EDINA, Minn. – The Bowling Green men's hockey program was voted to finish first in both the 2016 Mankato Free Press WCHA Coaches' and the Bemidji Pioneer WCHA Media preseason polls, announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Falcons, who marked a 22-14-6 (17-7-5 WCHA) record in the 2015-16 season will be returning nine of its top-10 scorers for the upcoming 2016-17 campaign. Bowling Green tallied 89 points in the coaches' preseason poll, and had eight of 10 votes for the top finish on the year.
The four schools that made the WCHA one of just two Division I conferences (along with Hockey East) to have at least four, 20-win teams in 2015-16 sit atop both polls in identical order: Bowling Green, followed by reigning MacNaughton Cup co-champions Michigan Tech and Minnesota State, and defending Broadmoor Trophy winner Ferris State.