2022–23 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season

After a solid season the year before, Northern Michigan came into the season ranked for the first time in years and had some decent results early. The Wildcats slipped at the end of October, however, losing 4 out of 5 games which included a loss to Alaska Anchorage who were playing their first games in almost 3 years. NMU arrested their slide in November in part by sticking with freshman netminder Béni Halász in goal. The other issue for the club was trying to reform the offense after the loss of Hank Crone, their leading scorer from the year before. Slowly, the team got used to one another and the new additions were assimilated into coach Potulny's system.

Northern Michigan finished out the first half of their season with a decent record which included splits against both Minnesota State and Michigan Tech. Unfortunately, after returning from the winter break, both the offense and defense struggled. The Wildcats lost 6 out of 7 and tumbled down the standings. By the time February rolled around, the team was in the bottom half of the CCHA standings and had no chance for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Luckily, the Wildcats ended the season with a fairly easy slate of opponents and were able to take full advantage.

After settling down on the back end, the NMU offense exploded against Ferris State, scoring 17 goals in one weekend. Entering the final week of the season, the suddenly-hot Wildcats had a long-shot chance at a homestand in the postseason. First, they needed to take as many points as they could from Bowling Green. The team had to overcome early deficits in both matches but were able to come away with a pair of 4–2 victories. In the meantime, Bemidji State was only able to earn a split and the two teams ended the regular season with 39 points. Luckily for NMU, the Wildcats possessed the tiebreaker and would host the Beavers for the quarterfinal round.

Northern Michigan's inspired play continued into the postseason and, after trading goals with BSU, the Wildcats scored the final 4 markers to walk away with a win in game 1. Bemidji State responded with a strong effort in the rematch but Halász was equal to the task and allowed just one goal on 36 shots. Regulation ended with a 1–1 tie and immediately after the start of overtime the Wildcats were in attack mode. NMU fired three shots on goal in 67 seconds with the final finding the twine.[1] Northern Michigan advanced to the semifinal where they met long-time rival, Michigan Tech. NMU entered the match having lost the last three to the Huskies but erased that memory by scoring three times in the first. After that, Halász had to weather a barrage of shots from Tech but he was up to the task and turned everything aside. A late goal extended their lead but by then the game was well in hand and Northern Michigan skated away with a 4–0 victory.

The Wilcdats reached a conference championship game for the third time under Potulny but were still searching for their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2010.[2] Halász continued his shutout streak and held Minnesota State scoreless through most of the game. Alex Frye scored a pair of goals to stake the Wildcats to a 2–0 lead and all signs were pointing to their winning the title. With less than 3 minutes remaining, everything began to unravel when the Mavericks cut the lead in half while their goaltender was pulled. MSU completed the comeback with their second extra-attacker goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Now, with all of the momentum having swung towards the Mavericks, NMU could only watch as Minnesota State went on the attack in overtime and ended the Wildcats season after just 68 seconds.[3]

As of September 8, 2022.[4]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Simon Kjellberg	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2000-02-17	Stockholm, Sweden	RPI (ECAC)	NYR, 163rd overall 2018
4		Michael Van Unen	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-26	Kamloops, British Columbia	Merritt (BCHL)	—
5		Colby Enns	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1999-09-16	Minot, North Dakota	Lincoln (USHL)	—
6		Tyrell Boucher	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-06-03	Nampa, Alberta	Cowichan Valley (BCHL)	—
7		David Keefer (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-10-21	Brighton, Michigan	Michigan State (Big Ten)	—
8		Artem Shlaine	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2002-03-07	Moscow, Russia	UConn (HEA)	NJD, 130th overall 2020
9		Joey Larson	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	2001-03-27	Brighton, Michigan	Muskegon (USHL)	—
10		Aiden Gallacher	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-03-20	Rochester Hills, Michigan	Michigan State (Big Ten)	—
11		André Ghantous (A)	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-12-07	Glendale, California	Penticton (BCHL)	—
12		Tanner Latsch	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-01-02	Muskegon, Michigan	Des Moines (USHL)	—
13		Mikey Colella	Junior	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	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-26	Kamloops, British Columbia	Merritt (BCHL)	—
16		Kristóf Papp	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	2001-06-27	Budapest, Hungary	Michigan State (Big Ten)	—
17		Luke Gramer	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-07-02	Moorhead, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
18		Nathan Butler	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-01-16	Wylie, Texas	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
19		A. J. Vanderbeck	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-09-23	Monument, Colorado	Ohio State (Big Ten)	—
20		Josh Zinger	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-08-05	Red Deer, Alberta	Brooks (AJHL)	—
21		Connor Eddy	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-04-18	Victoria, British Columbia	Victoria (BCHL)	—
22		Jett Jungels	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-07-14	Edina, Minnesota	Edina (USHS–MN)	—
23		Jakob Peterson	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2002-04-18	Marquette, Michigan	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
24		Isack Bandu	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-05-03	Montreal, Quebec	Victoria (BCHL)	—
25		Brett Willits	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-03-16	London, Ontario	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
26		Tanner Vescio (C)	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-04-14	Blaine, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
27		Zach Michaelis	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	2002-05-30	Elk River, Minnesota	Trail (BCHL)	—
28		Alex Frye	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-07-27	Clarkston, Michigan	Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)	—
29		Reilly Funk	Freshman (RS)	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2000-12-23	Portage, Manitoba	Youngstown (USHL)	—
30		Béni Halász	Freshman	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	2001-08-13	Budapest, Hungary	New Mexico (NAHL)	—
31		Charlie Glockner	Sophomore	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-06-27	Minnetonka, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
33		Rico DiMatteo	Junior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2001-01-01	Brasher Falls, New York	Lone Star (NAHL)	—

[6]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[7]