Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hockey Outlook
September 06, 2000 | Ice Hockey
Sept. 6, 2000
The Bowling Green State University hockey team came within one win of reaching the CCHA Championships last season, this year Falcon bench boss Buddy Powers hopes the "team concept" will help carry BG up the CCHA ladder.
Bowling Green lost six letterwinners from the 1999-2000 squad including leading scorer Adam Edinger (14-18--32), top defenseman B.J. Adams (2-5--7, team-best +7), blueliner Michael Jones (6-13--19) and forwards Craig Desjarlais (5-15--20), Zach Ham (2-5--7) and Brad Newman (0-0--0).
Last year's question mark will be the strength of this year's squad. Between the pipes, the Falcons return sophomore Tyler Masters (13-14-0, 2.85, .905) and senior Shawn Timm (4-2-1, 2.43, .918). "The play of Tyler as a freshman was a bright light last year," said Powers, "right from the start he showed he had the moxie to be a player and perform at a high level in this league. We were ecstatic with Shawn's drive to hang in there and play well when he had the opportunity.
"Between Masters and Timm we have two goaltenders that are certainly going to be the strength of our team," said Powers.
Solid team defense will be a key factor in BG's success in 2000-01 following the loss of two regulars plus the uncertainty of when captain Doug Schueller (2-5--7) can return to the lineup. BG will begin the season with four returning regulars plus four newcomers.
Schueller had major knee surgery in April. "With the injury to Doug, nature has to take its course. He is progressing along right now," stated Powers.
The Falcons will begin the year by dressing at least two freshmen in their six-man blueline corps. "This presents opportunities to the freshman (Kevin Bieksa, Brian Escobedo, Erik Eaton and Paul Weismann) that are coming in to step up. Ice time will be available to whomever wants to reach up and grab it," said Powers.
"Kevin Bieksa (Burlington Cougars) had a great year last year as did Brian Escobedo (New York Apple Core). Both handle the puck well and played a lot of hockey at the junior level. Erik Eaton (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) is a big, strong tough guy that is bound and determined to get himself into the lineup," added Powers.
"With Grady Moore, Louis Mass, Marc Barlow and Joe Statkus coming back, we have four guys with a lot of experience," added Powers.
Last season, junior Grady Moore (7-19--26) led the Falcons in assists (19), and was on the ice for a team-best 32 even-strength goals and 29 power-play goals. "Depending on the development of the freshmen, Grady is certainly a person who can log a lot of ice time."
Louis Mass (1-2--3), a senior assistant captain, helped the BG penalty killing to a 13th-place ranking in the NCAA last season, while junior Marc Barlow (5-12--17) nearly doubled his point-production from his rookie campaign.
Junior Joe Statkus (0-0--0), after playing four games his freshman year, saw action in 23 contests last season and had an even plus/minus rating.
Up front the Falcons return four of their top five scorers led by junior Greg Day (13-16--29). He led BG in shots on goal (99), while ranking third on the team in both goals and assists. "Day has progressed each season and I think that progression will continue into this season. He sees the ice real well and makes good plays," added Powers.
Ryan Fultz (17-10--27) proved as a freshman last year that he can score goals. He had a team-leading seven power-play markers, while tying for team-high honors with three game-winning goals.
"We are looking for Ryan Murphy (9-10--19) to bounce back to the form of his sophomore year when he really blossomed. I think he will be really focused on pushing himself to have a great (senior) year. He certainly has the ability to be one of our top players this year," said Powers.
"Eventhough Curtis Valentine (5-7--12) has not scored the points he would like to have," said Powers, "he has developed his overall game to the point that he is a valuable guy for us in a lot of different situations. If the points start coming, he is going to be able to make an even bigger contribution to our success."
"We are really happy with Austin de Luis' (7-14--21) development last year into a good, solid player. I just see him continuing to get better."
Scott Hewson (7-6--13) increased his point-production from seven points as a freshman to seven goals as a sophomore. "He is developing into a real strong winger that can go-and-up down and get the tough-type goals. Hewson is willing to put the body on guys and get to the net," commented Powers.
Junior Ryan Wetterberg (2-4--6) might be moved to right wing for increased playing time and to take advantage of his speed. "He has a lot of confidence in his game and what he can do. We'll look for that to come out this year."
Tyler Knight (7-13--20) had an excellent freshman year and ranked sixth on the team in points. "Knighter is a quality player," said Powers. The other returning forward is senior Dennis Williams (3-1--4).
"If our top returning forwards continue to play in the mode that they can play in we should be a pretty strong, balanced club offensively," said Powers.
The Falcon coaching staff has recruited five forwards that range in age from 18-year-old Mark Wires (Wexford Raiders) to 21-year-old Phil Barski (Milton Merchants).
"Wires, who we think can be an offensive force as things develop, is a tenacious player that can check and really get after things. His point-production will go up as the years move on," said Powers.
D'Arcy McConvey (Wexford Raiders) had a great year last year with 87 points. "He is an excellent playmaker and plays well at both ends of the rink."
Sean Kotary, who was selected in the 2000 National Hockey League Entry Draft by Colorado, makes plays and can score goals himself. Kotary had 49 goals and 104 points at Northwood last year. Phil Barski has great hands, is a good skater and can put up points. Roger Leonard (Calgary Canucks) had 34 goals and 67 points last season.
"We have some real quality in our freshman class not only in the forwards but also on defense. I think this class will help challenge the returning guys to play at a high level," added Powers.
"We made strong strides in the penalty killing last year," said Powers. "You are going to give up shots and our goaltending was improved, so our penalty killing was better. On defense, Louis Mass does a great job on the PK. On the power play, I like the guys we have returning and some of the freshman may see power play time if they show the ability to handle the situation."
The 2000-01 schedule has extensive travel as Bowling Green will play twice at Alabama-Huntsville (Oct. 13-14), Northern Michigan (Nov. 3-4), Alaska Fairbanks (Nov. 24-25), Princeton (Jan. 5-6) and Nebraska-Omaha (Jan. 12-13). "Nebraska is a fun place to play and we are at Fairbanks over Thanksgiving so it will not be as difficult of a situation," said Powers. BG's lone non-league home series is Jan. 19-20 versus Rensselaer.
The Falcons open the campaign with a home exhibition contest against York (Oct. 6) before heading to Huntsville. The CCHA schedule format remains at 28 conference games with Ferris State, Alaska Fairbanks and Nebraska-Omaha in BG's cluster.
"The league as a whole is going to be very competitive. You have to look at the teams that are returning a lot of guys. Michigan should be at the top of the heap. Michigan State has strong goaltending and a lot of quality guys returning. Northern Michigan and Notre Dame will be strong," said Powers. "I think you will see a cluster again with a lot of teams pretty close together. There is a lot of balance in the league and it will come down to winning the tough, close games."
Ten schools will qualify for the CCHA tournament with the top five teams hosting a best-of-three series. Winners will be re-seeded with a tournament play-in game between the fourth and fifth seeds taking place on March 13.
"The whole team concept will be the focus for Bowling Green hockey in 2000. Our success will be directly determined by how balanced we can stay. We are looking for a lot of guys to chip in offensively. The whole idea of good team defense, consists of guys being involved away from the puck and getting the quality goaltending you need to be successful," said Powers.
"We are not looking for one or two guys to carry us to the promise land, we are looking for a lot of people to chip in and play an important role on the team. If we can achieve that balance, I think that will be the main ingredient for us to move into the top of the league, which is where we want to be," added Powers.
