Western Michigan wins the national championship
The Broncos defeated Boston University 6-2 in the championship game on Saturday night
ST. LOUIS — Western Michigan defeated Boston University, 6-2, on Saturday night at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis to win the program's first national championship.
"So proud of this team," Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. "They believed in themselves from start to finish. They cared about each other all year. I couldn't be more proud of them."
Added BU head coach Jay Pandolfo, "Western Michigan played a good hockey game. They're a good team. I thought overall we played hard. We competed today. They got a couple more breaks and finished a couple more plays than we did and ended up on the right side of it."
Owen Michaels was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after he scored four goals in the two Frozen Four games.
"Owen's play was better than his point totals last year," Ferschweiler said. "So we saw offense in him. He did have a huge summer in the gym. So he's stronger. That gym just allows your skills to show, right? And we talked about that.
"But also getting him to really believe in himself as an offensive player, push him forward, play with Alex Bump. These are good things, right? But a lot of the credit goes into the work he put in in the summer."
The Broncos completed the championship sweep, winning the NCHC regular season, NCHC tournament, and national championship.
"Just a great feeling being a part of this group," WMU captain Tim Washe said. "We said at the start of the year it was special. We wanted to prove that. We did it every day by just focusing on each day at a time, getting better every day. And then just came down to belief."
The Broncos took a 1-0 lead just 98 seconds into the first period. Wyatt Schingoethe drove to the front of the net and got his stick on a shot from Iiro Hakkarainen and tipped the puck past BU goalie Mikhail Yegorov.
The Terriers tied the game at the 7:12 mark of the period. Devin Kaplan took a shot from the left circle that Hampton Slukynsky stopped, but he couldn't cover the rebound at the top of his crease, Cole Eiserman crashed the net and knocked in the loose puck.
The Broncos went ahead 2-1 with 4:59 left in the first period. Tim Washe's shot went off the end wall. The Terriers tried to clear it but the puck ended up on the stick of Cole Crusberg-Roseen, and he blasted a one-timer from the top of the right circle.
The Broncos carried that 2-1 lead into the first intermission and outshot BU 9-8.
Western doubled its lead early in the second period. Cam Knuble split defenders and bulldozed his way to the BU net. Yegorov stopped his initial attempt but Ty Henricks stuffed in the rebound at the 5:18 mark.
Shane Lachance had a scoring chance for the Terriers midway through the second period after his slap shot went off the glove of Slukynsky and then off the post.
The Terriers went on the power play with 9:34 left in the second period when Brian Kramer was called for holding.
BU cut the Western lead to 3-2 just 18 seconds into the power play. Shane Lachance knocked in a rebound after Slukynsky again struggled to hang onto an initial shot from Ryan Greene. Western challenged for goalie interference but the officials upheld the goal.
Knuble hit the post with 5:00 left in the second period off a centering feed from Henricks and Yegorov recovered in time to make another stop on Kramer, who was following up the chance.
With 4:20 to go in the second, BU went back on the power play after Grant Slukynsky was called for slashing but Western killed the penalty.
With 1:46 the Broncos went on the power play after Devin Kaplan was called for a kneeing minor on Iiro Hakkarainen.
Western held its 3-2 lead going into the third period and the Terriers killed off the penalty on Kaplan.
BU thought it tied the game 3:34 into the third period. The Terriers were able to get a shot past Slukynsky as part of a giant scrum in front of the crease, but defenseman Joona Vaisanen was stretched out behind his goaltender and kept the puck out with his leg.
"I didn't see the shot," Slukynsky said. "I was still up against the post. I think our D was in front of me. I didn't even see it. It just hit me and I didn't know where it went.
"I didn't know what the call was going to be, but I knew with the no-goal call on the ice that it was probably going to be a no goal."
An official's review confirmed the call on the ice.
"They said it was tied up," Pandolfo said. "So he blew the whistle, I guess. I haven't seen the replay of it, so I'm not sure exactly what it looked like.
