SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University hockey program is set to open up Central Collegiate Hockey Association CCHA play this weekend when they face the Northern Michigan Wildcats in Taffy Abel Arena. The Lakers came away with the Cappo Cup last season after taking three out of four regular season contests with the Wildcats, but NMU were ultimately victorious when both teams met again for a three-game series in the opening round of the Mason Cup Playoffs. The first puck drop for game one is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4 at 7:07 p.m.

Stories to watch:

• The Lakers are coming off of their first official win of the season with a 5-1 victory over the Clarkson Golden Knights.
• Captain Louis Boudon (Grenoble, France) is coming off of an impressive four-point series that resulted in him being named CCHA Forward of the Week, and he enters the series leading the Lakers in goals (4) and points (7).
• Freshman Connor Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.) scored his first career points last weekend, including his first career goal to force overtime with 1.7 seconds remaining on Oct. 28.
• Boudon enters the series three points shy of 100 for his career. 
• The Lakers are 52-78-13 in the all-time series with the Wildcats, but the Lakers have held on to the Coppo Cup in recent years, winning the regular season series the past two years in a row.
• The Wildcats came out victorious when both teams last met in the best-of-three quarterfinal series in the CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs in March 2022 that ended in a thrilling 5-4 contest on March 6, 2022.
• NMU boasts two CCHA Players of the Month for October with AJ Vanderbeck claiming the forward award and goaltender Beni Halasz being named Rookie of the Month. Vanderbeck currently leads all CCHA players in points (13), and Halasz is second only to CCHA Goaltender of the Month, Blake Pietila (Michigan Tech), in save percentage among league goaltenders (9.27).
• Boudon averages the same amount of goals per game (.67) and Bengtsson averages more assists per contest (.83) than Vanderbeck (0.67G; 0.78A).
• Puricelli and Boudon have proven to be one of the top scoring duos on the power play with each ranking in the top-five in the CCHA in power play goals.
• The Wildcats have had an impressive offence so far this season, resulting in NMU having three players in the top five for both goals and assists in the CCHA. However, despite leading the league in scoring, the Wildcats have also allowed their opponents to score the second most amount of goals in the conference.