Michigan faces Providence, UMass, others in 2023-24 schedule

The Michigan hockey team’s 2023-24 non-conference schedule isn’t quite finished, but four matchups have been finalized.

According to records accessed by The Michigan Daily through the Freedom of Information Act, Michigan has signed contracts to face four teams — home against Providence and Lindenwood and away at Massachusetts and St. Cloud State — during its non-conference season. Similar to last season, all of those non-conference games come in the first half of the season. 

Play starts off against Providence at Yost Ice Arena on Oct. 7 and 8. The deal signed in February 2023 also indicates that the Wolverines will travel to Rhode Island for a series at Schneider Arena in the 2025-26 season. The Friars ranked 24th in the Pairwise last season and won a national championship in 2015.

A week later, Michigan will fly out to Amherst to take on Massachusetts at the Mullins Center on Oct. 13 and 14. The games are part of the same contract that brought the Minutemen to Yost in January 2022. That decisive series saw the Wolverines sweep the 2021 national champions on home ice. Hockey East officials will oversee the upcoming games.

Lindenwood will also make a return trip to Ann Arbor after visiting during the 2022-23 campaign in the Lions’ inaugural season. The Wolverines are paying a $17,500 guarantee for games against Lindenwood on Oct. 27 and 28. Last year, the Lions went 7-22-1 in their first Division I campaign. They remain without a conference, which makes the series all the more meaningful for their NCAA Tournament dreams.

Finally, Michigan will kick off a home and away series agreement with St. Cloud State in 2023-24. Traveling to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the Wolverines will play two games on the road Nov. 24 and 25 to fill a weekend without conference play after Thanksgiving. 

Michigan will host the Huskies — who won the 2022 NCHC Championship and finished sixth in the Pairwise — in October 2024. As is the norm, the contract stipulates that officials and rules will follow those of the home team’s conference.

Traditionally, Michigan plays between 10 and 12 non-conference games. The Wolverines likely need to schedule at least one more series. As of this article’s publication, additional series have not been scheduled.

Likely, Michigan wants to represent more conferences in its non-conference schedule. It does not have any opponents scheduled from Atlantic Hockey, ECAC or CCHA as of this article’s publication. 

No in-state opponents have agreed to play the Wolverines yet either, as Western Michigan, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan announced a non-conference schedule without Michigan or Michigan State earlier this year. Lake Superior State, who Michigan has faced the past two seasons, has yet to announce its full schedule. Nor has Ferris State, who the Wolverines haven’t faced since 2019 in the Great Lakes Invitational.

Which seems fitting, because the schedule for the 2023 GLI has yet to be announced. Even Michigan Tech, one of three traditional teams in the event, did not include it on its schedule release. It did, however, list it as “TBA” on a Twitter schedule calendar.

Last season, Michigan chose not to take part in the event, parting with nearly 50 years of history and its reputation as one of the traditional three teams to schedule the annual holiday tournament. That’s not to hint that the Wolverines will take part, but rather that the opportunity presents itself should the event take place.

Considering the strength of their opponents, the Wolverines have their work cut out from them before they even reach the gauntlet of Big Ten play. But that also gives Michigan an opportunity to skyrocket up the all-important Pairwise rankings. An 8-1-1 record against non-Big Ten foes helped the Wolverines secure their second consecutive 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament last season. That success also helped the larger Big Ten succeed, as it boasted the best inter-conference record of all six conferences.

As Michigan sets out to make three straight Frozen Fours for the first time since 2001-2003, it will go through some of the nation’s premier programs to do so. And with at least one more opening on the calendar, it could get stronger in the future.

This article was updated May 11 at 11:32 a.m. to add that the GLI was mentioned in a Michigan Tech tweet.