Fwd: Bowling Green Hockey!
NWLB
From Chris Hawthorne, Falcon Club Director....
No. 13 Falcons Host NMU For WCHA First Round Series Beginning Friday
WCHA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
No. 13 BOWLING GREEN FALCONS
(21-10-5)
VS.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN WILDCATS
(14-16-6)
Friday, March 13 | 7:07 p.m. ET | BGSU Ice Arena
Radio:88.1 FM WBGU (Evan Pivnick)
Television: BCSN (Greg Franke / Scott Paluch)
TapSnap Photo Booth At The Rink
Enter To Win 2015-16 Season Tickets
BUY TICKETS
Saturday, March 14 | 7:07 p.m. ET | BGSU Ice Arena
Radio: 88.1 FM WBGU (Evan Pivnick)
Television: BCSN (Greg Franke / Scott Paluch)
Enter To Win 2015-16 Season Tickets
BUY TICKETS
Sunday, March 15 | 7:07 p.m. ET | BGSU Ice Arena
If Necessary
Radio: 88.1 FM WBGU (Evan Pivnick)
Television: BCSN (Greg Franke / Scott Paluch)
Enter To Win 2015-16 Season Tickets
BUY TICKETS
GAME NOTES (.PDF) | Live Stats | Video (WCHA.TV)
Follow Along: @BGFalconHockey | @BGAthletics
On Tap
Bowling Green and Northern Michigan meet in a best-of-three playoff series for the third time in five years this weekend at the BGSU Ice Arena. The two programs played in the first round of the now-defunct CCHA Tournament in both 2010-11 and 2011-12 with the
Falcons earning road series victories both times. The series begins Friday night at 7:07 pm and continues Saturday at the same time. If a game three is necessary, it will be held Sunday at 7:07 pm. Bowling Green is the No. 3 seed for the WCHA Tournament, while
Northern Michigan is the No. 6 seed. The winner of the series will move on to the semifinals in Saint Paul, Minn. for the WCHA Final Five.
About Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan heads to the postseason with a record of 14-16-6 overall and the Wildcats ended sixth in the WCHA with a mark of 11-13-4. NMU, though, enters the weekend on a three-game losing streak and is just 3-7-0 in the last 10 contests. Offensively,
the Wildcats have struggled at times and rank just 43rd of 59 teams in the country in scoring offense. The Wildcats have been solid defensively, though, and that includes ranking 18th in the nation on the penalty kill.
The Series
Bowling Green and Northern Michigan have a long and storied history against one another, having faced off 89 times before. NMU holds a slight 42-39-8 edge in the all-time series, including a pair of wins in the BGSU Ice Arena in February. During that weekend,
Bowling Green outshot Northern Michigan in each game but the Wildcats were able to earn an overtime win in game one and battled back from a three-goal deficit in game two for the victory. BGSU, though, has defeated Northern Michigan twice in the past five
years in best-of-three game playoff series.
Last Weekend
Bowling Green closed out the regular season with a momentum-gathering sweep of Alabama Huntsville 7-2 and 2-1. The Falcons won the two contests in different fashion, outscoring the Chargers in the opener and then putting together a defensive clinic in the finale.
BGSU held Alabama Huntsville to just 36 shots over the two nights. Freshman Brandon Hawkins had four points during the weekend (two goals and two assists) and junior Tommy
Burke won both games between the pipes.
What They Are Saying
"We'll try to play the same way (as the team did when they were swept by Northern Michigan three weeks ago) -- that relentless style. We had a bunch of opportunities to score. Our power play was pretty good. There's tweaks here or there, but it was not a complete
write-off. It's a matter of just tightening up here and not breaking down on a situation there and hopefully the results will be different." -- Head coachChris Bergeron
National Recognition
BGSU will enter the postseason ranked No. 13 in the country in the USCHO.com poll, the same position the team was in a week ago. Earlier this year, the Falcons spent six straight weeks in the top 10. The Falcons entered the poll at No. 19 in the country on
Nov. 10 and increased their vote count for 13 straight polls. BGSU peaked as high as No. 6 (on Jan. 19 and Jan. 26). The Falcons are one of three Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHA) teams that earned a spot in the Top 20, as Minnesota State is No. 2, while
Michigan Tech is No. 4.
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
Much like the USCHO.com poll, Bowling Green has been ranked No. 13 in the country for two consecutive weeks shortly after spending six consecutive weeks in the top 10. The Falcons peaked at No. 6 on both Jan. 19 and 26, entering the poll at No. 15 on Nov. 24.
