2019–20 Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey season

2019–20 Western Michigan Broncos
men's ice hockey season
2019–20 Western Michigan Broncos; men's ice hockey season
Conference	4th NCHC
Home ice	Lawson Arena
Rankings
USCHO	16
USA Today	NR
Record
Overall	18–13–5
Conference	12–9–3–2
Home	12–6–0
Road	5–7–4
Neutral	1–0–1
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Andy Murray
Assistant coaches	Dave Shyiak; Pat Ferschweiler
Captain(s)	Hugh McGing
Alternate captain(s)	Luke Bafia; Wade Allison; Lukas Samuelsson; Josh Passolt
	Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey seasons; « 2018–19 2020–21 »

The 2019–20 Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey season was the 46th season of play for the program. They represented Western Michigan University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 7th season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). The Broncos were coached by Andy Murray, in his 9th season, and played their home games at Lawson Arena.

On March 12, 2020, NCHC announced that the tournament was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, before any games were played.^[1]

Roster

As of August 18, 2019.^[2]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1	Austin Cain	Junior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1996-09-12	Ottawa, Ontario	Whitby Fury (OJHL)	—
2	Kale Bennett	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1995-11-30	St. Louis, Missouri	Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)	—
3	Michael Joyaux	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1997-02-13	Bloomingdale, Illinois	Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)	—
4	Luke Bafia (A)	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	1996-01-19	Parrish, Florida	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)	—
6	Scooter Brickey	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	1999-05-27	Burtchville, Michigan	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
7	Ronnie Attard	Freshman	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1999-03-20	White Lake, Michigan	Tri-City Storm (USHL)	PHI, 72nd overall 2019
9	Dawson DiPietro	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1995-11-15	Medina, Ohio	Janesville Jets (NAHL)	—
10	Lawton Courtnall	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1996-03-07	Westlake Village, California	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	—
11	Rhett Kingston	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-11-04	Black Diamond, Alberta	Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)	—
12	Cole Gallant	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-03-14	Dover, Florida	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	—
13	Drew Worrad	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1997-06-30	Birr, Ontario	Steinbach Pistons (MJHL)	—
14	Jason Polin	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	1999-06-17	Holt, Michigan	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	—
16	Hugh McGing (C)	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-07-11	Chicago, Illinois	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	STL, 138th overall 2018
17	Wade Allison (A)	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1997-10-14	Myrtle, Manitoba	Tri-City Storm (USHL)	PHI, 52nd overall 2016
18	Brett Van Os	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1996-02-21	St. Albert, Alberta	Calgary Canucks (AJHL)	—
19	Lukas Samuelsson	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	1996-10-08	Voorhees, New Jersey	Toronto Predators (GMHL)	—
20	Jamie Rome	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	1998-10-03	Cochrane, Alberta	Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)	—
21	Josh Passolt (A)	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-09-13	Hayward, Wisconsin	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	—
22	Austin Rueschhoff	Junior	F	6' 7" (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1997-09-07	Wentzville, Missouri	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)	—
23	Paul Washe	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1998-11-27	Clarkston, Michigan	Fargo Force (USHL)	—
24	Mattias Samuelsson (A)	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	221 lb (100 kg)	2000-03-14	Voorhees, New Jersey	USNTDP (USHL)	BUF, 32nd overall 2018
25	Jared Kucharek	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	1998-05-23	Royal Oak, Michigan	Madison Capitols (USHL)	—
26	Ethen Frank	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-02-05	Papillion, Nebraska	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
27	Cam Orchard	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1998-06-27	Middleville, Michigan	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
28	Cam Lee	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1997-02-18	Ferguson's Cove, Nova Scotia	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)	—
30	Brandon Bussi	Freshman	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1998-06-25	Sound Beach, New York	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)	—
31	Will Massey	Senior (RS)	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1994-06-25	Penfield, New York	Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)	—
33	Ben Blacker	Senior	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1997-04-23	Oakville, Ontario	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	—

