2023–24 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season
2023–24 Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey season
The 2023–24 season was Northern Michigan's 48th season of hockey and 26th in the CCHA. The Wildcats played their home games at the Berry Events Center and were led by head coach Grant Potulny in his seventh year. They were picked to finish second in the conference before the season began.
The start was rocky. NMU opened with four games against ranked opponents, but goaltender Béni Halász struggled, and the team couldn’t overcome it. Redshirt freshman Tanner Latsch made a remarkable debut with a hat trick in his first college game and scored in each of the next three games, but an injury limited his time after that. Backup goalie Charlie Glockner showed some solid performances in November, but the results weren’t enough to steady the season. Halász began to play better after getting back as a starter, yet the offense never really came together.
Overall, the Wildcats scored about 0.8 goals per game fewer than the previous season, while the defense improved. In the second half, NMU lost only a few games, but could not build a winning streak and finished the spring semester about .500. The team ended fifth in the conference and moved on to the playoffs at Minnesota State.
In the playoff series, NMU outshot Minnesota State in the first game but could only score once and lost 1–2. In the rematch, André Ghantous scored a short-handed goal, but Minnesota State poured in six goals and NMU’s season ended quietly.
After the season, head coach Grant Potulny stepped down to pursue opportunities in professional hockey. The Wildcats’ captains were Aiden Gallacher, André Ghantous, and Artem Shlaine. Assistant coaches were Byron Pool, Nick Peruzzi, and Jimmy Spratt. NMU finished 12–16–6 overall, 10–10–4 in the conference, 10–4–2 at home, and 2–12–4 on the road.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:42 (CET).