MSU to play in 2011 Ice Breaker

Michigan State Press Release

College Hockey, Inc., in conjunction with the University of North Dakota athletics department and Ralph Engelstad Arena, announced today that UND will host the annual Ice Breaker Tournament to open the 2011-12 season. The tournament will take place Oct. 7-8.

The 15th annual Ice Breaker Tournament will feature four of the most storied programs in NCAA men’s hockey, including North Dakota and Boston College, currently the top two ranked teams in the country, as well as Michigan State and Air Force.

The 2011 Ice Breaker participants have combined to win 14 NCAA championships, led by UND’s seven. Boston College has won four and Michigan State has won three. MSU (2007) and Boston College (2008, 2010) have won three of the last four NCAA titles.

“We were thrilled to accept an invitation to participate in the 2011 Ice Breaker at North Dakota,” said Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis. “This will add a pair of quality opponents to our 2011-12 schedule, and a big stage for our new coaching staff to usher in the next era of Michigan State hockey. North Dakota’s facility is top-notch, and we know that the tournament will provide our student-athletes a fantastic experience.”

“I’m really, really excited to hear that this is being added to our schedule,” said Michigan State team captain Torey Krug. “One of the reasons I came to Michigan State was the opportunity to play other top programs in the country. It will be a great experience for our team to play on a big stage so early in the season.”

Michigan State is appearing in the IceBreaker for the fourth time. The Spartans first appeared in the inaugural1997-98 tournament, downing Boston University and Wisconsin to capture the title. MSU hosted the event in 2004, dropping a 4-3 decision to Findlay before rebounding with a 5-4 victory over Minnesota-Duluth. The Spartans’ most recent appearance came in Boston in 2009, falling to host Boston University (2-1) in the final after dispatching Massachusetts, 3-1, in the semis.

This will be Michigan State’s second visit to the new Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. The Spartans opened the 2007-08 season at “the Ralph” with the US Hockey Hall of Fame Game; the Fighting Sioux took a 6-0 decision.

“We are excited and honored to be able to bring such a prestigious collegiate hockey event to Grand Forks,” said UND athletics director Brian Faison. “There were a lot of moving parts that had to align to make this happen, and I particularly want to thank Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson and his staff for their efforts.”

“It’s fitting that we celebrate the start of the 2011 college hockey season at one of the crown jewels of the game, Ralph Engelstad Arena,” said College Hockey, Inc. executive director Paul Kelly. “College Hockey, Inc. is confident that North Dakota will be an outstanding host for this special event that brings together four of the elite college hockey programs in the country.”

MTU announces full 2010-11 schedule

MTU Press Release

Michigan Tech has released its 2010-11 hockey schedule that features 37 games, 18 of which will be played at the John J. MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

“After playing the No. 1 toughest schedule in the nation last year, we will once again have a very challenging journey in 2010-11,” said MTU head coach Jamie Russell. “We are excited to welcome in both Nebraska-Omaha and Bemidji State to the WCHA and we look forward to both the conference and non-conference opponents we will face.”

Tech will open the season at home on Saturday, Oct. 2 with an exhibition game against Nipissing.

The Huskies will open the regular season at Upper Peninsula rival Northern Michigan, the first of six opponents on this years schedule to qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season, Friday, Oct. 8 and will play at Lake Superior State the following night. The Huskies will host the Wildcats again on Tuesday, Oct. 12, before hosting Minnesota State Oct. 15-16 in the WCHA opener for both institutions.

Michigan Tech will host the 46th annual Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 29-30 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Huskies will face Michigan and then either Michigan State or Boston College.

The second half of the season is highlighted with a two-game home series against St. Lawrence on Jan. 14-15. Tech will also welcome new WCHA member Bemidji State to Houghton for Winter Carnival on Feb. 11-12.

All dates and times are subject to change.

Wildcats release 2010-2011 schedule

NMU Press Release

Northern Michigan University has announced their 2010-11 schedule.

