1 week Ago By Jason Feldman
As his players bobbed up and down on the bench in front of him, Pat Ferschweiler stood in place and watched the time run off the clock at Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Saturday night. Ferschweiler appeared to be in a state of disbelief, belief and pure joy all at once.
ADVERTISEMENT It's hard to say if the Rochester native anticipated it would take him just four years to lead Western Michigan — his alma mater — to its first NCAA Division I men's hockey national tournament victory, its first Frozen Four appearance, and finally, its first national championship. But the Broncos, all season, were a mirror image of their head coach — hard nosed, playing for one another and embracing Ferschweiler's constant refrain of believing in themselves and their teammates. On Tuesday, the 55-year-old Ferschweiler, a 1988 John Marshall graduate, was named the Spencer Penrose Award winner, as the best coach in college hockey this season.
It's the first time Ferschweiler has received that award, and might not be the last. Saturday, for the first time, his team lifted the national championship trophy, thanks in large part to Ferschweiler's leadership. Western Michigan beat Boston University 6-2 to finish the season with a 34-7-1 record.
"Fersch preached the whoel year 'believe in yourself and believe in each other,'" Broncos star forward Alex Bump, a Prior Lake native, told ESPN after the game, "and that's what we did. Belief is a competitive advantage, for sure. "(Ferschweiler) is The Man.
I can't say enough good things about him. He's a world class person, a world class coach. He built this program to what it is today.
...
I love that guy and I'd do anything for him." As the Broncos celebrated on the ice, ESPN announcer John Buccigross noted: "Born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, the youngest of six. Pat Ferschweiler, a good player, 116 games, 30 goals, 65 assists," noting Ferschweiler's career statistics from his three seasons playing for Western Michigan (1990-93), the last of which he served as a captain.
It was a season of firsts for the Broncos and their coach. They won their first-ever conference regular-season championship, going 19-4-1 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. They won their first-ever conference postseason championship, rallying from a 3-0 deficit after two periods to beat Denver 4-3 in double-overtime in the NCHC tournament title game on March 22 at the Xcel Energy Center in St.
Paul. The Broncos then reached their first Frozen Four by beating Minnesota State and Massachusetts, both by 2-1 scores, in the Fargo (N.D.
) Regional. They then won another double-OT battle against Denver, 3-2, on Thursday to reach the national title game. ADVERTISEMENT Western Michigan never trailed in the championship game, getting two goals from Frozen Four hero Owen Michaels — who also scored twice against Denver — and one goal each from Wyatt Schingoethe, Cole Crusberg-Roseen, Ty Henricks and Iiro Hakkarainen.
Goalie Hampton Slukynsky, a Warroad native, made 24 saves. Seconds after the final buzzer, Ferschweiler was asked if he could believe it. "I can believe it," he said.
"We believed in ourselves all year long. We came out and executed at a high level and cared about each other all game long. We played Broncos hockey from start to finish.
"I just think our will (was the difference). Our will was there. We weren't going to lose this hockey game, no chance.
It means everything. It means our program is on the map and we're moving forward.".
