Hockey begins season this weekend

By Scott Sierzenga
Western Herald

Junior goaltender Riley Gill had 10 saves for the Broncos in last week’s opening exhibition game against Windsor.

The puck drops on the regular season for the Western Michigan University hockey team this weekend, as the Broncos battle Niagara University Friday and Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday.

The Brown and Gold are ready for a new year and will look to bounce back after a rough season. If WMU expects early success, they will have their work cut out for them.

On Friday, the Broncos will face a Niagara team that has been predicted to win the College Hockey American Conference Championship this year.

They are coming off a CHA Championship season, winning 22 games last year. Scoring might be a problem for the Broncos, with Niagara’s returning goaltender, senior Juliano Pagliero.

“We lost to Niagara at their barn last year, but this year we are at home,” senior defenseman Chris Frank said.
On Saturday, it doesn’t get any easier for the Broncos as they face RIT. The Tigers are coming off a 19-12-6 season, and are returning 18 players from last season. Included are eight of their top 10 goal scorers.

The Broncos have had to game plan differently for these two games. WMU has had to approach these games in an unusual fashion, mainly because they are not used to playing these non-conference opponents.

“We usually have videos on them and we study them all week, but we don’t have any videos against either of these teams because they haven’t played yet. We are going to have to go off last year’s games,” senior right wing Patrick Galivan said.

The Broncos set their sights high on winning a Central Collegiate Hockey Championship. As far as first things first though, Galivan said the team’s goals are to finish in the top six in the conference, which would give them home ice in the CCHA playoffs.

Team speed is what could propel the Brown and Gold past the competition this year. Both head coach Jim Culhane and Galivan agree that speed is the Bronco’s main strength.

While some feel optimistic about the season, Culhane knows this is a team that needs some work. However, he feels confident in the changes.

“It’s too early to compare this year’s team to last years,” he said.

Culhane highlighted that the team needs  to be more disciplined this season. Discipline can come with time though, and the Broncos have had only six hours of ice time in accordance of NCAA regulations.

However, there has been an obvious sense of excitement floating around the locker room. Frank, the team captain this season, summed up the team’s feeling entering this weekend very bluntly.

“[We] couldn’t be more excited,” he said.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 9 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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