Icers Entertain Ferris State With Playoff Seeding At Stake

Feb. 19, 2008

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team returns home from Omaha this week with home ice secured for the upcoming Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs in three weeks. However, what they don't have secured is their seeding as they still have a shot at finishing anywhere from fourth to eighth in the final league standings as they get ready to do battle with Ferris State who is currently tied with the Falcons for the sixth-position. The Bulldogs haven't secured home ice yet, but will be in search of doing so when the teams meet Friday and Saturday at the BGSU Ice Arena. Both faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. as BG will be looking for its' first season series win over the Bulldogs in three seasons and only their second in the last eight. The Falcons swept the Bulldogs in Big Rapids, Mich. back in November, winning 6-3 in game one and 3-1 in game two.

Complete Release in PDF Format (45 Pages)

Games #31-32
Ferris State at Bowling Green

Feb. 22-23, 2008  BGSU Ice Arena, 7:05 p.m.

RECORDS: BGSU 15-15-0, 12-12-0 CCHA // FSU 13-13-4, 10-10-4 CCHA
RADIO:WBGU (88.1): Danny Nieves (Play-by-Play)

RADIO BROADCAST
Friday and Saturday night's action between the Falcons and Bulldogs can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM. Danny Nieves will be providing all the play-by-play of the action. A pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard locally on WBGU 88.1 FM and globally on both www.bgsufalcons.com and www.bgrso.org. If you missed any of the action on Friday and Saturday then, you can tune into Danny Nieves' show "In The Box" on Sunday nights between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on WFAL 1610 AM. Nieves and co-host Bob Mills will recap the weekend in Falcon hockey and will welcome in guests from the team each weekend. Guests in the past two weeks have included Jacob Cepis, Kevin Schmidt, Dan Sexton and Derek Whitmore. To listen globally you can visit www.wfalradio.com.
LIVE STATS
Live stats for Friday and Saturday's games will be available at www.bgsufalcons.com via gametracker, which can be found on the team's schedule page.
THE OPENING FACEOFF (STORYLINES)
Home Ice Secured!
 As a result of their win at Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday night, coupled with Alaska tying Notre Dame at home, the Falcons have secured home ice for the CCHA playoffs for the first time in three seasons. BG last hosted a CCHA playoff series back in 2004-05 when they finished fifth in the final standings and hosted eighth-seeded Alaska. UA won the series in two games with a pair of 6-3 wins. This year's home ice playoff series will be just the third for the Falcons in the last 14 years and just the fifth in the last 20. Prior to 2004-05, BG last hosted a playoff series during the 1994-95 season when they finished second and swept ninth-place Notre Dame back when the league had only 10 teams. That year's playoff series was the second in-a-row for the Falcons who also hosted in the 1993-94 campaign when they finished sixth and swept seventh-seeded Ferris State. The Falcons have won 13 of their total 14 home CCHA playoff series. Success In Omaha Comes In Much Different Way
 A rare occurence for the Falcons this season occured in this weekend's series at Nebraska-Omaha. For the first time all season, the Falcons lost a CCHA game on Friday and won on Saturday. The Falcons also rallied from a first period deficit to win for only the third time this season when trailing after the first 20 minutes and for just the third time when giving up the game's first goal. Coming into the game, BG was 2-8-0 when trailing at the first break and 2-13-0 when giving up the game's first point. Overall on the season, the Falcons are then 1-2-0 in game two of a CCHA series when losing game one, 8-3-0 on CCHA Fridays and 4-7-0 on CCHA Saturdays.
Whitmore Joins Exclusive Company
 With his three goals this past weekend in Omaha, Derek Whitmore joined an elite Falcon career list when he tallied his 24th, 25th and 26th goals of the season. With his 25th goal on Saturday, the senior tri-captain entered BG's top-20 career list for the most goals scored while wearing the Falcon uniform as he tied the likes of Rich Nagai (1972-76), Curtis Fry (1993-97) and Peter Wilson (1980-84) for 19th on the list with his 68th career goal. The Rochester, N.Y. native wouldn't stop there though as he take sole possesion of the 19th spot with his 69th career lamp lighter later in the contest. Whitmore's 26 goals this season are h=thesecond-most scored by a Falcon in the last 11 years. Below is a look at positions 19-10 on the BGSU career goals list.
