Bowling Green Hockey Ready to Lace Up the Skates Versus Wilfrid-Laurier

Bowling Green Falcons
vs.
Wilfrid Laurier (exh.)
Oct. 3, 2009 • BGSU Ice Arena
12:00 p.m.

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Radio: 88.1 WBGU-FM
Announcers: Everett Fitzhugh (play-by-play) and Brian Fisher (analyst)
LISTEN LIVE!

GAME NOTES

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The Bowling Green State University hockey team will take the ice for the first time in competitive play against the Wilfrid-Laurier Golden Hawks of the Ontario University Athletics league in an exhibition match. Drop of the puck will be at high noon and will be the first of three home BGSU athletic events scheduled for the 2009 Homecoming weekend.

Earlier this week, interim head coach Dennis Williams sat down with the media to answer questions about the match against Wilfrid-Laurier as well as general questions surrounding his team and the 2009-10 season. Watch his weekly press conference below. This video is courtesy of Drew Evans of Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com.

THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will conduct its first official on-ice action in an exhibition match with the visiting Wilfrid-Laurier Golden Hawks of the Ontario University Athletics league Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. The puck will drop for the first time to begin the 2009-10 hockey season at noon at the BGSU Ice Arena.

RADIO
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into 88.1 WGBU-FM. Everett Fitzhugh will provide the play-by-play commentary, with Brian Fisher as the color analyst. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard globally on both www.bgsufalcons.com and www.bgrso.org.

LIVE STATS
Live stats for all BGSU home games are available on the BGSU web site - www.bgsufalcons.com - via Live Scoring. The stats can be accessed from the schedule page in the hockey section of the website by clicking on the “details” icon on the right hand side of the page, then by clicking “live scoring”.

HOMECOMING HITS B.G.S.U.
The Falcon hockey exhibition against Wilfrid-Laurier will officially “kick-off” the homecoming festivities for Bowling Green State University athletics, but is far from the only team in action. Falcon men's soccer (1-6-2, 1-0-1 MAC) will take to the pitch at noon, as well, against MAC-foe Western Michigan. The spotlight event occurs at 4 p.m. when Falcon football (1-3) begins MAC play against the Ohio Bobcats at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. BGSU volleyball (7-10, 0-3 MAC) has hit the road and will travel to Western Michigan for a 7:00 p.m. match.

KYLE PAGE NAMED CAPTAIN FOR 2009-10; SOLWAY AND DEE AS ASSISTANT CAPTAINS
With a team that is as young as the Falcon squad is (8-SR, 4-JR, 4-SO, 10-FR), upperclassman leadership will be key to BGSU's success and development. That being said it is only fitting that seniors Kyle Page and Tommy Dee along with junior David Solway have been named the captains of the 2009-10 BGSU Falcons. Page will wear the captain's “C” while Dee and Solway will dawn their assistant captain “A”s.

Page, who was also named captain last season, returns after posting his best offensive season in 2008-09. He scored a career-high four goals and ten assists; good for 14 points. Thirteen of those points came in the Falcons' last 23 games. As a sophomore, Page did not record a point but was a defensive stalwart for the Brown and Orange with his candidacy for CCHA Defenseman of the Year in 2007-08. In that year, he blocked 25 shots, but was even or better in 23 of 35 games. He is a two-time winner of the Jim Ruehl Award, given to BGSU's top defensive player, which he won as a freshman and a sophomore. Page also was named to the All-CCHA Rookie Team in 2006-07.

Solway will return as the team's leading point-getter from the 2008-09 season (24) at the forward position. He played in all 38 games as a sophomore netting a career-high 12 goals and assisting on 12 others. He was third on the team in scoring in CCHA contests (19). He hit three game-winning goals, all at home, against Northern Michigan (Nov. 24), Clarkson (Dec. 20) and Michigan State (Feb. 21).

