When Western Michigan’s players gathered Tuesday to continue a tradition created last year in which they bonded over a Thanksgiving-week team meal they cooked themselves, the Broncos knew they had plenty for which to be thankful.
The Broncos had every reason to celebrate, not only for the holiday but also the team’s recent success. WMU (8-4) has won its last three games and swept No. 2 St. Cloud State last weekend to move up six spots to No. 7 in this week’s USCHO.com poll.
The Broncos lost three consecutive games earlier this month, dropping the back half of a home series against then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and then conceded five goals on both nights of a sweep at No. 14 Denver.
WMU had started hot in coach Pat Ferschweiler’s first season in charge, and the Broncos put an exclamation point on their early four-game winning streak with an upset win at then-No. 1 Michigan. Losing three straight more recently didn’t feel like a letdown, partly because of the talent level the Broncos faced. Eight of their last 10 games were against top-15 opponents.
“Duluth is one of the best teams in the country, and I actually believe Denver is, as well,” Ferschweiler said. “I know they’ve lost some games earlier out east, but that’s a super-quality hockey team and as talented as anyone is.
“The (Carter) Savoie kid is elite and can shoot at any given time. They’re deep and talented. They and Duluth are just like the rest of our league.”
WMU is just as competitive, and the Broncos showed that when St. Cloud State visited Kalamazoo’s Lawson Ice Arena.
On Friday, four consecutive goals from fifth-year senior Ethen Frank helped lift WMU to a 6-2 win. Those goals came in a span of 4:15 that started late in the second period and carried over into the third.
“He has dynamic skill and speed, and I think he’s the fastest player in college hockey,” Ferschweiler said. “He also has a great shot, and we have a collection of really good players who have worked really hard, and we have a few players with super high-end talent, and Ethen is one of them.”
Michael Joyaux and Drew Worrad both bagged three assists on a night when SCSU was handed its second consecutive loss after reeling off five straight wins. Joyaux then scored Saturday in a 4-0 WMU win, although Ferschweiler felt the Broncos were outplayed for much of the game. Brandon Bussi made 36 saves in a game where WMU outshot the Huskies by 12.
“We got some great, great goaltending from Brandon to keep us in there, and then we started to play and made it real hard on them in the third period,” Ferschweiler said. Goals in that period from Paul Washe and Ty Glover doubled the lead created in the second by Joyaux and Jason Polin.
“(SCSU) came out determined as the quality hockey team that they are, and our goaltender held us in there until we got to playing better. Brandon is an elite goaltender, but he has had some of his own struggles the last few weeks, where I think he would like some of the goals back from Colgate (during two road wins, including a 6-5 victory on Oct. 29) and maybe a couple back from Denver, but at the end of the day, he’s a high-end college goalie with pro potential.”
The Broncos will look to keep their current streak going, beginning with a two-game set this Friday and Saturday at St. Lawrence. WMU visits Miami next week, then welcomes Omaha to Lawson for games Dec. 10-11. The Great Lakes Invitational returns Dec. 29-30, when WMU wll visit Michigan State and Michigan, respectively.
It’ll be all conference action after that for WMU, which sits in fourth place in the NCHC but is only three points out of second. The Broncos have things to work on, but so far, their coach has also seen a lot from his team that he hopes will stay constant.
“I think we play a consistent game, and one of our best qualities is that we don’t change,” Ferschweiler said.
“We work real hard and try to be as consistent as possible, and we try to defend well enough to get the puck and then try to attack with it. It’s a pretty simple game plan for us.”
