KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan hockey team begins its Final Season at Historic Lawson Arena on Thursday night with its Home Opener against Ferris State. 

THIS WEEK 
Western Michigan opens the 2026-27 campaign with a home-and-home series against Ferris State. The Broncos and Bulldogs are set to meet on Thursday night at Lawson Arena to officially mark the start of the Final Season at Lawson Arena for WMU hockey. The two teams then meet again on Friday night up at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids. Both contests are slated to begin at 7 pm.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos took the ice for the first time in 2026-27 last Saturday and earned a 5-1 exhibition victory over Western Ontario. Newly-minted captain Zaccharya Wisdom and transfer defenseman Michael Neumeier each tallied three points for the Brown and Gold, with Wisdom netting a pair of goals. Bobby Cowan, Neumeier and Garrett Szydlowski also lit the lamp for Western Michigan. Sophomores Quentin Miller and Gavin Moffatt split time in net.

The special teams were on point for WMU, with the power play going 3-for-7 and the penalty kill going 4-for-4, including killing off a 5-on-3. 

LIGHTING THE LAMP
Senior forwards William Whitelaw and Zaccharya Wisdom are two of the top-five returning goal scorers in the NCHC this season. Whitelaw ranks third among the league's returners, having tallied 19 goals in 2025-26, while Wisdom is fifth with 17 goals last season. 

KILLIN' IT
The Brown and Gold have a history of great penalty killing units, having finished eighth in the NCAA in 2025-26 (86.2%), fourth in 2024-25 (86.7%) and ninth in 2023-24 (84.1%). Western Michigan is the only team in the nation to have a top-10 PK unit each of the last three years. 

WMU killed off all four of Western Ontario's power play chances in last Saturday's exhibition game, including a 5-on-3 opportunity.

VALUABLE VETERANS
The Brown and Gold bring back an experienced group for the 2026-27 campaign, with eight of the team's top-10 returning scorers heading into either their junior or senior seasons. Leading the charge are senior forwards William Whitelaw (34) and Zaccharya Wisdom (30), who ranked third and fourth, respectively, on the team in points last year.

Senior Cole Crusberg-Roseen and junior Joona Väisänen are back to anchor Western Michigan's defense after both had their 2025-26 campaigns cut short due to injury. 

NEW TO KALAMAZOO
To supplement its veterans, Western Michigan brought in 11 newcomers this season. The Broncos picked up four players out of the transfer portal, grabbing goalies Quentin Miller (Denver) and Michael Polston (Long Island), defenseman Michael Neumeier (Colgate) and forward Casy Laylin (St. Thomas).

The Brown and Gold also brought in a very talented seven-man freshman class, including forwards Adam Benák, Jordan Keller, Tommy Lafrenière, Ty Mason, Luke McNamara and Nicholas Sykora, as well as defenseman Edison Engle.

IT'S MILLER TIME
With National Championship winning goalie Hampton Slukynsky gone to the professional ranks, Western Michigan is turning to another National Championship winning netminder in 2026-27. The Broncos grabbed Quentin Miller out of the transfer portal after the Montreal native played his freshman season at Denver.

Miller spent the majority of the season as the number one goaltender for the Pioneers, starting 25 games and putting up a 12-10-2 record to go with a 2.40 goals against average and a .916 save percentage before an injury derailed his campaign.

PRESEASON HYPE
After finishing third in the conference a season ago, the Broncos were picked fourth in the NCHC preseason poll behind national preseason top-5 squads Denver, North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth. 

Western Michigan also opens its season ranked inside the top-10 in both national polls, starting off its year ranked eighth in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls. 

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Ferris State opened up its regular season last weekend at Canisius, losing 4-0 on Friday and then falling in a shootout after a 5-5 tie on Saturday. Five different Bulldogs scored a goal in the series, with Brian Morse the lone player to pick up two points. FSU's roster has a trio of former Broncos in Zach Bade, Ryan Kusler and Jack Mesic, who were all members of WMU's 2024-25 National Championship squad.

Western Michigan is 89-54-15 all-time against Ferris State, including a 51-22-7 record in Kalamazoo. The two teams split last season, with each team winning on the others' home ice. WMU is 8-1-1 over the last 10 meetings and 12-2-1 over the last 15 encounters. 

40-POINT CLUB
Western Michigan is the only team in the nation to have a 40+ point scorer in each of the last five seasons. The latest member of the 40-point club was Grant Slukynsky, who parlayed his 40-point season (10-30-40) into a professional contract with the Los Angeles Kings organization.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Western Michigan has been consistently among the top teams in the nation, and the polls reflect that. The Broncos have now made five straight NCAA Tournaments and enter 2026-27 at No. 8 in the national polls. The Broncos have been ranked in the top-20 since Oct. 11, 2021. 

WMU has taken things a step further over the last year and a half, ranking among the nation's top-10 since Nov. 18, 2024. Since that point, Western Michigan has gone 55-17-1 and won the 2025 NCAA Division I National Championship. The Broncos haven't been ranked lower than No. 9 since mid-November of 2024. 

PATHWAY TO THE PROS
Western Michigan enters the 2026-27 season with 13 players on its roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Eight returning Broncos from the 2025-26 squad had already been selected in the draft, and sophomore forward Bobby Cowan was added to the mix when he was selected in the seventh round by the New York Islanders back in June. Among the newcomers, transfer goalie Quentin Miller (Montreal), and freshmen Adam Benák (Minnesota), Edison Engle (Winnipeg) and Tommy Lafrenière (Edmonton) are all draftees. 

Since the end of the 2025-26 season, five former Broncos have made their professional debuts, led by captain Owen Michaels making the Edmonton Oilers' Opening Night roster. Including Michaels, nine former WMU players made NHL Opening Rosters this year: Alex Bump (Philadelphia), Brandon Bussi (Carolina), Sam Colangelo (Anaheim), Paul Cotter (Vancouver), Ethen Frank (Washington), Mattias Samuelsson (Buffalo), Max Sasson (Vancouver) and Tim Washe (Anaheim).

FINAL SEASON AT LAWSON
The 2026-27 campaign marks the Final Season at historic Lawson Arena for Western Michigan hockey. Named after the founding father of the program, Harry W. Lawson, the arena has been home to Bronco hockey since the 1974-75 season. All throughout the 2026-27 season, WMU hockey will be celebrating its five-plus decades at Lawson Arena with special events, giveaways and promotions.