Bowling Green State University Athletics
Saturday, October 31
Anchorage, Alaska
6:07 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Alaska Anchorage
No. 12 Falcons Head To Alaska For Saturday/Sunday Set
October 29, 2015 | Ice Hockey
#12 Bowling Green Falcons (3-1-1, 0-0-0 WCHA)
at
#RV Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (4-1-1, 1-0-1 WCHA)
at
#RV Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (4-1-1, 1-0-1 WCHA)
| GAME INFORMATION | Saturday, Oct. 31 / 6:07 pm ET |
| LOCATION | Anchorage, Alaska (Sullivan Arena) |
| RADIO | WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick) |
| LIVE STATS | GoSeawolves.com |
| WATCH ONLINE | WCHA.tv |
| LISTEN ONLINE | BGSUFalcons.com |
| GAME NOTES | BGSU | Alaska Anchorage | WCHA |
#12 Bowling Green Falcons (3-1-1, 0-0-0 WCHA)
at
#RV Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (4-1-1, 1-0-1 WCHA)
at
#RV Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (4-1-1, 1-0-1 WCHA)
| GAME INFORMATION | Sunday, Nov. 1 / 6:07 pm ET |
| LOCATION | Anchorage, Alaska (Sullivan Arena) |
| RADIO | WBGU 88.1 FM (Evan Pivnick) |
| LIVE STATS | GoSeawolves.com |
| WATCH ONLINE | WCHA.tv |
| LISTEN ONLINE | BGSUFalcons.com |
| GAME NOTES | BGSU | Alaska Anchorage | WCHA |
On Tap
Bowling Green, ranked No. 12 in the country, returns from almost two weeks off to make their first of two trips this season to Alaska. The weekend set against Alaska Anchorage, a school receiving one vote in the USCHO.com poll, is schedule for Saturday and Sunday, with each game starting at 6:07 pm ET (2:07 pm Alaska time). For the Falcons, this will serve as opening weekend of conference play. Anchorage faced Alabama Huntsville on the road during the past weekend to open WCHA play and came away with a win and a tie.
About Alaska Anchorage
The Seawolves have begun the 2015-16 with an impressive 4-1-1 record. They opened their schedule at home by beating Arizona State and losing to nationally-ranked St. Cloud State. They followed that with a pair of neutral-site wins against RPI and American International. Last weekend, Alaska-Anchorage began WCHA play on the road versus the Alabama Huntsville Chargers. In the opener, they secured a 3-3 tie then earned a 3-2 victory in the series finale. Junior forward Connor Wright sent home the game-winner, his first goal of the season. Senior forward Blake Tatchull leads the Seawolves with three goals and seven assists, but the team's production has been very balanced, with four players tied for the team goals lead and three tied for the team points lead. Alaska-Anchorage is led by head coach Matt Thomas, who is in his third season with the team. His current record is 30-39-9.
The All-Time Series
Bowling Green owns a 5-2-1 all-time advantage over the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves. The two teams first met in 1988, when the Falcons swept a pair of road games. They did not meet again for 25 years, until the two teams became WCHA rivals during the 2013-14 season. Since then, they've met six times, and BGSU has a 3-2-1 edge in those games. Last season, the Falcons split a pair of games in Anchorage, winning the first 4-3 before dropping a 6-1 decision in the finale. Brandon Hawkins and Sean Walker each scored two points in that series.
What Are They Saying?
"We've had ample time to rest. We've been tested, there's no reason that we're not ready to go (this weekend). Most weekends, games will come down to special teams and goaltending."
Chris Bergeron, BGSU Hockey Head Coach
Still Ranked In The Polls
Bowling Green remained No. 12 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey polls this week, but the Falcons increased their vote totals and remained the top WCHA team in each poll. In the USA Hockey tally, BGSU improved from 91 to 102 points and is the only WCHA team in the top 15. Michigan Tech is second in the receiving votes category with 18 points. The Falcons' point total vaulted from 419 to 442 in the USCHO.com poll. At No. 18, Michigan Tech is the next-closest ranked WCHA foe. This weekend's opponent, Alaska Anchorage, received one vote.
