Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, October 23
Bowling Green, Ohio
7:05 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
Providence
Falcon Hockey Preps for Providence
October 20, 2009 | Ice Hockey
Bowling Green Falcons
vs.
Providence Friars
BGSU Ice Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Oct. 23-24, 2009
7:05 p.m.
vs.
Providence Friars
BGSU Ice Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Oct. 23-24, 2009
7:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES (25 pages)
CCHA WEEKLY NOTES (18 pages)
THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will play host to the Providence Friars of the Hockey East Association this weekend in its regular season home opening weekend. BGSU will attempt to avenge a 4-3 loss to the Friars a season ago at Schneider Arena. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. EST on both Friday and Saturday night.
MEDIA COVERAGE
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 alongside for the analysis. 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.
The Buckeye Cable Sports Network will provide television coverage of Falcon hockey for select contests, beginning this Saturday versus Providence. The game will be broadcast on tape delay and will follow the Toledo Walleye hockey game. Providing the commentary will be Greg Franke with the play-by-play and former BGSU Falcon hockey head coach Scott Paluch with the analysis.
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”.
LAST TIME OUT
On Friday (Oct. 16) the Falcons were defeated at home by the U.S. National Team Development program by a score of 7-2 in exhibition play. Team USA scored five unanswered goals in the first two periods before the Falcons' Kyle Page broke up the shut out on a hard power play slap shot that beat goaltender Jack Cambell gloveside. Andrew Krelove also recorded a goal against Campbell late in the contest. All three Falcon goalies saw action with Andrew Hammond drawing the start (14 saves on 18 shots). Nick Eno drew a team high 17 saves and Phil Greer would also make three saves in his 3:35 of action before the final horn blew. The Falcons killed five of seven Team USA power plays while scoring both of their goals on the power play on six attempts.
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 defenseive 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 be displayed on a national setting twice for the 2009-10 season. The first occurrence will be during the away contest at 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.
FALCON QUICK HITS
In his debut as a Falcon, freshman Jordan Samuels-Thomas (nicknamed “JST”) shot out of the gate by scoring a team-leading three points in his first weekend of play. Samuels-Thomas received assists on three goals, two in the first game of his career, against Minnesota State (Oct. 9-10). The last Falcon freshman to score a point in the team's season opener was Kevin Schmidt (2005-2009) when he scored a power-play goal versus Merrimack on Oct. 14, 2005. The last freshman to score multiple points in his debut in brown and orange was Jonathan Matumoto on Oct. 22, 2004 when he scored a goal and two assists at Union College. Samuels-Thomas is only the sixth freshman to score in a BG season opener.
DYNAMIC DUO
Junior Nick Eno and freshman Andrew Hammond may be battling each other for playing time but together they make for a great one-two punch at the goaltender position. Each goalie had the chance to start at Minnesota State (Oct 9-10). Despite the two losses, Hammond and Eno combined for 69 saves on 76 shots against and both finished saving more than 90 percent of the shots they faced. Head coach Dennis Williams said of Eno, “Five or six of his saves were highlight reel saves that could of went the other direction and really put us in a hole.” As for Hammond, Williams said, “Andrew Hammond was the best player for us out there tonight [Saturday]. He kept us in the game and we just got to find more ways to provide more offense.”
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. The Falcons 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 (.357) 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 converting 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).
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
A year removed from a 7-22-5 overall record and a ninth place finish in the Hockey East , the Friars have come out in 2009-10 with a pair of wins, one of which against the No.4/5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish last weekend. The Friars return a pair of double-digit goal scorers in Matt Bergland and John Cavanagh (ten goals each in 2008-09). Through three games, the Friars have scored only five goals and all five have come from a different player. Only two Friars have multiple points (So., D, Daniel New and Jr., F, Jordan Kremyr with two points each) but 11 different Providence players have recorded points. The Friars have not scored a power play goal in eleven opportunities this season and are averaging just over one shot per power play chance (1.09). They are two-for-fifteen (.133) on the penalty kill this season. Only one PC skater has a negative on-ice rating, while the remaining 17 Friars are even or positive. Sophomore goaltender Alex Beaudry has made a statement in his first season as a starter. Through three games he has 92 saves, a 2-1-0 record, has a 1.68 GAA and has a .948 save percentage in 179-plus minutes of action between the pipes.
