KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Western Michigan hockey's group of six freshmen skaters have helped power the offense this season through 24 games heading into the weekend clash with No. 2 North Dakota.
How much have they powered the offense? The group is the top scoring freshman class through 24 games in over a decade. Griffen Molino, Colt Conrad, Oliwer Kaski, Corey Schueneman, Matheson Iacopelli, and Jade McMullen have combined for 60 points on 18 goals and 42 assists. In recent years the only other group of freshmen to come close to that kind of production was Chase Balisy, Shane Berschbach, Danny DeKeyser, and Dennis Brown back during the 2010-11 season. Those four combined to score 53 points through the first 24 games.
One big reason for the offensive success is that everyone is contributing. Molino leads the team with 17 points on seven goals and 11 assists, Conrad is third on the team with 13 points, Kaski is fifth on the team with 11 and is the team's top scoring defenseman, Schueneman has 10 points and is second on the team with nine assists, Iacopelli has seven points (including four assists in his last six games), and McMullen tallied his first collegiate point while playing some of his best hockey before suffering an injury.
Conrad has been one of the big success stories in the class, coming to WMU from famed Minnesota prep school Shattuck St. Mary's as an 18-year old. True freshman are a rarity in college hockey and Conrad is just one of four that the played for the Broncos since 2007. The St. Alphonse, Manitoba native joins Max Campbell, Kevin Connauton, and Balisy as recent true freshmen. Both Campbell (2007-11) and Balisy (2010-14) went on to score over 100 career points. Connauton turned pro after getting selected in the third round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks.
"I thought it was going to be a lot harder than last season," said Conrad on his adjustment from elite level high school hockey to the college game. "I knew I was going to have to get a lot stronger and faster and just be better, honestly, in all aspects of my game."
Conrad, much like Balisy, credits his ability to slow the play down and see plays develop for his quick adjustment to the next level.
"Watching things happen instead of forcing them to happen," Conrad added. "My ability to find plays is what's helping me get through the adjustment."
The 2015-16 freshman class certainly ranks up there with the best of them. Along with the 2010-11 class, WMU's 2006-07 freshman class also put up big numbers in its first 24 games, mainly at the hands of Mark Letestu. By this point in the season Letestu had 31 points on 15 goals and 16 assists. He went on to finish 26 points on 24 goals and 22 assists and winning the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie of the Year award.
Molino is on pace to lead the team in scoring as a freshman, the first time that has happened since Letestu's magical season. Prior to joining the Broncos, Molino put up a Muskegon Lumberjacks franchise record 64 points on 18 goals and 46 assists in his final year in the USHL. The Trenton, Mich., native has 11 points in his past 11 games, including eight in the month of December that led him to being named National Collegiate Hockey Conference Rookie of the Month.
Kaski and Schueneman are already the first pair of freshmen defenseman to tally 10-plus points in a season since Dekeyser (17) and Brown (12) did it back in 2010-11. Both came in with scoring pedigrees. Kaski was the top scoring defenseman on his Finnish Jr. A SM-liiga team Ässät U20. Schueneman was the top goal-scoring defenseman last year in the USHL with 20 goals.
Western Michigan is back in action on Friday when it hosts No. 2 North Dakota at 7 p.m. The two teams square off again on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at wmubroncos.com.
