WELCOME TO THE POD
The #NCHCPod takes place from Dec. 1-21 at the University of Nebraska-Omaha's Baxter Arena, featuring 38 games played between the conference's eight teams. Regular COVID-19 testing is provided by the University of Nebraska Medical Center based out of Omaha. In order for a team to be allowed to compete in a game, a team must have 15 healthy skaters, plus two goaltenders, two coaches and one medical professional (athletic trainer or doctor). If a game is unable to be played on its scheduled date it will be attempted to be rescheduled by the NCHC, however, if it is not made up it would be considered a no contest. 

OPENING WEEK
The Broncos opened play in the National Collegiate Hockey Pod with a pair of losses during the first week.

In its opening game WMU fell to St. Cloud State 4-3 on a goal fluke goal with 33 seconds left in regulation. Nick Perbix threw a shot on net that was saved by Austin Cain but the rebound was accidentally batted into the Western Michigan net by senior forward Josh Passolt. WMU picked up goals from Brett Van Os, Scooter Brickey and Jason Polin on the night but lost starting goalie Brandon Bussi for the remainder of the pod due to a lower body injury. 

The Huskies struck first just 2:36 into the game to take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Kevin Fitzgerald. WMU responded with a tally by Van Os at 6:18, with the senior forward putting in a rebound on a blocked shot by Jamie Rome.  SCSU pushed ahead in the second period at 13:54 on a goal by Micah Miller but the Broncos tallied twice in the final 1:23 of the period to take a 3-2 lead into the third period. Brickey tied it up at 2-2 at 18:37 off a slap shot on a two-on-one set up by Josh Passolt. Polin gave WMU its first lead of the season just over a minute later at 19:27 after beating a man off the boards and skating in for a nifty goal to push ahead 3-2. Kyler Kupka tied it up at 3-3 with a goal at 13:40 in the third period before Perbix's game-winner at 19:33.

In game two the Broncos fell to Pod hosts Omaha, 10-2. The team's traded goals in the first period with Matt Miller striking first for UNO and Cole Gallant for the Broncos. Miller scored at 11:14 but the lead lasted just 1:02 as Gallant scored from a snipe from the left circle to square it up. Passolt picked up his second assist of the season, with Drew Worrad tallying his first. Jack Randl and Chayse Primeau each scored early in the second period to push ahead 3-1 before a power play goal at 9:59 by Ethen Frank cut the lead to 3-2. Frank cleaned up a rebound on a blast by freshman defenseman Daniel Hilsendager from the left circle. The assist was Hilsendager's first collegiate point. Kevin Conley pushed UNO's lead to 4-2 at 14:02 in the second period. In the final 20 minutes the Mavericks put up six more goals, the most scored by Omaha in a game against the Broncos. 

BUSY WEEK AHEAD
Western Michigan must navigate the gauntlet for week two of the NCHC Pod. Beginning Sunday, the Broncos have four games in six days. The week opens with No. 1 North Dakota on Sunday at 1:05 p.m., followed by a 12:35 p.m. start on Tuesday against Colorado College. From there WMU plays St. Cloud State again on Wednesday at 4:35 p.m. before closing out the week's action against CC again on Friday at 8:35 p.m.

ON THE BOARD
Seven of WMU's 11 freshmen made debuts over the first two games, with defensemen Aidan Fulp and Daniel Hilsendager both recording their first collegiate points. Fulp had an assist on Jason Polin's goal that gave the Broncos 3-2 lead in the second period against St. Cloud State. Hilsendager assisted on Ethen Frank's power play goal in the second period against Omaha. Goalie Alex Aslanidis also made his collegiate debut, playing 11:30 of the third period against UNO.  

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS
No. 1 North Dakota enters Sunday's game against WMU with a 2-0 start to the season. The Fighting Hawks opened up pod play by blanking Miami, 2-0, and followed it up with a thrilling 4-3 overtime-win against No. 4 Denver on Friday night. Three of UND's six goals so far this season have been scored by defenseman, with senior Matt Kiersted, sophomore Ethan Frisch and freshman Jake Sanderson each lighting the lamp so far. Senior forward and Hober Baker hopeful Jordan Kawaguchi has a goal and an assist so far this season, with the three scoring defenseman also adding assists to each have two points. Senior forward Collin Adams and sophomore forward Shane Pinto each have two assists so far on the season. 

Junior Adam Scheel has started both games, posting a 1.48 goals against average and a .927 save percentage to start off. UND is 2-for-9 on the power play and 7-for-9 on the penalty kill.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Colorado College arrives late to the NCHC Pod due to a positive COVID test by a student-athlete and the subsequent quarantine process. CC's opening game in the pod will be against the Broncos on Tuesday. 

Top returners for the Tigers are junior forward Ben Copeland, junior forward Grant Cruiksank, junior defenseman Bryan Yoon, sophomore forward Josiah Slavin and sophomore defenseman Connor Mayer. Copeland is the top returning scorer after putting up 18 points on four goals and 14 assists last season. Cruikshank had 17 points on 11 goals and six assists. Yoon was the top point scorer from the blue line with one goal and 16 assists, while Mayer had four goals to lead all defensemen. 

Matt Vernon returns for his sophomore season after starting in 26 games between the pipes for Colorado College. Vernon, the son of NHL great Mike Vernon, posted an 8-16-3 record with a 3.43 goals against average and a .901 save percentage last season. CC will play Omaha on Dec. 9 before battling the Broncos again on Dec. 11.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES, AGAIN
St. Cloud State improved to 2-0-0 on the season after a 4-3 win over No. 4 Denver on Saturday night. SCSU scored just 33 seconds into the game but fell behind 2-1 early in the second period before scoring three straight goals to build a 4-2 lead at 11:41 in the third period. DU added a late power play goal to cut the lead to 4-3 bu SCSU hung on during the final 4:54 to get the win.

Four different Huskies scored in the win over the Pioneers, including Kevin Fitzgerald, who now leads the team with two goals so far on the season. Fitzgerald also tallied an assist to push his season point total to a team-best four. David Hrenak made 30 saves in net to pick up his second win. SCSU will play Omaha on Sunday before facing off against the Broncos on Wednesday.