Providence begins their season with six of its first eight games on the road. Their trip to Bowling Green will end a four-game road trip before engaging in a home-and-home series against conference foe Massachusetts on Halloween weekend. In 2008-09, PC was 4-11-3 on the road while maintaining a 3-11-2 record at Schneider Arena in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Friars are led by fifth year head coach, Tim Army (Providence, '85). He has a 50-79-16 overall record with his alma mater with his best season coming in first year with PC after a 17-16-3 finish in 2005-06. Providence is captained by seniors Mark Fayne (4-5--9, '08-09) and John Cavanagh (10-9--19, '08-09).
ALL EYES ON BG
Though only two games into the season, Bowling Green can be found among the nation's leaders in a few statistical categories in Division I college hockey.
Bowling Green currently ranks 17th in the nation in team penalty kill percentage (.875) after killing 14-of-16 Minnesota State power play chances in Mankato, Minn.
Freshman forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas is in the top-five in college hockey in assists per game (t-4th, 1.50) and points per game among freshmen (t-5th, 1.50).
OFF TO THE NHL!
Bowling Green has a rich tradition in preparing its hockey players for rich careers in the National Hockey League. 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 finishing with 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 and put together a four goal and 15 assist season after completing his career with the Falcons. 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 remain an active member for all 39 years (including this year) of the conference's existence. Ohio State left the CCHA during 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). Bowling Green's 478 CCHA wins is good for third among current conference teams. Last season, the Falcons finished 11-24-3 overall and 8-19-1 in conference play, 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.
CCHA WEEKLY NOTES (18 pages)
THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University hockey team will play host to the Providence Friars of the Hockey East Association this weekend in its regular season home opening weekend. BGSU will attempt to avenge a 4-3 loss to the Friars a season ago at Schneider Arena. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. EST on both Friday and Saturday night.
MEDIA COVERAGE
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 alongside for the analysis. 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.
The Buckeye Cable Sports Network will provide television coverage of Falcon hockey for select contests, beginning this Saturday versus Providence. The game will be broadcast on tape delay and will follow the Toledo Walleye hockey game. Providing the commentary will be Greg Franke with the play-by-play and former BGSU Falcon hockey head coach Scott Paluch with the analysis.
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”.
LAST TIME OUT
On Friday (Oct. 16) the Falcons were defeated at home by the U.S. National Team Development program by a score of 7-2 in exhibition play. Team USA scored five unanswered goals in the first two periods before the Falcons' Kyle Page broke up the shut out on a hard power play slap shot that beat goaltender Jack Cambell gloveside. Andrew Krelove also recorded a goal against Campbell late in the contest. All three Falcon goalies saw action with Andrew Hammond drawing the start (14 saves on 18 shots). Nick Eno drew a team high 17 saves and Phil Greer would also make three saves in his 3:35 of action before the final horn blew. The Falcons killed five of seven Team USA power plays while scoring both of their goals on the power play on six attempts.
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 defenseive 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 be displayed on a national setting twice for the 2009-10 season. The first occurrence will be during the away contest at 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.
FALCON QUICK HITS
- Senior forward Kai Kantola played in his 100th game of his Falcon career in the 2008-09 season finale against Ohio State. He is two goals away from scoring 25 in his career and eight points away from eclipsing 50 points.
- James Perkin (Sr., F) is six points away from hitting 50 for career. He currently stands at 46 points (16-28).
- Assistant captain David Solway ( Jr., F) stands 11 points away from 50 in his Falcon career (21-18--39).
- Assistant captain Tommy Dee (Sr., F) will play in his 100th game as a Falcon on Oct. 30th at Nebraska-Omaha. Dee currently has 12 goals, seven assists and 19 points in 97 games played. Ten of those points (5-5) have come in conference play.
- The BGSU hockey program will be seeking its 800th win in its 40 year existence this season. Bowling Green currently stands with a 789-669-64 overall record in 39 seasons of play and needs 11 wins to hit the 800 mark.
- Bowling Green is also close to reaching another milestone in program wins, this time within Central Collegiate Hockey Association competition. The Falcons stand 22 wins away from 500 total after 38 years of competing in the CCHA. Their overall record in conference play stands at 478-441-69 (.519 winning- percentage).