Highest Ranking EVER
#FalconHockey's 21-10-5 start marks the best start to a season since the 1994-95 team went 24-10-2 through 36 games. However, that's not the only historic fact coming away with their tremendous start. Bowling Green jumped as high as No.6 in the USCHO.com poll
this season, marking the highest ranking for the Orange and Brown since the poll began in 1997. In fact, the team increased its vote total for 13 consecutive weeks to start the season. BGSU entered the poll at No. 19 on Nov. 10 and then made a steady climb
up the poll as the year progressed.
Seeing 20-20
With Friday's win over Alabama Huntsville, Falcon Hockey picked up its first 20-win season since 1995-96. In total, it is the 19th time in program history that BGSU has posted 20 wins in a season, which includes five 30-win seasons.
Playoff Success
Bowling Green is the only program in the country that has won at least one best-of-three playoff series in each of the past four years. In fact, in Coach Chris Bergeron's tenure (now in his fifth
season), BGSU has won five best-of-three playoff series despite playing as the underdog for four of those wins. Listed below are the Falcons' playoff best-of-three history under Bergeron.
| Year | Series | Round | Final Result |
| 2010-11 | #11 BGSU at #6 Northern Michigan | CCHA First Round | BGSU, 2-1 |
| 2010-11 | #11 BGSU at #1 Michigan | CCHA Second Round | UM, 2-0 |
| 2011-12 | #11 BGSU at #6 Northern Michigan | CCHA First Round | BGSU, 2-1 |
| 2011-12 | #11 BGSU at #1 Ferris State | CCHA Second Round | BGSU, 2-1 |
| 2012-13 | #9 BGSU at #8 Lake Superior State | CCHA First Round | BGSU, 2-1 |
| 2012-13 | #9 BGSU at #2 Notre Dame | CCHA Second Round | ND, 2-0 |
| 2013-14 | #5 Michigan Tech at #4 BGSU | WCHA First Round | BGSU, 2-0 |
The Century Man
When senior captain Dan DeSalvo earned an assist on the first goal in Saturday's 2-1 win over Alabama Huntsville, he became the 70th Falcon in program history to score at least 100 points
in a career. He's the first player to hit that milestone since Derek Whitmore posted 103 points from 2004-08. Nelson Emerson is BG's all-time leader with 294 points. Listed below are the Falcons that DeSalvo is chasing up the leaderboard
| Name (Years) | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | Points/Game |
| t60. Jeff Wells (1990-94) | 146 | 27 | 78 | 105 | .719 |
| t60. Mike Hall (1992-96) | 150 | 53 | 52 | 105 | .700 |
| 62. Rob Blake (1987-90) | 131 | 39 | 65 | 104 | .794 |
| t63. Jack Laine (1973-77) | 134 | 53 | 50 | 103 | .769 |
| t63. Yves Pelland (1976-80) | 143 | 46 | 57 | 103 | .720 |
| t63. Derek Whitmore (2004-08) | 143 | 70 | 33 | 103 | .720 |
| t66. Ryan Murphy (1997-01) | 144 | 45 | 57 | 102 | .708 |
| t68. D'Arcy McConvey (2000-04) | 153 | 31 | 71 | 102 | .667 |
| t68. Dave O'Brian (1980-84) | 156 | 38 | 63 | 101 | .647 |
| t68. Wayne Wilson (1980-84) | 165 | 14 | 87 | 101 | .612 |
| 70. Dan DeSalvo (2011-15) | 150 | 29 | 71 | 100 | .667 |
Mr. March
Considering the fact that Dan DeSalvo set a CCHA Tournament record with 10 goals in eight playoff games as a freshman in 2010-11, he could reasonably stake claim to the nickname Mr. March.
But, in fact, all five seniors have a higher point-per-game average in the playoffs than in the regular season. In total, eight Falcons have averaged more points in the playoffs than in the regular season in their careers. Listed below are each of those players,
sorted by career playoff points-per-game average.
