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.[3] The 1986 season marked the program's first CCHA Tournament Championship and the program's first bid to the NCAA Tournament.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9] WMU finished tied for second in the CCHA and won the CCHA tournament, thereby receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.[10] Western Michigan lost in the first round of the tournament 3–1 to No. 1 seed North Dakota.[11]
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.
In 2016–17, the Broncos followed up a disappointing 8-25-3 season with an impressive 22-13-5 and a third-place finish in the NCHC. Western Michigan was invited to the final Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena, where they defeated Michigan Tech in the championship. WMU has been invited to the GLI 5 times dating back to 1977, winning it 3 of those times. The Broncos were defeated in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Division I tournament by Air Force.
In the 2021-2022 season, Western Michigan had a legendary 26-win season under first-year head coach Pat Ferschweiler. The Broncos shared the 2021 Great Lakes Invitational championship by defeating Michigan State. The Broncos advanced to their first NCHC championship game, losing to Minnesota-Duluth 0-3. Western Michigan clinched their first 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and would claim the first playoff win in program history by defeating Northeastern. They would be defeated by Minnesota 3-0 in the regional final.
The Broncos’ 2024-2025 season was their best season to date. The Broncos collected numerous wins against top-10 ranked opponents and remained ranked in the top-5 for the majority of the season. On February 28, 2025, WMU defeated North Dakota 6-4 to claim their first NCHC regular season championship. After being down 3-0 in the NCHC Tournament Championship, WMU would score four unanswered goals to defeat Denver 4-3 in double overtime. This would the Broncos’ first ever NCHC Tournament Championship and third overall conference championship. WMU earned the 1-seed in the Fargo Regional for the NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Minnesota State and UMass to advance to St. Louis, where they would play in their first Frozen Four in school history. In a rematch of the NCHC Tournament Championship, the Broncos defeated Denver in a 2OT thriller to advance to their first championship game. In the championship game, they defeated Boston University by a score of 6-2 to claim their first national championship.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
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.[15]
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