Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Open 2006-07 Regular Season This Weekend
October 09, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Oct. 9, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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The Bowling Green State University hockey team opens their 2006-07 regular season this weekend in a Friday contest with Connecticut and a Sunday tilt with Alabama-Huntsville. Friday's game will start at 7:05 p.m., while the Sunday's contest is set to begin at 2:05 p.m.. Both games will be featured inside the BG Ice Arena.
Series With The Huskies
The Orange and Brown lead the all-time series with Connecticut 1-0-0 after a 9-2 win over the Huskies last season in the championship game of the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic in Storrs, Conn.. In the win the Falcons got scores from nine different players: Derek Whitmore, Don Morrison, Brandon Svendsen, John Mazzei, Mike Nesdill, Jonathan Matsumoto, Bryan Dobek, James Unger and Rich Meloche. (Underlined players are returning this season.) For the tournament as a whole, Alex Foster, Svendsen, Matsumoto, Nesdill and Jon Horrell were all named to the all-tournament team.
Series With The Charges
The all-time series between these two squads in knotted at 2-2-0, with both teams going 2-0-0 on their home ice. Back on Jan. 21-22, 2000 The Falcons walked away with 4-3 and 5-1 victories inside the BG Ice Arena. The following season UAH returned the favor, sweeping the Orange and Brown to open the season 3-0 and 2-0 (Oct. 13-14, 2000). UAH head coach Doug Ross played for the Falcons from 1973-75 and posted 129 points (65g, 64a) in just 74 games. Ross ranks 48th all-time in BGSU scoring.
Windsor Recap
BGSU 7, Windsor 1
BGSU kicked-off the season back on Oct. 5 in an exhibition contest with the University of Windsor, with the Falcons skating away with a 7-1 win with the help of five special teams goals, and several newcomers making an immediate impact. Bowling Green recorded three power-play goals to go along with a pair of short-handed tallies, while out-shooting the Lancers 26-21. In the win five newcomers posted goals, including two by Todd McIlrath and one each by Kai Kantola, Tim Maxwell and Tomas Petruska. Sophomore Jimmy Spratt stopped 8-of-9 Lancer shots, while freshman Eddie Neville deflected all 12 shots he faced in the third period.
What Is Returning To This Year's Squad?
BGSU returns 16 players from last season, including six of their top-10 scorers. Leading the group is junior forward Jonathan Matsumoto, who finished the year with 48 points (20g, 28a). He is the third-highest CCHA returner in points for the 2006-07 season. The Orange and Brown also return James Unger (12g, 15a), Derek Whitmore (13g, 7a), Brandon Svendsen (10g, 9a), John Mazzei (8g, 7a) and Michael Hodgson (2g, 9a).
As a team the Falcons return 62% (77-124) of their goals scored, 50% (105-210) of the team's assists and 55% (183-334) of the team's total points. Overall, the Falcons return eight players with double-digit points from last year.
What About The Goaltending?
The Falcons welcome back Jimmy Spratt (4.35 gaa, .855 save %). While Spratt's overall numbers may not look all that impressive in his final five starts of the season the netminder posted a 2.75 gaa, .918 save percentage and had four 30-plus save performances as their top scorers from 2005-06.
What Was Lost?
Gone is CCHA Second-Team member Alex Foster and his 51 points (10g, 41a) from a year ago after signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. BGSU also said goodbye to Brett Pilkington (7g, 22a), Mike Falk (15g, 11a) and Don Morrison (6g, 16a).
Matsumoto Named To Preseason CCHA Second-Team
Matsumoto, the third round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, recorded 48 points (20g, 28a) last season and was named to the Preseason CCHA Second-Team back on Sept.. 27. In 2005-06 he finished the year with 20 goals, 28 assists and 48 points, all career-bests, while also posting a team-high 12 power-play goals. He scored a point in 28 of 36 games and had 15 multiple point games. Versus Boston College he posted his first career hat trick and had a nine-game point streak from Dec. 9 - Jan. 20. He was also named to the UConn All-Tournament Team after scoring a tournament-best three goals. He finished the regular season ranked 12th in the country in points per game (1.35), tied for eighth in points (48), 12th in power-play goals (12), tied for 18th in goals (20) and 11th in assists (28).