The Wildcats play 18 of its games at the Berry Events Center and highlights of the home schedule include games against Michigan Tech (Oct. 8 and Dec. 17), Ohio State (Oct. 29-30), Notre Dame (Jan. 7-8), Lake Superior State (Feb. 4-5) and Michigan (Feb. 25-26).

All of the non-conference games will be against teams from the WCHA - Michigan Tech, Minnesota-Duluth, Bemidji State and Denver.

NMU head coach Walt Kyle is looking forward to the 2010-11 season.

“I like our schedule," said Kyle. "I think we have a lot of strength in-conference and in our home schedule. Our home fans will see Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan Tech in our building. I think our non-conference schedule is outstanding. All eight games are against WCHA opponents, plus we will play Denver in a series out there.

"That gives us a lot of strength and we are excited about the upcoming year.”

COMPLETE SCHEDULE

Western Michigan announces schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Home series with two Frozen Four teams and traditional CCHA powers Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Ohio State highlight the 2009-2010 Western Michigan hockey schedule.

Western Michigan enters its 11th season under head coach Jim Culhane and will start off the exhibition season on Wednesday Oct. 7, with a situational scrimmage against the University of Windsor.

“The scrimmage will allow us to really dial in on special teams situations,” commented Culhane. “We will focus on the power play, penalty kill and defensive zone coverage.”

The scrimmage will be free to the public and will start at 6 p.m. Later that week on Friday, the Broncos will battle each other in the Brown & Gold game at 7:35 p.m., also free to the public.

WMU opens the regular season by hosting Mercyhurst College for a two game series on Oct. 16 and 17. The Broncos last hosted the Lakers during the 2003-04 season, splitting the games.

Western Michigan’s first road trip is the following week at Alabama-Huntsville.

The Broncos open CCHA play with Michigan State on Halloween weekend, traveling to East Lansing on Oct. 30 and hosting the Spartans the following night. WMU also hosts NCAA runners-up Miami on Nov. 20 and 21. Miami, along with Ohio State, is a cluster opponent for the Broncos and will meet the RedHawks at the Goggin Ice center at the end of January.

To open 2010, WMU hosts Frozen Four participant Bemidji State on Saturday, Jan. 2 and Sunday, Jan. 3. Saturday’s game will be at its normal 7:35 p.m. start, but Sunday’s time is still to be determined.

Western Michigan welcomes the Michigan Wolverines to Lawson Ice Arena on Jan. 8 and takes the return trip to Ann Arbor the following night. Last season, the Broncos shocked the Wolverines, defeating them 2-1 at Yost Arena during the regular season.

WMU hits the road for two straight weeks heading out to battle at Miami and at Bowling Green before hosting the regular season and CCHA Tournament champion Notre Dame.

In all, the Broncos have eight home games against teams that finished in the top five of the CCHA last season.

“Top to bottom their is tremendous challenge and competition in the CCHA every season,” said Culhane. “We have two Frozen Four teams coming to Lawson in Miami and Bemidji State and we are excited to get the season under way.”

The Broncos close out the final two weeks of the season by hosting Ohio State and then a home-and-home series with Ferris State.

WMU’s final home game is Saturday, Feb. 27 for Senior Night against the Bulldogs.

The date for WMU’s third annual Hockey Cares weekend has yet to be determined, but will be made public as soon as it is decided.

WSU announces '09-10 schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Wayne State has announced the team's schedule for the upcoming 2009-10 season, which will begin Sept. 25 with a home exhibition game against York University at the City Sports Center.

The Warriors will travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to start the regular season, Oct. 2-3. A weekend off will precede the home opening series Oct. 16-17 against Boston University, marking the first-ever meetings between the Warriors and Terriers.

Consecutive road trips at Colgate (Oct. 23-24) and Bemidji State (Oct. 30-31) lead into WSU's first College Hockey America series of the season, Nov. 6-7 in Detroit against Mercyhurst, the 2008-09 national runner-up.

