Complete History of the MTU/NMU Hockey Rivalry

Since 1979, there have been 174 hockey games played between Michigan Tech University and Northern Michigan University, making it one of the most storied rivalries in college hockey.

For much of their history, Tech and Northern were in different conferences. Tech has long been in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Northern on the other hand has predominantly played in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).

During these years the teams would play during the regular season and did not have the opportunity to play each other in the playoffs. After the 2012-13 season, the CCHA disbanded and the Big Ten hockey conference was created and for the first time since 1997 Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan were playing in the same conference.

However, there have been a few notable exceptions to regular season play. The teams have met three times in the annual Great Lakes Invitational (GLI), in 1989, 1995, and 1998. Michigan Tech won two of the three meetings, none of which were played for the GLI Championship. On four occasions they met in early rounds of the WCHA Tournament, and twice in the CCHA Tournament.

In order of importance, this leads us to the 1981 NCAA Frozen Four tournament. This was the first and only time the Huskies and Wildcats met in the NCAA tournament, where they each reached the semifinals. Had they won, they would have competed against each other for the national championship. However, they were each dealt hefty losses. Wisconsin beat NMU 5-1, while Minnesota beat MTU 7-2.

The highest profile game the two have played to date, was Mar 28, 1981, for the 3rd place game in the NCAA tournament. Playing in Duluth, the Huskies went on to win that game by a score of 5-2.

Michigan Tech vs Northern Michigan Hockey

Complete Series History

As the record stands today, the Wildcats hold the slimmest of margins with 77 wins to the Huskies’ 76 wins.