- Yet another milestone the Falcons will be reached this season when BGSU plays in its conference leading 1,000th CCHA contest this season. The mark will be made when BGSU hosts Lake Superior State at the BGSU Ice Arena on Dec. 5, 2009.
In his debut as a Falcon, freshman Jordan Samuels-Thomas (nicknamed “JST”) shot out of the gate by scoring a team-leading three points in his first weekend of play. Samuels-Thomas received assists on three goals, two in the first game of his career, against Minnesota State (Oct. 9-10). The last Falcon freshman to score a point in the team's season opener was Kevin Schmidt (2005-2009) when he scored a power-play goal versus Merrimack on Oct. 14, 2005. The last freshman to score multiple points in his debut in brown and orange was Jonathan Matumoto on Oct. 22, 2004 when he scored a goal and two assists at Union College. Samuels-Thomas is only the sixth freshman to score in a BG season opener.
DYNAMIC DUO
Junior Nick Eno and freshman Andrew Hammond may be battling each other for playing time but together they make for a great one-two punch at the goaltender position. Each goalie had the chance to start at Minnesota State (Oct 9-10). Despite the two losses, Hammond and Eno combined for 69 saves on 76 shots against and both finished saving more than 90 percent of the shots they faced. Head coach Dennis Williams said of Eno, “Five or six of his saves were highlight reel saves that could of went the other direction and really put us in a hole.” As for Hammond, Williams said, “Andrew Hammond was the best player for us out there tonight [Saturday]. He kept us in the game and we just got to find more ways to provide more offense.”
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. The Falcons 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 (.357) 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 converting 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).
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
A year removed from a 7-22-5 overall record and a ninth place finish in the Hockey East , the Friars have come out in 2009-10 with a pair of wins, one of which against the No.4/5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish last weekend. The Friars return a pair of double-digit goal scorers in Matt Bergland and John Cavanagh (ten goals each in 2008-09). Through three games, the Friars have scored only five goals and all five have come from a different player. Only two Friars have multiple points (So., D, Daniel New and Jr., F, Jordan Kremyr with two points each) but 11 different Providence players have recorded points. The Friars have not scored a power play goal in eleven opportunities this season and are averaging just over one shot per power play chance (1.09). They are two-for-fifteen (.133) on the penalty kill this season. Only one PC skater has a negative on-ice rating, while the remaining 17 Friars are even or positive. Sophomore goaltender Alex Beaudry has made a statement in his first season as a starter. Through three games he has 92 saves, a 2-1-0 record, has a 1.68 GAA and has a .948 save percentage in 179-plus minutes of action between the pipes.
Providence begins their season with six of its first eight games on the road. Their trip to Bowling Green will end a four-game road trip before engaging in a home-and-home series against conference foe Massachusetts on Halloween weekend. In 2008-09, PC was 4-11-3 on the road while maintaining a 3-11-2 record at Schneider Arena in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Friars are led by fifth year head coach, Tim Army (Providence, '85). He has a 50-79-16 overall record with his alma mater with his best season coming in first year with PC after a 17-16-3 finish in 2005-06. Providence is captained by seniors Mark Fayne (4-5--9, '08-09) and John Cavanagh (10-9--19, '08-09).
ALL EYES ON BG
Though only two games into the season, Bowling Green can be found among the nation's leaders in a few statistical categories in Division I college hockey.
Bowling Green currently ranks 17th in the nation in team penalty kill percentage (.875) after killing 14-of-16 Minnesota State power play chances in Mankato, Minn.
Freshman forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas is in the top-five in college hockey in assists per game (t-4th, 1.50) and points per game among freshmen (t-5th, 1.50).
OFF TO THE NHL!
Bowling Green has a rich tradition in preparing its hockey players for rich careers in the National Hockey League. 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 finishing with 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 and put together a four goal and 15 assist season after completing his career with the Falcons. 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 remain an active member for all 39 years (including this year) of the conference's existence. Ohio State left the CCHA during 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). Bowling Green's 478 CCHA wins is good for third among current conference teams. Last season, the Falcons finished 11-24-3 overall and 8-19-1 in conference play, 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.
BG Hockey Postgame 10.17
Saturday, October 18
BG Hockey Press Conference : Coach Williams 10.14
Thursday, October 16
BG Hockey Press Conference 10.7
Tuesday, October 07
BG Hockey Postgame 10.4
Sunday, October 05