WMU vs Canisius Live Chat - 6:45 p.m.

GAMES 3 & 4
#12/12 Western Michigan (1-1-0) vs Canisius (1-1-0)
All-Time Series: WMU leads 3-1-0
Last Meetings: Oct. 8, 2010 - CC 5-3; Oct. 9, 2010 - WMU 3-2, OT
Oct. 19 & 20, 2012 // Lawson Ice Arena (3,667)
 7 p.m. // Kalamazoo, Mich. // Bronco Insider

RADIO BROADCAST | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS
The game will be broadcast live on the Bronco Radio Network: 96.5 FM (Kalamazoo, Portage, Mattawan). Robin Hook will have the call on Friday and Kory Lee takes over on Saturday

ONLINE BROADCAST | BRONCO INSIDER
Both Friday and Saturday's game will be broadcast via Bronco Insider web stream. A Bronco Insider subscription or weekend pass is required.

LAST WEEKEND
WMU opened the regular season with a series split with St. Lawrence.

Friday night the Saints got out to a 3-1 lead before third period goals by Brett Beebe and Garrett Haar. Haar’s came in dramatic fashion with 31 seconds left in regulation and an extra attacker on the ice. Unfortunately a pass off the boards in the Bronco zone took a funny hop to SLU’s Justin Wick and he caught WMU goalie Frank Slubowski out of position to net the game-winner just over a minute into overtime.

On Saturday the Broncos once again had to rally in the third period. This time the goals were scored by Dan DeKeyser and Haar but the goals gave WMU a 3-2 lead. Western Michigan held on for their first victory of the season with Slubowski making  17 saves in the win.

SERIES HISTORY
The Broncos and Golden Griffins have met four times with WMU holding the series edge at 3-1-0. The two teams met to open the 2010-11 season, spoiling then WMU head coach Jeff Blashill’s debut with a 5-3 win in Kalamazoo. The Broncos responded the next night to win in overtime.

Chase Balisy tallied his first collegiate point against the Griffins and has two assists in his career. Dan DeKeyser netted his first collegiate goal also against Canisius, while Nick Pisellini picked up his first win as a Bronco in a 16-save appearance in 2010.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Canisius comes to Western Michigan after splitting with the Alaska schools at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage last week. The Golden Griffins were shutout in the opening game by Alaska-Anchorage 2-0, but rebounded in their 3-1 win over Alaska-Fairbanks.

Torrey Lindsey, Preston Shupe and Matthew Grazen all netted goals in the win, while freshman goalie Keegan Asmundson was sublime in goal, stopping 33 of 34 shots on the night. Asmundson made 16 of his saves in the third period, when the Golden Griffins were outshot 16-2.

Canisius returns its top four scorers from last season including juniors Kyle Gibbons and Taylor Law who led the team with 26 points. Each forward had 11 goals and 15 assists last year, while junior Ben Danford was the top scoring blue-liner with 13 points on one goal and 12 assists.

Although they have averaged just 1.50 goals per game through two games this season, Canisius has also just allowed 1.50 on the defensive end. The Golden Griffins averaged 11 penalty minutes last weekend that resulted in nine power plays for their opponents. Canisius killed off all nine but were also unable to capitalize on nine power plays of their own.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
For the second straight week Western Michigan will be hosting a team from New York. Last week’s opponent, St. Lawrence, hailed from Canton, N.Y. and Canisius is located in Buffalo. The Broncos have played a team from New York in each of the last two seasons, hosting Canisius and Union, while also traveling to St. Lawrence and Union. In recent years the Broncos have posted a 4-1-3 record in those games.

581 DAYS IN THE MAKING - REDUX
Mike Cichy made his Bronco debut last Friday in WMU’s 4-3 loss to St. Lawrence. The transfer from North Dakota saw significant playing time in both games and tallied his first point as a Bronco in Saturday night’s win. Cichy actually assisted on both the game-tying goal by Dan DeKesyer and the game-winning goal by Garrett Haar.