Wayne State will make a trip to 2008-09 national champion Wisconsin, Nov. 12-13, to face the Badgers for the first time since 2006. Conference road series at Syracuse (Dec. 4-5) and Niagara (Dec. 12-13) will close out the 2009 portion of the schedule prior to exams and the holiday break.

Play resumes when the Warriors host Vermont at the City Sports Center, Jan. 8-9. Two home CHA series against Robert Morris (Jan. 15-16) and Syracuse (Jan. 29-30) sandwich a pair of non-conference road games at Quinnipiac (Jan. 22-23).

Following an idle weekend, Wayne State will host Niagara for a series Feb. 12-13 before wrapping up the regular season with trips to Mercyhurst (Feb. 19-20) and RMU (Feb. 26-27).

Wayne State will host the 2010 CHA Tournament beginning Thursday, March 4.

MSU has favorable '09-10 schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Twenty home games - including contests against Big Ten rivals Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota - dot the 2009-10 Michigan State hockey schedule for 2009-10.

The Spartans will have two home games each against defending CCHA champions Notre Dame, Michigan, and Ohio State, in addition to the College Hockey Showcase games against Minnesota and Wisconsin. This year’s cluster scheduling for the CCHA finds the Spartans paired with traditional rival Michigan, along with the Irish and Bowling Green.

“After a schedule that really did not favor us a year ago, we really like how our schedule looks for 2009-10,” noted head coach Rick Comley. “Last year, we spent long stretches on the road, and only had one home game against Michigan. I think the fans really like the Big Ten schools in our building, and this year, they will get eight games against our Big Ten opponents and Notre Dame at Munn. With another young team this year, we will benefit from this many home games.”

A year ago, MSU played 16 of 21 games from Nov. 1 to Feb 1 away from Munn Ice Arena. This year’s schedule is much more forgiving, with only two occasions with four straight road games, The Spartans, who will have the annual Green and White exhibition on Oct. 4 and an exhibition with Western Ontario on Oct. 5, will officially open the season with a series against Clarkson on Oct. 9-10. The squad then has a non-conference road series at Alfond Arena against the University of Maine (Oct. 16-17) and opens its CCHA slate at national runner-up Miami on Oct. 23-24.

The Spartans will then tangle with Western Michigan in a home-and-home series over Halloween weekend, and open November with MSU’s final conference series against Nebraska-Omaha (Nov. 5-6), as the Mavericks will head to the WCHA for the 2010-11 season.

College hockey’s fiercest rivalry adds another chapter with a home-and-home series with Michigan on Nov. 13-14. MSU will host Notre Dame on Nov. 20, then take on the Irish in Fort Wayne, Ind. on Nov. 22 in a matinee contest. The College Hockey Showcase follows over Thanksgiving weekend, with MSU playing host to the Badgers of Wisconsin on Friday and Minnesota on Saturday.

The Spartans have three straight road games to start December - a series at Northern Michigan on Dec. 4-5, and then on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green. The Falcons will play at Munn on Dec. 12 to wrap up the pre-holiday break schedule. The Spartans return to action for the 45th annual Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 29-30) where MSU will take on Michigan Tech in the first round for the right to play either Michigan or Rensselaer in the finals.

Michigan State will entertain the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team on Monday, Jan. 4, before jumping back into conference action the following weekend. MSU kicks it off with a home series against Lake Superior (Jan. 8-9), then has a home-and-home with Notre Dame (Jan. 15-16). The Spartans will then host Ohio State (Jan. 22-23), and have its annual home-and-Joe series with Michigan: the teams will play at Munn on Friday evening (Jan. 29), then at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Saturday the 30th.

The Spartans will only compete three of the four weekends in February, starting with a pilgrimage to Alaska on Feb. 5-6. After a bye week, MSU will take on both Ferris State (Feb. 19-20) and Bowling Green (Feb. 26-27) in home-and-home series to conclude the regular season.

