Men's Ice Hockey | March 01, 2018
THIS WEEK
The Western Michigan hockey team wraps up the 2017-18 regular season at Colorado College on Friday and Saturday night. Friday's game starts at 9:37 p.m. ET, while Saturday's game will be a bit earlier at 8:07 p.m. Both games can be seen live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.
LAST WEEK
WMU closed out its regular season home schedule against Minnesota-Duluth, falling 8-0 and 6-1 to the Bulldogs.
In Friday's loss the Broncos were trailing 2-0 heading into the third period, but UMD added six goals in the final 20 minutes to finish off the game.
In Saturday's loss, Minnesota-Duluth jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, including two goals in the first 3:07. Cam Lee got one back in the second period to cut the lead to 3-1 but UMD added three unanswered goals to complete the sweep.
COLORADO COLLEGE TIGERS || 13-14-5, 7-11-4-3 NCHC
- THE SERIES: After splitting with the Tigers back on Jan. 19-20, the Broncos still maintain the series lead at 9-5-4. WMU is 9-2-4 against CC since joining the NCHC. Last season, WMU went 1-0-1 on its trip to Colorado Springs, earning the team's first win at World Arena since the start of the NCHC. Under head coach Andy Murray, WMU is 1-2-3 at CC.
- SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Colorado College enters the weekend in a three-way tie for fifth place in the NCHC with Western Michigan and Omaha. The Tigers are 3-3-2, with two 3-on-3 overtime wins, since beating the Broncos 6-5 in overtime back on Jan. 20.
CC's offense ranks 31st in the nation and averages 2.81 goals per game. The attack is led by sophomore forward Nick Halloran. Halloran, who had nine points as a freshman, leads the team with 42 on 19 goals and 23 assists. Junior forward Mason Bergh sits behind him with 32 points on 15 goals and 19 assists. Junior forward Trey Bradley has been one of the top distributors on the team, setting up 20 goals on the season. Sophomore defenseman Kristian Blumenschein is the top scoring blue-liner with 13 points on two goals and 11 assists.
Sophomore goalie Alex LeClerc has started 30 of the team's 32 games in net this season. Leclerc has a 3.21 goals against average, a 9.04 save percentage and a 13-12-4 record. Backup Alec Calvaruso has made six appearances with a 0-2-1 record with a 2.53 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. The Tigers, as a whole, have allowed 3.22 goals per game this season.
CC's power play ranks 43rd in the nation at 16.7 percent (28-for-168). Bergh leads the team with eight power play goals, followed by Westin Michaud with six and Halloran with five. Colorado College's penalty kill ranks 56th in the nation at 76.4 percent (107-for-140).
THE SCENARIOS
Currently sitting tied for fifth with Colorado College and Omaha, the Broncos can finish anywhere from fourth place to seventh place. To take fourth and earn home ice for the NCHC Quarterfinals, WMU needs to finish with more points than Omaha and more or equal points with North Dakota.. Omaha holds the tie-breaker over Western Michigan, while WMU holds it over UND. The Fighting Hawks currently have a three-point lead in the standings on WMU. UND hosts NCHC Regular Season Champions St. Cloud State this weekend, while Omaha travels to Minnesota-Duluth.
ROAD WARRIORS
To have a chance at the top four and home ice in the NCHC playoffs, the Broncos are going to have to produce on the road. WMU is 4-9-0 this season on the road, but two of its wins have come in its last three road series.
Junior defenseman Corey Schueneman has produced the most on the road, scoring 12 points on three goals and nine assists. Freshman Austin Rueschhoff has been the team's top goal scorer on the road this season, tallying seven of his nine goals away from Lawson Ice Arena.
MR. OHIO
College Hockey Incorporated came out with its annual State-by-State Most Valuable Players list to celebrate Hockey Week Across America, with WMU's Dawson DiPietro being named MVP for the state of Ohio. College Hockey Inc., has released the list for seven straight years now to honor the top contributor in Division I men's hockey from each state. DiPietro is WMU's leading scorer with 33 points on 13 goals and 20 assists.
