59 Teams in 59 Days Western Michigan

The final weekend has approached us on the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour. So lets get right to it as today we make the trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan where the Western Michigan Broncos are featured.

With only one returning scorer with 10+ goals last year in Senior Paul Szczechura, and with an all CCHA performer in Brent Walton gone, head coach Jim Culhane will need to find help on the offense immediatley.

The entire team last year was based on Brent Walton. With him gone the Broncos will need to find someone else to put the puck in the net besides Szczechura. True Szczechura is the go to guy, however, if you told me to name one returning player to score as well, I would tell you there isin't any guy on the roster who has the potential to score. But yet thats why they have sleepers. And the recruting class, well only time will tell on who will be the big shots in a few years.

The defense struggled all year last season. In 40 games the Broncos gave up 160 goals, an average of four per game. The Broncos will need to find an identity on defense or else Junior goaltender Daniel Bellissimo will be shellshocked, again. Maybe Freshman Riley Gill will step up but again expect this team to struggle on defense.

Overall I don't expect Western Michigan to do much this year in the CCHA. The Broncos will probably have a tough time getting through the rest of the league. Expect the Western Michigan to be back in the bottom of the league.

The predicted ceiling for Western Michigan is ninth in the CCHA, while the gutter is 12th.

Tommorrow, we will make the trip to Madison, Wisconsin, where the defending National Champs, the Wisconsin Badgers will be featured. Season tickets have rised to an all time high at the Kohl Center, can they live up to the reputation? Or will the losses of Robbie Earl and Joe Palveski be too much for the Badgers to handle? Find out tommorrow as we hit day number 58 on the tour.