Rank Player Games Goals G-PG
10. Bob Dobek 108 94 0.870
11. Peter Holmes 164 84 0.512
12. Don Barber 155 83 0.535
13. Martin Jiranek 155 78 0.503
14. Mark Wells 154 77 0.500
15. John Samanski 134 74 0.552
16. Paul Ysebaert 129 73 0.566
17. Ian Duncan 161 72 0.447
18. Pete Badour 128 71 0.555
19. Derek Whitmore 134 69 0.514
A FALCON VICTORY OR LOSS WOULD ...
VICTORY
 Would give the Falcons their third victory of the season over Ferris State and would improve their cluster record to 7-4 on the season.
 Would give BG 16 wins on the season, tying them with their win total from the 2004-05 season.
 Would give the Falcons 13 CCHA wins on the season, also tying their mark in 2004-05.
 Would keep them in possesion of sixth-place in the league standings and could possibly tie them for fiffth.
LOSS
 Would give the Falcons their second-consecutive loss on a CCHA Friday.
 Would move the Falcons record to 6-5 in cluster play and would drop them below .500 in the league standings for just third time on the season.
 Could put the Falcons in seventh or eighth-place in the league standings.
 would be the Falcons second-consecutive loss at the BGSU Ice Arena and would drop them below .500 on the season at home.
WHERE WHITMORE GOES ... SO DO THE FALCONS
The 2007-08 campaign has been one to remember for senior forward and tri-captain Derek Whitmore. The Rochester, N.Y. native has tallied a national-leading three hat tricks and has entered or is closing in on some of BG's career scoring lists. With his three goals against Nebraska-Omaha, he entered the top-20 list for career goals in a Falcon uniform and with just two more points, he'll become the 69th player in school history to eclipse the 100-point barrier. Here are some tidbits related to the Hobey Baker and All-American candidate.
 Leads the team with 32 points (26-6-32), a new single-season career best.
 Been named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 12, Jan. 21).
 His three hat tricks put him just two shy of the single-season school record of five set by Bob Dobek in the 1973-74 season.
 Tied for fourth-nationally with five game-winning goals and tied for first in the CCHA in conference game only with all five coming in CCHA play.
 Leads the nation and CCHA with a 0.90 goals per game average.
 Scored 21 of his 26 goals this season in Falcon wins where he has picked up 24 of his 32 points.
 When he tallies a multiple-point effort in his Falcon career, BG is 16-7-1, while they are 32-27-4 when he tallies a single point.
 Tallied 19 of his 26 goals this season in the first and third periods and has 17 lamp lighters in road contests.
RIDING THE "ROAD" TO SUCCESS
Being able to win on the road is a big key to having success and the road has been a friendly place this season to the BGSU hockey team. The Falcons are 9-8-0 this season away from the BGSU Ice Arena, which currently ranks tied for the fourth-best road win total in the CCHA and is tied for the sixth-best road win total in the nation. Only 19 teams in Division I hockey have a winning or .500 home record and road record and BG is one of those teams as they are also 6-6-0 at home. The nine road wins are the most the Falcons have had in a regular-season under sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch as the 2004-05 squad won eight road tilts. That total is also tied for the most the program has had since the 1995-96 season when they had nine. The team mark of 13 regular-season road wins was set in 1986-87 when Paluch was a junior defenseman.
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
The Falcons of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch currently sit at 15-15-0 overall with a 12-12-0 mark in the CCHA, which currently has them in a sixth-place tie with Ferris State, two points behind Nebraska-Omaha in fifth ... they are 9-8-0 on the road this season, 6-6-0 at home and 0-1-0 in neutral site contests ... BG comes into the weekend 2-3 in their last five and 5-5 in their last 10 ... overall on the season, 11 of the Falcons' 15 losses came to ranked opponents as they are 1-9 against ranked opponents and 14-6 against non-ranked foes ... the Falcons however, have only lost five games all season decided by three goals or more ... leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore (26-6-32), while freshman forward Jacob Cepis sits just five points back with a line of 12-15-27 ... Whitmore leads the team with 26 goals