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Anthony Cliche
Anthony Cliche

Hockey Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

PREVIEW: Wildcats Travel to Bemidji to Resume Conference Play

The 'Cats come off its bye week to face the CCHA-leading Beavers

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The NMU hockey team comes off its bye week with a road trip to the CCHA-leading Bemidji State Beavers.

Puck drop from the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota, is set for 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, November 21, and 7:07 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 22.

Fans can watch streaming coverage on MidcoSports Plus, along with radio coverage on The Radio Results Network (100.3, The Point). 

The Wildcats' (0-12-0, 0-4-0 CCHA, 0 points) last time on the ice was the home-and-home series against the Michigan Tech Huskies, who enter this weekend with the same amount of conference wins as the Beavers (7-5-2, 5-1-2 CCHA, 17 points). Those two teams met in Houghton last weekend, with the Beavers winning in a shootout before falling in overtime. 

Dave Shyiak Media Availability, 11-11-2025


While the Wildcats have yet to get into the win column, head coach Dave Shyiak is confident in the process of getting better and the progression his team has made through the grueling schedule to start the season.

"We're a team that's still learning how to win… There's a way to win and there's a process to do it, and we're still going through that. We're going through growing pains, but we are getting better… We're not getting the results that we want, but we've said all along that it's about the process… We just have to have a good week of getting better at the things we need to get at, and maintain our conditioning level."

When talking about the areas of improvement, Shyiak referenced his team's improvement in limiting opponents' shot count. In the first nine games of the season, NMU averaged 46.44 shots against with only one game in that stretch where the 'Cats held its opponents to fewer than 40 in one game. In the last three games, however, the team held opponents to 32, 31, and 31 shots against, while garnering more scoring chances.

"If you look at our last three or four games, the [opponent] shot count has come way down, and our scoring chances have gone up. I thought we out-chanced [Michigan Tech] and Augustana on Saturday night, so that part is good, but we know it's still not good enough."

One of the higher-touted incoming freshmen in this year's class was Mathew Ward, who joined the Wildcats from the Medicine Hat Tigers after the CHL and NCAA agreement. Though his counting stats haven't jumped off the page, head coach Shyiak says he has "flipped the script" in the last couple of weeks and has emerged as one of the team's better players as of late.

"It's a big transition for all of our freshmen coming in, how hard it is to impact the game at our level. [Ward] struggled probably the first three or four games… and now the last four or five games he's been one of our better players, and we thought he was the best player on the ice on Saturday night. He was involved, and with guys like him, it's all about moving your feet, being engaged, and being hard on pucks. When players have the puck on their stick blade a lot, like he did, you're doing something right… He's been playing some really good hockey for us, so that's encouraging."

Along with Ward, head coach Shyiak had praise for his goaltending tandem in William Gramme and Oliver Auyeung-Ashton.

"They're playing really well, and they give us a chance to win every night… They're doing their part in giving us a chance to win, and it's good to have two guys who can go in there and play. We just need the combination of when they're playing well, our team plays well in front of them and gives them some run support… The game is a race to three [goals], and we need to find a way to get there. Once we do that and combine it with our good goaltending, that will give us a good chance to win."

Coach Shyiak also addressed injury questions in regards to Grayden Slipec and Peter Cisar.

"[Slipec] is kind of week-to-week right now, and Cisar is making some improvement but might be a little longer, so [the bye week] is good. Those are guys that create offense for us, but it also gives an opportunity for other guys to step up."

Despite the tough stretch to start the season, Shyiak says that "there's lots of hockey ahead of us" as the team comes out of the bye week and gets ready for the weekend in Bemidji. History is in favor of the Wildcats when it comes to these two programs as of late, as the Wildcats swept the Beavers in Bemidji last year and hold a 5-1-1 record in all competitions against Bemidji in the last seven games.

"We had some success [in Bemidji] last year, and [the bye week] has served as a decompresser and reset for us going into the road trip."



 
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Players Mentioned

Grayden Slipec

#15 Grayden Slipec

F
5' 10"
Sophomore
William Gramme

#1 William Gramme

G
6' 3"
Junior
Mathew Ward

#10 Mathew Ward

F
5' 9"
Freshman
Peter Cisar

#12 Peter Cisar

F
6' 0"
Freshman
Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

#30 Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

G
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Grayden Slipec

#15 Grayden Slipec

5' 10"
Sophomore
F
William Gramme

#1 William Gramme

6' 3"
Junior
G
Mathew Ward

#10 Mathew Ward

5' 9"
Freshman
F
Peter Cisar

#12 Peter Cisar

6' 0"
Freshman
F
Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

#30 Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

5' 10"
Freshman
G