GAME 1/2
Western Michigan (0-0-0) vs. No.8/8 Notre Dame (0-0-0)
All-Time series ­— WMU leads, 41-33-10
Record Last 4 Meetings ­— WMU leads, 1-1-2
Oct. 11, 2013 // Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022)
8:05 p.m. // South Bend, Ind. // NBCSN
Oct. 12, 2013 // Lawson Ice Arena (3,667)
7:05 p.m. // Kalamazoo, Mich. // Bronco Insider

RADIO BROADCAST | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS

Both games will be broadcast live on the Bronco Radio Network: 96.5 FM (Kalamazoo, Portage, Mattawan); 

BROADCAST | NBCSN | BRONCO INSIDER
Friday's game will be on NBCSN at 8:05 p.m. with Steve Schlanger and Anson Carter on the call. Saturday's game will be broadcast on Bronco Insider.

LAST WEEK
The Broncos earned a 5-2 win in the “Border Battle” over Western Ontario in an exhibition game last Saturday. Will Kessel netted two goals to lead the way and Kyle Novak, Mike Cichy and Shane Berschbach also lit the lamp. Taylor Fleming, Jordan Oesterle and Nolan LaPorte each had two assists in the win. Frank Slubowski made nine saves in two periods of action and Lukas Hafner made 11 saves in the third period.

AT A GLANCE: THE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
• THE SERIES: WMU leads 41-33-10 with a 25-11-8 advantage in Kalamazoo and trail 15-22-2 in South Bend.

• EVEN STEVEN: Western Michigan and Notre Dame have played 12 games in the past three seasons and the outcome has been completely even at 4-4-4.

• THORN IN THEIR SIDE: Senior forward Chase Balisy leads all Broncos with nine points in 12 games against the Fighting Irish on six goals and three assists. Shane Berschbach has registered seven points on two goals and five assists with a +5 plus/minus rating in 10 games. Defenseman Dennis Brown has six assists and a goal in 12 career games against the Blue and Gold.

• THORN IN OUR SIDE: Both Jeff Costello and Bryan Rust have seven career points in 12 games against WMU. Both have each scored three goals and tallied four assists. Austin Wuthrich has three goals in eight games against WMU and Steven Summerhays has a 2-3-2 record with a .907 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average.

• THE NINE WISE MEN: Notre Dame is a veteran-laden team this season with eight skaters who played in at least 40 games last season and Summerhays in net, who appeared in 36. Three of them (Bryan Rust, 15-19-34; Jeff Costello 11-19-30; T.J. Tynan 10-18-28) are the top returning scorers. Stephen Johns  and Shayne Taker played in a combined 82 games last season on the blue line.

• WE COULD MEET AGAIN: After this weekend's series the Broncos and Fighting Irish could meet up again at the end of November at Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament on Nov. 29 and 30. WMU opens up the tournament against Northeastern and then will play the winner or loser of Notre Dame and Alabama-Huntsville.


FRANK SLUBOWSKI: IRON MAN
• THE STREAK: WMU goalie Frank Slubowski enters this season in the midst of a 58-game consecutive start streak that began on Jan. 13, 2012 in a 3-2 win at Notre Dame.

• THE NUMBERS:  During the streak he is 30-19-9 with a 2.00 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.

• A LONG WAY TO GO: While 58 is a program record at Western Michigan it is a long way from the NCAA record of 104, set by Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens from 2007-10. Currently only Andy Illes, also at Cornell, has a longer running streak than Slubowski. He enters the season at 70.

THE RACE TO 100
• CHASE BALISY: Balisy just sits eight points away from becoming the 52nd Bronco to compile 100 points in a career. WMU's captain has 92 points on 36 goals and 56 assists. So far in his career he has averaged 30.67 points per season.

• SHANE BERSCHBACH: Berschbach needs 21 points to break the century mark, currently sitting at 79 on 23 goals and 56 assists. He has averaged 26.33 per season in his career.

THE NEW ERA
• MEET THE NEW NEIGHBORS: A new era of Western Michigan hockey begins as the Broncos move to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this season. The NCHC is made of eight teams: Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan. Between the eight programs there have been 107 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, 50 appearances in the Frozen Four and 17 National Championships. Miami and WMU came from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and the rest came from the Western College Hockey Association. Nebraska-Omaha has the largest rink in the league with the 15,959 seat CenturyLink Center and Miami's Steve Cady Arena is the smallest at 3,642.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
• C: Senior forward Chase Balisy becomes the 50th Bronco to wear the “C” on their sweater.

• A: Senior Shane Berschbach, junior David Killip and junior Will Kessel will both assist Balisy.

PROFESSIONAL POTENTIAL
• DRAFT PICKS: Western Michigan enters the season with four NHL draft picks on the roster this season. Freshman defenseman Mike McKee was taken in the fifth round of the 2012 draft by the Detroit Red Wings, Chase Balisy was taken in the sixth round of the 2011 draft by the Nashville Predators, Colton Hargrove was taken in the seventh round of the 2012 draft by the Boston Bruins and Mike Cichy was taken in the seventh round of the 2009 draft by the Montreal Canadiens.

• GOING CAMPING: In addition to the draft picks Nolan LaPorte (Washington Capitals), Kenney Morrison (Edmonton Oilers), Kyle Novak (Anaheim Ducks) and Josh Pitt (Winnipeg Jets) all participated in prospect camps as free agents.