Starting Strong (Again)
For the third consecutive season, the Falcons have completed the first five games of the season with no more than one loss. A year ago, BGSU started 4-1-0, while the 2013-14 team was 2-1-2 after five contests.
Century Men
Redshirt senior Dajon Mingo played in his 100th career game on Oct. 9 against Ohio State. He has now played in 101 career games and joins classmates Ben Murphy (122 games) and Mark Cooper (119 games) as the three current Falcons who have 100+ games of collegiate experience.
Passing A Hall Of Famer
Head coach Chris Bergeron has 83 wins in his six-year career at Bowling Green, just one shy of tying BGSU Athletics Hall of Famer Scott Paluch for fourth place on the all-time coaching wins list as a Falcon. Buddy Powers is third with 135 wins, trailing only Ron Mason (160 wins) and Jerry York (342 wins). Bergeron is 44-27-12 since the start of the 2013-14 season.
Fantastic Freshmen
Four Falcon freshman have notched their first career points this year, while five have seen their first collegiate action. John Schilling is the only newcomer to have posted a goal yet this year, notching three points so far this year (two goals and an assist). Forward Shane Bednard and defensemen Chris Pohlkamp and Connor McDonald each have recorded one assist this year. Forward Joe McKeown saw his first collegiate action in a 4-2 win at Canisius as well.
The Burke Wall
In a 4-2 win at Canisius, senior goalie Tommy Burke recorded his 35th career victory to move past Jordan Sigalet (2001-04) for sole possession of 10th place all-time on the BGSU goalie leaderboard. He is two wins shy of Al Sarachman (1973-77) for ninth. Gary Kruzich (1983-87) is the all-time Falcon goalie leader with 88 career wins. Burke is 2-0-0 during the 2015-16 season.
Nell And Void
With a 2-0 shutout of Ohio in Bowling Green's home opener, sophomore goalie Chris Nell recorded his fourth career shutout, moving him into a five-way tie for third place on the all-time BGSU shutouts list. He joins Jordan Sigalet, Al Sarachman, Mike Liut and Terry Miskolczi in that tie, and he needs just three more to reach the school record, set by Tyler Masters (1999-03) and Andrew Hammond (2010-13). While Nell has a record of just 1-1-1 in goal this year, he ranks 13th nationally with a .943 save percentage and 15th with a 1.62 goals against average.
The Preseason Is The Right Season
After ending the 2014-15 season ranked No. 18 in the country in the USCHO.com poll, the Falcons ticked up a couple of spots to No. 16 in this year's preseason poll with 316 total votes. It is the first time BGSU has earned a ranking in the existence of the USCHO.com preseason poll, which started in the 1997-98 season. The Falcons did earn votes (but not enough to be ranked) in the USCHO.com preseason polls in 2014 (11 votes), 2013 (4 votes), 2008 (3 votes), 2005 (1 vote), 2004 (1 vote), 1999 (1 vote) and 1997 (3 votes). BGSU is one of three teams from the WCHA in the poll as Minnesota State begins the year ranked sixth and Michigan Tech is 15th. Three other WCHA teams (Alaska, Bemidji State and Ferris State) received votes.
The NHL Calls
Bowling Green has two active alumni in the NHL, as well as one head coach. Defenseman Kevin Bieksa is a regular in the Anaheim Ducks lineup, while goalie Andrew Hammond, who took the Ottawa Senators on a wild ride a year ago, returned from the injured list to play in his first game of the season on Oct. 22. Buffalo Sabres' first year head coach Dan Bylsma was just inducted in the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 9 and is a Stanley Cup winner in Pittsburgh as well as having coached the 2014 US Winter Olympic team.