Dee returns as another reliable scoring threat as a forward. In 2008-09 he scored seven goals and added an assist to finish the year with eight points total. He turned in a career night against Ohio State in the first game of the CCHA Tournament's opening round by scoring a pair of goals against the Buckeyes. He also scored the game-winning goal against the Michigan Wolverines in a 3-0 win, the first shut-out of the Wolverines in series history.

WELCOME TO FALCON COUNTRY!
With the Williams era underway, many new faces have come to Bowling Green, Ohio. Ten new players and three new coaches have been welcomed into the Falcon Family for the upcoming season.

The lineup will feature four new defensemen, five forwards and one goaltender. Included in this class of freshmen is the 2008-09 OJHL scoring champion (Nathan Pageau, F), a seventh-round NHL Draft selection of the Atlanta Thrashers (Jordan Samuels-Thomas, F) and a goaltender who is fresh off a 2008-09 Bank Cup Championship (Andrew Hammond, G). Ryan Peltoma (Fr., D), Jerry Freismuth (Fr., F), Ian Ruel (Fr., D), Matt Rodriguez (Fr., F), Max Grover (Fr., F), Reed Rushing (Fr., D), and Robert Shea (Fr., D) round out the freshman class.

On the bench with head coach Dennis Williams will be three new coaches to assist him. Assistant coach Mike Mankowski, most recently of Canisius College (2005-09), brings a wealth of experience and specializes in recruiting. He also spent time with the Toledo IceDiggers (2002-05), leading them to a CEHL championship in 2002 as their head coach and eventual general manager. Mankowski also spent time with the Toledo Storm (ECHL) from 2000-03 and was the head coach of Toledo's St. John's Jesuit High School hockey team, which he led to six Ohio State Frozen Four appearances in that time. Mankowski is a 1990 graduate of Toledo.

Scott Stirling was brought in and will begin his first season as a coach. Stirling specializes in goaltending after completing an established post-collegiate career with teams from the ECHL, AHL and the Norwegian Hockey League. His best season was in 2004 as a part of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (ECHL) where he posted a 1.91 GAA and .933 save-percentage in 49 games (31-13-5). He would go on to win WCHL MVP honors, Goalie of the Year and First Team All-ECHL honors. His collegiate career at Brown University (1997-2000) was filled with success as well. A two-time All-Ivy selection, Stirling is in the Golden Bear top-ten in seven different season and career goaltending categories.

Doug Slipacoff is the final addition to the hockey coaching staff. He comes to BGSU as a recent graduate of Neumann College and will continue his graduate studies at BGSU in business education. Slipacoff reunites with coach Williams after Williams recruited Slipacoff to play for him as a Golden Knight in 2005. Slipacoff played defense for the Knights and was a part of their 2009 Division-III National Championship season. For his career at Neumann, Slipacoff played in 40 games, scored one goal and recorded five assists for a total of six career points.

BOWLING GREEN ON NATIONAL TELEVISION THIS SEASON
Bowling Green hockey will displayed on a national setting twice for the 2009-10 season. The first occurrence will be during the away contest Michigan on Feb. 9, 2010. That game will be broadcast on Comcast Cable at 7:35 p.m. The second occasion will be at Michigan State on Feb. 26, 2010 when Fox Sports Network - Detroit will air the Falcons and the Spartans dropping the puck at 6:05 p.m. Select BGSU home games will be broadcast locally on BCSN.

OFF TO THE NHL!
Bowling Green has had a rich tradition in preparing its hockey players for rich careers in the National Hockey League, and for three Falcons from last year's team that could not be truer. Goaltender Jimmy Spratt and forwards Dan Sexton and Brandon Svendsen have caught on to teams in the NHL, or their affiliates.

Spratt, who had been drafted in seventh round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames, has signed a deal with the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL for the 2009-10 season. He will be one of two goaltenders on the Chiefs roster going into the season. Spratt strung together solid junior and senior campaigns for the Falcons in 2007-08 and 2008-09 by having 17 wins, a 3.06 GAA and over 1,228 saves in that time.

