Men's Ice Hockey | January 23, 2020

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan continues National Collegiate Hockey Conference action hosting St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday. Both games can be streamed live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network via 96.5 FM and www.JackFM965.com.

LAST WEEK
The Broncos earned their first NCHC sweep of the season, downing Colorado College 5-2 and 6-2. The wins kept WMU in fourth place in the NCHC standings, holding a four-point gap over St. Cloud State. 

Western Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Friday's game on goals by Ethen Frank, Wade Allison and Hugh McGing. CC responded with two straight goals off of breakaways by Chris Wilkie to cut the lead to 3-2 heading into the third period. Lawton Courtnall scored at 5:13 off a rebound on a shot by Paul Washe to push the lead to 4-2 before Rhett Kingston sealed the win with his seventh goal of the season. 

McGing netted a short-handed goal just 3:49 into Saturday's game to give Western Michigan a very early 1-0 lead but Grant Cruiskshank scored on the same power play to tie it up less than a minute later. From there it was all Broncos. Dawson DiPietro gave WMU a 2-1 lead at 10:43 in what was his first of a career-high three goals on the night.  He scored again at 5:26 in the second period to push the lead to 3-1. Brett Van Os finished off his own rebound after getting a pass from Brandon Bussi to make it 4-1 before Allison scored with 8.8 seconds left to play in the second period, extending the lead to 5-1. After an early power play goal by Colorado College, DiPietro finished of his hat trick at 2:07 in the third period. Bussi made a career-high 39 saves in the win. 

ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES | 8-10-4, 5-7-0-0 NCHC
• THE SERIES: St. Cloud State holds a 16-4-4 lead in the all-time series over Western Michigan. The Broncos are still looking for their first-ever win over the Huskies at Lawson Ice Arena, currently with an 0-6-3 mark at home. 

• SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: After losing a lot of talent from its NCHC regular season championship team from last year, St. Cloud State got off to a slow start. The Huskies went 2-6-4 in their first 12 games. The young squad has since settled in and have gone 6-4 since then, recently sweeping Minnesota-Duluth at home last weekend. 

SCSU ranks 24th in the nation in scoring offense at 2.91 goals per game. Sophomore forward Sam Hentges leads the team in total points with 22 on seven goals and a team-high 15 assists in 18 games. However, Hentges has missed the last four games for the Huskies due to a lower body injury. Junior forward Easton Brodzinski has 18 points on a team-best eight goals and 10 assists. Senior defenseman Jack Achan is tied with Brodzinski for second on the team in scoring with 18 points on four goals and 14 assists. His four goals are the top on the squad among blue-liners. 

St. Cloud State ranks 47th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 3.18 goals per game so far this season. Junior Dávid Hrenák has started 19 of the 22 games this season, posting a 7-7-4 record, a 2.84 goals against average and a .901. Hrenák is the reigning NCHC Goalie of the Week after his performance against UMD, allowing just one goal on the weekend and making 27 saves in a 2-0 shutout of the Bulldogs last Saturday. Freshman Jaxon Castor has made three starts on the season and holds a 1-3-0 record in four games played with a 2.94 goals against average and a .885 save percentage. 

The Huskies sit 24th on the power play at 19.2 percent (15-for-78). Brodzinski leads the team with foru tallies with the man advantage, while Hentges and Ahcan each have two. The penalty kill has struggled and ranks 57th in the nation at 74.6 percent (53-of-71). 

VOTE HUGH AND PAUL FOR HOBEY
Western Michigan senior captain Hugh McGing and Paul Washe have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award. Fans can head to www.HobeyBaker.com/vote to vote for WMU's pair. McGing leads the Broncos with 17 points on four goals and three assists, while Washe has a career-high 16 points on a team-best eight goals and eight assists, 

When voting for the Hobey Baker Award, fans are asked to make sure to keep in mind the qualities that a nominee must display: Exhibit strength and character, both on and off the ice; Contribute to the integrity of the team; Display outstanding skills in all phases of the game; Show scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, EVERYBODY!
In Friday's win over Colorado College the Broncos fired off 40 or more shots for the eighth time this season. It ties the most games with 40+ shots on goal by a Andy Murray coached team, matching last season's squad. WMU nearly set a new marker under Coach Murray on Saturday but fell shy, registering 39 shots on goal. 

HE'S A STAR
WMU junior forward Wade Allison received national recognition for his play against the Tigers, earning NCAA Hockey's No. 3 Star of the Week. Allison had five points on the weekend, scoring a goal in Friday's win and registering three assists and a goal in Saturday's victory. Allison had just four points on the season heading into the series against CC, before leaving the weekend with nine. 

WELCOME BACK JUSTIN!
WMU equipment manager Justin Penna missed the Colorado College series but returns this weekend. Penna brings back a silver medal after serving as the equipment manager for USA Hockey at the 2020 Youth Olympics in Luasanne, Switzerland. USA lost to Russia in the gold medal game after defeating Canada, 2-1, in the semifinals. 

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.