"Someone said it was on top of his pad and we pushed it in. It's hard to comment when I haven't see the replay yet. Live it looked like the puck was still moving, but it's far away from where I was sitting or standing. But the explanation was the whistle blew and it was tied up."
Minutes later, Slukynsky made an enormous save on Eiserman, who had a cross-ice one-timer in open space.
BU was pressing trying to find the equalizer. Cole Hutson tried a spinning shot from the left circle that was blocked and it sprung the Broncos on a 2-on-1. Owen Michaels — one of the heroes in Thursday's semifinal — snapped a wrist shot over Yegorov's shoulder to give the Broncos a 4-2 lead with 13 minutes left.
Michaels made another huge play with 11 minutes left, clearing a loose puck that Lachance nearly got a stick on from about five feet out of Slukynsky's crease.
The Terriers believed they cut the lead to 4-3 just under the 10-minute mark after Matt Copponi stuffed the puck past Slukynsky. There was no goal called on the ice, and the officials upheld that call after a BU challenge.
Hakkarainen put the icing on the cake for Western with 3:58 left, banking a puck off Yegorov's back from the goal line to make it 5-2.
Who else? Owen Michaels tacked on the empty-netter from about 150 feet out to make it 6-2 with 2:07 left in the third.
Boston University finished the season 24-14-2. The Broncos finished the year 34-7-1, breaking a 39-year record for most wins in a season.
Quotes to Note
Pandolfo on falling one game short ...
"Yeah, you're proud to get here, but you want to finish the job. So it hurts. I really feel for our players more than anything else because it's hard, and it's special to win this thing.
I want to see those guys experience that. That's my goal is for me to see our players and our program experience that again. That's what I want to see."
Pandolfo on what Ryan Greene, Shane Lachance, and other players have meant to the program ...
"Ryan, Quinn and Devin Kaplan, Tristan Amonte, Jack Page, those guys were here my first year. They're a big reason why we're at where we're at as a program. They mean a lot to me.
“Shane, obviously the relationship I've had with his family, his grandfather. His uncle was my roommate for four years at school. I know his mom really well. I know his dad really well.
“Just to see him be able to experience this and how proud I am of him and the leadership he brought to our group. He's a sophomore captain. That's probably unheard of at most places but that's the type of person he is."
“And same for Ryan, he was a great leader this year. He's grown a lot both on and off the ice. He's going to be in the National Hockey League shortly. I'm so proud of these guys. It makes me feel good about our program because of the type of character players we have and the type of people we have. So real proud of them."
Western Michigan players on the Lawson Lunatics ...
TIM WASHE: "No, I mean, they earn their name every night. You saw it tonight. They travel really well, holy. The support is phenomenal. Can't ask for better fans that we have."
HAMPTON SLUKYNSKY: "They're nuts. Every home game we have it's rocking, and they're lined up for hours before the game out there. They're unreal."
OWEN MICHAELS: "Yeah, they're the best. I love playing in front of them. They give us the energy and mojo each and every night. It's awesome seeing them, feeling their support each and every night."
Hampton Slukynsky on his path to Western Michigan ...
"It's been a crazy last year for sure. Obviously planning to go to Northern this year. With all three coaches leaving there, we were able to open up our recruitment. We were open to going anywhere, and trying to find the best spot for both of us.
"We were lucky that the best spot was at the same spot. We knew right after the Zoom call with the coaches that we were going to come here. Obviously with the history last three years making the tourney, we knew we'd have a chance to win.
"It's just really special to share this with him. We're just fortunate to be a part of this team."
Ferschweiler on what makes WMU successful behind the scenes ...
"To be successful, you need the resources and support and belief from your administration. I've talked open and honestly at all times, Dan Bartholomae is a superstar athletic director. He's organized our department. He has given us direction and support. Every coach at Western Michigan University feels exactly the same way. We feel supported and believed in and freed up to do the best job we can do."