No. 16 Falcons Host Toronto Saturday For Exhibition Game

Saturday, October 3

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

Toronto

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Photo by: Brad Phalin, BGSU Marketing and Communications

September 30, 2015 | Ice Hockey

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

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Bowling Green, Ohio — The Bowling Green State University ice hockey team, ranked No. 16 in the country, opens the 2015-16 season by hosting the University of Toronto in an exhibition on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the BGSU Ice Arena, beginning at 7:07 pm. The game represents the first action for the Falcons since concluding the 2014-15 season with a 23-11-5 record and a trip to the WCHA Final Five.

Head coach Chris Bergeron will begin his sixth season at BGSU against Toronto's Varsity Blues. The Falcons have improved in the win column in each of his five seasons, which is a first in program history. His most recent season featured the program's most wins in 19 years, and Bergeron's teams have won a best-of-three playoff series in each of the last five years. No other program in the country can claim the same.

Bergeron was rewarded in the offseason for his success in restoring the BGSU hockey program. He received a five-year contract extension that runs through the 2022-23 season.

The Falcons return 18 letter winners in their quest to win a WCHA championship and earn an elusive NCAA Tournament berth. With that in mind, BGSU earned a No. 16 ranking in the USCHO.com preseason poll that was released Monday in voting by coaches, media and other personnel working in college hockey. It is the first time the Falcons have been ranked in the first USCHO.com poll of the year since the poll was initiated for the 1997-98 season.

"We have a talented team with expectations," Bergeron said. "But we haven't won anything. Part of the process is learning to win at the level we want to win at. We're watching teams in our league celebrate league and playoff championships. We want that."

The players responsible for the vast majority of last season's offensive production will skate for the Falcons again this year. This includes last year's leading scorer, Brandon Hawkins. Hawkins put 16 pucks past opposing goalies during the 2014-15 season. He led all WCHA freshmen in points and goals, and he scored twice in the playoff series-clinching win over Northern Michigan.

Sophomore Mark Friedman, a WCHA All-Freshman team member a year ago, will anchor a young, but talented defensive unit. Bowling Green ranked second in the country on the penalty kill a year ago and Friedman tied for the team lead with 17 assists.

BGSU also returns its entire goaltending stable to patrol the net this season. Led by Tommy Burke, the group held opponents to 2.33 goals per game in 2014-15. Burke set a BGSU record with a 2.18 goals against average, and his career mark of 2.37 is also a school record.

In addition, there are seven freshmen who will begin their BGSU careers during the 2015-2016 season. The group includes four forwards and three defensemen and features the following names: Matthew Ferrari, Connor McDonald, Shane Bednard, Chris Pohlkamp, Stephen Baylis, Joe McKeown and John Schilling.

Baylis has been named the Bemidji Pioneer WCHA Newcomer of the Year by media voters and received votes for the preseason Rookie of the Year award in the coaches' poll. Baylis comes to BGSU from the Carleton Place Canadians of the CCHL, where he scored 32 goals and posted 37 assists in 54 games and was named the regular season Most Valuable Player for the 2014-15 season. He added seven goals and 15 assists in 15 playoff games. However, Baylis must sit out the first six games of the season due to an NCAA ruling related to his amateur status.

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues earned a 16-16-0 record last year. In an exhibition with Western Michigan a year ago, Toronto took WMU to overtime before falling 3-2 in a shootout.

After the exhibition game, Bowling Green begins the regular season with a home-and-home series against Ohio State Oct. 9-10. The Falcons travel to Columbus, Ohio for the season-opener before the series reverts to the BGSU Ice Arena the following night. The Buckeyes were 14-19-3 during the 2014-15 season, and BGSU owns a 91-61-8 advantage in the all-time series.