North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) Wildcats men's ice hockey team is set to begin its 2025-26 season with a road series against the University of Massachusetts, currently ranked No. 15 in the USCHO National Preseason Poll. This marks the start of head coach Dave Shyiak's second season leading the Wildcats.

UMass, known as the Minutemen, reached the Elite Eight in last year's NCAA Tournament and defeated No. 5 Minnesota before losing to Western Michigan, who went on to win the championship. The only previous meeting between NMU and UMass took place in 1999, resulting in a 3-0 victory for NMU at the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis.

Fans can follow updates for both games on October 4 and October 5 through ESPN+, live stats, live audio, and @NMUHockey on X (formerly Twitter).

Coach Shyiak commented on this year’s captaincy group: "We really like our leadership group and the experience they bring, and they've done a great job in building our culture over the course of the last six weeks," he said. "With 16 new faces, our captains have led by example on and off the ice, and it doesn't surprise our coaching staff that the players voted for Tynan, Nick, Caiden, and Zane. They all have an understanding of what our standards and expectations are on a day-to-day basis."

Junior defenseman Tynan Ewart will serve his second term as captain after leading Wildcat defensemen in assists, points, blocks, and average time on ice last season. Senior defenseman Nicolas Ardanaz returns after joining from RPI last year; he played a career-high number of games with NMU last season and was named an AHCA Krampade All-American Scholar.

Senior forward Caiden Gault joins NMU after three seasons at Ferris State where he scored a personal best of 25 points in 36 games. He also led his former team with 15 goals last year. Defenseman Zane Demsey arrives from Miami Ohio having been recognized multiple times for academic achievement during his collegiate career.

The Wildcats have added 16 new players this season: seven transfers—including athletes from BIG 10 schools—and nine freshmen. Notable newcomers include forwards Kyle Bettens (Minnesota Duluth), Peter Cisar (freshman), Mikey Burchill (freshman), as well as goaltender William Gramme (Wisconsin transfer).

In preseason rankings for their conference—the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA)—the Wildcats were picked ninth out of nine teams by coaches and media.