In exact contrast to the Northern Michigan Wildcats, the Broncos have plenty of offensive punch and need some help on defense. If they had Northern Michigan’s defense (or conversely if Northern Michigan had their offense) somebody would be pretty hard to stop.
But, consider what Western Michigan has in the way of returnees and you’ll be astounded.
For starters, four of their five leading scorers from last year’s squad are back and all of them were in the top 50 in the league in overall scoring. Out of that, WMU returns 17 letterwinners. Not too shabby. The top scorer coming back into the league this season is senior forward David Gove (18 goals, 28 assists, 46 points in 1999-2000 season). By virtue of the top two scorers in the league last year leaving (Shawn Horcoff, MSU and Mike Comrie, U-M) Gove is the key man and a big part of the Broncos offensive machine.
Head coach Jim Culhane knows the Broncos firepower will continue into this season.
“We got some timely goals last year no question and for that to continue this year we need to improve upon our goals against and goals for this year,” said Culhane, in his 3rd season at WMU.
Gove says the power play will be enhanced because of the offensive potential.
“Our power play was very good last year and there’s no reason we can’t improve upon it,” says Gove, speaking of a WMU power play ranked 2nd in the CCHA in 1999-00. “We’ll be playing more of a wide-open, offensive type game, but still have to keep defense in mind too.”
In other words, don’t put yourself in the box against WMU.
Coach Culhane knows about the top-ranked power play, but he also knows there will be personnel changes on it too.
“Different guys, especially on defense, will be rotated in and out of the power play, so it’s very important that we maintain a high level of excellence on it,” said Culhane.
The major area for concern for the Broncos is the defense. There is no senior leadership on the blueline and that can be tough. “We’re pretty young there,” says Culhane.
The defense in fact carries mostly freshman and sophomores, which may be a strength for WMU in a couple of years, but not this year. One thing the Broncos do have, to support that young defense, is a strong, sturdy goaltender with playoff experience-Jeff Reynaert (12-19-3, 3.76 G.A.A. last season).
“Jeff Reynaert is our mainstay in net and will be a key for us,” says Culhane. “He may have to carry us defensively at times, at least until the young guys get up to speed on defense.”
Reynaert will also have to be strong on the penalty kill too. It’s an area that both Gove and his coach agree needs work.
“We were last in defense last year, so it’s no secret that our defense is not our strength going in,” says Gove. “But, we have one of the best goalies in the league and he’ll help us with any defensive problems.” Part of that inexperience does come on defense and that can be tough especially in some of the early games on the road.
“All 6 of our freshman are strong…it’s a strong class for us,” says Gove, assured that the future of WMU hockey will be in good hands after he leaves. “I think you’ll see great things from these guys in the future,” he says, referring to defensemen Mike Jarmuth and Brian Pasko and forwards Paul Davies, Dana Lattery, Jeff Campbell and Lucas Drake (Holt).
In fact, Gove works with Davies one-on-one in practice to help him out. “The young players are learning right now…we’re taking them aside and teaching them, right there at practice,” says Gove. “We even spend time, as upper classmen, with the freshmen, especially on the road, just so they’ll feel part of the team and don’t get down if things aren’t going well.”
Culhane is extremely happy with his scorers that he has coming back and tends to dwell on that a bit more.
“I’m excited that we have four senior forwards returning for us this season,” he says. “With David Gove, Mike Bishai (18-19-37), Steve Rymsha (10-10-20) and Anthony Battaglia…that bodes well for us. Not a lot of teams can say they have that much senior experience up front.” But, can those seniors carry their experience on the road and make it work, especially in tough places like Alaska-Fairbanks, a long trip early in the season?
“We start off on the road and we have a trip to MSU in November,” says Culhane. “The second half we get all of the perennial powers-MSU, U-M, NMU-on the road no less.”
Gove likens the schedule to that of a Big Ten football schedule. It’s not easy at all, and everybody beats up on everybody else.
“‘So-called’ is exactly right,” says Gove. “That’s a tough travel adjustment (to Alaska) right off the bat, so it’s important for us to get off to a good start. We only have six home games in that first stretch, so it’s a big key for us.”
But, if WMU gets it together, a lot of teams won’t want to get into a shootout with them. That’s not a good idea with a high-flying, scoring machine.
SIDEBAR
Burning questions about the Broncos in 2000-01?
*Can the offensive depth make up for defensive inexperience?
*Can they handle the tough schedule at the end?
*Will Jeff Raynaert produce big games?
*What happens on the penalty kill?
