Courtesy: Nicole Watkins

KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan hockey head coach Jim Culhane has announced the signing of Nick Pisellini, Dennis Brown, and Dan DeKeyser to National Letters of Intent to play at WMU next season.

Brown, a right-shot defenseman, comes to the Broncos from the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League. At 5-feet-11 and 175 pounds, Brown is in his second season under head coach Bliss Littler at Omaha. Last season, Brown tallied three goals and 26 assists with a plus/minus rating of plus-10 in 59 games with the Lancers. The Cypress, Calif., native also played with current Broncos J.J. Crew and Ross Henry while with the Lincoln Stars in 2007-08. Through 17 games this season, Brown has scored two goals and nine assists for 11 points.

“Dennis has developed into one of the top offensive defenseman in the United States Hockey League,” said Culhane. “His poise and vision make him a threat on the power play.”

Pisellini, a goaltender, comes to Broncos after playing two seasons with the Chicago Steel of the USHL and Quinnipiac University. At QU, Pisellini appeared in 11 games, posting a 6-2-1 record with a 1.38 goals against average and a .948 save percentage that was ranked among the top in the nation at the time. The Itasca, Ill., then native returned back to the USHL to play with the Steel, where he is currently playing in his fourth season.

“Nick is a big and athletic goaltender who competes extremely hard,” added Culhane. “He has already proven to have had success in college hockey and will bring that experience to our program.”

DeKeyser, a left-shot defenseman, comes to Western Michigan after playing the 2008-09 season with the Trail Smoke Eaters of the British Columbia Hockey League and the 2009-10 season with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. With Trail, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound blue-liner, played in 58 games scoring eight goals and 17 assists. The Algonac, Mich., native has played in seven games with Sioux City, scoring one goal and three assists before suffering an injury. DeKeyser also played Midget AAA hockey for two seasons with Detroit Compuware.

“Dan is a very well-rounded defenseman,” said Culhane. “He makes very good decisions with the puck and shows tremendous poise while playing on the power play.  His size and reach also make him effective in the defensive zone.”

The Broncos are on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, taking on Nebraska-Omaha on Friday and Saturday, with Friday’s game at 8:35 p.m. and Saturday’s at 8:05 p.m.