The Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Western Michigan University. The Broncos are a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). They play at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Western Michigan won their first national championship in 2025.
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History
The Broncos program began in 1973 and joined the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for the 1975–76 season. After ten seasons in the league Western Michigan won the 1986 CCHA Playoff Tournament and advanced to the school's first NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament in 1986. The 1986 season marked the program's first CCHA Tournament Championship and the program's first bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos entered the tournament in the West Regional against Harvard and lost the two-game aggregate series, being outscored 11–4 by the Crimson.
Western Michigan's next post season appearance came in 1994. Western Michigan received an at-large bid to the 1994 NCAA Division I Tournament and again fell in the first round with a 6–3 loss to Wisconsin. The Broncos rebounded in the 1995–96 season after a sub-.500 season in 1994–95. Western Michigan received the program's second at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Western Michigan lost again in the first round to Clarkson 6–1.
Under first-year coach Jeff Blashill, Western Michigan received an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, where they would lose their opening game 3–2 in double overtime to Denver. Denver scored two goals in the last 4:29 of the third period to force overtime. In 2011–12, for the second consecutive season, Western Michigan had a new head coach and reached the NCAA tournament. Longtime National Hockey League (NHL) coach Andy Murray was named as coach of the Broncos after Blashill left for the Detroit Red Wings. WMU finished tied for second in the CCHA and won the CCHA tournament, thereby receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Western Michigan lost in the first round of the tournament 3–1 to No. 1 seed North Dakota.
The CCHA disbanded after the 2012–13 season, in part due to the addition of men's ice hockey to the Big Ten Conference. This led the Broncos to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) starting in the 2013–14 season
Western Michigan won the 2013 four-team Great Lakes Invitational which was played outdoors at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Broncos defeated No. 3 Michigan 3–2 in overtime in the semifinals, and then claimed the championship by beating Michigan Tech 1–0, also in overtime. WMU won the 2014 Shillelagh Tournament with an 8–2 victory over No. 17 Union. The Broncos also defeated Ohio State in the first round of the tournament, 6–2.
Season-by-season results
Source:
Coaching
All-time coaching records
As of the completion of 2024–25 season
† The 1998–99 season was coached by both Wilkinson and Culhane.
Statistical leaders
Source:
Career goaltending leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 30 games played
Statistics current through the end of the 2024–2025 season.
Current roster
As of March 25, 2026.
Awards and honors
All-Americans
AHCA First Team All-Americans
AHCA Second Team All-Americans
CCHA
First Team All-CCHA
Second Team All-CCHA
CCHA All-Rookie Team
NCHC
First Team All-NCHC
Second Team All-NCHC
Third Team All-NCHC
NCHC All-Rookie Team
Western Michigan Broncos Hall of Fame
The following is a list of people associated with the Western Michigan men's ice hockey program who were elected into the Western Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Danny Dekeyser (2024)
Olympians
This is a list of Western Michigan alumni were a part of an Olympic team.
Broncos in the NHL
As of June 15, 2026.
‡Scott Foster played 14 minutes for the Blackhawks after being signed to a 1-day contract as an emergency backup due to injury.