Rising Towards The Top
BGSU is widely considered to be one of the top teams in the WCHA for the 2015-16 season, and that belief is reflected in both the coaches' and media preseason polls, which were released on Sept. 21. The Falcons were ranked second in the Mankato Free Press Coaches' Poll and received one first-place vote. They received 79 points, just ten behind preseason championship favorite Minnesota State. In the Bemidji Pioneer Media Poll, Bowling Green was picked to finish third. Eight of 29 voters ranked the Falcons first, and they totaled 250 points. Michigan Tech was voted second with 263, while Minnesota State again received the top position with 265.
Preseason All-WCHA
Several Bowling Green players received votes for the coaches' and media preseason All-WCHA teams. Sophomore forward Brandon Hawkins and sophomore defenseman Mark Friedman received votes for both teams, while junior defenseman Sean Walker earned votes for the media's All-WCHA team. Hawkins and Friedman were on last season's WCHA All-Rookie Team. Hawkins led the Falcons with 16 goals and 30 points and ranked in the top 10 overall and first among freshman in WCHA scoring. Friedman had a +7 on-ice rating, and he placed seventh in points among WCHA freshmen and defensemen. Hawkins won BGSU's Jim Ruehl Best Defensive Player award. He posted a +10 on-ice rating and earned 20 points in 39 games.
Seeing 20-20
With 23 wins during the 2014-15 season, Bowling Green posted the 19th 20-win season in program history, a mark with includes five 30-win seasons. It is the first time the team won 20 games since the 1995-96 campaign. At 2-0-0, the Falcons are off to a strong start in a build to earn back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1994-95 and 1995-96.
Offensive Fireworks
Despite losing important pieces from last year's team such as Adam Berkle and Dan DeSalvo, the Falcons return a vast majority of their offensive firepower for this season. All four players (Brandon Hawkins, Ben Murphy, Mitchell McClain and Kevin Dufour) who scored at least 10 goals during the 2014-15 season are back. The top four and 11 of the top 14 players on the points list are also back. All told, BGSU returns 17 of the 23 players who scored at least one point last season, and they account for 75.8% of all points earned. Of the 119 goals scored during the 2014-15 season, players who scored 103 of those (86.6%) will compete for this year's team.
"Potent"ial Offense
With players returning who scored 103 goals a year ago, Bowling Green figures to have one of the most veteran offenses in the country. In fact, only three other teams return more offense from a year ago -- UMass Lowell (117 goals), Minnesota State (107 goals), and Harvard (106 goals). In total, the 86.6 percent of returning offense ranks seventh in the country behind Nebraska Omaha (91.4 percent), Holy Cross (89.3 percent), Merrimack (88.9 percent), Quinnipiac (88.7 percent), Harvard (87.6 percent) and UMass Lowell (87.3 percent).
Mr. October
Junior Kevin Dufour is off to a quick start for the second consecutive year. A year ago, Dufour scored a goal in each of the first six games of the season and posted eight of his 13 goals in the month of October. This year, he has scored four times in the first five games of the season, including one in each of the last three games.
Road Warriors
BGSU went 11-6-4 away from the BGSU Ice Arena in 2014-15. The team had not won more than 11 games away from home since the 1987-88 team posted 16 victories. The Falcons are already 2-1-1 on the road in 2015-16 with a pair of games in Alaska this weekend.
Here For The Long Haul
Bowling Green head coach Chris Bergeron signed a five-year contract extension following the 2014-15 season that will keep him at the helm of the Falcons through the 2022-23 season. Bergeron, who is in his sixth season at BGSU, has compiled 80 wins through his first five seasons and has led the Falcons to a win total increase in each of those campaigns. That five-year run of improved win totals is a first in team history. The Falcons' 23 wins in 2014-15 were the most for BGSU in 19 years, since they won 26 in 1995-96. Bergeron has also led the Falcons to at least one best-of-three postseason series victory in each of the last five seasons. BGSU is the only program in the country to accomplish this feat.
