Men's Ice Hockey | November 21, 2019

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan heads back to the state of Colorado to take on No. 4 Denver on Friday at Saturday at 9:07 p.m. 

HOW TO FOLLOW
• FRIDAY | Video: Altitude 2/NCHC.tv; Audio: 590 AM/106.9 FM WKZO/WKZO.com

• SATURDAY | Video: NCHC.tv; Audio: 96.5 FM/Jackfm965.com

LAST WEEK
Western Michigan welcomed No. 19 Omaha for its National Collegiate Hockey Conference home opener, splitting with the Mavs. 

• FRIDAY: The Broncos opened up the series with a 3-2 win over Omaha with Paul Washe scoring twice and freshman goalie Brandon Bussi making a game-high 30 saves. 

Washe scored on the power play at 15:49 in the first period to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead. Chayse Primeau tied the game up with a goal at 6:16 in the second period but Washe's second of the night gave the Broncos back the lead at 7:53. Austin Rueschhoff netted a short-handed goal to push the Broncos lead to 3-1, with the eventual game-winner being scored at 14:15 in the second. Taylor Ward scored an extra-attacker goal with 34 second remaining before WMU sealed the game. 

• SATURDAY: Western Michigan saw its six-game unbeaten streak snapped after falling to Omaha, 6-3. 

UNO jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals by Kevin Conley in the first 12 minutes of the first period. Ethen Frank netted his first of two goals at 15:44 to cut the lead to 2-1 but Primeau scored at 3:47 in the second period to push the lead back to two. Dawson DiPietro stole the puck from an Omaha defender 41 seconds later and fired a shot into the net to cut the lead to 3-2. Frank tied the game up on his second of the night at 8:30 in the second period but Conley completed his hat trick at 15:52 before Omaha added two more goals in the third period.
 
NO. 4 DENVER PIONEERS | 8-2-2, 0-2-2-1 NCHC
• THE SERIES: Western Michigan and Denver split the season series at 2-2 last year, with both home teams earning the sweep. The Pioneers lead the all-time series at 17-9-1, with the Broncos 7-13-1 against DU under head coach Andy Murray. WMU's last win at Magness Arena was back on Nov. 8, 2014, and the team is 0-5-1 since.
 
Senior forward Hugh McGing leads all Broncos in scoring against the Pioneers with 10 points on five goals and five assists in 10 career games. Classmate Wade Allison has six points in six games on five goals and one assists. 

• SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: After winning its first eight games of the season, Denver is 0-2-2 since. The Pioneers currently sit tied for fifth place in the NCHC with just three points. DU is 4-1-1 at Magness Arena this season, with its lone loss coming to North Dakota last Saturday. 

Denver is tied for 16th in the nation in scoring offense at 3.33 goals per game. The trip of senior forward Tyson McLellan, junior forward Kohen Olischefski and fresman forward Bobby Brink are all tied for the team lead with four goals. Senior forward Liam Finlay leads the team with 11 points on three goals and eight assists. Finley is tied with sophomore forward Emilio Pettersen for the team lead in assists, while Pettersen also has two goals for 10 points. All-American defenseman Ian Mitchell is the top point man on the blue line with 10 points on three goals and seven assists. Eight different Pioneers have scored at least three goals on the season. 

DU's scoring defense is tied for 13th in the nation, allowing 2.17 goals per game. Freshman Magnus Chrona has started 11 of the 12 games in net this season, boasting a 7-2-2 record with a 2.16 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and two shutouts. Backup Michael Corson has played in one game on the season, making 16 saves in a shutout of Niagara.

Denver's power play ranks 32nd in the nation at 17.2 percent (10-for-58). The team's 58 power plays are tied for second-most in the nation. Brink leads the team with three power play goals, while McLellan and sophomore forward Cole Guttman each have two. The penalty kill ranks eighth in the nation at 90 percent (45-for-50), with the Pioneers averaging 12.2 penalty minutes per game. 

BACK ON TRACK
After a slow start to last season, senior forward Dawson DiPietro appears to be on track to the scoring he displayed in his breakout sophomore season. Last season he finished with 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists but only recorded six points in his first 11 games. Through 11 this season he has four goals and five assists for nine points. 

While much has been talked about junior forward Paul Washe's career-best start with 14 points in 12 games, his classmate forward Ethen Frank is slightly ahead of his output through his first 11 games from last season. Frank, who finished with a career-high 26 points on 15 goals and 11 assists, has 10 points compared to nine last season. Seven of Frank's 10 have come as assists. 

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
Headed into the DU series, four Broncos are tied for the team lead in assists with seven. Junior forward Paul Washe, junior forward Ethen Frank, senior forward Hugh McGing and sophomore defenseman Michael Joyaux have all helped set up seven goals this season. For Washe and Joyaux the totals are both career highs. 

WRAPPING UP 2019
After the weekend trip to Denver, the Broncos wrap up 2019 by hosting North Dakota on Dec. 6-7. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets. WMU returns to action in 2020 for a home-and-home series with Notre Dame. WMU heads to South Bend, Ind., on Jan. 3 before hosting the Fighting Irish on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 5:05 p.m. 

SEASON NOTES
• LEAGUE LEADERS
Western Michigan returns the most goals and total points in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Broncos return 112 goals, 22 more than Minnesota-Duluth's 90. Combined, WMU also returns 271 total points, once again just head of the Bulldogs, who return 265. 

Western Michigan did lose its leading point scorer in Colt Conrad, who wrapped up his career with a 38 points season on 11 goals and 27 assists. From there, WMU returns its next six top scorers, including senior captain Hugh McGing and junior forward Josh Passolt, who tied for the team lead with 16 goals each. The Broncos also return double-digit goal scorers in junior forward Austin Rueschhoff (13) and junior forward Ethen Frank (15). Senior defenseman Cam Lee is the top returning assist man after dishing out a career-high 19 last season. 

• SUPER SENIORS
WMU has nine seniors this season, the most ever by an Andy Murray coached team and the most in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The class is tied for fifth nationally with Michigan, Michigan State, Dartmouth and Yale. Boston College leads the nation with 11 seniors, followed by Penn State, American International and Alaska Fairbanks each with 10. 

• 47 & 46
Western Michigan begins its 47th season of college hockey, with senior forward Hugh McGing being named the 46th captain in program history. McGing will be assisted by senior defenseman Luke Bafia, senior forward Wade Allison, junior forward Josh Passolt and sophomore defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.