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

The 2021–22 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season was the 46th season of play for the program and the 24th season in the CCHA conference. The Wildcats represented Northern Michigan University and were coached by Grant Potulny, in his 5th season.

2021–22 Northern Michigan Wildcats
men's ice hockey season
Conference5th CCHA
Home iceBerry Events Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall20–16–1
Conference12–13–1
Home12–6–1
Road8–10–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachGrant Potulny
Assistant coachesByron Pool
Rob Lehtinen
Captain(s)Joseph Nardi
Alternate captain(s)Ben Newhouse
Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season

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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.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Noah Ganske Defenseman   United States Transferred to Wisconsin–River Falls
John Hawthorne Goaltender   United States Transferred to Canisius
Grant Johnson Forward   United States Left program (retired)
Griffin Loughran Forward   United States Transferred to Michigan State
James Miller Defenseman   United States Left program (retired)
Mason Palmer Defenseman   United States Transferred to Augsburg
Ty Readman Forward   Canada Transferred to Wisconsin–Eau Claire
John Roberts Goaltender   United States Transferred to St. Norbert
Connor Ryckman Goaltender   Canada Graduation (retired)
Brandon Schultz Forward   United States Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye)
Hank Sorensen Defenseman   United States Signed professional contract (South Carolina Stingrays)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Trevor Cosgrove Defenseman   United States 24 Exeter, NH; graduate transfer from Colgate
Hank Crone Forward   United States 23 Dallas, TX; transfer from Denver
Hampus Eriksson Forward   Sweden 25 Gävle, SWE; graduate transfer from Lake Superior State
Reilly Funk Forward   Canada 20 Portage, MB
Charlie Glockner Goaltender   United States 21 Minnetonka, MN
Oscar Geschwind Forward   Sweden 20 Karlstad, SWE
Bo Hanson Defenseman   United States 23 Boise, ID; graduate transfer from Denver
Jakob Peterson Forward   United States 19 Marquette, MI; joined mid-season