Total meetings174
Total goals scored1,149
Total goals for NMU594
Total goals for MTU555
Average goals per game6.60
All-time seriesMTU leads, 81-79-14
First meetingMTU 3, NMU 2 – Nov 23, 1979
Last meetingNMU 4, MTU 0 – Mar 11, 2023
Largest victoryNMU 9, MTU 0 – Oct 8, 1999
Highest scoring gameNMU 10, MTU 7 – Jan 26, 1990
Longest win streakMTU, 8 games (2020-21)
Longest unbeaten streakNMU, 10 games (1998-2000)
Last 10 gamesMTU Leads 7-3
Current win streakNMU, 1 game (2023)
No.DateLocationWinnerScoreNotes
1Nov 23, 1979HoughtonHuskies3-2
2Nov 24, 1979HoughtonWildcats6-2
3Nov 7, 1980HoughtonHuskies3-1
4Nov 8, 1980HoughtonTie1-1OT
5Jan 2, 1981MarquetteWildcats3-2
6Jan 3, 1981MarquetteWildcats5-2
7Mar 28, 1981*Duluth, Minn.Huskies5-2
8Jan 15, 1982HoughtonHuskies6-2
9Jan 16, 1982MarquetteHuskies6-4
10Feb 19, 1982MarquetteHuskies5-4
11Feb 20, 1982HoughtonHuskies7-2
12Jan 14, 1983MarquetteHuskies4-3OT
13Jan 15, 1983HoughtonWildcats9-3
14Feb 18, 1983HoughtonHuskies5-1
15Feb 19, 1983MarquetteHuskies4-1
16Mar 5, 1983^HoughtonWildcats3-2
17Mar 6, 1983^HoughtonTie3-3
18Oct 14, 1983MarquetteHuskies5-4
19Oct 15, 1983HoughtonHuskies6-2
20Dec 16, 1983HoughtonWildcats2-1
21Dec 17, 1983MarquetteWildcats4-3OT
22Feb 10, 1984MarquetteWildcats8-5
23Feb 11, 1984HoughtonHuskies4-3OT
24Oct 26, 1984MarquetteHuskies5-4OT
25Oct 27, 1984HoughtonWildcats6-3
26Jan 18, 1985HoughtonHuskies3-2
27Jan 19, 1985MarquetteHuskies8-6
28Oct 11, 1985MarquetteTie2-2OT
29Oct 12, 1985HoughtonWildcats10-2
30Dec 13, 1985MarquetteWildcats6-5OT
31Dec 14, 1985HoughtonWildcats8-1
32Feb 7, 1986HoughtonWildcats6-2
33Feb 8, 1986MarquetteHuskies5-3
34Oct 31, 1986MarquetteWildcats4-3OT
35Nov 1, 1986HoughtonWildcats6-1
36Jan 30, 1987HoughtonWildcats5-1
37Jan 31, 1987MarquetteHuskies4-3
38Nov 11, 1987HoughtonHuskies4-3OT
39Nov 21, 1987MarquetteTie4-4OT
40Jan 14, 1988MarquetteHuskies4-2
41Jan 16, 1988HoughtonHuskies7-2
42Oct 28, 1988MarquetteWildcats6-2
43Oct 29, 1988HoughtonHuskies6-4
44Jan 6, 1989HoughtonHuskies6-5OT
45Jan 7, 1989MarquetteWildcats4-2
46Oct 27, 1989MarquetteWildcats8-3
47Oct 28, 1989HoughtonHuskies5-4OT
48Dec 30, 1989#Detroit, Mich.Huskies5-1
49Jan 26, 1990HoughtonWildcats10-7Most goals in a single game
50Jan 27, 1990MarquetteWildcats3-2OT
51Nov 30, 1990MarquetteWildcats6-3
52Dec 1, 1990HoughtonWildcats4-3
53Feb 15, 1991HoughtonWildcats4-1
54Feb 16, 1991MarquetteWildcats6-2
55Nov 1, 1991MarquetteHuskies3-2
56Nov 2, 1991HoughtonTie4-4OT
57Feb 14, 1992HoughtonWildcats4-3
58Feb 15, 1992MarquetteWildcats7-3
59Mar 13, 1992+MarquetteWildcats9-1
60Mar 14, 1992+MarquetteWildcats6-2
61Nov 13, 1992HoughtonWildcats4-3
62Nov 14, 1992MarquetteHuskies4-3
63Feb 19, 1993MarquetteWildcats3-2
64Feb 20, 1993HoughtonHuskies4-3
65Mar 18, 1993St. Paul, Minn.Wildcats4-2
66Oct 29, 1993MarquetteWildcats7-3
67Oct 30, 1993HoughtonHuskies6-3
68Mar 4, 1994HoughtonHuskies5-3
69Mar 5, 1994MarquetteWildcats3-2
70Mar 17, 1994Milwaukee, Wisc.Huskies5-1
71Nov 4, 1994HoughtonHuskies3-1
72Nov 5, 1994MarquetteHuskies6-2
73Feb 17, 1995MarquetteHuskies5-3
74Feb 18, 1995HoughtonWildcats8-3
75Dec 30, 1995#Detroit, Mich.Huskies6-2
76Jan 12, 1996MarquetteWildcats4-3
77Jan 13, 1996HoughtonHuskies4-2
78Feb 9, 1996HoughtonHuskies6-2
79Feb 10, 1996MarquetteWildcats6-1
80Oct 11, 1996HoughtonWildcats3-2
81Oct 12, 1996MarquetteHuskies5-2
82Feb 21, 1997MarquetteWildcats4-3
83Feb 22, 1997HoughtonWildcats5-3
84Oct 17, 1997MarquetteTie4-4OT
85Oct 18, 1997HoughtonHuskies8-2
86Oct 9, 1998HoughtonWildcats8-2
87Oct 10, 1998MarquetteWildcats3-0
88Dec 27, 1998#Detroit, Mich.Wildcats8-1