More Preseason Awards For Matsumoto
The College Hockey News announced their 2006-07 Preseason All-America Team and junior Jonathan Matsumoto was listed in the "Players To Watch" section. The forward was just one of 10 CCHA players mentioned among the 31 overall selections.
Notes On Last Year's Team
BGSU's 124 goals last season were the most by the Falcons since 1998-99 when they tallied 126 goals. BGSU finished fourth in the CCHA and 17th in the country with a 3.26 goals per game.
The Falcons took 1,203 shots for an average of 31.65 attempts per game last season. The last time BGSU had at least that many shots came back in the 2001-02 season when they fired 1,160 attempts in 40 games. The 31.65 shots per game in 2005-06 was the highest since the 1995-96 squad averaged 34.90 attempts per contest.
New Look Ice Arena
When you walk into the BG Ice Arena this year you may notice several changes from years past. One, the Ice Arena installed a new ice service along with new dasher boards and glass. The glass is two feet higher than last season. The final change can be seen on the benches. The Falcons will now occupy the south bench and will skate towards the north end of the ice for two periods, where as last season they were placed in the north bench and skated towards the south end for two periods.
Falcons Announce 2006-07 Captains
Junior defenseman Michael Hodgson will assume captain duties, but he won't be alone. Hodgson will be joined by Jonathan Matsumoto, John Mazzei, Riche Meloche and Brandon Svendsen, all he will be assistant captains this year. It is the first-time in school history that five Falcons will serve as captains/assistant captains.
Overall the five players played in 186 of a possible 190 games last year and scored 103 points (43g, 60a) in 2005-06.
Hodgson, the first junior captain since D'Arcy McConvey (2002-03) played in all 38 games last season and has played in every game in his Falcon career (74 games). Last season he finished with 11 points (2g, 9a) including a career-best three assists in a 4-0 win over Colgate.
Matsumoto finished last season with 48 points (20, 28a) and will be the third highest point scorer returning to the CCHA, behind just Scott Parse (UNO) and T.J. Hensick (UM). He scored points in 28 of 36 games last season and had 15 multiple point games. For his career Matsumoto has 80 points (38g, 42a) in just 72 games.
Mazzei, like Hodgson played in all 38 games last season. He set career-highs in goals (7) and points (15) last season while also recording his first career short-handed goal in a win over UConn. He also recorded his first-ever CCHA playoff goal in a loss to Nebraska-Omaha.
Meloche has played 96 games in his Falcon career, second most on the team. The senior finished with 10 points (5g, 5a) in 2005-06, and has 36 points (20g, 16a) in his career. He also has 115 career penalty minutes, third highest on the team.
Svendsen is the first sophomore to be named assistant captain since Doug Schueller in the 1998-99 season. Last year Svendsen led all Falcon freshman with 19 points (10g, 9a) and played in all 38 games. He finished second on the team with 141 shots and had at least one shot in 37 of 38.
Danton Cole Joins Falcon Coaching Staff
Danton Cole begins his first year with the Bowling Green hockey team. Cole comes to BGSU after serving as the head coach of the Motor City Mechanics for the past two seasons, where he compiled a 58-32-6 record.
Prior to his time in the Motor City, Cole served as the head coach of Grand Rapids (AHL) for three seasons (2002-04). In his three seasons with the Griffins Cole recorded 116-72-17 (.607) record, and is the winningest coach in Grand Rapids history. He was also an assistant with Grand Rapids for two seasons where they were 104-40-0 and has a 222-126-27 record as a head coach for his career.
Cole received his first head coaching duty in 2001-02 with the Muskegon Fury (UHL), where he helped lead the team to a 48-22 overall record, as well as a league championship.
A native of Pontiac, Mich., Cole played four seasons for the Spartans of Michigan State. In his four years with MSU Cole compiled 163 points (69g, 94a) in 180 games and was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. The 180 games played as a Spartan is still a school record.
While at Michigan State, Cole and the Spartans advanced to the Frozen Four three of the four year, finishing first, second and third. He was named Team MVP his senior year and earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor for student-athlete of the year. He also won the Jim Ruehl Award from BGSU for most honorable opponent in 1988-89.
Cole played 11 seasons of professional hockey, including stints with the Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks and winning the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 1995. Cole amassed 118 points and 125 penalty minutes in 318 NHL games.