Standings

2019–20 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standings v t e
	Conference record								Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#3 North Dakota †	24	17	4	3	2	56	86	49	35	26	5	4	135	68
#5 Minnesota–Duluth	24	17	5	2	0	53	89	53	34	22	10	2	114	77
#6 Denver	24	11	8	5	4	42	67	54	36	21	9	6	118	81
#16 Western Michigan	24	12	9	3	2	41	84	73	36	18	13	5	125	101
St. Cloud State	24	10	12	2	1	33	61	74	34	13	15	6	94	108
Omaha	24	8	13	3	0	27	63	75	36	14	17	5	108	107
Miami	24	5	16	3	2	20	61	89	34	8	21	5	92	127
Colorado College	24	4	17	3	1	16	48	96	34	11	20	3	86	123
Championship: Cancelled † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Exhibition
October 5	7:05 PM	vs. Northern Alberta IT*	#14	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan (Exhibition)		Bussi	L 6–1	2,782
IceBreaker Invitational
October 11	5:00 PM	vs. #12 Ohio State*	#14	Huntington Center • Toledo, Ohio (IceBreaker Semifinal)		Bussi	T 2–2 ^SOL	-	0–0–1
October 12	8:00 PM	vs. #17 Bowling Green*	#14	Huntington Center • Toledo, Ohio (IceBreaker Third Place)		Bussi	W 5–2	-	1–0–1
Regular Season
October 18	7:07 PM	at Bowling Green*	#14	Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio		Bussi	L 1–2	2,328	1–1–1
October 19	7:05 PM	vs. Bowling Green*	#14	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	L 1–2 ^OT	2,385	1–2–1
October 25	7:05 PM	at Michigan*	#18	Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan		Bussi	L 0–4	5,800	1–3–1
October 26	7:05 PM	vs. Michigan*	#18	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 4–1	3,985	2–3–1
November 1	9:37 PM	at Colorado College		Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado		Bussi	W 6–3	3,279	3–3–1 (1–0–0–0)
November 2	8:07 PM	at Colorado College		Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado		Bussi	T 4–4 ^SOW	3,452	3–3–2 (1–0–1–1)
November 8	7:05 PM	vs. Ferris State*		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 4–2	3,794	4–3–2 (1–0–1–1)
November 9	8:07 PM	at Ferris State*		Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan		Bussi	W 8–2	1,855	5–3–2 (1–0–1–1)
November 15	7:05 PM	vs. #19 Omaha	#20	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 3–2	2,800	6–3–2 (2–0–1–1)
November 16	7:05 PM	vs. #19 Omaha	#20	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	L 3–6	3,227	6–4–2 (2–1–1–1)
November 22	9:07 PM	at #4 Denver	#20	Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado		Bussi	W 2–1	4,527	7–4–2 (3–1–1–1)
November 23	9:07 PM	at #4 Denver	#20	Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado		Bussi	L 1–6	4,942	7–5–2 (3–2–1–1)
December 6	7:05 PM	at #3 North Dakota	#17	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	L 0–1 ^OT	3,324	7–6–2 (3–3–1–1)
December 7	7:05 PM	at #3 North Dakota	#17	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	L 2–8	3,349	7–7–2 (3–4–1–1)
January 3	7:10 PM	at #15 Notre Dame*	#19	Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana	NBCSN	Bussi	T 1–1 ^OT	5,247	7–7–3 (3–4–1–1)
January 5	5:05 PM	vs. #15 Notre Dame*	#19	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	L 1–4	3,762	7–8–3 (3–4–1–1)
January 10	8:07 PM	at #9 Minnesota–Duluth		AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota	FSN	Bussi	L 3–6	5,864	7–9–3 (3–5–1–1)
January 11	8:07 PM	at #9 Minnesota–Duluth		AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota		Blacker	T 3–3 ^SOW	6,012	7–9–4 (3–5–2–2)
January 17	7:00 PM	vs. Colorado College		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 5–2	2,855	8–9–4 (4–5–2–2)
January 18	7:00 PM	vs. Colorado College		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 6–2	3,108	9–9–4 (5–5–2–2)
January 24	7:00 PM	vs. St. Cloud State		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 6–2	2,807	10–9–4 (6–5–2–2)
January 25	7:05 PM	vs. St. Cloud State		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 6–2	3,386	11–9–4 (7–5–2–2)
January 31	8:37 PM	at Omaha		Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska	CBSSN	Bussi	W 5–2	6,269	12–9–4 (8–5–2–2)
February 1	8:07 PM	at Omaha		Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska		Bussi	L 2–4	6,120	12–10–4 (8–6–2–2)
February 7	7:00 PM	vs. Rensselaer*		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 8–4	2,575	13–10–4 (8–6–2–2)
February 8	7:05 PM	vs. Rensselaer*		Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 6–2	2,975	14–10–4 (8–6–2–2)
February 14	7:05 PM	at Miami		Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio		Bussi	T 2–2 ^{3x3 OTL}	2,445	14–10–5 (8–6–3–2)
February 15	7:05 PM	at Miami		Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio		Bussi	W 4–1	2,851	15–10–5 (9–6–3–2)
February 21	7:06 PM	vs. #4 Minnesota–Duluth	#19	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan	CBSSN	Bussi	W 5–3	3,200	16–10–5 (10–6–3–2)
February 22	7:05 PM	vs. #4 Minnesota–Duluth	#19	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	L 1–2	3,667	16–11–5 (10–7–3–2)
February 28	8:37 PM	at #3 North Dakota	#16	Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota		Bussi	L 1–3	11,214	16–12–5 (10–8–3–2)
February 29	8:07 PM	at #3 North Dakota	#16	Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota		Blacker	L 1–2 ^OT	11,837	16–13–5 (10–9–3–2)
March 6	7:00 PM	vs. Miami	#17	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 5–2	2,675	17–13–5 (11–9–3–2)
March 7	7:05 PM	vs. Miami	#17	Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan		Bussi	W 8–4	3,069	18–13–5 (12–9–3–2)
NCHC Tournament
Tournament Cancelled
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[3]

