2020–21 Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Western Michigan's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

Western Michigan began the season playing a series of games in Omaha, Nebraska, along with the rest of the NCHC. Before the team could even finish its first game, the Broncos were hamstrung by an injury to their starting netminder, Brandon Bussi.[3] The team turned to senior Austin Cain and, after a very rough start, he settled into the starting role. Cain played well at times but the team's compact schedule of games gave WMU few favors and by Christmas the team sat near the bottom of the conference with a 2–6–2 record. After getting swept by Miami at the beginning of January, freshman Alex Aslanidis was put in net and the team began to show signs of life. After nearly returning the favor to Miami, the Broncos swept #4 St. Cloud State and turned their season around virtually overnight. Aslanidis' performance, paired with the stellar play of Ronnie Attard, allowed Western Michigan to sweep another #4 team a few weeks later (Minnesota Duluth). In their final weekend of the regular season Bussi returned from his injury and swept Miami to put the team within one game of a .500 record.

Despite the teams vastly improved performance in the second half of the season, their record meant that the team had no real chance of making the NCAA Tournament without winning the NCHC Championship. The team had to get through Minnesota Duluth in the quarterfinals and the Broncos gave everything they had, taking a lead into the third period and then tying the game with less than a minute to play. WMU nearly matched UMD shot-for-shot but the final goal came from the Bulldogs and Western Michigan's season was over.

Jacob Bauer, Rhett Kingston and Jared Kucharek sat out the season.

As of March 1, 2021.[4]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Austin Cain	Senior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1996-09-12	Ottawa, Ontario	Whitby (OJHL)	—
2		Kale Bennett (A)	Senior (RS)	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1995-11-30	St. Louis, Missouri	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
3		Michael Joyaux	Junior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1997-02-13	Bloomingdale, Illinois	Youngstown (USHL)	—
4		Cam Knuble	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-07-23	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Muskegon (USHL)	—
6		Scooter Brickey	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	1999-05-27	Burtchville, Michigan	Des Moines (USHL)	—
7		Ronnie Attard	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1999-03-20	White Lake, Michigan	Tri-City (USHL)	PHI, 72nd overall 2019
8		Matteo Pecchia	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2000-06-05	Nobleton, Ontario	Mississauga (OJHL)	—
9		Luke Grainger	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-09-03	Montreal, Quebec	Hawkesbury (CCHL)	—
10		Chad Hillebrand	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-01-22	Park Ridge, Illinois	Green Bay (USHL)	—
11		Rhett Kingston	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-11-04	Black Diamond, Alberta	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
12		Cole Gallant	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-03-14	Dover, Florida	Omaha (USHL)	—
13		Drew Worrad	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1997-06-30	Birr, Ontario	Steinbach (MJHL)	—
14		Jason Polin	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	1999-06-17	Holt, Michigan	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
15		Daniel Hilsendager	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	2000-03-30	Lloydminster, Saskatchewan	Omaha (USHL)	—
16		Tim Washe	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2001-08-25	Clarkston, Michigan	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
17		Cédric Fiedler	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	2001-04-20	Zug, Switzerland	Fargo (USHL)	—
18		Brett Van Os	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1996-02-21	St. Albert, Alberta	Calgary Canucks (AJHL)	—
19		Lukas Samuelsson	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	1996-10-08	Voorhees, New Jersey	Toronto (GMHL)	—
20		Jamie Rome	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	1998-10-03	Cochrane, Alberta	Victoria (BCHL)	—
21		Josh Passolt (A)	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-09-13	Hayward, Wisconsin	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
22		Trevor Bishop	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-01-23	Rochester Hills, Michigan	Victoria (BCHL)	—
23		Paul Washe (C)	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1998-11-27	Clarkston, Michigan	Fargo (USHL)	—
24		Aidan Fulp	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2000-02-29	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dubuque (USHL)	—
25		Jared Kucharek	Junior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	1998-05-23	Royal Oak, Michigan	Madison (USHL)	—
26		Ethen Frank (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-02-05	Papillion, Nebraska	Lincoln (USHL)	—
27		Ty Glover	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-10-01	London, Ontario	Lincoln (USHL)	—
28		Hugh Larkin	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-03-27	Livonia, Michigan	Austin (NAHL)	—
29		Jarred White	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-05-21	Edmonton, Alberta	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
30		Brandon Bussi	Sophomore	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1998-06-25	Sound Beach, New York	Muskegon (USHL)	—
31		Ross Hawryluk	Freshman	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	2001-03-19	Lloydminster, Alberta	Nipawin (SJHL)	—
35		Alex Aslanidis	Freshman	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-01-20	Morristown, New Jersey	Navan (CCHL)	—
		Jacob Bauer	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	2002-02-25	Milford, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	—

[5]

[6]

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[7]