Despite this being just the fifth year the Tommies have been members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, this might be the last time fans will see St. Thomas on the ice for a long time, if ever again.

That’s because the Tommies have jumped to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, home to teams like Western Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth and Denver, and officially take on that league’s schedule starting next fall.

This is the only series NMU plays St. Thomas this season with a somewhat unbalanced conference schedule only having 26 games, meaning just one two-game series will be played against the Tommies, Bowling Green State and Ferris State. Everyone else, including Upper Peninsula rivals Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State, are on the docket for four games.

The big news with the Wildcats, however, was their first win of the season on Friday, a 3-2 victory at Bowling Green.

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 game played at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton on Nov. 7. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

For this weekend, fans can help a pair of charitable causes while having some fun stretching out their throwing arms with the annual Teddy Bear Toss in the opening game and Sock Toss in Game 2.

The toy bears are donated to St. Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army, while socks will go to St. Vincent, the Janzen House, local elementary schools, Room at the Inn, the Beacon House and the Women’s Center.

Just because of the charitable aspect, Northern is offering tickets for Friday’s game for $5 per person.

Games will be available streaming on Midco Sports Plus and will be on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, or fans can examine the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the hockey schedule for links to ticket information, live audio, live statistics, game notes and a history.

While Northern was unable to pull off a sweep last weekend with a second win Saturday, that follow-up contest going to overtime earned the Wildcats another point in the CCHA standings for their first four points of the season.

Despite a league record of 1-9 and overall mark of 1-17, NMU is just four points — the equivalent of what they picked up last weekend — behind eighth-place Ferris State, which has a 3-7 league record.

The Bulldogs host Michigan Tech this weekend, by the way.

Despite an over-.500 mark of 4-3-2 in the CCHA, the Tommies (7-7-3 overall) are in just sixth place in the nine-team league with 15 points, though they also have played fewer league games than any other team.

Last weekend, they split with LSSU at home with Tommies goalie Carsen Musser and freshman Nathan Pilling earning CCHA player of the week honors.

The Wildcats hope to build on a three-goal weekend from Ferris transfer Caiden Gault, who now has more than 25% of NMU’s goal scoring this season, eight of 30 goals.

He earned CCHA Forward of the Week with his league-high scoring total of the weekend. Northern needed it as it was shorthanded on the trip due to injuries.

The Wildcats scored once each period on Friday from Gault, Landon MacDonald and Girts Silkalns.

“The guys were ecstatic,” Northern second-year head coach Dave Shyiak said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing this weekend. “They were super happy, they played for each other, and it was one of those things where we did everything right to earn the win, and we did it the hard way.

“We (went into Bowling Green) and I don’t think anyone expected us to win a game against a very good opponent. But we had a game plan, and everyone chipped in on what they needed to do to earn that victory. Just really happy for our guys.”

With Gault potting back-to-back goals in the second period and teammate Warren Clark adding one late on Saturday, NMU took the Falcons to overtime and wasn’t able to cash in on a full two-minute power play before giving up the game-winner with a little over a minute left in the extra period.

“To come back the second night and almost do it all over again, I think all of us thought we should have won, but it became a one-shot game,” Shyiak said about the second game, a night where the Wildcats were down another two skaters due to more injuries. “(Bowling Green) scored on their opportunity, and we didn’t, and that’s just the game of hockey.

“But you can’t take away how hard our guys played and did everything they did to win that game and potentially get the sweep on the weekend.”

“He scores goals,” Shyiak said succinctly about Gault’s importance to this team. “He’s a very, very quiet player on the ice, and if you’re up in the stands, you probably won’t notice him until he scores a goal, and that’s what we recruited him for.

“He’s got that knack around the net, has a quick and deceptive release, is really good on the power play when we can set him up for the one-timer, and he’s doing what we ask him to do.

“The expectation is for him to score goals, and he was a big part of why we had a good weekend.”

Special teams had been a point of emphasis for this team after allowing nine power-play goals in the four games leading up to last weekend. Before facing the Wildcats, the Falcons had the second-best power play in the CCHA and a top-10 unit in the nation, clicking at 25% with 12 goals on the man advantage. 

NMU emphatically won the special teams battle, holding one of the nation’s top teams — which had scored nine power play goals in seven games leading up to the series — to 0 of 8 for the weekend.  

“Bowling Green has one of the leading power play units, not only in our league but in the nation, and to hold (their special teams) scoreless on the weekend was a big part of our success, and we’ll need that to be consistent to take away some points this weekend,” Shyiak said.

Looking ahead, St. Thomas is one of the most offensively skilled teams in the conference, leading the CCHA with 3.5 goals per game, and second with 59 goals and 551 shots. 

“(St. Thomas) is probably one of the fastest teams in the CCHA,” the NMU coach said. “They’re really good off the rush and in transition, so we have to do what we need to do to take away that part of their game.

“Our focus is here for Friday night, but it’s also exam week, so our guys have to focus on the academic piece, but when they’re here to practice for two hours a day, it prepares them for Friday.”

While the Tommies can find the back of the net, they struggle to keep the puck out of their own net, as they have the second-worst goalie saves percentage of .888 and worst penalty-kill percentage of 71.9% in the CCHA.

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.