Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hockey Announces Early Recruits From Early Signing Period
December 19, 2007 | Ice Hockey
Dec. 19, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey program and head coach Scott Paluch has announced the signing of five players during the NCAA's early signing period. Nick Bailen, Bryan Potacco, Marc Rodriguez, Ian Ruel, and Robert Shea have all signed National Letters of Intent, committing themselves to become Falcons for the 2008-09 academic year. Also joining the group will be Brennan Vargas, who signed a letter last season, but stayed in juniors to gain another year of experience.
"We're definitely excited about this list we have of incoming players," said Paluch. "The one common dominator that all six of these players have is their quick feet and the quickness they will provide us, which is really starting to become more of an identity with this team. We definitely have three of these players in next fall, but we'll monitor the other three as the year goes on and continue to evaluate their progress. So we'll continue to recruit this class as the year goes on and continue to add members when needed. But it's definitely an intriguing group of talented players, which we as a staff are very excited about."
Bailen, a 5-11 left-handed defenseman, is currently playing in his third season for the Indiana Ice of the USHL. The Fredonia, N.Y. native has played in all 23 of the team's games where he has accumulated a line of 3-10-13 and a +8 rating. His 13 points rank sixth on the team and are second most among the defensemen. The point total is also tied for the eighth most for defensemen amongst the league rankings. He has tallied one power-play goal and one game-winning goal on the season in helping the Ice to a 17-5-1 overall record, which is tops in the league's East Division. In 2005-06, he was a teammate on the Ice with current Falcons Todd McIlrath and Kyle Page.
"Nick is going to come in here with three years of experience in the USHL, which is just a tremendous advantage to have in an incoming player," said Paluch. "What I really like about him is that he has the ability to be a match-up defender for us because of how hard he competes. He also moves the puck well, he's gotten power-play time all three years he has played in the league and he is an extremely versatile defenseman who should be able to come in and help out right away."
Potacco, a 6-1 left-handed forward, is currently playing for St. Michael's of the OPJHL where he has a line of 20-28-48 thru 34 games. The Kinnelon, N.J. native has also tallied three power-play goals, one short-handed marker and three game-winning goals in helping the Buzzers to a 31-2-2 record and league-leading 64 points. His 48 points rank fourth on the team and tied for 15th in the league rankings as he joins former Buzzer greats Gino Cavallini, Kevin Schmidt, Mike Pikul, Ken Klee and all-time Buzzers point-leader Jamie Wansborough in donning the Orange and Brown after spending their junior days playing for St. Michael's.
"Bryan has great quickness, especially on loose pucks," said Paluch. "He's a hound on loose pucks and has a very quick stick, much like that in what you see with Derek Whitmore [current senior forward]. He's then very opportunistic when getting to those pucks and can usually make something good happen when he does."
Rodriguez, a 5-9 right-handed forward, is currently playing for Sioux Falls of the USHL where he has accumulated 13 points (4-9-13) in 23 contests. The Aurora, Ill. native is even in the plus/minus category and currently has the eighth-best point total on the team. The Stampede are currently in the third-position in the USHL West Division at 11-10-2. Current Falcons Dan Sexton, David Solway and Patrick Tiesling all played for the Stampede last season, helping the team to the Clark Cup Championship.
"Marc is an extremely smart and good skating centerman who has been able to put up some fairly good numbers in a midget career and now in his early USHL career," said Paluch. "He definitely possesses the ability to be a good college player. He's a great two-way guy who understands both sides of the puck well and for being a young first-year guy in that league, he's been put in some really good situations because of how responsible of a player he is."
Ruel, a 6-2 right-handed defenseman, like Bailen, is currently playing for Indiana of the USHL where he has yet to see any action due to a broken hand he suffered back in September. The Ann Arbor, Mich. native, however, is expected to return to action soon as he was activated from the injured reserve list this past week. Before playing for the Ice, he played AAA midget in Michigan for Victory Honda in Plymouth, a program that has produced CCHA players, such as Michigan's Kevin Porter, Miami's Jeff Zatkoff and Notre Dame's Evan Rankin.
"Ian is a very mobile for being a big defenseman," said Paluch. "He's a very physical player, but he is also a very good first pass defender. He makes good plays, his feet get him up the ice and his physical play is something that will be a great asset to us over the next few years when you look at some of the players who'll be leaving."
Shea, a 5-11 left-handed defenseman, is currently playing for Green Bay of the USHL where he has put up five points (2-3-5) in 21 games played. The Harrison Township, Mich. native has tallied one game-winning goal and also has 55 minutes in penalties as he been a physical presence for his team night in and night out. The Gamblers currently sit at 9-13-1 on the season and in fifth-place in the USHL East Division.
"Bobby [Shea] is another young defenseman who is very mobile and moves extremely well," said Paluch. "He's more of a defensive defenseman, but as he develops I believe we'll see a nice offensive game start to come out of him. He's a very good passer who competes extremely hard and like the others has excellent feet. He's an `in your face' type of defenseman and will also be extremely physical."
Vargas, a 6-0 forward, started his season playing for Tri-City of the USHL where he had a line of 2-4-6 in 13 games. The team recently released him in a mutual agreement, as roster conflicts arose after a trade. In his time with the Storm, the Coon Rapids, Minn. native tallied both a power-play goal and a game-winning marker, helping the team to a current record of 10-12-1. Prior to playing for the Storm, Vargas was part of the U.S. National Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. where he played for the Under-18 Team, which competes against some of the best college hockey teams in country each season.
"Brennan has really good feet for being a 6-foot, 215-pound guy," said Paluch. "But I think the best characteristic he presents is that he has the ability to play both center and wing for us and that is mostly due to his hockey intelligence. He understands the game extremely well. He hasn't produced the largest of numbers the past few years, but that is mostly due to the fact that he was put in more of a checking role when he was with the national program in Ann Arbor [Mich.] and then again this season he was asked to fill that role. But he definitely has that intelligence he needs to be successful at this level."
BG is currently sitting at 8-6-0 and tied for seventh-place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings as they were ranked 19th in the latest USCHO/CSTV Poll released on Monday (Dec. 17). The Falcons will next take to the ice on Dec. 28th at 5:07 p.m. when they open the 2007 Badger Showdown with a battle against the 11th-ranked Northeastern Huskies. The tournament, hosted by the University of Wisconsin, will take place in Madison, Wisc. at UW's Kohl Center where the host Badgers and Colgate will also be competing in the two-day holiday event (Dec. 28-29).
BGSU MEN'S ICE HOCKEY SIGNEES
Name Pos. R/L Hgt. Wgt. Hometown (Current Team)
Nick Bailen D L 5-11 170 Fredonia, N.Y. (Indiana/USHL)
Bryan Potacco F L 6-1 187 Kinnelon, N.J. (St. Michael's/OPJHL)
Marc Rodriguez F R 5-9 180 Aurora, Ill. (Sioux Falls/USHL)
Ian Ruel D R 6-2 200 Ann Arbor, Mich. (Indiana/USHL)
Robert Shea D L 5-11 180 Harrison Twp., Mich. (Green Bay/USHL)
Brennan Vargas F 6-0 215 Coon Rapids, Minn.