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Hugh McGing	C	35	13	22	35	52
Dawson DiPietro	LW	35	12	17	29	46
Austin Rueschhoff	RW	36	12	14	26	24
Wade Allison	RW	26	10	13	23	17
Paul Washe	C	34	12	9	21	26
Cam Lee	D	26	3	18	21	25
Ethen Frank	C	32	9	11	20	6
Cole Gallant	RW	31	4	16	20	9
Rhett Kingston	LW	33	9	8	17	31
Drew Worrad	C	31	6	11	17	2
Michael Joyaux	D	36	2	15	17	27
Josh Passolt	LW	32	5	11	16	23
Ronnie Attard	D	30	6	8	14	29
Mattias Samuelsson	D	30	2	12	14	41
Luke Bafia	D	36	1	10	11	22
Lawton Courtnall	LW	36	5	5	10	18
Jason Polin	F	31	7	2	9	8
Brett Van Os	LW	22	3	5	8	6
Kale Bennett	D	33	3	5	8	8
Jared Kucharek	D	32	1	4	5	10
Scooter Brickey	D	24	0	3	3	8
Brandon Bussi	G	34	0	3	3	8
Lukas Samuelsson	F	9	0	1	1	2
Will Massey	G	1	0	0	0	0
Cam Orchard	C	5	0	0	0	0
Ben Blacker	G	8	0	0	0	0
Jamie Rome	F	9	0	0	0	4
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	20
Total			125	223	348	468

^[4]

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Will Massey	1	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.000	0.00
Brandon Bussi	34	1921	18	12	4	85	859	0	.910	2.65
Ben Blacker	8	252	0	1	1	13	104	0	.889	3.09
Empty Net	-	12	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
Total	36	2191	18	13	5	101	964	0	.905	2.77

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23 (Final)
USCHO.com	14	14	14	18	NR	NR	20	20	17	17	19	19	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	16	17	16	16
USA Today	15	12	15	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	15	NR	NR

^[5]

References

^ "NCHC Tournament Cancelled Effective Immediately". nchchockey.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
^ "WMU Hockey – 2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Western Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
^ "Western Michigan Broncos (Men) 2019-2020 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Western Michigan Univ. 2019-2020 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.

[1] "NCHC Tournament Cancelled Effective Immediately". nchchockey.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

[2] "WMU Hockey – 2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Western Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.

[3] "Western Michigan Broncos (Men) 2019-2020 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[4] "Western Michigan Univ. 2019-2020 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 16, 2020.

[5] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.

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v t e Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Lawson Arena (1974–present)
Head coaches	Bill Neal (1973–1978) Glen Weller (1978–1982) Bill Wilkinson (1982–1999) Jim Culhane (1999–2010) Jeff Blashill (2010–2011) Andy Murray (2011–2021) Pat Ferschweiler (2021–present)
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) (1975–2013) National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) (2013–)
All-time leaders	Dan Dorion (293 points) Dan Dorion (115 goals) Bill Horn (71 wins)
NCAA Tournament appearances	1986 1994 1996 2011 2012 2017 2022 2023 2024
Conference Tournament titles	CCHA: 1986 2012
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan