BroncoMinor

Yeah, I get it. I don't have any of that baggage with the old WCHA teams. Our only historical rival in the conference is Miami and they SUUUUCK.

I was initially a very vocal critic of moving out of Lawson for the reasons you've talked about. I'm a bit skeptical that we can recreate that atmosphere in a new building. We've seen it with new arenas in college hockey. It's just not the same as the old barns. Maybe, Fersch is selling me on something that isn't reality, but he's talked about how he wants to keep the good parts of Lawson: low ceiling & not going overboard with capacity. They've been flying to all the college arenas in the donor's private jet trying to capture the best things. I'm now pretty excited. And let's be honest, after what just happened on the ice, I'll run through a wall for Fersch. So, new arena it is!!

$550M. Pretty close.

I love that we support each other. And this is from someone who's team didn't win a gosh darn thing the first 10 years. I was rooting for you guys, Denver, Duluth, & St. Cloud when they made their runs. I really appreciate you guys being happy for us when we had our moment in the sun. I do like it when Miami sucks though.

I like everything you said except the part about Herter going to Grand Forks. Let's keep him in Kalamazoo.

One side of my bracket is perfect & the other side is a dumpster fire.

Hey guys, I've been a lurker on your message board for a number of years now. I finally registered so I can fill out a bracket. I'm a Western Michigan alum. You guys have great college hockey conversations every weekend that I really enjoy following along with during the season. It's been a fun journey to see the respect for my Broncos grow over the years by the North Dakota fanbase. You guys have said a lot of good things about Bump & Fersch this year. Much appreciated. When the Big Ten caused the CCHA/WCHA explosion, I wasn't sure how that would effect my hockey fandom. There were actually Western hockey fans who thought we should've joined the WCHA (now CCHA) instead of the NCHC. I don't think there is any college hockey program that has benefited more by the creation of the NCHC and an invitation than Western. We instantly became the only Michigan school in this elite conference. We no longer had to be little brother to Michigan & Michigan St. I've truly enjoyed becoming a conference rival to all of these new teams...and seeing us leave Miami in the dust. Between our success, Fersch as the HC, and a new arena on the horizon, it's a really fun time to be a fan of Western Michigan hockey. Anyways, just wanted to say hi. I'm sure this will jinx us on Thursday. GO BRONCOS.