But at least you didn’t miss anything, as the Wildcats will begin their season this weekend with a somewhat unusual Saturday-Sunday series out east at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Games against No. 15 UMass will be at 7:30 p.m. today and 4 p.m. Sunday.

In addition to their regular transmission on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, the games will be aired on ESPN+, with Sunday’s game also available on Canada’s TSN+.

Fans can also follow @NMUHockey on X, formerly Twitter, to get updates throughout the week leading up to games and for live updates while the ‘Cats are on the ice.

Northern Michigan University’s Matthew Argentina, right, tries to bring the puck to the net as he attempts to get past Minnesota State-Mankato defender Mason Wheeler during a CCHA game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Jan. 11. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the hockey schedule for links to live video, live audio, live statistics and a series preview.

Tonight’s game begins quite a nonconference gauntlet for Northern, which includes four straight two-game series against nationally ranked teams.

Except for a series that almost bumps up against New Year’s Day at midseason

, all other NMU series will be in the usual Friday-Saturday format.

Next week will be a road trip to No. 16 Ohio State, followed by the home opening series on Oct. 16-17 against No. 21 Colorado College and another home set the following weekend vs. No. 3 Michigan State.

Wildcats head coach Dave Shyiak’s second season should be looking up after his abbreviated offseason a year ago forced him to come up with two dozen players in the middle of the summer.

Not surprisingly, NMU’s 5-27-2 season included a 1-16-1 start that began to get better after a hard-fought Great Lakes Invitational that didn’t produce wins, but did produce respect.

The Wildcats battled throughout and lost 2-0 to national No. 1 Michigan State, then took Michigan Tech to overtime before falling 4-3. Immediately after that, Northern won three of four and finished 4-9-1 in the 2025 part of the season.

If NMU struggles to start this year, it might be because of the slate of ranked teams that also did well in last year’s postseason. For instance, the Minutemen that Northern faces this weekend dropped No. 5 Minnesota to open the NCAA Tournament last spring before bowing out 2-1 against eventual national champion Western Michigan.

Northern’s only meeting ever vs. UMass was a Wildcats’ 3-0 win a few days before Y2K on Dec. 29, 1999, at the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis.

Two members of last year’s large influx of new players will don the captain’s “C” this year, while two newcomers — but who have experience with established college programs — will be alternate captains wearing an “A.”

Defensemen Tynan Ewart and Nicolas Ardanaz are the returnees wearing the “C,” while seniors Caiden Gault and Zane Demsey each have an “A.”

Ewart is a junior who wore the “A” last year and played in all 34 games, averaging almost 25 minutes per game and leading NMU blueliners in assists, points and blocked shots.

Twice he was named a CCHA Defenseman of the Week as he is in his third year with Northern’s head coach, since he played at St. Cloud State in Shyiak’s final year there.

Ardanaz is a senior, coming from RPI, and played in a career-high 26 games last year and has been in 64 as a collegian.

He was fourth for NMU in blocks while averaging 19 minutes ice time last year.

Gault was a big enough star at Ferris State last year that he was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s top honor. This forward posted a career-high 25 points in a career-high 36 games last year, leading the Bulldogs in scoring and finishing fifth in the CCHA with 15 goals and second in the league with five game winners.

Demsey has three years in with Miami (Ohio) of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. This defenseman has skated in 79 games and won multiple academic awards while in college.

Among the 16 newcomers this season are seven transfers and nine freshmen, broken down into nine forwards, four defensemen and three goalies.

Big-time transfers not only include Gault and Demsey, but Kyle Bettens from Minnesota-Duluth, Warren Clarke from St. Cloud and goalie William Gramme from Wisconsin.

Top freshmen are likely to include Mathew Ward, Peter Cisar and Mikey Burchill.

Probably of the least concern are the coaches and media preseason polls that chose the Wildcats to finish last in the CCHA, since both groups of prognosticators are notorious for picking teams in the same spot they finished the year before.

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