scored, while Cepis is second on the team with 12 ... on the blue line, the Falcons are led by junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt who has 21 points this season on four goals and 17 assists ... senior defenseman Mike Nesdill then has 16, while junior Tim Maxwell has 14 points ... in net, BG has gotten 14 starts from junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and 15 from freshman Nick Eno as the two have combined for a 2.89 goals-against average and an .896 save percentage ... against non-ranked opponents though, the duo has combined for a 2.38 GAA and a .913 save percentage ... the Falcons came into the season returning 20 letterwinners, including 11 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies ... they also welcomed in seven newcomers, including five forwards, one defenseman and one goalie .. overall BG returned 73% of their goals from last season and 78% of their points.
A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs of 16-year head coach Bob Daniels are currently 13-12-5 on the year with a CCHA record of 10-10-4 ... they are currently tied with the Falcons for sixth-place in the CCHA standings with 24 league points ... FSU is 6-6-3 at home, 6-6-2 on the road and 1-0-0 in neutral site contests ... the Bulldogs come into the weekend with the Falcons on a five-game unbeaten streak, which has seen them win three of their last five games, including a weekend sweep of #2 Miami this past weekend ... FSU won 6-5 in game one on Friday and 3-1 in game two on Saturday ... leading the way for FSU was sophomore forward Cody Chupp who scored two goals on Friday and one on Saturday, while sophomore forward Blair Riley contributed a goal and two assists in Friday's six-goal outburst ... in net, freshman Pat Nagle made 36 saves on 37 RedHawk shots on Saturday as FSU won despite being out-shot 37-21 ... the FSU power play went 3-for-9 on the weekend, while their penalty-kill held the RedHawks to 3-for-14 weekend with the man-advantage, including an 0-for-6 night on Saturday ... leading the way up front for FSU is Chupp, who has 23 points this season on eight goals and 15 assists ... just behind him is senior forward Adam Miller who has a line of 6-13-19 ... Riley then leads the team in goals with 11, while junior forward Brendan Connolly has 10, including a team-best four power-play goals ... on the blue line, the Bulldogs are led by freshman Zach Redmond who has a scoring line of 5-10-15, while freshman Scott Wietecha has 10 points on four goals and six assists ... between the pipes, FSU has gotten 18 games from junior Mitch O'Keefe and 13 from Nagle ... O'Keefe has a goals-against average of 2.17 and .923 save percentage, while Nagle has 2.47 and .904, respectively ... FSU is 3-0-2 in its' last five and 4-3-3 in their last 10 ... they've had road wins this season at Ohio State, Nebraska-Omaha, Western Michigan and Notre Dame ... just two weeks ago they earned three points against the Fighting Irish in South Bend, while back in November they earned a road sweep over the Buckeyes in Columbus.
THE FERRIS STATE SERIES
This weekendís meetings between the Falcons and Bulldogs will be the 103rd and 104th between the two schools and the third and fourth meetings between the two cluster mates this season ... BG owns a 50-41-11 lead in the all-time series, including a 30-18-5 lead in the series games played at the BGSU Ice Arena ... BG earned a two-game sweep over the Bulldogs back in November in Big Rapids, Mich., winning 6-3 in game one and 3-1 in game two ... senior forward Derek Whitmore had five of the Falconsí nine goals in the series ... Whitmore had two goals on Friday and tallied his first career hat trick on Saturday ... also having a big series was sophomore forward James Perkin who set a new career game-high with three points on two goals and an assist in BG's game one victory ... Tim Maxwell, John Mazzei, Todd McIlrath, Mike Nesdill and Kevin Schmidt all had two assists in the series ... in net, Jimmy Spratt made 30 of 31 saves in game two of the series, while freshman Nick Eno mad 27 stops on 30 in the game one win ... BG is just 3-10-2 against FSU in the last 15 and 2-7-1 in their last 10 at home in the series ... a Falcon win this weekend would give BG the win in the season series with FSU for the first time in three seasons ... senior forward Derek Whitmore leads all Falcon scorers against the Bulldogs with eight career points in the series.
TIDBITS RELATED TO THE FERRIS STATE SERIES
 The Falcons sweep at Ferris State in November was their first in Big Rapids since they swept the Bulldogs 8-4, 9-6 on the road in November of 1987.
