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

The 2022–23 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season was the 47th season of play for the program and 25th season in the CCHA. The Wildcats represented Northern Michigan University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. They were coached by Grant Potulny, in his 6th season, and played their home games at Berry Events Center.

## 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 with goals from Joey Larson, Mikey Colella, Andre Ghantous, and Michael Van Unen 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 David Keefer finding the twine. 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 thanks to Michael Van Unen, Andre Ghantous, and Rylan Van Unen. 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 by New York Rangers prospect Simon Kjellberg 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. 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 Ondrej Pavel and the Mavericks cut the lead in half while their goaltender was pulled. MSU Forward Christian Fitzgerald 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 Zach Krajnik ended the Wildcats season after just 68 seconds.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Mack Byers | Forward | United States | Transferred to St. Thomas |
| Trevor Cosgrove | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Bridgeport Islanders) |
| Hank Crone | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Allen Americans) |
| Hampus Eriksson | Forward | Sweden | Graduation (signed with Pioneers Vorarlberg) |
| Tim Erkkila | Defenseman | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Oscar Geschwind | Forward | Sweden | Transferred to American International |
| Bo Hanson | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers) |
| Nolan Kent | Goaltender | Canada | Graduate transfer to Alaska Anchorage |
| Garrett Klee | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks) |
| Ian Malcolmson | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Connor Marritt | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Alaska Anchorage |
| Joseph Nardi | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Manitoba Moose) |
| Ben Newhouse | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with HC Pustertal Wölfe) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Isack Bandu | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, QC |
| Nathan Butler | Forward | United States | 20 | Wylie, TX |
| Connor Eddy | Forward | Canada | 20 | Victoria, BC |
| Aiden Gallacher | Defenseman | United States | 22 | Rochester Hills, MI; transfer from Michigan State |
| Luke Gramer | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Moorhead, MN |
| Béni Halász | Goaltender | Hungary | 21 | Budapest, HUN |
| Simon Kjellberg | Defenseman | Sweden | 22 | Nashville, TN; transfer from Rensselaer; selected 163rd overall in 2018 |
| Joey Larson | Forward | United States | 21 | Brighton, MI |
| Tanner Latsch | Forward | United States | 20 | Muskegon, MI |
| Zach Michaelis | Forward | United States | 20 | Elk River, MN |
| Kristóf Papp | Forward | Hungary | 21 | Budapest, HUN; transfer from Michigan State |
| Artem Shlaine | Forward | Russia | 20 | Moscow, RUS; transfer from Connecticut |
| Josh Zinger | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Red Deer, AB |

