Frozen Four takeaways: Western Michigan's depth delivers first national championship, signings loom

By / / Sports / 6 minutes of reading


ST. LOUIS — Western Michigan University won its first-ever national title in its first-ever Frozen Four appearance Saturday night, defeating five-time champs Boston University 6-2 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Enterprise Center.

The national championship caps off a season that also saw the Broncos win their first NCHC title, completing the work done by coach Pat Ferschweiler to turn Western Michigan into one of college hockey’s top programs since his hiring in 2021. They finish the year on a 10-game win streak that dates to March 1.

Senior forward and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Wyatt Schingoethe opened the scoring, redirecting an Iiro Hakkarainen shot from the wall past BU freshman goalie and New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov just 1:38 into the game — and on its first shot.

A little less than six minutes later, BU’s third line of freshmen New York Islanders prospects Cole Eiserman and Kamil Bednarik and junior Philadelphia Flyers prospect Devin Kaplan tied the score, each of the trio getting a whack at the puck under freshman goalie and Los Angeles Kings prospect Hampton Slukynsky, with Eiserman getting the last poke for his 25th goal of the season.

But the Broncos answered, as they have all year, with sophomore defenseman Cole Crusberg-Roseen jumping on a missed shot off the boards from sophomore and Flyers prospect Alex Bump to make it 2-1.

Early in the second period, freshman and New York Rangers prospect Ty Henricks then pounced on a Cam Knuble rebound to extend the lead to 3-1.

Co-captains Shane Lachance (Devils) and Ryan Greene (Chicago Blackhawks) cut the lead to 3-2 on another jam play around Slukynsky’s pads — and upheld after Western Michigan challenged it — off of a point shot from Washington Capitals second-rounder Cole Hutson (named a day earlier the national rookie of the year).

Slukynsky made 24 saves in the win, including a huge one on Eiserman five minutes into the third period that set up sophomore Owen Michaels’ 4-2 clincher moments later.

Hakkarainen put it to bed in the final minutes before Michaels’ empty-netter and second of the game stamped it.

Western Michigan’s title fittingly delivered by unsung depth

There were 21 drafted NHL prospects on the ice Saturday night. Fourteen of them played for Boston University. The Terriers had the eight highest-picked players in the game and its only first- and second-rounders, plus another one on the way in 2025 NHL Draft prospect Sascha Boumedienne. Western Michigan’s highest-drafted player, freshman Winnipeg Jets prospect Zachary Nehring, was taken 82nd.

But the Broncos were older and they looked bigger, stronger, heavier, faster and more predictable. They were first to more pucks. They were up and under sticks and kept more offensive zone sequences alive. And their depth, with four lines and three D pairings that could all pull on the rope all year when they needed to, fittingly won them the game.

Entering this season, Schingoethe, a seventh-round pick of the Leafs in 2020, had just one college goal to his name. He didn’t score his first goal of this year and second of his career until Jan. 24. The goal was just the sixth of Schingoethe’s four-year career at Western Michigan. He didn’t play more than 10 minutes in a game until March 7. But his role expanded in the regional and into the Frozen Four, and Schingoethe played more than 15 minutes in each of the Broncos’ four games in the national tournament.

Crusberg-Roseen was playing in the NAHL at 19, didn’t play in the USHL until he was 20 and didn’t enter college with the Broncos until he was 21. He didn’t score his first goal in college until Nov. 29 of his sophomore year. His goal Saturday was just his third in the NCAA. Monday, he’ll turn 23.

The 3-1 goal was a fourth-line goal created by an undrafted fifth-year 24-year-old in Knuble and finished by a 6-foot-5 teenage freshman and Rangers sixth-rounder in Henricks. It was just his 13th point in 41 games this year. Knuble and the Broncos’ fourth line nearly made it 4-2, too, hitting a post late in the second period.

The Broncos got a goal from a defenseman and three goals from their bottom six in the end. And that was the story all year for Western Michigan.  

Another season to build on for Jay Pandolfo

There has been a lot made of BU’s going to the Frozen Four in each of coach Jay Pandolfo’s three seasons behind their bench. After coming up two wins short in 2023 and 2024, the Terriers got a win closer this year. Pandolfo has also won a Beanpot title and a Hockey East championship in those three years.

They’re going to lose a good chunk of their nucleus to pro in the coming days, but they’ll have Eiserman, Hutson, Boumedienne, Yegorov and others back next year, their incoming freshman class is expected to include three of the top players at the NTDP (Jack Murtagh, Charlie Trethewey and Conrad Fondrk), they landed Blackhawks first-round pick Sacha Boisvert in the portal, fellow Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham will join him, and they should again be a top team in Hockey East next year. There could be more recruits from the 2025 class on the way as well.

Signings now loom for BU and WMU

There was a good contingent of pro and amateur scouts in St. Louis this week. In the coming days, Western Michigan will lose Alex Bump to the Flyers, but I know there’s also interest in fifth-year captain Tim Washe, sophomore Owen Michaels (who was outstanding in the Frozen Four), and junior defenseman Samuel Sjolund.

For the Terriers, the expectation is that BU’s co-captains Ryan Greene and Shane Lachance will sign with Chicago and New Jersey, Canucks first-rounder Tom Willander is a goner, and it sounds like junior forward Quinn Hutson has an entry-level deal in place. I thought senior Matt Coppini had a good weekend, too, so we’ll see what happens there (there was an Oilers presence in town) as well.

And while a lot of NHL media attention has been given to Denver head coach David Carle, there’s also been some chatter around Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweiler (a former assistant with the Red Wings) getting NHL consideration. I had one NHL staffer in town mention that there has been talk about Ferschweiler and the Flyers’ job, and Keith Jones was in St. Louis this week.

I would think that Pandolfo gets into the conversation somewhere (if he’s not already) if he keeps it up as well.

(Photo: Connor Hamilton / Imagn Images)





Source link

Start typing and press enter to search

Scroll to Top