 BG has swept a four-game season series from FSU three times with the last coming in the 1987-88 season when they went 6-0 against the Bulldogs.
 In 2002-03 Ferris State clinched their first-ever CCHA regular-season title with a game one win at BG in the final series of the season.
 Nelson Emerson's school record for consecutive games with a goal was broken in 1995 against Ferris when Mike Hall tallied a goal for the 11th-straight contest.
 A strange occurence happened just two seasons ago in this series at the BGSU Ice Arena when the two teams had to call a game after the first intermission because pink coolant was seeping onto the ice through one of the goal mounts. The game was scoreless at the time and was made up later in the season.
 Falcon head coach Scott Paluch (1984-88) went 16-5-0 against the Bulldogs in his four years wearing the orange and brown uniform. However, just a few years later, assistant coach Todd Reirden (1990-94) played for the Falcons and was only 8-12-1 against Ferrirs in 21 career meetings with the Bulldogs. BG's other assistant coach, Doug Schueller (1997-2001), went 4-4-3 in his playing career against FSU.
LAST TIME OUT ...
This past weekend the Falcons earned a road split at Nebraska-Omaha, falling 5-3 on Friday, before picking up only their second Saturday win since the holiday tournament with a 3-1 victory in game two ... The Falcons were led on the weekend by Derek Whitmore who had three goals and an assist, while freshman forward Jacob Cepis added three helpers in the two games ... on Friday, Whitmore and linemate Dan Sexton tied for a team-high with two points on a goal and an assist, respectively ... also adding a goal Friday was senior forward John Mazzei ... Jimmy Spratt made 22 stops in net on 26 UNO shots ... the Falcons were 2-for-6 with the man-advantage in the contest and were out-shot 27-22 ... In Saturday's victory, the Falcons got two power play goals from Whitmore and another from Mazzei, while Cepis added two assists ... Nick Eno made 39 saves on 40 UNO shots in net to earn his 10th victory of his rookie season ... BG was 2-for-4 on the power play and was out-shot 40-31.
IN FIFTHTEEN FALCON WINS THIS SEASON ...
 BGSU has averaged 4.1 goals a game, while giving up an average of 1.9.
 BGSU out-shot their opponents by a 32.7 to 27.5 average.
 BGSU was a combined 24-for-89 on the power play (27.0%), while they held opponents to just 11-for-80 (13.8%).
 BGSU had an average of 21.7 penalty minutes per game, while their opponent averaged 25.1.
 BGSU out-scored their opponents, 19-5, in the first period, 23-12 in the second and 16-11 in the third.
 BGSU won 56.1% of their faceoffs.
 Derek Whitmore scored 23 points (21-2-23) and had 10 power-play goals and one short-haned marker.
 Jacob Cepis had 20 points (9-11-20) and two power-play tallies.
 James Perkin scored 16 points (6-10-16) and dished out 10 assists.
 Kevin Schmidt had three goals and 12 assists.
 Jimmy Spratt had a 1.97 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
 Nick Eno had a 1.79 goals-against average and .935 save percentage.
 Jacob Cepis, Dan Sexton, Todd McIlrath, Tim Maxwell, James Perkin, Kevin Schmidt and Derek Whitmore were a combined +62.
 The Falcon freshmen were a combined +26.
 BG had 147 recorded blocked shots.
 The Falcon goaltenders allowed just 16 even strength goals of the 28 they allowed in the 15 games.
IN FIFTHTEEN FALCON LOSSES THIS SEASON ...
 BGSU averaged 1.7 goals a game, while giving up an average of 3.9.
 BGSU was out-shot by their opponents by a 28.3 to 27.5 average.
 BGSU was a combined 8-for-84 on the power play (9.5%), while their opponents were 15-for-72 (20.8%).
 BGSU averaged 17.5 penalty minutes a game, while their opponent also averaged 17.4.
 BGSU won 50.4% of their faceoffs.
 BGSU was out-scored by their opponent, 19-9 in the first period, 19-14 in the second and 21-3 in the third period.
 Derek Whitmore, Jacob Cepis, Kevin Schmidt and James Perkin combined for just 25 points (10-18-28).
 BG surrendered three short-handed goals and tallied two short-handed goals.
 Freshmen Dan Sexton had five goals and David Solway had four.
 The five Falcon seniors were a combined -26 in the plus/minus category, while the eight sophomores and four juniors were a combined -83.
 Kevin Schmidt was -16, while Tim Maxwell was -13 and Derek Whitmore was -13.
 Senior Mike Nesdill was the lone Falcon with a plus rating as he had a +3.
For More Information, Player Bios, Statistics And See The Complete Release At The Top Of The Page.