#MadhouseOnMercer
With increased success, the BGSU Ice Arena has seen more and more fans line up for BG hockey games. A year ago, Bowling Green played in front of crowds exceeding 3,000 fans four times and the program averaged 2,601 fans per game, an increase of almost 600 per game over the 2,022 in 2013-14. This year, BGSU had 3,022 fans for the home opener against Ohio State.
The Falcon Hawk
Brandon Hawkins recorded one of the best seasons of any freshman across the NCAA during the 2014-2015 season. He ranked third among Division I freshmen with a 0.41 goals per game average and was ninth against his fellow rookies with 0.77 points per game. In the WCHA, he led all freshmen in both points (30) and goals (16). He tied for fourth in the WCHA with four game-winning goals, and he put two shots in the net during the 4-1 win over Northern Michigan that clinched BGSU's spot in the WCHA Final Five. Hawkins' play earned him a spot on the WCHA All-Rookie Team, as well as BGSU's co-Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.
The Falcon Flyer
Whereas Brandon Hawkins was BGSU's leader on offense as a freshman, Mark Friedman played a similarly large role on defense during his rookie season. Friedman tied for the team lead with 17 assists. His 19 points were tied for seventh in the WCHA among both defensemen and freshmen, and he added a +7 on-ice rating and a BGSU-best 64 blocked shots. His efforts earned co-Rookie of the Year status with Hawkins, as well as a spot on the WCHA All-Rookie team. Friedman began his BGSU career after being selected in the third round (86th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2014 National Hockey League draft.
Ohio's Hockey Town
Wallethub.com has named Bowling Green the top hockey city in Ohio and 18th out of 74 cities nationally that host either an NHL or NCAA Division I team. The rankings were a combination of several factors, including team performance, ticket prices, arena accessibility and friendliness/engagement of the fans. Each area was weighted differently, and some were comprised of a three-year average. "The Madhouse on Mercer" housed an average of 2,601 fans per game during the 2014-15 season. A total of 5,353 fans broke the BGSU Ice Arena attendance record Nov. 14, 2014 when the Falcons hosted Ohio State.
The Captain And His Assistants
Bowling Green has named its captain and assistant captains for the 2015-2016 season. Junior defenseman Sean Walker will serve as the Falcons' captain, while senior forwards Mark Cooper and Brent Tate will compete as the team's assistant captains. Both Cooper and Tate are in the role for the second consecutive season. The trio provided 51 points for the Falcons during the 2014-2015 season. They scored 20 goals and combined for a +11 on-ice rating. During BGSU's three-game postseason run, the three posted three goals and totaled eight points as the Falcons won a best-of-three playoff series for the fifth consecutive year.
Taking Over Toledo
The BGSU hockey team has once again partnered with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye to feature the Falcons at Toledo's Huntington Center. This year, the Falcons will host the Western Michigan Broncos on Dec. 30 at 5:00 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the Walleye. BGSU last skated in the Huntington Center during the 2009-10 season against Michigan. The Falcons also played in Toledo last season, when they earned a 2-2 tie against No. 19 Robert Morris in the program's first outdoor game, at the Walleye's Winterfest. Tickets can be purchased online at BGSUFalcons.com/tickets or through ToledoWalleye.com, by phone at 877-BGSU-TICKET, or in person at the BGSU Ticket Office, located in the Stroh Center.
Evan Pivnick "The Voice" On The Mic
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into 88.1 WBGU-FM. Evan Pivnick will provide the play-by-play commentary throughout the season. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard globally on www.bgsufalcons.com and WBGUFM.com.
WCHA.TV
In partnership with industry leader Stretch Internet, WCHA.tv will allow fans to watch all 10 league teams and up to 196 games during the 2015-16 season on just about any device – computer, tablet, phone and many Smart TVs – with a responsive experience customized for that particular medium. High-quality HD streams, when available from the originating arena, will be viewable in multiple screen layout options (including picture-in-picture, multi-view format to watch up to four games simultaneously and full-screen video). For more information, visit WCHA.tv.
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