 The maturation of sophomores Scott Beattie and Jim Hiller would provide a scoring punch that led the nation but, most importantly, starting goaltender Bill Pye recovered from a poor 1989–90 season.From the start of the season it was apparent that the Wildcats had one of the best offenses in the nation.Their scoring prowess, combined with playing seven consecutive games at home, allowed NMU to get off to an 8–0–1 start.