89Oct 8, 1999MarquetteWildcats9-0
90Oct 9, 1999HoughtonWildcats3-0
91Nov 19, 1999HoughtonWildcats4-2
92Nov 20, 1999MarquetteWildcats4-2
93Oct 6, 2000HoughtonTie3-3OT
94Dec 8, 2000HoughtonWildcats4-1
95Dec 9, 2000MarquetteWildcats5-2
96Jan 5, 2001MarquetteHuskies4-2
97Dec 14, 2001HoughtonHuskies5-3
98Dec 15, 2001MarquetteWildcats6-1
99Oct 5, 2002HoughtonWildcats4-1
100Dec 13, 2002MarquetteHuskies3-2
101Oct 17, 2003MarquetteWildcats4-3OT
102Oct 18, 2003HoughtonHuskies7-6OT
103Dec 12, 2003HoughtonTie3-3OT
104Dec 13, 2003MarquetteWildcats2-0
105Nov 4, 2004HoughtonTie6-6OT
106Nov 6, 2004MarquetteWildcats6-3
107Feb 17, 2005MarquetteTie3-3OT
108Feb 19, 2005HoughtonWildcats5-3
109Oct 21, 2005MarquetteWildcats5-1
110Oct 22, 2005HoughtonWildcats2-1
111Oct 13, 2006HoughtonHuskies2-1
112Oct 14, 2006MarquetteWildcats1-0
113Oct 12, 2007HoughtonWildcats3-2
114Dec 14, 2007MarquetteTie1-1OT
115Dec 15, 2007HoughtonWildcats2-0
116Oct 10, 2008MarquetteWildcats5-2
117Dec 19, 2008HoughtonHuskies2-1
118Dec 20, 2008MarquetteHuskies1-0
119Oct 9, 2009HoughtonHuskies5-3
120Dec 18, 2009MarquetteWildcats2-1
121Jan 12, 2010HoughtonTie1-1OT
122Oct 8, 2010MarquetteHuskies4-3OT
123Oct 12, 2010HoughtonTie4-4OT
124Dec 17, 2010MarquetteWildcats6-2
125Dec 16, 2011MarquetteWildcats4-1
126Jan 21, 2012HoughtonWildcats5-2
127Dec 4, 2012MarquetteWildcats2-1
128Feb 12, 2013HoughtonHuskies8-2
129Oct 25, 2013MarquetteWildcats2-0
130Oct 26, 2013HoughtonHuskies4-1
131Feb 21, 2014HoughtonHuskies7-4
132Feb 22, 2014MarquetteHuskies3-2
133Jan 9, 2015MarquetteTie3-3OT
134Jan 10, 2015HoughtonWildcats5-4OT
135Mar 6, 2015HoughtonHuskies5-1
136Mar 7, 2015MarquetteHuskies3-1
137Oct 23, 2015MarquetteWildcats4-1
138Oct 24, 2015HoughtonHuskies3-1
139Mar 4, 2016HoughtonHuskies4-0
140Mar 5, 2016MarquetteHuskies5-1
141Oct 28, 2016HoughtonHuskies2-0
142Oct 29, 2016MarquetteHuskies5-1
143Feb 24, 2017MarquetteHuskies3-2
144Feb 25, 2017HoughtonWildcats5-3
145Nov 10, 2017HoughtonHuskies4-1
146Nov 11, 2017MarquetteWildcats4-0
147Feb 23, 2018MarquetteWildcats2-1
148Feb 24, 2018HoughtonHuskies3-2
149Mar 17, 2018$MarquetteHuskies2-0WCHA Tournament Championship
150Dec 7, 2018MarquetteWildcats5-3NMU goalie Atte Tolvanen scores a goal
151Dec 8, 2018HoughtonHuskies3-1
152Mar 1, 2019HoughtonWildcats4-2NMU goalie Atte Tolvanen set a school record with 58 saves.
153Mar 2, 2019MarquetteWildcats3-0
154Nov 22, 2019HoughtonHuskies3-2
155Nov 23, 2019MarquetteHuskies3-2
156Feb 28, 2020MarquetteHuskies8-4
157Feb 29, 2020HoughtonWildcats3-2
158Mar 6, 2020+MarquetteHuskies4-1WCHA Tournament, first round
159Mar 7, 2020+MarquetteHuskies4-3WCHA Tournament, first round, 3OT
160Dec 18, 2020HoughtonHuskies4-3
161Dec 19, 2020MarquetteHuskies3-1
162Jan 23, 2021HoughtonHuskies2-0
163Jan 25, 2021MarquetteHuskies4-1
164Feb 26, 2021HoughtonHuskies6-1
165Feb 27, 2021MarquetteHuskies3-2
166Nov 12, 2021HoughtonWildcats3-2OT
167Nov 13, 2021MarquetteHuskies5-2
168Feb 1, 2022HoughtonHuskies5-1
169Feb 8, 2022MarquetteHuskies8-1
170Dec 2, 2022MarquetteWildcats4-3
171Dec 3, 2022HoughtonHuskies3-1
172Jan 27, 2023HoughtonHuskies3-0
173Jan 28, 2023MarquetteHuskies4-1
174Mar 11, 2023HoughtonWildcats4-0CCHA Semifinals

This excludes an exhibition game played Oct 2, 2021, which ended in a 4-4 tie.

* NCAA Frozen Four
^ CCHA Tournament Quarterfinal
# Great Lakes Invitational
+ WCHA Playoff First Round
WCHA Playoff Quarterfinal
$ WCHA Playoff Championship

Records compiled with information from Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan sports information offices.