Men's Ice Hockey | October 05, 2018
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team hosts the University of Lethbridge on Saturday at 7 p.m. to open up the 2018-19 season with its annual Border Battle exhibition game.
THE MATCHUP
This is the second-ever matchup between the Broncos and the Pronghorns. The last game came at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. Lethbridge, then under former WMU volunteer assistant coach Spiros Anastas, defeating the Broncos 4-3. WMU is 3-2-2 under head coach Andy Murray in the annual Border Battle Games.
HOW TO FOLLOW
The Border Battle can be seen live with a subscription to NCHC.tv. For the first time, WMU's exhibition can also be heard on the Bronco Radio Network and www.z965fm.com.
46 & 45
Western Michigan begins its 46th season of college hockey, with senior defenseman Corey Schueneman becoming the 45th different Bronco to don the "C" and the 13th defenseman to be named captain.
RETURNING SCORING? WE'VE GOT THAT
Last season the Broncos had to replace 74 goals, or 56 percent of its scoring after graduation and early departures.
This season, replacing offense isn't as much as an issue. Western Michigan returns all of its top eight scorers. Dawson DiPietro (13-22-35), Wade Allison (15-15-30), Hugh McGing (9-21-30), Colt Conrad (9-18-27), Corey Schueneman (5-21-26), Cam Lee (8-18-24), Austin Rueschhoff (10-7-17), and Luke Bafia (1-15-16) combined for 68 goals and 137 assists. The 68 goals were 59 percent of the teams scoring last season.
WMU has not returned its top five scorers since the 2011-12 season.
BALANCED SCHEDULE
Last season WMU had 13 of its 19 home games played from October through December, leaving just six for the second half of the season. The 2018-19 schedule is much more balanced. The Broncos have nine home games in the first half of the season, and eight in the second.
AGAINST THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
For the third-straight season, WMU will host the defending National Champions. This season, it is Minnesota-Duluth making the trip to Kalamazoo on Dec. 7-8. Western Michigan is 4-0 when hosting the defending National Champions in the past two seasons with sweeps over North Dakota (2016) and Denver (2017).
RETURN TO THE RANKINGS
Western Michigan enters the 2018-19 season ranked 19th in the USCHO.com poll, up one from the preseason ranking of 20th to open last season. This is the fifth time WMU has entered a season ranked in the top 20 under head coach Andy Murray. WMU was 18th to open the 2013-14 season, 10th in 2012-13 and 13th in 2011-12.
