Bowling Green State University Athletics
1999-2000 Ice Hockey Roster
Dec 29 (Mon)
7:07 p.m.
Buddy Powers
- Class:
- Redshirt Freshman
- Hometown:
- Hyde Park, Mass.
- High School:
- Catholic Memorial
Over the last seven years, Powers has compiled a 126-124-20 record (.504 pct.) at Bowling Green and has an overall record of 246-195-35 (.554 pct.) in 13 years as a head coach. Powers is 12th all-time among CCHA coaches with 85 league victories with the Falcons and is 10 CCHA victories shy of entering the Top 10.
In his first season at BGSU in 1995, Powers put together one of the best coaching jobs of his career, leading the Falcons to a 25-11-4 record and a second-place finish in the CCHA. It marked their best finish in the league in eight years. For his hard work, he was named the CCHA's Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award presented annually to the nation's top bench boss. The next season, the Falcons continued to be one of the best teams in college hockey as they posted 26 wins, equaling the most ever in a season for Powers.
Prior to coming to Bowling Green, Powers spent five years as the head coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he led the Engineers to a record of 94-63-13. In his final year at RPI in 1993-94, Powers led the Engineers to a 21-11-4 record, earning Rensselaer its first invitation to the NCAA Tournament since 1985. In five seasons there, Powers led RPI to three 20-or-more-win seasons and reached the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference playoff finals three times.
Before leading RPI, Powers spent 1988-89, his first season as a head coach, at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology. He helped guide the Tigers to a second place finish in the 1989 Division III NCAA Tournament. That same season, RIT was 26-8-2 and won the ECAC III West Region championship.
Powers got his first taste of BGSU hockey when he was invited to join Jerry York's staff at Bowling Green in 1982, a spot he held for the next six years. He served as the team's top assistant, including chief recruiter and on-ice instructor. In that time, the Falcons captured three CCHA titles, a CCHA Playoff Championship and the 1984 NCAA Championship. Under York and Powers, the Falcons were 174-74-8 (.695 pct.), including 129-50-8 (.710 pct.) in league play, and finished either first or second in the CCHA on five occasions.
The New Englander's first collegiate coaching job was from 1980-82 when he was named assistant coach at Colgate University under head coach Terry Slater. In his two seasons with the Red Raiders, he helped CU to an NCAA Tournament berth in 1981. He also served as manager of the university's Seven Oaks Golf Course.
His first-ever coaching experience came at Boston University where he was a volunteer assistant coach for BU's "B" team for the 1978-79 season.
Powers has served as an assistant coach at the 1989 United States Olympic Festival and as head coach at the 1993 USOF games. He also coached the United States during the USA Cup Challenge in 1992. He served on the Board of Governors of the American Hockey Coaches Association from the spring of 1993 to the spring of 1996 and has been the director of BGSU's Summer Hockey School held annually during the last two weeks of July. Powers recently was selected to sit on the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Committee as a representative of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and BGSU.
During his time among the coaching ranks, Powers has had five players earn First-Team All-America honors, including two Falcons. He also has had four of his players earn spots among the finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award given annually to the country's most outstanding player. Included among that list is the 1995 Hobey Baker Award winner Brian Holzinger. Nineteen of his former players (14 Falcons) played professional hockey in North America last year, four of which skated in the NHL.
Powers earned his undergraduate degree in elementary education from Boston University in 1975 while lettering three years as a left wing on the Terrier varsity unit (1972-75). During that time, BU placed third in the '74 and '75 NCAA Tournaments and compiled a 49-13-1 record over his final two years with the team. He earned a master's degree in athletic administration from BGSU in 1989.
Powers finished his playing career with three seasons of professional hockey in the European (German) League, skating two years (1976-78) as a defenseman for Kaufbeuren, West Germany and helping the team to a Division II Championship during his first campaign. He concluded his playing career at Krefeld in 1979-80, assisting the team to the playoff finals.
A native of Boston, Mass., Powers and his wife, Lindy, are the parents of three children, John (13), Barbara (12) and Caroline (10).
