January is the coldest month of the year, but both Western Michigan and Miami are Tim Horton’s coffee-hot entering their first February games.
The Broncos were 7-1 in the first month of 2026 and the RedHawks finished 5-1, winning their last four.
VFG takes a look at the upcoming series:
WHO: No. 4 Western Michigan Broncos (19-7, 11-5 NCHC) at Miami RedHawks (16-8-2, 7-7-2).
WHERE: Cady Arena (3,049), Oxford, Ohio.
WHEN: Friday–7:05 p.m.; Saturday–6:05 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Western Michigan leads, 90-71-13.
VIDEO STREAMING: NCHC.tv ($).
WESTERN MICHIGAN RADIO: WKZO-AM (590) and WKZO-FM (106.9), Kalamazoo, Mich.
MIAMI RADIO: Both nights–Miamiredhawks.com. Greg Waddell (PxP) and Drew Davis (color).
NOTES: When Miami visited Western Michigan in November, the Broncos had lost three straight games and were a .500 team, sitting at 5-5.
WMU crushed the RedHawks, outscoring them 11-4 on the series, igniting the Broncos’ current 14-2 run, including wins in 10 of their last 11.
That streak was snapped last Saturday in a one-off 4-1 home loss to Omaha.
The Grant and Hampton Slukynsky show continues to define Western Michigan. The forward-goalie Warroad, Minn., brother tandem is a key reason for the Broncos’ offensive potency as well as their defensive stinginess.
Grant is fifth in the NCHC and tied for eighth in Division I with 23 assists, and he leads WMU with 29 points.
Hampton has logged every minute between the pipes for Western Michigan and was just named conference goaltender of the month for January (despite having a lower save percentage and much higher goals-against average than Miami’s Matteo Drobac).
Hampton Slukynsky has a .910 save percentage and a GAA of 2.43 for the season.
In addition to Grant Slukynsky up front, three WMU skaters have at least 12 goals — William Whitelaw, Liam Valente and Zaccharya Wisdom.
Whitelaw, a Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick, leads the Broncos with 16 goals, tied for second-most in the NCHC, including four game-winners.
Valente has netted eight of his 15 goals on the power play, tied with Max Plante for the conference lead.
Wisdom leads all WMU regulars with a shooting percentage of 20.3, and his plus-15 rating is second on the team.
Fourth-year Bronco and Detroit draftee Samuel Sjolund continues to pace his team in offense from the back end with 18 points while logging the second-highest average TOI on the team.
Sophomore defenseman and San Jose selection Zack Sharp has taken a major step forward this season, with 15 points and a team best rating of plus-16.
The RedHawks are 2025-26’s Division I turnaround story, but they are 1-20-1 in their last 22 meetings with Western Michigan.
And Miami still hasn’t shown it can hang with top-10 teams, with the Broncos drubbing the RedHawks in Kalamazoo and Denver outscoring them, 9-2 in a December sweep.
This weekend series — Miami’s biggest home set this late in the season in 11 years from a conference standings perspective — is a proving ground for the RedHawks against high-caliber opponents.
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