The CCHA Tournament begins on March 5 at campus sites, and culminates with the league’s championship weekend March 19-20 in Detroit. The four NCAA regional sites are Albany, N.Y., St. Paul, Minn., Fort Wayne, Ind. and Worcester, Mass., and will be contested March 26-28; regional winners will advance to the Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit (April 8-10).

Michigan State welcomes 10 newcomers this fall who will join the Spartan roster, which will boast 20 first- and second-year players.

Bulldogs unveil 'quality' '09-10 schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

A 18-game slate in the Ewigleben Ice Arena, an appearance in the reputable Wisconsin Badger Hockey Showdown, and another highly-competitive season of CCHA action highlight the 2009-10 Ferris State schedule.

The challenging 36-game schedule features matchups against four opponents who were either ranked or received votes in the final 2008-09 USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll.

"This season's schedule features a number of quality opponents," said FSU head coach Bob Daniels, who embarks on his 18th year at Ferris State in the 2009-10 season and is the program's all-time winningest coach. "I'm excited to begin the season with six non-conference games which allows us opportunities to get considerable ice time for a lot of different players and also experiment with various line combinations.

"We're also thrilled to be invited back to the Wisconsin Badger Hockey Showdown Tournament and hope to win their tournament title for the third straight time."

The appearance by Ferris State at the 21st annual Badger Hockey Showdown Tournament (Jan. 2-3) will represent the program's third as the Bulldogs captured back-to-back Showdown Tourney titles in 2003 and 2004. FSU opens the holiday tournament against 2008-09 ECAC champion Yale on Jan. 2 in the opening semifinal tilt while host Wisconsin tangles with Merrimack in the other semifinal-round outing. The third-place and championship games will be held Jan. 3 with Wisconsin skating in the late encounter regardless of its semifinal-game outcome.

Ferris State will drop the puck on its 32nd year of varsity competition on Sunday, Oct. 4, with a home exhibition contest against Wilfred Laurier (Ontario) at Ewigleben. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. (EDT).

The following weekend (Oct. 9-10), the Bulldogs officially start the 2009-10 regular-season with a two-game non-league series versus Canisius in Buffalo. The two teams faced off a season ago in Big Rapids for a two-game set in what represented the first-ever meetings between the two schools. FSU then returns home the next two weekends, starting Oct. 16-17 with its home-opening series against Connecticut followed by a pair of encounters versus Robert Morris on Oct. 23-24. As with Canisius a season ago, Robert Morris will be making its debut on the Bulldogs' ice this campaign.

Ferris State will travel to Fairbanks, Alaska to open its 28-game CCHA schedule on Oct. 30-31 against Alaska and then return home to face Bowling Green Nov. 6-7 in its league home opener.

The remaining CCHA home dates for the Bulldogs include Ohio State (Nov. 20-21), Nebraska-Omaha (Dec. 4-5), Western Michigan (Dec. 12 and Feb. 26), Miami (Jan. 15-16), Michigan (Jan. 23), Northern Michigan (Feb. 5-6), and Michigan State (Feb. 19).

"I anticipate the CCHA games will be exciting and highly competitive," said Daniels. "This is perhaps going to be the strongest year we've had from top to bottom. There are a number of nationally top 10-caliber teams in our league which will require us to play at a consistently high level for us to achieve success."

The CCHA competition cluster schedule format for this season has Ferris State paired with Miami and Ohio State. As a result, Ferris will play each of those teams four times with a pair of games at home and on the road. The Bulldogs will continue to face Western Michigan four times on an annual basis as the Broncos are FSU’s “rivalry pairing” opponent as part of the cluster scheduling format which was implemented prior to the 2002-03 season.

The first round of the CCHA Playoffs will commence Mar. 5-7 at campus sites with tourney seeds 5-8 hosting. The top four seeds each receive a opening-round bye. The CCHA playoff quarterfinals will be conducted from Mar. 12-14 at campus sites and those four teams who claim the best two-of-three series will advance to the 2009 CCHA Championships (Mar. 19-20) at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Game start times for all 2009-10 Ferris State hockey home contests will be 7:05 p.m. (ET) on Fridays and 5:05 p.m. (EDT) for Saturday matchups.

"We started experimenting with the early start times three years ago and it has been well received by our fans," noted Daniels. "Moreover, we're starting to see other CCHA teams go to an early start as well based on what we were doing and it has been embraced in a positive way."

FULL SCHEDULE

Lakers announce '09-10 schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Lake Superior State opens its 2009-10 season on Oct. 3 with an exhibition game against Nipissing and plays seven of its first nine games at Taffy Abel Arena.

The Lakers, whose CCHA cluster partners for 2009-10 are Northern Michigan, Alaska and Nebraska-Omaha, play six of their last eight regular-season games on the road.

LSSU travels to Minnesota-Duluth on Oct. 9 and Michigan Tech on Oct. 11 for the third annual Superior Cup. The Lakers, along with Union and Bentley, participate in the RPI Tournament in Troy, N.Y., during Thanksgiving weekend.

Great Lake State Weekend, on Oct. 16-17, features a non-conference hockey series between Canisius. The Lakers play their CCHA opener the following weekend against Ohio State. The Oct. 23-24 series is also Parents Weekend.

LSSU's only other non-conference series is Jan. 3-4 at Robert Morris.

The Lakers travel to Western Michigan, UNO, Bowling Green, Michigan State, Miami, Alaska and NMU.

In addition to OSU, they play host to Michigan, Alaska, NMU, UNO, Notre Dame and Ferris State.

Wolverines release '09-10 schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

The University of Michigan released the schedule for their 2009-10 season this week.

The Wolverines' 37-game, regular-season slate includes 16 contests at Yost Ice Arena and the annual Great Lakes Invitational tournament.

The regular season gets underway in Anchorage, Alaska, when U-M takes part in the Kendall Auto Hockey Classic. Michigan plays Alaska in a non-conference contest on Oct. 9 before facing host Alaska-Anchorage on Oct. 10.

Michigan's home opener comes against Niagara on Thursday, Oct. 22. Two nights later on Saturday, Oct. 24, the Wolverines head east to Boston to match up against defending national champion Boston University.

Highlighting the road portion of the schedule is the Feb. 6 outdoor matchup against Wisconsin in the Camp Randall Hockey Classic.

Complete Schedule

Huskies announce '09-10 schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

The third annual Superior Showcase, the 45th annual Great Lakes Invitational and a Winter Carnival series against Minnesota-Duluth highlight Michigan Tech’s 2009-10 schedule.

The Huskies’ schedule consists of 34 regular-season games, including 28 Western Collegiate Hockey Association tilts.

Tech opens with a home preseason game versus Ryerson on Oct. 3. The regular-season opener will come at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena against archrival Northern Michigan Oct. 9 as part of the Superior Showcase. The Huskies will host Lake Superior State as part of the event two days later.

WCHA play will commence Oct. 23-24 with a trip to Colorado College.

Tech’s annual Hall of Fame game will be played against North Dakota Nov. 7.

The 45th annual GLI will take place Dec. 29-30 with the Huskies battling Michigan State in a semifinal. Michigan and RPI are the other teams involved in the nation’s premier holiday college hockey tournament.

Michigan Tech will entertain NMU in a rare weekday matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 12, which will wrap up a three-game season series with the Wildcats (the other Tech-Northern game is Friday, Dec. 18, in Marquette).

