Bowling Green State University Athletics
Photo by: Todd Pavlack / BGSUHockey.com
Falcons Welcome Back The "Originals"
October 30, 2012 | General, Ice Hockey
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio. -- The Falcons earned a shootout victory Saturday night, securing their first points in CCHA play this season. Saturday night also marked the return of the "Originals," the early club hockey players who started the hockey culture in Bowling Green.
The history of Falcon hockey began six years before the varsity team ever skated the first game in the Ice Arena in 1969. In 1963, two university students (Dan Barringer and Gordy Morris) presented a plan to Dr. Sam Cooper, then Chair of HPE to field a club hockey team. Dr. Cooper, impressed with their plan, earmarked $900 dollars in his budget for the student-instigated venture.
The team was outfitted in old football jerseys, no helmets and their own skates, while their games were played at the Toledo Sports Arena. By fall of 1965, the team had progressed enough to attract Clarkson College hockey star, Bill Little, who at the time was working in the Toledo area, to be their volunteer coach.
The significant event of bringing in coach Little and the beginning of construction on the Ice Arena helped take the program to the next level. By the 1966-67 season, there was a firm schedule of games, the Ice Arena was nearing completion and students aspiring to play hockey were selecting BGSU.
While the decision to “Build the hockey program” was made in the spring of 1967 with the opening of the Ice Arena and the hiring of Jack Vivian, Falcon hockey would not have become a varsity sport, or achieved such prominence without the dedication of those who laid the groundwork in those early years.
The history of Falcon hockey began six years before the varsity team ever skated the first game in the Ice Arena in 1969. In 1963, two university students (Dan Barringer and Gordy Morris) presented a plan to Dr. Sam Cooper, then Chair of HPE to field a club hockey team. Dr. Cooper, impressed with their plan, earmarked $900 dollars in his budget for the student-instigated venture.
The team was outfitted in old football jerseys, no helmets and their own skates, while their games were played at the Toledo Sports Arena. By fall of 1965, the team had progressed enough to attract Clarkson College hockey star, Bill Little, who at the time was working in the Toledo area, to be their volunteer coach.
The significant event of bringing in coach Little and the beginning of construction on the Ice Arena helped take the program to the next level. By the 1966-67 season, there was a firm schedule of games, the Ice Arena was nearing completion and students aspiring to play hockey were selecting BGSU.
While the decision to “Build the hockey program” was made in the spring of 1967 with the opening of the Ice Arena and the hiring of Jack Vivian, Falcon hockey would not have become a varsity sport, or achieved such prominence without the dedication of those who laid the groundwork in those early years.
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