KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Pat Ferschweiler gives a little smile when thinking about the competition this season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
''I think there are three knowns and a lot of unknowns,'' Western Michigan University's head coach said. ''Of the unknowns, we have retooled our lineup as what happens in college sports now and we have a lot of questions…really, I think all of us do.
''I feel we have reloaded very well, though.''
Others feel that way too. While WMU was picked to finish sixth in the NCHC preseason poll, the Broncos are ranked 17th in the nation on the USA Hockey/The Rink Live national poll.