Early history Under the Direction of NMU's president, John X. Jamrich, the initial ice hockey program was originally initiated by Seniors Gregory Hyde and Christopher Nolan in 1974. The NMU men's ice hockey program began in 1976, competing as an independent
NCAA Division I team and probationary member of
Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for the 1976–77 season. During that season NMU competed against CCHA teams but did not count for league standings. Northern Michigan became a full member of the CCHA the following season. In the first two season as a full member of the CCHA Northern Michigan finished with back-to-back 19 win seasons before a historic season in program history in 1979–80. During the 1979–80 season the team won its first CCHA regular season championship and
CCHA Playoff tournament championship. In addition to the tournament being the first tournament and National Championship appearance for Northern Michigan, it was also the highest NCAA tournament finish for a CCHA team. NMU head coach
Rick Comley became the first CCHA coach to receive the
Spencer Penrose Award given to the NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Coach of the Year. The Wildcats won the quarterfinal game against Cornell 10–7 but fell in the semifinal to
Wisconsin 5–1. Northern Michigan qualified for the
1991 NCAA tournament after winning the WCHA regular season championship. Northern Michigan won two games to none in the quarterfinal round against
Alaska-Anchorage, 8–5 and 5–3. NMU advanced and beat
Maine 5–3 in the semifinal round. The Wildcats matched up in the National Championship game in
St. Paul, Minnesota on April 1, 1991, against
Boston University and won 8–7 in three overtime periods. The 1992–93 season marked the third straight NCAA tournament appearance. NMU won a close game in the opening round of the
1993 tournament in the East Regional in
Worcester, Massachusetts, against
Harvard. The Wildcats won a close game 3–2 in two overtime periods but fell 4–1 in the second round to Boston University in a rematch of the 1991 National Championship. During the following seasons NMU remained competitive in the WCHA but by the mid-1990s the program fell into the bottom half of the standings. On June 13, 2002, it was announced that
Walt Kyle would take over as head coach for the Wildcats to become the second coach in program history.
Rick Comley left to take over the head coaching position at
Michigan State after 26 seasons behind the bench of the Wildcats. Kyle won his first game as head coach of Northern Michigan on October 5, 2002, against
Upper Michigan rival Michigan Tech, 4–1. Kyle's first CCHA victory came on October 18, 2002, 10–4 against Rick Comley and his Michigan State team. Kyle led the Wildcats to four straight 20+ win seasons from 2002 to 2006 and six of his first eight seasons behind the NMU bench. advancing NMU to the semifinal round. Northern Michigan took on
Ferris State looking to overcome the semifinal losses the previous two seasons. The win was the first time Northern Michigan advanced to the CCHA Championship game since 1999, under Rick Comley. The Wildcats' 2–1 loss to the Wolverines did not end their season as NMU received an at-large bid to the
2010 NCAA tournament, their first tournament appearance since 1999 and first under Walt Kyle. The Wildcats battled hard in front of a pro-SCSU crowd. St. Cloud answered in the second period on the power play but Northern Michigan kept within one goal when senior forward
Ray Kaunisto scored late in the period. followed by
Miami (OH) announcing the formation of the
National Collegiate Hockey Conference for 2013 with and five other schools breaking from the WCHA. The realignment continued on July 20, 2011, when Northern Michigan was approved for membership in the WCHA beginning with the 2013–14 season. In June 2019, it was announced that Northern Michigan was one of seven WCHA men's members that would leave to form a new conference after the 2020–21 season. Those schools later announced that they would reestablish the CCHA effective in 2021–22. ==Season-by-season results==