Men's college hockey series of the week: No. 2 Western Michigan vs. No. 3 Michigan

To start the Men’s College Hockey season, the state of Michigan has been the most dominant in the nation. For this week’s Men’s College Hockey Series of the Week, Michigan and Western Michigan will be battling it out to see who is the second-best team, behind Michigan State, in the Great Lakes State.

For the defending national champions, the Western Michigan Broncos, the pony express picked right up where it left off last season. The Broncos started their season with a dominant 7-0 win over the US National Team Development Program’s (NTDP) U18 team.

On the season, the Broncos hold a 3-1 record, their lone loss coming against Ferris State, and the No.2 spot in the USCHO poll.

Though the goals are mostly evenly distributed throughout this Western Michigan team, there is one player who stands out above the rest. Former Wisconsin Badgers forward William Whitelaw, a 2023 third-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, has found the back of the net four times this season.

When it comes to assists, one player has dominated this statistic compared to his teammates. Joona Väisänen, a 2024 6th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, leads the Broncos with six assists through just four games.

Straight dominance has been the mantra of the Michigan Wolverines this year. The Wolverines boast a perfect 6-0 record and hold the No. 3 spot in the USCHO poll. Their most impressive sweep on the season came in a road showdown against the then No.7 Providence Friars.

The Wolverines have no shortage of dominant stars on their roster. The second first-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, Micheal Hage, leads the team in points with 11 on the young season.

The Wolverines’ frontman for goals on the season is the first of two Pittsburgh Penguins 2025 first-round draft picks, Will Horcoff, with a total of six. The most assists belong to former Cornell Big Red defenseman Ben Robertson who has nine assists so far. In addition to this, other stars, such as T.J. Hughes, have made significant impacts.

For the pony express to keep barreling down the tracks, the goaltender's performance needs to improve. Through four games, Western Michigan goaltender Hampton Slukynsky has allowed eight goals.

But the blame can’t solely be put on Slukynsky. In their upset loss to Ferris State, Western Michigan's defense was caught lacking in many instances as the Bulldogs were able to skate behind and around the Broncos nearly all night.

If Slukynsky and the Broncos defense can limit goals and slow down Michigan’s superstars, then that No.2 ranking rightfully belongs to them.

In Michigan’s case, nothing really needs to change. In net, goaltender Jack Ivankovic is tenth in the country in save percentage with a .942. If he continues to perform and the superstars continue to dominate, this series would be a repeat of the one against Providence.

Unlike most series this weekend, this will be a Thursday-Friday split. On Thursday, the Western Michigan Broncos will have to play in front of the Children of Yost, which is considered to be one of the most ruthless student sections in college hockey.

Then, on Friday night, the Michigan Wolverines will travel to Lawson Ice Arena and will have to face another top and infamous student section, the Lawson Lunatics.

Max Malec is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mvm7264@psu.edu.