THIS WEEK
The third-seeded Western Michigan Bronco hockey team battles the second-seeded Denver Pioneers in the Midwest Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 5 p.m. EST. The game will be carried live on CW7 and ESPN3.com with radio coverage provided by the Bronco Radio Network on www.wkzo.com and on 96.5 FM WKZO. Fans can also follow along with the live blog, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
After being picked to finish in 10th place in both the pre-season coaches and media polls, the Western Michigan Broncos surprised everyone by finishing in fourth place in the CCHA for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The Broncos (19-12-10, 10-9-9 CCHA) had 14 game unbeaten streak from Dec. 11 through Feb. 11 that helped WMU climb in both the national polls and the Pairwise rankings.
Heading into the CCHA Playoffs the Broncos were on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. The bubble nearly burst after WMU dropped the first game in the best-of-three CCHA Quarterfinals against Ferris State. WMU responded with a 3-1 win and then a 5-4 overtime win to clinch the series. The series win gave WMU a birth in the CCHA Semifinals for the first time since 1994. The Broncos drew top-seeded and regular season CCHA Champions, Michigan. The Broncos used a four-goal second period to bury the Wolverines 5-2 and advanced to the first CCHA Championship game since 1986.
The Broncos ran into the red-hot Miami RedHawks, ultimately falling 5-2 as Miami won its program's first CCHA Tournament Championship. Freshman defenseman Danny DeKeyser was named to the CCHA All-Tournament team along with sophomore forward Dane Walters.
Despite losing, the win over Michigan was enough to catapult WMU to a three seed, tying the 1985-86 team for the highest seed in program history.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the fifth ever meeting against Denver University and the first time in program history they have met in the NCAA Tournament. The two teams swept each other on their home ice. Denver swept WMU with wins of 5-1 and 10-4 on Nov. 26-27, 1982. The following year the Broncos swept the Pioneers 4-3, 3-2 on Nov. 25-26, 1983.
SCOUTING DENVER
The Pioneers finished in second place in the WCHA with a conference record of 17-8-3 and an overall record of 24-11-5. Denver battled regular season WCHA Champions North Dakota to two overtimes before falling to the Fighting Sioux.
Denver's offense is propelled by a dynamic duo of youngsters. Sophomore Drew Shore leads the team with 45 points on 23 goals and 22 assists. Shore, a second round draft pick of the Florida Panthers, sits on a 6-foot-2 frame and combines size and speed to be a threat from anywhere on the ice. Freshman Jason Zucker isn't as big as Shore, standing 5-foot-11, but combines blazing speed with and excellent finishing ability. Zucker, a second round draft pick by the Minnesota Wild, sits just behind Shore with 41 points on 21 goals and 20 assists. He was named the WCHA Freshman of the Year and netted 20 of his 21 tallies during conference play.
Sophomore and New York Islanders fourth round draft pick, Matt Donovan, is the top scorer from the blue line with eight goals to go along with 22 assists. In all Denver has four 10-plus goal scorers with junior Luke Salazar (17) and senior Kyle Ostrow (14) behind Shore and Zucker.
Freshman Sam Brittain has seen the bulk of the action in net for the Pioneers, playing in 31 games. The Florida Panthers fourth round draft pick has a 18-8-5 record on the season with a 2.24 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.
WMU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1996. WMU is 0-4 all-time in the tournament.
In 1986, back when the first round was a best-of-three series, the Broncos fell to eventual NCAA Runners-up Harvard 4-2 and 7-2. In 1994 the Broncos fell to Wisconsin 6-3 and in 1996 WMU lost a 6-1 showing against Clarkson.'
The Broncos who have scored goals in the NCAA Tournament are: Troy Thrun, Jeff Crossman, Dan Dorion, Colin Ward, Ryan Darcy, Derek Innanen and Jeremy Brown. Dorion is the only Bronco to ever score more than one goal in an NCAA game.
DENVER CONNECTION
WMU Junior forward Derek Roehl has a unique connection to WMU's opponent, the Denver Pioneers. His father, Craig Roehl, spent three seasons at Denver. With the Pioneers he played in 114 games, scored 42 goals and tallied 46 assists for 88 career points. He helped lead Denver to a WCHA Regular Season Championship in 1978. He holds the UD record for most short-handed goals in a season with eight.
POINT PER GAME
Two freshman on the Broncos have been good for a point per game in the post-season. Through five games Shane Berschbach has tallied two goals and three assists and Danny DeKeyser has netted a goal and tallied four assists. Right behind them is transfer Mike Leone. Leone, a sophomore who transferred from Division III Adrian, has three goals and an assist for four points.
Senior Max Campbell is two points shy of a point per game average. In his career he has played in 13 post season games and has tallied two goals and nine assists for 11 points.
THE LAST TIME - NCAA TOURNAMENT EDITION
- The last Bronco to score a goal in an NCAA Tournament game was Jeremy Brown in 1996.
- The last and only Bronco to tally two goals in an NCAA Tournament game was Dan Dorion in 1986.
- The last Bronco goalie to start in net in an NCAA Tournament game was Marc Magliarditi in 1996. Magliarditi played 53:24 in net, making 22 saves and surrendering five goals.
- The last time WMU faced a school from the WCHA in the NCAA Tournament was in 1994. The Broncos fell 6-3 to Wisconsin.
WCHA DROUGHT
The last time Western Michigan defeated a team from the WCHA was on Dec. 15, 1990 in a 4-2 win over Michigan Tech. The Broncos are 0-10-0 since then with two losses to Colorado College, two to Minnesota Duluth, four to Wisconsin and four to North Dakota.
