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@wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social

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Updates on all things Western Michigan Hockey. Not affiliated with WMU. I will talk about other things in the offseason. Run by https://bsky.app/profile/therealmclovin.bsky.social

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wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · Apr 13

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!

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wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 11h

Congrats to Tyler MacKenzie on his first point as a Bronco tonight.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 11h

We all know how big next week is. It’s the Michigan series, and I’m so ready to get another crack at them. Bring On The Wolverines!

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 11h

That’s a sweep!!! Broncos 6-0 River Hawks. A dominating display, that I unfortunately couldn’t witness. Two goals from Henricks and Whitelaw, a three assist night for Grant Slukynsky, and Joona Väisänen, and Hammers first shutout of the season.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 23h

Round 2 against Lowell tonight. We gotta clean up the power play, and be better towards the end of the game tonight. If we can do that and play our game, a sweep will be ours. No updates tonight as I have work.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

I’m happy about the win, and hopefully we can get another tomorrow night. Let’s Go Broncos!!!

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

Broncos Win!!! Final score, Broncos 2-1 River Hawks. That was to close for comfort, as a sloppy third period led to Lowell goal, and just not being able to finish them off until the end. I don’t want to be negative after a win, so I’ll talk about the issues tomorrow.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

Other than that the defense played decently, and Hammer made some great saves. We’ve got a two goal lead, just have to finish it off, and hopefully score on this power play. One period left, Come On Broncos!

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

The second period comes to a close, but the score remains 2-0. Thank god this team is up, or I’d be extremely pissed. We’ve had 6 power plays (including the one going into the third), and no goals to show for it. That could be a big problem going forward.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

The River Hawks did have some decent chances, but Hammer and the defense have held strong. I want to see the Broncos take control in the second, and clean up on defense to give the River Hawks less chances. Two periods to go, Come On Broncos!

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

That’s the end of the first period, and the Broncos lead 2-0. It was a great start for the Brown and Gold, scoring 2 goals in the first 7 minutes. Goals came from William Whitelaw, and scoring his first collegiate goal Jamison Sluys.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 1d

Lineups for tonight’s game.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

Lowell will be looking to get a big win, and hand the Broncos another upset loss. I’m confident that Fersch is working our boys hard, to ensure what happened on Thursday doesn’t happen again. I’m expecting a competitive series, and a good test for the Broncos. Go Western, Beat The River Hawks!

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

He has no wins, and averaged 3.101 goals against in his game, which gave him a save percentage of .897. The last series wasn’t perfect from the Broncos, but if they can build on the positives, and work out the negatives, then these will be two very winnable games.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

Ahearn has 2 goals, while Vaarwerk and Wakely have 2 assists. The River Hawks have started two freshman in net their first two games. Austin Elliot (31) got a shutout, and therefore a perfect record this season. Samuel Richland (33) was not so lucky.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

Junior Jak Vaarwerk (29), and Senior Dillan Bentley (19) both had 16 points last season. Vaarwerk had 5 goals and 11 assists, while Bentley had 9 goals and 7 assists. Ahearn, Vaarwerk, and freshman Dayln Wakely (14) all lead the team with 2 points thus far.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

He had 5 goals, and 14 assists (tied for most assists on the team last season) for 19 points last season. Joining him is another sophomore Chris Delaney (10), who had 9 goals (tied for the 2nd most on the team last season), and 9 assists for 18 points.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

They are led by 15th year head coach Norm Bazin, and graduate captain Jay Ahearn (5). They returned 4 of their 7 top points leaders, but lost 2 of their top 3. Sophomore Mirko Buttazzoni (17) is the top returner in terms of points.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

The River Hawks play in the Hockey East Conference, and finished last season with a 16-16-4 record. They finished 7th in their conference, and were eliminated in the Hockey East Quarterfinals after a 7-1 loss to Maine. They were however, able to win two in season tournaments.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

His 3 points tie with Joona Väisänen for the most on the team, as he has 3 assists. Overall, we ended the series against Ferris State strongly, and we need to keep that momentum going into this weekend. Now to talk about Lowell.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

The Broncos had 8 different goal scorers last week, including the first goals for freshman Bobby Cowan, and Sam Huck. Zaccharya Wisdom, and William Whitelaw had their first goals as Broncos as well. Owen Michaels had a good series with a goal and 2 assists.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

Hammer needs to be better in net, and put last weekend behind him. I don’t want to be too negative, because the offense looked great on Friday, and by the time Ferris scored two in the third, it was garbage time.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

The flaws however, were apparent in both games. The offense needs to produce like they did on Friday, and not like Thursday when we had 2 goals, on 50 shots. The defense needs to clean up their game, as they let in way too many chances on Hammer and paid the price for it.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

It was a rocky start to the season for the Broncos, who struggled on Thursday night against a team they should’ve beat much more easily. Thankfully, they were able to play much better on Friday to secure their first win of the season.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

The River Hawks have played two games against Merrimack, which were a week apart for whatever reason. They won at home 4-0 on the 3rd, with the Warriors taking home a 4-1 win in North Andover on the 10th.

wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social @wmuhockeyupdates.bsky.social · 2d

College hockey is back in full swing, and I need more. It’s Gameday, as WMU heads to historic Massachusetts for a series against the UMass Lowell River Hawks. The Broncos split their series against Ferris State last weekend, losing 3-2 at Lawson, before a dominate 6-4 win in Big Rapids.