2021–22 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season

Northern Michigan joined with six other members of the WCHA to restart the CCHA for the 2021–22 season. They opened their season with a weekend sweep but then ran into trouble with a 5-game losing skid. While the offense was able to produce, the Wildcats did not receive adequate goaltending from Rico DiMatteo. Come November, however, the results began to improve and Northern Michigan rose a high-octane offense to a winning record. The team's attack was led by Hank Crone and A. J. Vanderbeck, both of whom would finish among the national scoring leaders. The best performance on the season came in early December when NMU took on then-#1 Minnesota Duluth and swept both games. While the Bulldogs were forced to use their third string goalie due to illness and injury, putting up 5 goals in both games against one of the nation's top defenses was still impressive. The victories also garnered Northern Michigan with their first ranking of the season and set the team up as a possible surprise for the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats ended the first half of their year getting swept by Lake Superior State and immediately dropping out of the polls.

The second half of the season began well for the Wildcats and when the team split a weekend with Minnesota State they reentered the top-20. After a week off, the team was again stymied by the Lakers and kicked out of the rankings. More importantly, however, was that DiMatteo's play in net had become so inconsistent that the team turned to freshman Charlie Glockner. The new starter immediately provided a boost in goal and the team tried to make a bid for a home site in the postseason, but their 1–3 record versus Lake Superior ultimately left them in the 5th position.

The Wildcats had to travel to Sault Ste. Marie to take on their long-time rival but their powerful offense, which had carried them to victory so often during the season, gave Northern Michigan the edge. After splitting the first two games, NMU found itself down 1–3 mid-way through the deciding game but then went on a rampage in the Lakers' zone. In exactly 8 minutes of game time, Northern Michigan scored four goals and took a commanding 5–3 lead. Glockner was able to hold off Lake Superior for most of the third and give the Wildcats a date in the conference semifinal. There they found Minnesota State waiting for them but the Mavericks were looking for revenge. NMU had downed Minnesota State in the semis the year before and MSU was going to make sure there was no repeat. Northern Michigan was completely swamped, getting outshot 21–34 and outscored 1–8. While the end of their season wasn't pretty, the team had been able to provide some stunning highlights during the year.

As of September 6, 2021.[1]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Nolan Kent	Senior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	1998-08-12	Chestermere, Alberta	Spruce Grove (AJHL)	—
2		Trevor Cosgrove	Graduate	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-06-04	Exeter, New Hampshire	Colgate (ECAC)	—
3		Colby Enns	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1999-09-16	Minot, North Dakota	Lincoln (USHL)	—
4		Michael Van Unen	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-26	Kamloops, British Columbia	Merritt (BCHL)	—
6		Tyrell Boucher	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-06-03	Grande Prairie, Alberta	Cowichan Valley Capitals (BCHL)	—
7		David Keefer	Senior (RS)	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-10-21	Brighton, Michigan	Michigan State (Big Ten)	—
8		Tim Erkkila	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-11-16	Brighton, Michigan	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—
9		Ian Malcolmson	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-01-29	Waukesha, Wisconsin	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
10		Ben Newhouse (A)	Graduate	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1997-06-16	Edina, Minnesota	Union (ECAC)	—
11		André Ghantous	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-12-07	Glendale, California	Penticton (BCHL)	—
12		Connor Marritt	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-03-14	Kelowna, British Columbia	Vernon (BCHL)	—
13		Mikey Colella	Sophomore	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	1999-06-12	Wenonah, New Jersey	Trail (BCHL)	—
14		Vincent de Mey	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-11-26	Los Angeles, California	Muskegon (USHL)	—
15		Rylan Van Unen	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-26	Kamloops, British Columbia	Merritt (BCHL)	—
16		Hank Crone	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	151 lb (68 kg)	1998-02-19	Dallas, Texas	Denver (NCHC)	—
17		Oscar Geschwind	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-02-24	Karlstad, Sweden	Örebro J20 (J20 Nationell)	—
18		Joseph Nardi (C)	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	1997-06-01	Edmonton, Alberta	Whitecourt (AJHL)	—
19		A. J. Vanderbeck	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-09-23	Monument, Colorado	Ohio State (Big Ten)	—
20		Garrett Klee	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-04-11	Morrison, Colorado	Waterloo (USHL)	—
21		Bo Hanson	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1997-11-13	Boise, Idaho	Denver (NCHC)	—
22		Jett Jungels	Sophomore (RS)	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-07-14	Edina, Minnesota	Edina (USHS–MN)	—
24		Hampus Eriksson	Graduate	F	6' 6" (1.98 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	1996-09-11	Forsbacka, Sweden	Lake Superior State (WCHA)	—
25		Brett Willits	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-03-16	London, Ontario	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
26		Tanner Vescio	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-04-14	Blaine, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
27		Mack Byers	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1999-02-08	Long Lake, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
28		Alex Frye	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-07-27	Clarkston, Michigan	Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)	—
29		Reilly Funk	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2000-12-23	Portage, Manitoba	Youngstown (USHL)	—
31		Charlie Glockner	Freshman	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-06-27	Minnetonka, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
33		Rico DiMatteo	Sophomore	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2001-01-01	Brasher Falls, New York	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)	—
		Jakob Peterson	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2002-04-18	Marquette, MI	Amarillo (NAHL)	—

[3]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[4]