The Great Lakes Invitational, a Michigan college hockey institution since 1965, had always been associated before this season with Detroit.
Whether the tournament was held at Olympia Stadium, Joe Louis Arena, Comerica Park or Little Caesars Arena, the Motor City was perennially the four participating teams’ destination. However, when Michigan Tech announced that this year’s GLI would be held in Grand Rapids, Western Michigan sophomore forward Dylan Wendt perked up.
Raised in Grand Haven, Mich., a half-hour drive west of Grand Rapids, Wendt has played youth, junior and now college hockey around the state, but much of his family’s history in the sport is on the western side of the Lower Peninsula. His uncle Tim and cousin Hunter both played for Ferris State, and Dylan captained the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks before coming to WMU.
Last week, he and the Broncos won the GLI championship on the Van Andel Arena ice where Wendt hadn’t played since he was a little kid. He scored a third-period goal in WMU’s 8-1 semifinal win over Tech, then helped the Broncos beat Ferris State 8-2 in the title game.
This season’s GLI was always going to mean something different to Wendt, no matter how Western fared. He had a strong cheering section there, as a family friend’s box at Van Andel was filled with friends and relatives.
“I speak for probably every Michigan hockey player when I say the GLI is something you grow up watching, and something that really catches attention and opens eyes,” Wendt said. “Especially growing up in Michigan, everybody sees the big stage and the level of players and teams at this level, and it makes it surreal to be able to be a part of it.
“I was excited when they said it would be at Van Andel. I grew up watching it at the Joe, but I liked this year’s a little more because my family didn’t have to travel far to see it. Pretty much everyone I knew got to drive up, and it was fun spending time with them and having them watch us take home the championship.”
Even better, there was no animosity from Wendt’s extended family.
“I always wanted to play Division I college hockey and maybe play for Ferris, too,” he said. “It was definitely a possibility, but it worked out the way it did, and I’m happy I chose Western because the circumstances were right, and it was everything I wanted in a college team.
“Tim and Hunter didn’t give me any pre-scout or pep talk last week, anything like that. They kept the competitive side out of it, and maybe held it in, who knows, but I didn’t hear anything like that from them.”
Wendt had points in four of his last seven games, and his five goals and nine points this season have him well ahead of his two-goal, three-point finish as a freshman.
He’s more focused on how his team is faring, though, and the Broncos’ GLI success indicates an uptick in form. WMU (12-9-1) was 0-3-1 in its last four games before heading to Grand Rapids.
“The biggest thing at the GLI was just us coming together,” Wendt said. “We ended the first half of the season kind of poorly, and although we might’ve played well, you’ve got to get the wins.
“The break made us really step it up a notch, because we know what we’re all capable of, and what we can play like as a team. We’ve got something special here, and it’s up to us on whether we’re going to run with it.”
