For the second straight year, the New York Rangers will have at least one of their prospects playing in the NCAA National Championship game.
Ty Henricks, a sixth-round pick (No. 183) in the 2023 NHL Draft, will take part in the title game this season as a member of Western Michigan University after their thrilling 3-2 win against defending champion Denver in double overtime on Thursday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Rangers prospects Gabe Perreault and Drew Fortescue played in the national championship game last season for Boston College, which lost to Denver 2-0. Perreault signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers last week and has played three NHL games after BC was eliminated in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament on March 30.
Henricks, a 6-foot-5 freshman forward, is an intriguing prospect — though certainly not on the level of Perreault, New York’s first-round pick (No. 23) in 2023. He’s played primarily on the fourth line and is ninth on Western Michigan with seven goals in 40 games. He has 12 points and is plus-15.
The Rangers prospect scored a goal in his first NCAA game, Oct. 11 against Ferris State, and had a two-goal outing against North Dakota on March 1. His eventful first season now comes with an opportunity to play in the NCAA Championship Game.
Rangers prospect helps Western Michigan reach NCAA National Championship game
Western Michigan came out firing in the program’s first Frozen Four appearance, nearly taking an early lead just over a minute into the game when Zach Nehring rang a shot off the crossbar and Liam Valente had a shot barely saved by Denver goaltender Matt Davis.
The Broncos continued to dominate the opening period, and had the first power play of the night when Kieran Cebrian was called for boarding at 11:34. Though Western Michigan generated five shots with the man advantage, Denver withstood the pressure and the score remained 0-0 at the end of the period despite Western Michigan’s 12-3 lead in shots.
Denver was unable to capitalize on the power play early in the second period when Alex Bump went to the penalty box for slashing at 2:40. Denver’s Samu Salminen took a penalty for holding at 5:32, which led to a power-play goal by Western Michigan defenseman Brian Kramer, who rifled a shot from the point past Davis.
Owen Michaels doubled Western Michigan’s lead by sniping a shot over the shoulder of Davis at 14:32.
Holding onto the 2-0 lead, Western Michigan successfully killed a hooking penalty by Iiro Hakkarainen at 16:22, and were able to generate two shots on goal when short-handed to head into the third period with a whopping 32-8 shots advantage.
After killing off an early penalty, Denver finally scored at 6:49 of the third on a goal by Aiden Thompson. Jared Wright tied it 2-2 by scoring off a scramble in front of the net at 17:21. The call on the ice stood after a review to challenge for goaltender interference, and the game headed to overtime.
The first shot on net in overtime came from Western Michigan’s Cole Crusberg-Roseen, who nearly beat Davis to win the game. Alex Bump and Michaels were also denied, and the Pioneers were able to clear the puck from danger. Hakkarainen also was stopped on a couple of chances.
Though Denver won the opening face-off in the second overtime, Western Michigan quickly gained possession and pushed into the offensive zone. Matteo Costantini slid a pass to Michaels, who roofed a shot past Davis 26 seconds into the second OT to send the Broncos to the National Championship game against Boston University on Saturday night.
“It’s a focused group. They never lose belief in themselves,” said coach Pat Ferschweiler, who has led the Broncos to a tournament berth in each of his four seasons in Kalamazoo.
“They came in unhappy with the third period. But I think our biggest mistake was not scoring on all our chances in the second. Denver has a championship pedigree. They’re going to push and make it hard on you. But we knew over the entirety of the game, I thought we were the better squad.”
Henricks finished the game with one shot on goal and an even plus-minus rating.
The win was a program-best 33rd of the season for Western Michigan. The Broncos have won each of their past four games by one goal and are on a nine-game winning streak going into the national title game against BU, which defeated Penn State 3-1 in the second semifinal to advance to the championship game for the first time since losing to Providence in 2015. The Terriers’ last title came in 2009, with former Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk playing a key role.
