KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan will again face off with a CCHA foe with Bowling Green on the schedule for a pair of games. The Broncos will play at BGSU on Oct. 20 and host the Falcons on Oct. 21.
LAST TIME OUT
The Brown and Gold earned a tie with Ferris State on Friday, Oct. 13 at Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. After going down 2-0 early in the game, the Broncos responded with three goals in the second period to erase the deficit.
Ethan Phillips tallied his fourth goal of the season, while Sam Colangelo netted his first and Dylan Wendt notched his second of the year in a 3-3 tie with the Bulldogs.
50 YEARS OF BRONCO HOCKEY
WMU will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of varsity hockey this season, which will be commemorated in a variety of ways. Along with a 50th anniversary logo at center ice, there will be special in-game tributes to former players and teams and an alumni weekend for the Colorado College series on January 26 and 27.
The program kicked off the festivities by having former captain Brian Tulik participate in the One More Lap promotion, which allows former Bronco captains to be honored by skating around the ice during pregame and announced during player introductions.
FIRST LINE MOJO
The Broncos had one of the top scoring first lines in all of hockey last season, but Jason Polin, Ryan McAllister and Max Sasson all signed NHL contracts in the offseason.
Dylan Wendt, Luke Grainger and Ethan Phillips make up the new first line for Western Michigan in 2023-24, and the early results show this group could have a strong season.
Over the first two games of the new campaign, the line has combined to score 18 points, with eight goals and 10 assists. Phillips notched his first career hat trick in a 6-4 victory over Ferris State on Oct. 12 and has four goals and one assist through two games.
Grainger and Wendt have done a little bit of everything to begin the season. Grainger leads the team in points with seven on two goals and five assists, while Wendt has two goals and four assists. Grainger has opened the season with back-to-back multi-point games, while Wendt had his first career five-point game in the 6-4 victory over FSU.
ROAD BRONCOS
Western Michigan has been a tough team to beat when away from Kalamazoo over the last several games, as the Broncos are currently riding a nine-game unbeaten streak in road contests.
The streak started back on Jan. 13, 2023 with a 4-0 victory over North Dakota. The Broncos have collected sweeps of UND, Colorado College, Minnesota Duluth and Miami during the unbeaten stretch.
POWER PLAY PROWESS
Through two games, the Western Michigan power play has looked great, notching four goals on seven chances. The Broncos lit the lamp twice in each game against Ferris State in the opening week of the season.
Dylan Wendt has two goals on the man advantage, while Ethan Phillips and Sam Colangelo each have a goal on the PP as well. WMU finished last season at 23.6% on the power play.
A CHANCE AT HISTORY
The 2023-24 Broncos will have a chance to make history, as the program has never reached the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons. WMU has made back-to-back appearances on two separate occasions (2011 & 2012, 2022 & 2023).
In 2022, the Brown and Gold earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament and picked up the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The Broncos upended Northeastern, 2-1, in overtime.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
The Falcons are off to a rough start this season, splitting with Robert Morris and losing a pair to Augustana. The Broncos took both games against BGSU last season, outscoring the Falcons by a combined total of 12-3.
Bowling Green has struggled to put the puck in the net, averaging under two goals per game. A main reason for that has been struggling on the power play. In 13 chances, the Falcons have lit the lamp just once on the man advantage.
However, BGSU has been strong keeping the puck out of the net, holding opponents under three goals per game, while having a penalty kill over 80 percent.
Dalton Norris and Ryan O'Hara are two of the three Falcons with more than one point season, as Norris leads the team with three on two goals and one assist and O'Hara has chipped in two points on one goal and one assist.
In net, Christian Stoever has been strong despite a 1-2-0 record. He boasts a 1.71 goals average and .947 save percentage in three games. He has made 89 saves and has one shutout.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior forward Luke Grainger was named the program's captain, while fellow seniors Cedric Fiedler, Chad Hillebrand and Tim Washe will serve as assistants.
Grainger is the team's leading returning scorer, as he posted 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists last season.
PRESEASON POLL
The NCHC released its preseason poll on Sept. 12, with WMU picked to finish fourth in the conference.
The Broncos have never finished below third under head coach Pat Ferschweiler. Denver led the poll with 199 points, while North Dakota (175) and St. Cloud State (155) rounded out the top three.
Minnesota Duluth (123), Omaha (113), Colorado College (89) and Miami (28) were picked as the bottom four teams in the conference.
