Hockey Broncos conclude successful season

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The Western Michigan University hockey team finished third in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this past season, a program best, and earned home ice in the NCHC Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

Under Head Coach Andy Murray, the hockey Broncos earned a spot in the top 10 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for nine weeks and spent an overall total of 19 weeks ranked. WMU also finished the regular season spotted sixth in the Pairwise Rankings, earning a program-best No. 2 seed for its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.

Coach of the Year

Murray was named NCHC Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award. He helped engineer the nation's best turnaround, going from eight wins in 2015-16 to 22 in 2016-17. Captain Sheldon Dries became just the second Bronco to be named to the All-NCHC team, earning second team honors. Freshman goalie Ben Blacker was named to the NCHC All-Rookie team.

Learn more about Bronco hockey at wmubroncos.com.

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.