The Bulldog hockey team will be without its leading scorer when it hosts the nationally No. 16-ranked Western Michigan Broncos in a conference showdown this weekend.
The Torch inaccurately reported on Wednesday that Bulldog senior captain Zach Redmond played in the team’s previous series against Lake Superior State last weekend. Redmond suffered a broken foot against the Miami RedHawks on Nov. 5 and did not travel to the U.P. with the team.
Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels said Redmond will miss at least the next three games and could miss as many as the next seven. Daniels also said not having Redmond on the ice against the Lakers had a major impact on the outcome of the series.
Redmond is the team leader with nine points and five assists. He is also tied for the team lead in goals with four. Senior forward Nate Hennig and sophomore Kyle Bonis each have four goals as well. The Bulldogs have not scored a power play goal and have just one even-strength goal in the three games that Redmond has missed.
“Realistically, we haven’t scored a power play goal this year when Zach hasn’t been on the ice,” said Daniels.
Ferris comes into the weekend with a 5-5-2 record overall and a 2-4-2-2 record in CCHA play. The Bulldogs are tied for sixth in the conference, while the Broncos are in an eighth-place tie in the CCHA standings.
The Broncos have played four conference games thus far, while the Bulldogs have already played eight. Western Michigan is 6-2-2 overall this season under first-year head coach Jeff Blashill, a former Ferris goaltender and assistant coach.
After failing to score a goal in two shutout losses at Lake Superior State last weekend, Daniels said being back home will help the team rebound from being swept on the road.
“I do think that playing in front of our home fans means a big deal to the team,” said Daniels.
Following the series against Western Michigan, the Bulldogs have three games against Michigan State and two games against Alaska leading into the break. Daniels said it is important for the team to play well against Western so that they don’t lose confidence going forward.
“I think the next three games are really important to our team,” said Daniels. “I think they are really important coming off the fact that we didn’t do well the weekend before.”