UND Hockey: WMU Broncos Up Next

This weekend, the University of North Dakota entertains Western Michigan in an important two-games conference series. This begins a stretch were the Fighting Hawks will play six of the next eight games at home.

UND 5-3-1, 1-1-0 (NCHC), was 3-1-0 during the month of March including 2-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

After 10 games, WMU is 4-6-0 1-3-0 (NCHC). The Broncos are 4-2-0 at home and 0-4-0 away from the friendly confines of Lawson Arena.

UND

UND goalies — Freshman goalie Adam Scheel has started seven games going (5-2-1, 1.70 GAA and .917 save percentage). Sophomore goalie Peter Thome is (0-1-0, 4.51 GAA and .786 save percentage). (College Hockey News Stats)

Leading scores for UND — Jordan Kawaguchi (2g-5a—7pts), Nick Jones (1g-5a—6pts), Rhett Gardner (4g-1a—5pts), Cole Smith (2g-3a—5pts), Matt Kiersted (2g-3a—5pts), Colton Poolman (3g-2a—5pts).

WMU

The Broncos goaltenders have struggled early, Ben Blacker (0-2-0, 4.40 GAA, and a .870 save percentage), Trevor Gorsuch (2-2-0, 2.83 GAA and a .897 save percentage), Austin Cain (2-2-0, 4.17 GAA, and a .826 save percentage). (Western  Michigan Stats)

Leading scorers for WMU — Hugh McGing (5g-4a—9pts), Josh Passolt (4g-5a—9pts), Ethen Frank (2g-7a—9pts), and Lee (4g-5a—9pts).

The Series Against the Broncos

All-time, UND leads the series 18-4-0 (.818). At home, UND leads the series 8-2-0 (.800). At Lawson Arena, UND leads the series 8-2-0 (.800). On Neutral: UND leads 2-0-0 (1.000). Under head coach Brad Berry UND leads the series 7-3-0 (.700).

In last 10 games against the Broncos, UND leads the series 7-3-0 (.700). Last season, UND swept the WMU in Grand Forks, ND (4-3 W, 4-1 W). UND didn’t make a return trip to Kalamazoo, MI. The Broncos last road win at the Ralph came on Dec. 12, 2016, 3-1.

WMU’s Wade Allison Set to Return

This weekend, the Broncos will get their top forward back. Last January, Wade Allison tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season. Last weekend, Alison, Flyers second-round draft choice, played in Friday’s game against the Omaha Mavericks. He missed Saturday’s game because he didn’t feel right.

“Obviously, we were hoping he would be playing by September or October,” Western Michigan head coach Andy Murray said. “Allison is getting used to the ache of a post-surgery. There’s nothing surgically wrong. He wasn’t comfortable so he didn’t play the second night (against Omaha).”

Here’s coach Murray’s weekly press conference

Here’s the latest episode of through these doors.

Fancy Stats

Looking at the fancy stats, UND has outstanding possession numbers. The Fighting Hawks are fourth in the nation in Corsi percentage and Fourth in the nation in Fenwick percentage.

As I mentioned earlier in the season, coach Berry said that his staff uses  fancy stats to coach their hockey team?

“We talk about it all of the time, ” Berry said. “When you talk about possessing the pucks there’s a lot of things that go into to possessing a puck. It’s winning the initial faceoff, which we have taken pride in. It’s about handling pucks through the neutral zone. It’s about being effective. Not only giving a good pass but handling a good pass. When you finally get to the offensive zone, it’s not just being one and done. You’ve got to protect the puck. You’ve got to be hard on pucks.

“I think it’s all parts of the game that lead to possession time. That’s part to the mentality on what we do here. Again, it’s something that we have to make sure we continue to do moving forward. Brad (Schlossman) had a tweet about on shots on goal, that’s a big deal, other than the five-minute major, it’s about not giving up a lot of opportunities to the other team. That goes to the possession time too.”

NCAA TEAM LEADERS: Corsi

Rk. School Corsi%
1. Minnesota Duluth…………………………………….61.8
2. St. Cloud State…………………………………………..60.9
3. Michigan……………………………………………………60.4
4. North Dakota…………………………………60.0
5. Denver………………………………………………………..57.0
26. Western Michigan…………………………..50.5

NCAA TEAM LEADERS: Fenwick

Rk. School Fen%
1. Minnesota Duluth…………………………………….62.0
2. St. Cloud State…………………………………………..61.4
3. Michigan……………………………………………………60.6
4. North Dakota…………………………………59.3
5. Denver………………………………………………………..55.2
26. Western Michigan…………………………..51.4