The NMU Wildcats (16-15-5) travel to Oxford, Ohio smack dab in the middle of corn-cob country, just north Kentucky to compete against the Miami Redhawks (19-10-5).

This series promises to be a good one. Despite all the accolades and national rankings in favor of Miami, the Cats won and tied against the Redhawks in Oxford just a few weeks ago. Plus, NMU only has three less wins than the Redhawks. However, Miami did take it to the Cats that weekend, outshooting them 91-27. That is not a typo folks. I’ve never seen anything like that in college hockey. It’s probably been done, but not by two evenly matched clubs. Was it the long 2-day bus ride that caused the legs of the Cats’ forwards to go lame? or was it schemes? or was it Redhawk physical hockey. It was probably the combination of all three. Hence, this weekend must be very different in order for the Cats to win two games. Brian Stewart cannot be expected to stand on his head all weekend. He’s had a great season, but give the guy a break and play some balanced hockey!

It’s quite simple for the Cats to win two games. Besides Brian Stewart playing lights-out, the NMU forwards MUST play with the same passion and excellence that they did this past weekend against Michigan State. Five on Five, the Cats are the second best in the league behind Notre Dame. The guys need to show up big time. The Cats also must execute on the powerplay. The PP looked bad on Friday night against MSU. Finally, don’t take dumb penalties. The Cats took several bad ones last Friday as well. If these three things happen, look for the Cats to win in three!

NMU 4
Miami 3

NMU 2
Miami 1 OT