KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan begins postseason play at St. Cloud State as part of the NCHC Quarterfinals. The best-of-three series is set to begin on March 15 at 8:30 PM ET at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The two teams split at St. Cloud State earlier this season. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos swept Miami last weekend, downing the RedHawks 3-2 on Friday and 6-1 on Saturday. During senior weekend, WMU's veterans came to play. Over the two-game series, Western Michigan's seniors totaled 16 points on eight goals and eight assists. 

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
The NCHC announced All-Conference and All-Rookie Teams earlier this week, with Western Michigan being well represented. 

Freshman Alex Bump was a near unanimous choice for the All-Rookie Team after dominating throughout the conference regular season. In 24 NCHC games, the young winger produced 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists. 

On the season, the Minnesota native has 29 points on 11 goals and 18 assists. 

Outside of Bump, Luke Grainger and Sam Colangelo were named All-Conference performers. 

Grainger earned Second Team honors after finishing the NCHC season with 24 points on nine goals and 15 assists. Among forwards, he ranked fourth in the NCHC in assists and fifth in points. In 34 games this season, the captain leads the team with 43 points. He has 13 goals and 30 assists. 

Colangelo was named to the Honorable Mention All-NCHC Team, concluding the conference season with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists. Among forwards, he was fifth in the league in points and seventh in goals. On the season, the senior forward has 38 points on 20 goals and 18 assists.  

KINGS OF THE KILL
Western Michigan has proven to be one of the best penalty killing teams in the country, sitting at No. 1 in the NCHC and No. 6 in the nation with an 85 percent mark. 

Over their last five games, the Broncos haven't allowed a power-play goal, holding opponents to just 13 shots in 14 power-play opportunities. WMU has scored two shorthanded goals in that same stretch. 

The Broncos have killed off their last 15 penalties and have been successful on 33 of their last 37 penalty kills, which is just under 90%. 

ROWE GETS FINAL NCHC WEEKLY HONOR
With the regular season coming to an end, the NCHC named its final weekly award winners, with Cameron Rowe securing the league's Goaltender of the Week award. 

This is Rowe's third time being selected for the award this season and eighth time in his career. The senior goaltender finished the weekend with a 2-0-0 record, 1.50 goals against average and .933 save percentage. 

On the season, the Wilmette, Ill. native holds a 20-13-1 record, 2.30 goals against average, .910 save percentage and two shutouts. He's made 785 saves so far this season. 

GRAINGER DANGER
Senior captain Luke Grainger sits two points away from 100 for his career. Should he reach that milestone, he would become the 61st player in WMU history to hit the century mark. 

The last player to accomplish that feat in the Brown and Gold was Ethen Frank in 2021-22. Grainger has had a career senior season, posting 43 points on 13 goals and 30 assists in 34 games. 

Grainger has three points against St. Cloud State in four games this season. He has tallied two goals and one assist against the Huskies. 

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State enters postseason play on a four-game losing streak after getting swept in back-to-back weekends by Denver and Minnesota Duluth. 

The Huskies earned the No. 3 seed in the NCHC Tournament and SCSU's last victory was against Western Michigan back on Feb. 24. 

Veeti Miettinen leads the team in points (32) and goals (17). Defenseman Dylan Anhorn is the Huskies' leader in assists with 24 in 34 games. 

Another player to watch out for will be Kyler Kupka, who has had a balanced season with 14 goals and 14 assists. 

In net, Dominic Basse has started 24 games, while Isak Posch has started nine. Basse has a 12-10-2 record, 2.75 goals against average and .896 save percentage. 

Posch carries a 3-4-2 record, 2.82 goals against average and .897 save percentage into the weekend. He started both games against WMU a few weeks ago, allowing four goals. 

50 YEARS OF BRONCO HOCKEY
Throughout the season, WMU has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of varsity hockey, which has included a 50th anniversary logo at center ice and tributes to former players and coaches. 

On Jan. 26-27, the program welcomed back a bunch of former players and coaches for alumni weekend at Lawson Arena. The weekend series began with a special recognition of former WMU captain Danny DeKeyser, who was recently inducted into the Bronco Athletic Hall of Fame. 

The Broncos also had a ceremonial puck drop with Rob Hodge and Bernie Saunders to go along with a special in-game tribute to welcome back all of the former players and coaches that came back to Kalamazoo for the weekend.

Throughout the season, Western Michigan has honored former coach Bill Wilkinson, former captains Ryan Mahrle, Brian Tulik and Brent Brekke, former NHLer Joe Corvo, former teammates Derek Roehl and Brett Beebe and former off-ice official Bill Saunders. 

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Since early in the 2021-22 season Western Michigan has been consistently among the top teams in the nation, and the polls reflect that. WMU has made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and cracked the top-five of the USCHO poll each of the last two seasons. 

The Broncos have been ranked in the top-20 since Oct. 11, 2021 and currently sit at No. 14 in nation. 

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.