This article is presented by Antonio’s Italian Cucina

The best hockey team in the state of Michigan is not to be found in Ann Arbor or East Lansing.

It is found in Kalamazoo.

If the Detroit Red Wings are depressing you, tune into the Frozen Four on April 10th to watch one of the best stories on ice this year. WMU hockey is one of those programs that feels quintessentially “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” in the state of Michigan- and with a fantastic program like Michigan that has produced absolute stars in the NHL like Werenski, (did you know he’s best friends with Larkin?) Larkin (did you know that he and Werenski play golf together in the offseason?) and the Hughes brothers, it feels like they occupy the forefront of everyone’s mind when it comes to college hockey. Hell, even MSU has become somewhat of a feeder program for the Detroit Red Wings (Trey Augustine being the most noteworthy), but people forget- probably willingly- that WMU hockey produced absolute legends Jeff Blashill and Danny DeKeyser.

As a proud Western Michigan alumnus, it’s about damn time that WMU is getting the recognition it deserves. Kalamazoo is about 2.5 hours away from Detroit and Chicago, and because of that, I had a good amount of friends in college that grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I went to WMU when Chicago was peaking in their Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa years, and some of my best memories were getting drunk at the Buffalo Wild Wings near campus, watching playoff games between the Wings and Blackhawks in the good ol’ Western Conference days. Kalamazoo is undoubtedly a hockey town- Lawson Ice Arena is always packed on game day, and even the K-Wings, the ECHL team in town, are a blast to go see. Coupled with the fact that nearly every venue sells local beers that are all seemingly like 6.8% ABV, it’s easy to see why people get rowdy at all these games- appropriately earning WMU hockey fans the nickname, “Lawson Lunatics”.

The MAC gets shit upon by the Big 10, and in many ways, it’s totally due. I love MACtion as a concept, but I’d be lying if I said it was an appointment viewing at my house on Tuesday nights. Western Michigan- outside of the PJ Fleck undefeated season- has been fodder for Big 10 teams, and more often than not, CMU. Seeing WMU ranked number 1 and the sole representative for college hockey in the state of Michigan feels like the Broncos finally earning their flowers. And I’m here for it.