Roster

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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)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#2 Minnesota State †* 26 23 3 0 2 0 0 67 115 28 44 38 6 0 178 60
#14 Michigan Tech 26 16 8 2 2 4 0 54 93 53 37 21 13 3 118 75
Bemidji State 26 14 12 0 1 1 0 42 83 81 39 19 20 0 118 121
Lake Superior State 26 13 13 0 1 1 0 39 69 64 37 18 18 1 107 104
Northern Michigan 26 12 13 1 3 0 1 35 86 99 37 20 16 1 132 136
Bowling Green 26 11 14 1 2 1 0 33 67 87 37 15 19 3 94 119
Ferris State 26 9 16 1 2 2 0 28 66 99 36 11 24 1 90 135
St. Thomas 26 3 22 1 0 4 0 14 45 112 36 3 32 1 61 168
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 2 3:04 PM at Michigan Tech* MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan (Exhibition)     T 4–4   
Regular Season
October 8 6:37 PM St. Thomas Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 4–1  2,532 1–0–0 (1–0–0)
October 9 6:37 PM St. Thomas Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 8–3  3,080 2–0–0 (2–0–0)
October 15 6:37 PM USNTDP* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Exhibition)     L 3–5   
October 16 6:37 PM #17 Notre Dame* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo L 2–5  3,754 2–1–0
October 22 6:37 PM #19 Bemidji State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   Kent L 4–5  2,684 2–2–0 (2–1–0)
October 23 6:37 PM #19 Bemidji State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo L 3–4  2,975 2–3–0 (2–2–0)
October 29 8:07 PM at #3 Minnesota State Mayo Clinic Health System Event CenterMankato, Minnesota   DiMatteo L 2–4  3,952 2–4–0 (2–3–0)
October 30 7:07 PM at #3 Minnesota State Mayo Clinic Health System Event CenterMankato, Minnesota   DiMatteo L 0–7  4,004 2–5–0 (2–4–0)
November 5 6:37 PM Boston University* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 5–3  3,650 3–5–0
November 6 6:37 PM Boston University* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 6–2  3,219 4–5–0
November 12 7:07 PM at Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan (Rivalry) Fox UP DiMatteo L 2–5  4,460 4–6–0 (2–5–0)
November 13 6:37 PM Michigan Tech Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Rivalry) Fox UP DiMatteo W 3–2 OT 3,847 5–6–0 (3–5–0)
November 19 7:07 PM at Ferris State Ewigleben ArenaBig Rapids, Michigan   DiMatteo W 6–3  1,097 6–6–0 (4–5–0)
November 20 6:07 PM at Ferris State Ewigleben ArenaBig Rapids, Michigan   DiMatteo W 7–6 OT 1,589 7–6–0 (5–5–0)
November 26 6:37 PM Bowling Green Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 6–3  2,053 8–6–0 (6–5–0)
November 27 6:37 PM Bowling Green Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo T 3–3 SOW 2,107 8–6–1 (6–5–1)
December 3 6:37 PM #1 Minnesota Duluth* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 5–4  2,960 9–6–1
December 4 6:37 PM #1 Minnesota Duluth* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 5–2  3,414 10–6–1
December 10 7:07 PM at Lake Superior State #19 Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan   DiMatteo L 2–7  500 10–7–1 (6–6–1)
December 11 6:07 PM at Lake Superior State #19 Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan   DiMatteo L 1–4  790 10–8–1 (6–7–1)
January 7 6:37 PM Colgate* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 4–2  1,832 11–8–1
January 8 6:37 PM Colgate* Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 6–3  2,227 12–8–1
January 14 6:37 PM #1 Minnesota State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo W 4–2  2,284 13–8–1 (7–7–1)
January 15 6:37 PM #1 Minnesota State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   Glockner L 1–4  2,897 13–9–1 (7–8–1)
January 28 7:07 PM Lake Superior State #20 Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   DiMatteo L 1–6  2,288 13–10–1 (7–9–1)
January 29 6:07 PM Lake Superior State #20 Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   Glockner W 2–1  2,564 14–10–1 (8–9–1)
February 1 6:07 PM at #15 Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice ArenaHoughton, Michigan (Rivalry) Fox UP Glockner L 1–5  2,744 14–11–1 (8–10–1)
February 4 8:07 PM at Bemidji State Sanford CenterBemidji, Minnesota   Glockner W 2–1  2,557 15–11–1 (9–10–1)
February 5 7:07 PM at Bemidji State Sanford CenterBemidji, Minnesota   Kent L 3–5  2,120 15–12–1 (9–11–1)
February 8 6:37 PM #14 Michigan Tech Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan (Rivalry) Fox UP Kent L 1–8  3,964 15–13–1 (9–12–1)
February 18 7:07 PM at Bowling Green Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio   Glockner W 6–3  2,611 16–13–1 (10–12–1)
February 19 7:07 PM at Bowling Green Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio   Glockner W 4–2  3,734 17–13–1 (11–12–1)
February 25 6:37 PM Ferris State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   Glockner W 7–1  2,114 18–13–1 (12–12–1)
February 26 6:37 PM Ferris State Berry Events CenterMarquette, Michigan   Glockner L 2–4  2,556 18–14–1 (12–13–1)
CCHA Tournament
March 4 6:07 PM at Lake Superior State* Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (Quarterfinal game 1)   Glockner W 5–1  1,050 19–14–1
March 5 6:07 PM at Lake Superior State* Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (Quarterfinal game 2)   Glockner L 2–3  1,100 19–15–1
March 6 6:07 PM at Lake Superior State* Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (Quarterfinal game 3)   Glockner W 5–4  850 20–15–1
Northern Michigan Won Series 2–1
March 12 5:07 PM at #1 Minnesota State* Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Semifinal)   Glockner L 1–8  4,492 20–16–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[2]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Hank Crone LW 32 13 31 44 22
A. J. Vanderbeck F 36 24 19 43 18
André Ghantous RW 37 10 26 36 57
Trevor Cosgrove D 37 9 19 28 26
Mikey Colella F 37 15 12 27 10
Ben Newhouse D 37 5 22 27 4
David Keefer RW 36 10 12 22 18
Hampus Eriksson C/W 33 6 16 22 18
Alex Frye C 33 10 6 16 31
Vincent De Mey F 35 6 10 16 12
Joseph Nardi LW 21 3 11 14 2
Bo Hanson D 36 3 10 13 29
Mack Byers LW 26 5 1 6 17
Rylan Van Unen F 18 4 1 5 31
Oscar Geschwind C 15 2 3 5 2
Garrett Klee F 33 1 4 5 16
Tanner Vescio D 35 3 1 4 26
Connor Marritt F 29 1 3 4 8
Mike Van Unen D 32 1 2 3 49
Brett Willits C 12 0 3 3 0
Tim Erkkila D 19 0 3 3 4
Rico DiMatteo G 22 0 2 2 2
Jett Jungels F 25 0 2 2 17
Tyrell Boucher D 13 0 1 1 2
Reilly Funk C 1 0 0 0 0
Colby Enns D 2 0 0 0 0
Nolan Kent G 6 0 0 0 0
Ian Malcolmson F 7 0 0 0 0
Jakob Peterson D 8 0 0 0 2
Charlie Glockner G 17 0 0 0 0
Total 131 221 352 423

[3]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Charlie Glockner 18 862 7 5 0 45 388 0 .896 3.13
Rico DiMatteo 22 1172 13 8 1 68 536 0 .887 3.48
Nolan Kent 6 179 0 3 0 17 64 0 .790 5.68
Empty Net - 17 - - - 4 - - - -
Total 37 2230 20 16 1 136 988 0 .879 3.66

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 NR NR NR 19 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

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

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
AJ Vanderbeck CCHA Second Team [5]
Charlie Glockner CCHA Rookie Team [6]

References

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  1. ^ "2020–21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Northern Michigan University Wildcats. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  2. ^ "Northern Michigan 2021-22 Team Schedule". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Northern Michigan Univ. 2021-2022 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  5. ^ "Four teams represented on All-CCHA Second Team". CCHA. March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "Six teams represented on CCHA All-Rookie Team". CCHA. March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.