Winter Carnival will be held Feb. 5-6, with UMD coming to battle for the MacInnes Cup. As with Carnival tradition, the Saturday game will start at 5:07 p.m. Tech will use that same format (Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 5:07 p.m.) for the Jan. 15-16 series versus Alaska Anchorage and the Jan. 29-30 set vs. Minnesota State.

MTU will finish its regular season March 5-6 in North Dakota and the WCHA playoffs will begin the following weekend with the league’s Red Baron Final Five to take place March 18-20.

The complete schedule is HERE.

MiCHO Wednesday Tidbits

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Here's a smattering of news from across Michigan's hockey programs.

Lake Superior State - USA Hockey hires alum, new radio deal

http://lssulakers.com/sports/m-hockey/2008-09/news/martel-ken
http://lssulakers.com/sports/m-hockey/2008-09/news/radio_partner

Michigan - Voting starts for NHL All-Star Team

http://mgoblue.com/ice-hockey/article.aspx?id=176900

Northern Michigan - '09-10 schedule is out

http://webb.nmu.edu/SportsAthletics/Sports/MensHockey/News.shtml?articleID=108006&team=&display=short&category=&IsNewsBureau

Adrian - MCHA to get auto-bid

http://adrianbulldogs.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/041409aaa.html

Broncos unveil schedule for '08-'09

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Western Michigan head coach Jim Culhane has announced the schedule for the 2008-09 season.

The Broncos open the season with an exhibition match against the University of Windsor on Oct. 4 and then start off the regular season the following weekend. WMU will host Niagara on Friday, Oct. 11 and then host Rochester Institute of Technology the following night.

"We have a great relationship with the staff at Niagara and look forward to hosting them along with RIT," said Culhane.

The Broncos first road trip of the season will take them to Duluth, Minn., on Oct 24-25 to take on the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs of the Western College Hockey Association.

The Brown & Gold open the Central Collegiate Hockey Association portion of their season with a home-and-home series against Ferris State. The Broncos will host the Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 24 and travel to Big Rapids the following night. Once again FSU is the Broncos rivalry partner and a cluster opponent, with WMU facing off against them four times during the 2008-09 season. The Broncos and Bulldogs played in six games during the 2007-08 season, four during the regular season and then in a two-game playoff series. Ferris State got the best of the Broncos, going 4-1-1.

WMU's other cluster opponents for the season are Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska. The Broncos will host Nebraska-Omaha Nov. 7-8 and travel to the Qwest Center to take on the Mustangs on Feb. 6-7.

The Broncos take the long trek to Fairbanks, Ak., on Dec. 19-20. The Nanooks come to Kalamazoo on Feb. 13-14, during Alaska's visit the Broncos will be holding the second annual Hockey Cares weekend. Last year the Broncos hosted Lake Superior State and both teams sported pink laces, tape and pink ribbon patches to help raise money for cancer research. The effort was spear-headed by coach Culhane, the American Cancer Society and the Kalamazoo Optimist Hockey Association and raised more than $10,000.

Conference rival Michigan State travels to Lawson on Nov. 1 to complete a home-and-home series that has the Broncos traveling to East Lansing on Halloween. The Broncos also have a home-and-home series with the University of Michigan. The Broncos travel to Yost Arena on Nov. 8 and the 2007-08 CCHA Champions come to Kalamazoo the following night.

WMU then travels to South Bend for a two-game road trip with Notre Dame, Nov. 28-29. The Broncos went 1-3-0 against the Fighting Irish, closing the 2007-08 regular season with 3-0 shutout of UND at home. Notre Dame finished runner-up to Boston College in the National Championship game at the Frozen Four in Denver. From there, the Broncos return home to host Miami on Dec. 5-6.

Western Michigan travels to St. Paul, Minn. to open the new year at the Mariucci Classic during the holiday break. The Broncos play Northeastern in the first game on Jan 2. and will play either Minnesota or Brown the following day. WMU will make its first trip back to Mariucci Arena since playing in the Mariucci Classic back in 2000.

