MARQUETTE, Mich. - The NMU men's hockey team's regular season comes to a close this weekend, where the 'Cats take on the Falcons on home ice with senior night on Saturday and CCHA playoffs looming. 

Coming off a weekend where the green and gold earned four CCHA points in Ferris State, the 'Cats come home for the final regular season matchup of the 2023-24 season. 

The 'Cats only path to home playoffs in the first round is to sweep Bowling Green and earn all six possible points, and for St. Thomas to earn all six points by sweeping the Huskies in Houghton. 

The Wildcats currently sit in seventh in the CCHA standings, where they are 8-10-4 with 30 points in CCHA play. The Falcons are two spots ahead of the 'Cats, as they are 11-10-1 with 35 points. The CCHA is so tightly contested this season, and depending on how the weekend turns out, the Wildcats can end up finishing anywhere from fourth to seventh in the standings.

The Wildcats will be honoring eight seniors on Saturday night before the game; those being Artem Shlaine, Kristof Papp, Michael Colella, Rylan Van Unen, Mitch Deelstra, Aiden Gallacher, Colby Enns, and Tyrell Boucher. 

The 'Cats are 25-16-3 on 'senior nights', dating back to the 1979-80 season. This will be the third time the 'Cats have played the Falcons during senior night, and are 1-1 the past two. 

Grant Potulny Weekly Press Conference - 2/27/24

Follow Along  
Make sure to follow @NMUHockey on X, formerly known as Twitter, to get updates throughout the week leading up to the games and for live updates while the 'Cats are on the ice. 

Friday, March 1 - vs. Bowling Green at 7:07 PM
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Saturday, March 2 - vs. Bowling Green at 6:07 PM - Senior Night
Tickets | Watch on Flo | Live Stats | Live Audio

Looking at the Wildcats
After a weekend that saw the 'Cats earn four CCHA points with a 3-2 win and 1-2 shootout loss, the 'Cats return home for the regular season finale on the Rick Comley Rink in the Berry Events Center. 

Aside from being blanked by a hot goalie on Saturday night, the 'Cats special teams unit has been exceptionally productive in the last six games, scoring eight goals (8/22) and clicking at a 36.4%  success rate. In that frame nationally across D1 hockey, the 'Cats PP% is third, and their eight power-play goals are fifth (behind Boston College, Dartmouth, Long Island, and Niagra, who have all had substantially more PPo's than NMU with 36, 27, 49, and 36).

The 'Cats are led by fifth-year senior and Hobey Baker nominee Andre Ghantous, who leads the CCHA in assists and is third in points (8-20--28). After two assists on the weekend, Andre now has five points in his previous four games (1-4--5). Defenseman Josh Zinger, who played center on Saturday due to the absence of Artem Shlaine, is fourth in points among CCHA blueliners with 19 (3-16--19), and narrowing that down even further, Zinger is second among sophomore defensemen, behind only Travis Shoudy of Ferris State with two more points in three more games played. The 'Cats have gotten help scoring from new faces as well, as freshman Kevin Marx Noren leads all 'Cats in points the previous six games with eight (1-7--8). On the season, Marx Noren's 13 assists are fifth and his 17 points are sixth among CCHA freshmen.

The 'Cats have been one of the better teams when on home ice in the CCHA this season, holding an 8-4-2 record. At home the 'Cats average 3.0 G/G and allow 2.4 G/G, those numbers being fourth and second, respectively. The 'Cats 13 PPGs and 25.0 PP% are both second, along with their PK clicking at 85.1%. NMU currently holds a five-game PPG streak at home, scoring seven in that frame (7/23, 30.4%). 

Cat Nips

• Andre Ghantous has been nominated for the 2024 Hobey Baker Award. You can vote for Ghantous here
• Ghantous leads all active NCAA skaters in career points (52-100--152) in 166 games played. Ghantous currently sits 14th in career points, T34 in career goals, 12th in career assists, and T2 in career games played in NMU program history
• Ghantous leads the 'Cats in career points against the Bulldogs with 17 points in 17 games (5-12--17), and Michael Colella leads the active Wildcats in career goals (9-4--13) against the Falcons
• Aiden Gallacher leads the CCHA in blocks with 70, good for seventh nationally
• The Wildcats lead the CCHA in PPGs with 27 and are second in PP% at 23.1%
• The 'Cats are one of the best faceoff teams in the CCHA, clicking at 52.0%, good for second in the conference
• At home, the 'Cats lead the CCHA in blocks (278)
• The 'Cats are 25-16-3 on senior nights dating back to the 1979-80 season and are 1-1 against the Falcons on senior night

Looking at the Falcons
Currently fifth in the CCHA and one point out of a home playoff spot, the Falcons come into the weekend, the Falcons were one of the hottest teams in the CCHA before getting the doors blown off by Michigan Tech last weekend, with losses of 0-7 and 1-3. Before those two games, the Falcons were 6-1-1 in their previous eight. 

The Falcons are led by junior forward Ryan O'Hara, who leads the team in goals and points (8-10--18), but has missed the last six games. O'Hara is followed by Spencer Kersten (8-7--15) and Josh Nodler (5-10--15). As of late, senior Seth Fyten has been leading the way, as he has five goals and nine points in the Falcons past 10 games. 

Freshman goaltender Cole Moore and junior Christian Stoever have both seen action this season, but it's been Moore who has seemingly taken the reigns in the crease for the Falcons. Moore has been exceptional in his last seven games, going 4-2-1 with a .939 SV% and a 2.20 GAA, and most recently being named CCHA Rookie of the Month for the month of February.

Bowling Green has held their own on the road this year, going 6-8-1 and allowing the fourth fewest goals against when traveling. The Falcons lay claim to the CCHA's best road FO% (50.9%) and PK% (47/57, 82.5%), while holding one of the worst road PP%s at 10.5% (4/38). Despite the good PK numbers on the road, the Falcon's special teams have been slipping recently, having allowed nine PPGs in the last seven games and scoring one PPG in the last nine games away from home.

Last Time vs the Falcons
The 'Cats traveled to Bowling Green back in November, where NMU dropped game one 2-6 before rebounding with a gutsy 2-0 win. 

Michael Colella had a multi-point weekend with two goals, one coming on the power-play and one short-handed. Kristof Papp also registered a multi-point weekend, registering two assists. 

The 'Cats are 8-2-1 against the Falcons in their last 11 matchups.