Rowe/Slukynsky Tandem Working Well for Western Michigan
by Avash Kalra/ (@AvashKalra)
Hampton Slukynsky
When a team has two legitimate starting goaltenders, coaches will often say that this is a “good problem to have.” But for Western Michigan thus far in the 2024-25 season, there’s seemingly been no problem at all.
In the early going, graduate fifth-year veteran Cameron Rowe and freshman Hampton Slukynsky have alternated starts for the Broncos — a plan that each netminder learned only in the days leading up to the first game of the season. And there’s no reason to deviate from that plan now. Rowe is 4-0-0 with a .930 save percentage, and Slukynsky — the reigning NCHC Rookie of the Week — is 2-1-1 with a .944 save percentage.
“We have different personal ways of approaching the game,” said Rowe, who as a freshman at Wisconsin in 2020-21 was part of a very similar rotation with then-senior Robbie Beydoun. “But when it comes down it, we’re ultra competitors. We showcase it in different ways, dIfferent styles. He skates very well. he’s very cerebral in net, has great athleticism. Very detail-oriented and polished in his craft.
“I just go out there and compete. From the technique side of it, I really have learned from him, like ‘Ok this is what the younger guys have been working on.’ He’s got great feet. It’s cool to pick up on those nuances. And he’s been asking me how to deal with better traffic, asking questions like, ‘You saw this on the power play, what did it look like from the net?'”
Rowe has been starting Friday nights, and Slukynsky — a Los Angeles Kings prospect — gets the nod on Saturdays. This seems somewhat intentional, allowing the experienced Rowe to set the tone on the first night, and letting Slukynsky serve as his own scout from the bench.
“Cam’s been really good to me,” Slukynsky said. “We’ve had a great relationship form the start. I think it works. We compete really hard in practice. We support each other and help each other out in games… On Fridays, I see the team before playing them. On the bench, watching the power play, how they play. That’s been really useful.”
As the No. 1 guy the last two years for WMU, Rowe could be spectacular at times, but at the end of the day, his save percentage hovered around a pedestrian .900….
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