We avoid a trip to Colorado in the quarterfinals, only to have to make the trip to the Mile High City for the semifinals. WMU will take on Denver in the Frozen Faceoff semifinal next Saturday. Every game from here on out, is single elimination. Should be a good one, between two great teams.

A rough game, but the Broncos make it through. Our opponent is undetermined, and we do not know who will be hosting. But, I’m celebrating tonight. Good night, and Go Broncos!

GRANT SLUKYNSKY SENDS THE BRONCOS TO THE SEMIS!!!!! BRONCOS WIN!!!!!

Time doesn’t matter now, and we may be here for a while (not that I’m complaining). Come On Broncos!

Playoff overtime is upon us. Owen Michaels was able to break through about halfway through the 3rd, but neither side was able to find a game winner. We have to put that same pressure on net in overtime. Just need to stick to our game, and we can win this.

This has been a been a frustrating game, but we’ve still got 20 minutes to make something happen. CC cannot afford to lose this game, and we need to match their intensity in the 3rd. 1 period left, Come On Broncos!

After 2 periods, it’s still 1-0 in favor of the Tigers. Feels like the same issues from the 1st period. We’re not getting consistent pressure in the offensive zone, and CC is cutting through our defense like butter. Thankfully, Hammer has held strong, but this cannot continue.

We cannot allow that many pucks to get to Hammer, and leave him out to dry. The offense needs to break down this CC defense and challenge Unger. Still a long way to go, but we’ll need improvement if we want to win this one. 2 periods to go, Come On Broncos!

That’s the end of the 1st period, and the Tigers lead it 1-0. Notre Dame going to sugarcoat it, that was not good. We started way too slow, with CC outshooting the Broncos early on and capitalizing on a short handed goal. The Broncos did outshoot the Tigers 13-12 but it’s not been good enough.

WMU Lines

CC Lines

Lines for game 2. Mbereko will not be suiting up tonight, and freshman Jackson Unger (30) gets the start. He has 1 win, averages 2.600 goals against per game, and has a .909 save percentage. Hope Mbereko is okay, he’s a hell of a goalie.

We go for the sweep against CC tonight. With their backs against the wall, the Tigers will be ready to battle. We’ve got to match that intensity, and do more of what we did last night.

Broncos Win!!! Final Score: Broncos 5-2 Tigers. Goals from Spicer and Slukynsky. After a wild start to the 3rd, the Broncos dominated play and won handily. We win game 2 tomorrow, and we’ll have a date in the semifinals. Good night, drive home safe, and Go Broncos!

Mbereko is injured, CC will play their backup.

We’ve gotta be better in 3rd. Put our foot on the gas like in the first, and correct those sloppy mistakes on defense. One period left, Come On Broncos!

That’s the end of a frustrating 2nd period, but the Broncos still lead 3-2. It was a sloppy period as the Broncos let in two way to easy goals. It felt like we were too content to be up 2, and it backfired. Thankfully Whitelaw got the go ahead goal with less than 5 to go.

Just need to keep the pressure up, and play shutdown defense when CC gets their chances. 2 periods to go, Come On Broncos!

That’s 1 period in the books, and the Broncos hold a 2-0 advantage. Goals from Slukynsky and Szydlowski. It was a dominant first period from the Broncos who outshot the Tigers 21-5. It took a bit to break through Mbereko, but I’m happy it happened sooner rather than later.

WMU Lines

CC Lines

Lines for game 1.

Just want to give a quick shoutout to Robin Hook, who was nominated for the NCHC Media Excellence Award. That man works his ass off for this school, whether it’s for hockey, football, basketball and everything else. I always enjoy listening to him when I’m in my car and can’t watch the game.

I predict it will be an intense series, and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. There’s nothing quite like playoff hockey, and having it at Lawson makes it so much better. Our title defense begins tonight, and I cannot wait to watch some postseason hockey. Go Western, Beat The Tigers!

That being advancing to the semifinals. I think what we can expect from this series, is a lot what we’ve seen between these teams in the past (especially at Lawson). Low scoring, good goaltending, with a good chance of overtime.

I’ve said it before that you cannot overlook any team in the postseason. Especially with a team who will need to win to keep their season alive. The nice thing for the Broncos, is that they don’t have to worry about making the NCAA Tournament, so they can focus on the task at hand.

If you’ve been following WMU hockey for a while, you’ll know that these two teams have met in the first round of the NCHC Tournament in 2019 and 2023. CC was able to pull off the upset in both series, and especially since 2023 has proven to be a thorn in the Broncos side for years.

Senior Ryan Alexander (21) leads the team in plus/minus, with a +9. The NCHC Goaltender of the Week, and starting goalie for the Tigers is the aforementioned Kaidan Mbereko (33). This season he has 12 wins, averages 2.484 goals against a game, and a .915 save percentage.

The only other player on the team that has scored 8 or more goals is junior Drew Montgomery (29). He has 8 goals, and 8 assists for 16 points. One other prominent scorer is junior Bret Link (10). He has 7 goals, and 10 assists for 17 points.

Those being sophomore Owen Beckner (9), a 7th round pick for Ottawa (7 goals, 21 points), sophomore Gavin Lindberg (20) (6 goals, 20 points), and freshman Connor Hvidston (14) a 5th round pick for Anaheim (4 goals, 18 points).

He has 10 goals, and 12 assists for 22 points. The Tigers have 3 players tied for the assists lead on the team with 14 each.

Penalty wise, the Tigers aren’t to bad, ranking 22nd in penalties per game (3.81), and 17th in penalty minutes per game (8.33). The leading goal scorer, and points leader for CC, is junior Klavs Veinbergs (24), a 7th round pick for Tampa Bay.

The Tigers will have to win the NCHC Championship to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. CC is 44th nationally in goals per game, but 25th in goals against per game (2.62). Their special teams aren’t any better, with the power play ranked 53rd (14.16), and 46th on the penalty kill (77.19).

The Tigers are led by 5th year head coach Kris Mayotte two co captains. Those being junior Max Burkholder (4), and senior goaltender Kaidan Mbereko (33). Their record in the regular season was 13-15-6, in what has been a disappointing season.