’Hara, who has seven goals and 15 assists for a team-leading 22 points, also has six goals and four assists for 10 points in just his team’s past eight games.

Meanwhile, BGSU sophomore Ben Doran has six goals and 14 points, while winning 55.7% of his faceoff draws in the last eight games.

In the Falcons’ net, Christian Stoever is No. 1 in the CCHA in saves per game with 31.64, second in saves percentage at .948 and third in goals against at 1.72. Nationally, his saves percentage is second and goals-against sixth.

Team-wise, Bowling Green leads the league with 856 faceoff wins and 53.2% success rate there.

And in something of a curiosity, the Falcons and Wildcats are the only two CCHA teams without a shorthanded goal.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.