Hello everyone and sorry for the lack of activity the past couple of weeks. The holidays and school started to pile up, but we’re back in action.
WMU had another player verbally commit to the program. David Donnellan, a defenseman from the Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) will join the list of recruits who have pledged to be Broncos.
David Donnellan
Photo Courtesy of Pointstreak.com
Donnellan is a good sized defenseman who can move the puck. He has proven his offensive worth this year with 17 points in 31 games so far this year.
The Western Michigan Broncos will enjoy some time off for the holidays. They start play back up with a pair of home games against Bemidji State January 2nd and 3rd.
The Broncos could use the break right now. The team is not clicking and maybe some time apart will be just what the team needs.
I’m still a very strong believer in the fact that if Max Campbell can turn his offensive woes around, the Broncos will be a tough team to contend with. Campbell is a goal scorer who is not scoring goals right now. Campbell’s eight points have him ranked 6th on the team in scoring. He is the biggest offensive game changer the Broncos have and he needs to start factoring into games or it could be a long second half for the Broncos.
Max Campbell
Photo Courtesy of mlive.com
Hope you all have happy holidays and I’ll still be here doing the recruit updates and any other Bronco news that necessary to put up here.
The Western Michigan Broncos lost to the Ferris State Bulldogs last night by a score of 3-0.
It was a 0-0 game going into the third period, when Ferris got a breakaway goal from Casey Haines just 19 seconds into the third period.
At just past the half way point of the third period, Ferris scored two goals in less than two minutes. Blair Riley and Mike Embach scored those two goals.
The Bulldogs were just faster in all facets of the game. They were quicker to loose pucks, they out skated the Broncos, and their speed was clearly evident.
The only bright spot besides Riley Gill was the Bronco penalty kill. Chris Clackson was unbelievable on the kill. He lost his stick but still managed to block two shots, dive on a loose puck and throw it away.
Chris Clackson
Photo Courtesy of mlive.com
The Broncos and Bulldogs will hit the ice again tonight at 5:05 ET in Big Rapids.
This weekend the Western Michigan Broncos will play a home-and-home with the Ferris State Bulldogs.
Ferris State is one of the surprise teams of the CCHA this year. The Bulldogs are 11-3-2 overall and 6-2-2-2 in the CCHA, good enough for third place behind Michigan State and Miami.
Blair Riley is tied for the Nation’s lead in goals with 13. Riley has 18 points in 16 games to lead the Bulldogs. Cody Chupp has re-emerged this year as the offensive force he was two years ago. Chupp has 16 points in 16 games.
Taylor Nelson has been a very pleasant surprise for coach Bob Daniels and the Bulldogs. The sophomore goaltender is 8-1-1 with a 1.59 goals against average and .942 save percentage.
The Broncos have a little momentum after beating Alaska and then taking the Nanooks to a shootout in game two. The Broncos were playing really well, especially in the transition game. The Broncos made sure to use the Nanooks’ aggression as a weapon. The Broncos created a lot of odd man breaks that lead to a seven goal weekend against one of the better defensive teams in the CCHA.
Jordan Collins, usually a defensive force, was on the prowl offensively last weekend as he scored three goals and added an assist.
Jordan Collins
Photo Courtesy of Western Herald
The defense scoring for the Broncos is key. Tyler Ludwig had eight goals and 29 points last season, and he notched his first goal this season. His offensive production from the blue line was missing in the early portion of the season, and if he can keep it up, then the Broncos will be in good shape.
Trevor Elias was great in game two against Alaska. He used his speed to split two defenseman and score a breakaway goal against Scott Greenham.
The Broncos played good hockey last weekend, so if that same style of play transfers over to this weekend, then I like their chances this weekend against Ferris State.
Bronco recruit Jordan Gidaro was traded yet again. This time he went from Orangeville (CCHL) to the Aurora Tigers (OJAHL). He has made an immediate impact, scoring three goals and two assists in his first three games with the Tigers.
Nick Pisellini lost both of his starts this past weekend for Chicago (USHL). He gave up eight goals on 61 shots for the weekend.
Nick Pisellini
Photo Courtesy of Flickr.com
Dennis Brown went scoreless in two games for Omaha (USHL).
Lucas Isley is still out. He has a broken arm and apparently the hit Isley took that broke his arm was a dirty hit.
The Broncos played another tough, physical game against Alaska but the came up short.
Alaska jumped out to a 2-0 lead late in the first period. Trevor Elias put the Broncos on the board when he flew up the middle on a breakaway and deked Scott Greenham right out of his pads.
Trevor Elias
Photo Courtesy of mlive.com
New found goal scorer Jordan Collins netted his third goal of the weekend with a wicked slap shot high past Greenham’s blocker. Collins had two goals in his career coming into this weekend, but scored three against the Nanooks.
Alaska scored a power play goal to make it 3-2, but Chris Clackson answered right back when he shot a rebound past Greenham after a scrum in front.
Elias scored again on a weak, wobbly wrist shot that fooled Greenham with 4:41 to play.
WMU had the lead but gave it up with 15.9 seconds to play when Joe Sova blasted a slap shot past Riley Gill.
The overtime went back and fourth, but it settled nothing so the teams went to the shootout.
Max Campbell, Greg Squires, and Derek Roehl all missed in the shootout while Alaska’s Andy Taranto beat Gill with a wrist shot in the second round.
The Broncos played well, but they could not hold on when it mattered. I was very impressed with their effort both nights, as was coach Jim Culhane afterwards both nights.
The Broncos will play a home-and-home with Ferris State next weekend.
The Western Michigan Broncos have been in a rut lately. They have not won a regulation game in almost a month and the Alaska Nanooks aren’t looking to do any favors this weekend.
The Nanooks play a very New Jersey Devils-Esq style of defensive hockey. Scott Greenham was the CCHA Goaltender of the Month in October and freshman forward Andy Taranto was November’s CCHA Rookie of the Month.
I personally think this is a terrible match up for the Broncos right now. Their offense is out of sync and the Nanooks are a great defensive team. Alaska likes to play stout defense and jump on mistakes. The Broncos aren’t playing the most pristine hockey right now, so Alaska could have a field day.
Goaltending has not been the problem with the Broncos this year. Riley Gill has been more than solid and Jerry Kuhn has been good when called upon. The guys in front of Gill and Kuhn need to alleviate some of the pressure.
The offense especially can take care of that pressure by keeping the puck in the opponents territory and creating scoring chances.
Max Campbell is having a bit of a down year and I think some of that has to do with the graduation of Patrick Galivan, but Greg Squires is just as creative in the offensive zone. The two should be creating more offense than they are.
Here are some highlight of the Nanooks against Notre Dame earlier this season.
Bronco Hockey 