"The Mariucci Classic is one of the more prestigious holiday tournaments and we are exciting to be going back," said Culhane. "It is one of the great college hockey venues out there."

The second half of the season sees the Broncos hosting Alabama-Huntsville to finish out the non-conference schedule on Jan. 16-17. The Broncos will also host Northern Michigan on Jan. 30-31 and close out the season at home with Bowling Green on Feb. 27-28. The Brown & Gold head to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State on Jan 23-24 and travel to Sault Ste. Marie to battle the LSSU Lakers on Feb. 20-21.

"We are really excited to have our returning guys back for another season and look forward to a talented freshman class," added Culhane.

All WMU home games are scheduled to start at 7:35 p.m., but are subject to change.

Warriors announce '08-09 slate

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Wayne State University has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2008-09 season, which will commence Oct. 3-4 with a home series against Bemidji State at City Sports Center Arena.

"We are looking forward to this season and hoping we can build off the last season's success," said head coach Jim Fetter. "We are excited that we will be competing in two different tournaments, one over Thanksgiving and one over the Christmas holidays."

Wayne State will play eight of its first 12 regular season games in Detroit. A home series Oct. 24-25 against Colgate is sandwiched between road series at Union (Oct. 17-18) and Vermont (Nov. 7-8). Northeastern comes to Detroit for two games Nov. 14-15 before the Warriors host fellow College Hockey America member Syracuse, which is playing its inaugural season, the following weekend.

The Warriors then embark on a six-game road swing, including a pair of tournaments.

Connecticut will host one of those tournaments Nov. 28-29, as Wayne State will head to Storrs along with Quinnipiac and Yale. The Warriors wrap up 2008 with a series at league foe Niagara (Dec. 5-6).

The Easton/St. Cloud State Showcase will kick off 2009, as Wayne State is slated to face the Huskies on Jan. 2 and North Dakota the following afternoon.

Nothing but league contests remain for the Warriors the rest of the way, as they return home to host Robert Morris (Jan. 16-17) before consecutive road series at Syracuse and Mercyhurst.

Home series against Niagara (Feb. 13-14) and Mercyhurst (Feb. 27-28), with two games at Robert Morris in between (Feb. 20-21), will conclude the 2008-09 regular season.

The CHA Tournament will be played March 5-7 at Mercyhurst.

Kyle 'excited' about NMU schedule

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Northern Michigan University has announced its 2008-2009 schedule, one that includes 19 home games.

NMU will open the season by playing its first four games at the Berry Events Center against Michigan Tech and Minnesota-Duluth as part of the Superior Cup the weekend of Oct. 10-11 and the following weekend Oct. 17-18, the ‘Cats host the Michigan Wolverines.

“I am really excited about the schedule,” said Wildcats head coach Walt Kyle. “From strength of schedule standpoint, it is great for the fans to see some great teams in the building.”

NMU’s CCHA cluster-mates for the season are Bowling Green, Lake Superior State and Notre Dame. Northern Michigan will face the Falcons in Bowling Green on Nov. 14-15 and then the stage will shift to Marquette on Feb. 6-7. LSSU will host the ‘Cats the weekend of Dec. 5-6 and pay a visit to the Berry Events Center the final weekend of the regular season (Feb. 27-28). The Fighting Irish stop at the Berry Events Center for a two-game set the weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 1 as the ‘Cats will make the return trip to Notre Dame on Feb. 13-14.

The Huskies will also play at the Berry Events Center on Saturday, Dec. 20. NMU and MTU will faceoff in Houghton the night before.

NMU will face Wisconsin in Madison the weekend of Jan. 2-3. The ‘Cats will play two exhibition games - one against the University of Toronto on Sunday, Oct. 5 and the other versus the U.S. National Team Development Program on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Also making a stop at the Berry Events Center will be Alaska, Ferris State and Ohio State.

“We’re anxious for the season," added Kyle. "I like our hockey team and the schedule which we have."