After signing a two-year entry-level deal with the Anaheim Ducks, Sexton had been performing well in preseason drills before being reassigned to the AHL affiliate, San Antonio Rampage. Sexton was named to the All-CCHA honorable mention team after a 2008-09 season where he played in 38 games, scoring 17 goals and 22 assists.

Svendsen had signed a contract with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL after completing his career with the Falcons where he scored four goals and 15 assists. Shortly after the conclusion of the Steelheads season, Svendsen signed a tryout contract with the Ottawa Senators in July 2009. He has since been reassigned to the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's AHL affiliate.

During the 2008-09 season as alternate captain, Svendsen had his best season establishing career highs for points (30), goals (12) and assists (18). Overall, the Minnesota native played 148 career games with 76 points (32g-44a).

HAPPY (40TH) BIRTHDAY FALCON HOCKEY!!
A year after celebrating the 25th anniversary of the school's only national championship dating back to the magical 1983-84 season, ending with a quadruple overtime victory over Minnesota-Duluth, Bowling Green State University will celebrate its 40th year of varsity hockey. The first varsity hockey team was fielded in 1969 and had Division-III status as a part of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA).

In their first contest on November 14, 1969 the Falcons, led by head coach Jack Vivian, played Windsor University and came away with an 8-2 win for their first official collegiate victory. The 1969-70 team would go on to post a 13-12-5 overall record and finish in first place in the WCHA with a 6-1-1 mark. In their two years in the MCHA, Bowling Green would finish with a combined record of 31-24-6 (13-2-1 MCHA) with two conference first place finishes.

In 1971, BGSU would be one of four schools to charter the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) along with Ohio University, Ohio State University and Saint Louis University. Along with the conference creation, Bowling Green would also garner Division-I status in hockey. In the program's first games under these new stipulations BGSU would thump Ryerson Polytechnical Institute by scores of 9-3 and 9-0. In the Falcons' first CCHA contest, they would beat Ohio University, 5-2. During the 1971-72 season, the Falcons would finish 21-10-2 overall and 6-4-2 in conference play, good for third place.

Bowling Green is the only member of the CCHA to have remained an active member for all 39 years (including this year) of the conference's existence. Ohio State left the CCHA for the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons, but returned for the 1975-76 season.

After 39 years, BGSU has an all-time record of 789-669-94 (.540), with 478 of those wins within the CCHA. Last season, the Falcons finished 11-24-3 (ovr.) and 8-19-1 (conf.), placing 12th in the CCHA. They would be bumped from the CCHA Tournament in the first round by Ohio State after 5-4 and 7-1 losses at the hands of the Buckeyes.

FALCONS DRAW TOUGH CLUSTER
Completing the BGSU schedule cluster will be conference foes No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Notre Dame and Michigan State. The Falcons will face each team four times through the course of the season. They went a combined 2-6 against these teams a season ago and were outscored 30-10 over eight games.

Notre Dame: 0-4-0 vs. ND in 2008-09... outscored by ND 21-6 in four games... scored one goal in three of the four games played... outshot in all four games versus the Irish (118-92)... ND went 10-of-28 on the power play against BGSU in 2008-09.

Michigan: 1-1 vs. UM in 2008-09... outscored UM 3-1 in two games... posted the only shutout win against UM in BGSU history in a 3-0 win (Jan. 16)... BG held the Wolverines to zero goals on 13 power play opportunities in those games... will open Lucas County Arena (Toledo, Ohio) officially with a CCHA contest on Nov. 21.

Michigan State: 1-1-0 vs. MSU in 2008-09... finished the regular-season with a 4-0 win at home over MSU on Feb. 21... outscored MSU 6-3 in the two-game series... outshot MSU 73-51 in that span... BG faired better on power play by converted two of their 11 chances, as opposed to MSU going 1-11... will be the first time BGSU and MSU have met more than twice in a season since 2000-01 (two regular season games, one post-season - MSU wins series 2-0-1).

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