## Roster

As of September 8, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 Central Collegiate Hockey Association Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #12 Minnesota State †* | 26 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 52 | 83 | 56 | 39 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 126 | 81 |
| #13 Michigan Tech | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 68 | 54 | 39 | 24 | 11 | 4 | 103 | 88 |
| Bowling Green | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 89 | 76 | 36 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 114 | 114 |
| Northern Michigan | 26 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 82 | 77 | 38 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 123 | 103 |
| Bemidji State | 26 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 73 | 63 | 36 | 14 | 17 | 5 | 94 | 97 |
| Ferris State | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 62 | 91 | 37 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 92 | 131 |
| St. Thomas | 26 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 69 | 81 | 36 | 11 | 23 | 2 | 86 | 117 |
| Lake Superior State | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 52 | 80 | 36 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 71 | 118 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 1 | 6:07 PM | Bowling Green | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Glockner | L 4–6 | 2,967 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| October 2 | 6:07 PM | Bowling Green | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Glockner | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 2,064 | 1–1–0 (1–1–0) |
| October 7 | 7:00 PM | at Colgate* | Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York | ESPN+ | Glockner | W 3–2 | 827 | 2–1–0 |
| October 8 | 4:00 PM | at Colgate* | Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York | ESPN+ | Halász | W 4–1 | 518 | 3–1–0 |
| October 14 | 7:30 PM | at #14 Notre Dame* | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | Peacock | Halász | L 1–3 | 5,002 | 3–2–0 |
| October 16 | 5:00 PM | at #14 Notre Dame* | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | Peacock | Halász | L 4–5 | 3,521 | 3–3–0 |
| October 21 | 7:07 PM | Alaska Anchorage* | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 9–1 | 2,481 | 4–3–0 |
| October 22 | 6:07 PM | Alaska Anchorage* | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | L 1–3 | 2,898 | 4–4–0 |
| October 28 | 7:07 PM | Alaska* | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | L 1–2 | 2,338 | 4–5–0 |
| October 29 | 6:07 PM | Alaska* | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 3–2 | 2,321 | 5–5–0 |
| November 4 | 7:07 PM | at Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 3–1 | 1,958 | 6–5–0 (2–1–0) |
| November 5 | 6:07 PM | at Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 5–3 | 1,978 | 7–5–0 (3–1–0) |
| November 11 | 7:07 PM | Bemidji State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 2–0 | 2,506 | 8–5–0 (4–1–0) |
| November 12 | 6:07 PM | Bemidji State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | L 1–4 | 2,875 | 8–6–0 (4–2–0) |
| November 18 | 8:07 PM | at #8 Minnesota State | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | KEYC | Halász | W 3–2 | 4,344 | 9–6–0 (5–2–0) |
| November 19 | 7:07 PM | at #8 Minnesota State | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | KEYC | Halász | L 1–4 | 4,562 | 9–7–0 (5–3–0) |
| December 2 | 7:07 PM | #19 Michigan Tech | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Halász | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 4,263 | 10–7–0 (6–3–0) |
| December 3 | 6:07 PM | at #19 Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Halász | L 1–3 | 4,025 | 10–8–0 (6–4–0) |
| December 9 | 7:07 PM | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | DiMatteo | L 2–5 | 1,891 | 10–9–0 (6–5–0) |
| December 10 | 6:07 PM | at Ferris State | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 5–2 | 2,001 | 11–9–0 (7–5–0) |
| January 6 | 7:07 PM | #19 Minnesota State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | L 2–5 | 2,229 | 11–10–0 (7–6–0) |
| January 7 | 6:07 PM | #19 Minnesota State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | DiMatteo | L 3–5 | 2,766 | 11–11–0 (7–7–0) |
| January 20 | 8:07 PM | at Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Halász | L 0–4 | 1,808 | 11–12–0 (7–8–0) |
| January 21 | 7:07 PM | at Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey, FOX 9+ | Halász | W 5–2 | 1,773 | 12–12–0 (8–8–0) |
| January 27 | 7:07 PM | at #13 Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Halász | L 0–3 | 4,179 | 12–13–0 (8–9–0) |
| January 28 | 6:07 PM | #13 Michigan Tech | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Halász | L 1–4 | 4,260 | 12–14–0 (8–10–0) |
| February 3 | 7:07 PM | Lake Superior State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | L 2–4 | 2,365 | 12–15–0 (8–11–0) |
| February 4 | 6:07 PM | Lake Superior State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 3–1 | 2,738 | 13–15–0 (9–11–0) |
| February 10 | 8:07 PM | at St. Thomas | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Halász | W 3–0 | 898 | 14–15–0 (10–11–0) |
| February 11 | 7:07 PM | at St. Thomas | St. Thomas Ice Arena • Mendota Heights, Minnesota | FloHockey | Halász | L 2–4 | 870 | 14–16–0 (10–12–0) |
| February 17 | 7:07 PM | Ferris State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 9–2 | 2,464 | 15–16–0 (11–12–0) |
| February 18 | 6:07 PM | Ferris State | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey | Halász | W 8–3 | 3,779 | 16–16–0 (12–12–0) |
| February 24 | 7:07 PM | at Bowling Green | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Halász | W 4–2 | 3,103 | 17–16–0 (13–12–0) |
| February 25 | 7:07 PM | at Bowling Green | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey | Halász | W 4–2 | 4,498 | 18–16–0 (14–12–0) |
| CCHA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 3 | 7:07 PM | Bemidji State* | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Halász | W 7–3 | 3,116 | 19–16–0 |
| March 4 | 6:07 PM | Bemidji State* | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Halász | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 2,269 | 20–16–0 |
| March 11 | 6:07 PM | at #10 Michigan Tech* | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan (Semifinal, Rivalry) | FloHockey | Halász | W 4–0 | 3,930 | 21–16–0 |
| March 18 | 7:07 PM | at #12 Minnesota State* | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota (Championship) | FloHockey | Halász | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 4,805 | 21–17–0 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| André Ghantous | RW | 38 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 32 |
| A. J. Vanderbeck | C | 35 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 33 |
| Artem Shlaine | C | 38 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 18 |
| Joey Larson | RW | 36 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 14 |
| Kristóf Papp | C | 38 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 21 |
| David Keefer | RW | 38 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 8 |
| Michael Colella | F | 37 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 25 |
| Alex Frye | C | 38 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 16 |
| Josh Zinger | D | 38 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 12 |
| Simon Kjellberg | D | 32 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 24 |
| Connor Eddy | C | 35 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 |
| Vincent De Mey | F | 34 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 22 |
| Mike Van Unen | D | 36 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 36 |
| Aiden Gallacher | D | 38 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 39 |
| Reilly Funk | C | 23 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 21 |
| Colby Enns | D | 32 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| Tanner Vescio | D | 23 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Rylan Van Unen | F | 14 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 17 |
| Jett Jungels | F | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Zach Michaelis | C | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Brett Willits | C | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Béni Halász | G | 35 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Tyrell Boucher | D | 28 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Rico DiMatteo | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jakob Peterson | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nathan Butler | F | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Charlie Glockner | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isack Bandu | D | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Luke Gramer | D | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | | | 123 | 190 | 313 | 407 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Béni Halász | 35 | 1941:24 | 19 | 15 | 0 | 75 | 855 | 3 | .919 | 2.32 |
| Charlie Glockner | 8 | 256:01 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 111 | 0 | .895 | 3.05 |
| Rico DiMatteo | 3 | 74:13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 0 | .868 | 4.04 |
| Empty Net | - | 22:37 | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 38 | 2294:15 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 103 | 999 | 3 | .890 | 2.69 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | 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 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 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 |
| USA Today | 20 | 20 | NR | 20 | 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 weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| André Ghantous | CCHA Second Team |
| Béni Halász | CCHA Rookie Team |
| Josh Zinger | CCHA Rookie Team |
| Joey Larson | CCHA Rookie Team |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2023 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 4 | 118 | Hampton Slukynsky $^+$ | Los Angeles Kings |
| 5 | 152 | Rasmus Larsson $^+$ | New York Rangers |
+ incoming freshman