Frank Slubowski in weekend showdown with famed Notre Dame hockey program

It was a big weekend for former Rupertite Frank Slubowski, the one time PRMHA player and now goaltender for the Western Michigan University Broncos, as he and his team launched their NCAA Division I regular season on Friday and Saturday night.

A trip to South Bend, Indiana, offered up the first instalment of a much anticipated weekend double header,  a two game series which featured the much vaunted Notre Dame Fighting Irish and provided for quite the challenge for Slubowski and his Bronco team mates..

The WMU goaltender gained notice by his performance, with a game high 28 saves on the night, but on Friday offence proved to the be the downfall for the Broncos.

When the season opener came to an end, the Fighting Irish, ranked at number 8 heading into the 2013-14 campaign, had defeated the number 18 ranked Broncos 4-0.

A final result which sent the majority of the 4,870 assembled in South Bend home happy.

Saturday, the Bronco's were the home squad in the back and back series, with the Fighting Irish taking to the ice in front of a sold out crowd of 4,118 at the Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamzoo.

The second of the two games also went much the way of Notre Dame, as they shut down the Broncos through sixty minutes. This time by a score of 3-0, although the work of Slubowski was once again heralded post game, as a key to holding the score close to games end.

Over the the three periods of play, the Prince Rupert import faced 38 saves on the night, 19 of them in the second game alone.  Making for a two game total of 66 shots faced  in less than 24 hours.

Bronco reviews of the Friday game can be found here, Saturday's recap is available here.

M Live-- WMU hockey coach Andy Murray on being shutout and swept by Notre Dame: 'Losing sucks'
M Live-- WMU hockey shutout by Notre Dame for second night in a row
M Live-- WMU hockey team's 4-0 loss at Notre Dame in season opener leaves Broncos looking for more

The Notre Dame perspective of the weekend can be found here and here.

Next up for Broncos a lengthy road trip that takes Slubowski back to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Though it's a destination a tad north of his Prince Rupert hometown.

Actually quite a ways northbound to be exact, as the Broncos make the long trip from Michigan to Fairbanks Alaska, for a two game series next weekend against the University of Alaska-Anchorage and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

WMU is taking part in the Alaska Goal Rush, a weekend series featuring Denver University, along with the two Alaska teams.

More background on the Broncos travels in the NCAA can be found on the Bronco Hockey portal through the WMU website.

Past items on the travels of Slubowski, as well as items on other PRMHA grads and of minor hockey in general can be found on our PRMHA archives.