Broncos practice on eve of first outdoor game in program history

By Nick Barnowski – 

DETROIT – Western Michigan practiced at Comerica Park on Thursday afternoon as a warmup to Friday night’s game against the University of Michigan.

It will be the first outdoor game in WMU program history, and head coach Andy Murray said he and his players are more than looking forward to the opportunity.

“I think it’s exciting to play outside, no question,” Murray said. “I think our players are excited about it. We have a few young Canadians than have played some outdoor hockey but our other players from California and some other places of milder weather have not been in an atmosphere like this.”

Shane Berschbach, Western’s leading scorer with 7 goals and 14 assists so far on the year, has been waiting for the outdoor game ever since it, and the subsequent planned events at Comerica Park, was canceled due to the NHL lockout.

“We’re all pretty excited about it,” the senior forward from Clawson said. “We didn’t get the chance to do it last year, it got moved indoors, but we’re blessed enough to have another opportunity and it’s going to be a good time.”

The Broncos (7-8-3) will be taking part in only their fourth Great Lakes Invitational tournament, and first ever in consecutive seasons, after losing to Michigan Tech in the final last year. They had previously won it all in 1986 and finished fourth in 1977.

“Whenever you play a school from the state of Michigan it’s a big thing for everybody,” Murray said. “It’s special to be in this tournament. It’s great for us. We expect a full contingent of Bronco fans to be out in support of our team as well. We’re looking forward to an exciting weekend for sure.”

Berschbach, a former Little Caesars player, said that the Broncos are relishing the opportunity to compete in the GLI alongside Michigan, Michigan Tech, and Michigan State.

“Western doesn’t always get the opportunity that we’ve been given the last couple years, so with it, we need to take advantage of it and keep getting the invites back.”

The Broncos were the last team to practice on Thursday although that may have worked out in their favor. Murray said that the ice was “actually really good” despite players and coaches on the three other teams remarking that it was the opposite.

“I think it will probably get snowed up a bit quicker than most ice surfaces but I thought the ice was good today,” he said.

Murray also stated that the Comerica Park boards played faster than usual.

From a goaltender’s perspective, Broncos netminder Frank Slubowski said that he doesn’t think the ice will affect his performance on Friday.

“The crease was a little rough, but it was so much fun,” Slubowski, who has a 2.53 GAA and a .913 save percentage, said. “It got a little snowy quick, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue. I’ll probably have sharper skates [tomorrow], that’s about it.”

Although the allure of playing outdoors can be distracting, Murray said that his team would treat the tournament as if they were normal games.

“We don’t consider this game to be any bigger than any other game we’ve played and I think that’s the mentality that we have with our program,” he said. “It’s the biggest game we’re going to play Friday night, then we’ll play a great opponent Saturday, and then we’ll have a big one a couple of weeks after that.”

Murray said that getting off to a good start against the Wolverines will be a key factor for success against a powerful opponent.

“I’m very impressed with Michigan this year, they’re off to one of their best starts in program history,” the WMU coach said. “We’ve played pretty hard against Michigan over the past 10 games. We’re excited about the challenge.”

Berschbach said that due to the outdoor conditions, simplifying play is another key to the game.

“I think just playing a simple game,” he said. “The conditions aren’t going to be as well as we want them to be, just playing a full 60 minutes and doing the little things we know, playing physical and hard-nosed the whole game.”