| | Playoffs | | | Career Totals | | |
| Name | Games | G-A--P | PPG | Games | G-A--P | PPG |
| Dan DeSalvo | 16 | 12-8--20 | 1.25 | 150 | 29-71--100 | 0.67 |
| Adam Berkle | 16 | 6-6--12 | 0.75 | 155 | 31-51--82 | 0.53 |
| Pierre-Luc Mercier | 3 | 0-2--2 | 0.67 | 74 | 12-28--40 | 0.54 |
| Matt Pohlkamp | 3 | 1-1--2 | 0.67 | 75 | 17-23--40 | 0.53 |
| Ben Murphy | 8 | 1-4--5 | 0.63 | 114 | 30-25--55 | 0.48 |
| Connor Kucera | 11 | 1-3--4 | 0.36 | 138 | 6-25--31 | 0.22 |
| Mike Sullivan | 15 | 1-4--5 | 0.33 | 149 | 7-33--40 | 0.27 |
| Ted Pletsch | 12 | 0-2--2 | 0.17 | 61 | 6-4--10 | 0.16 |
#MadhouseOnMercer
With Falcon Hockey's steady improvement over the course of the season, the BGSU Ice Arena has seen an increase in fans at home games. Four times this year, crowds of more than 3,000 have flowed into the BGSU Ice Arena and the team is averaging 2,708 fans per
game this year, an increase of almost 700 fans per game over last year's 2,022 average. The most memorable crowd this season, and now in program's history, was a record-breaking attendance of 5,353 vs. Ohio State on November 14.
Team Success
Amazingly, BGSU does not have a single Falcon among the top 100 point scorers in the country despite having the 16th-best offense in the nation. The Falcons, though, boast impressive depth as 13 players have at least 10 points and 20 have scored at least one
goal.
The Bergeron Factor
BGSU Head Coach Chris Bergeron arrived in Bowling Green in 2010-11 and the Falcons won 10 games in his first season at the helm, doubling the team's win total over the previous season. The next
year, Bowling Green climbed to 14 wins and then added another win on top of that in 2012-13. A year ago, the Falcons improved their win total for the fourth straight season with an 18-victory campaign and BGSU has 21 wins this year. It is the first time in
program history that the team has improved its win total in five consecutive seasons.
Road Warriors
BGSU is 11-5-4 away from the BGSU Ice Arena this year (including a tie at Fifth Third Field in Toledo). The Falcons last won 11 road games in a single season in 1995-96 when the Falcons also won 11 outside of Bowling Green. No team has won more than 11 away
from the BGSU Ice Arena since the 1987-88 team won 16.
The Burke Wall
Junior goaltender Tommy Burke has played both games of a weekend series three times this year and the Falcons are 6-0 in those games. Burke played back-to-back in a sweep at Alaska and then
again at home against Ferris State. This past weekend, he again played both games of the series against Alabama Huntsville. Dating back to last year, the Falcons have swept five consecutive series' when playing just one goaltender.
Falcons On The PK
For most of the year, Bowling Green has led the country on the penalty kill, but the Falcons had dropped to second in the nation after allowing two power play goals Friday night against Alabama Huntsville. However, after keeping the Chargers from any power
play success Saturday, BGSU moved back into first in the country on the penalty kill at 89.4 percent. Cornell ranks second at 89.2 percent.
Power Play Breaks Free
Earlier in conference play, Bowling Green struggled to find answers on the power play, coming up scoreless on 28 consecutive chances. But those struggles ended when Brent Tate found the back
of the net on the team's first power play chance against Northern Michigan on Feb. 21. Over the past five games, the Falcons are 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) with the man advantage.
Defense Stood Tall
With Saturday's 2-1 win over Alabama Huntsville, the Falcons won for the second time this year when scoring two goals or fewer. In total, BGSU is only 2-8-3 when being held to two goals or fewer. On the other hand, the Falcons are 19-2-2 when getting at least
three goals.
#FalconFast
In Friday's 7-2 win over Alabama Huntsville, Bowling Green scored three goals in a span of 2:22 of the third period. It was the ninth and 10th times this year that the Falcons have scored twice in less than a two minute span. On Jan. 17 against Michigan Tech,
the Falcons scored just 20 seconds apart for the fastest flurry of the year -- a performance that was the final two goals of a three-goal tally in 1:55. BGSU also scored twice in 24 seconds against Alaska on Jan. 10.
Falcon Freshmen
When Braden Pears made his collegiate debut at Ferris State, he became the tenth freshman this year to see action for the Falcons (nine true freshmen and redshirt freshman Nolan
Valleau). Brandon Hawkins is the top scoring freshman in the WCHA and 14th nationally with 28 points. As well, Mark Friedman (40th
with 19 points) and Mitch McLain (tied for 43rd with 18 points) rank among the top 50 freshmen point scorers in the country. Along with those three, freshman goalie Chris
Nell ranks among the top 30 goalies in the country in win percentage. In total, BGSU's freshmen have accounted for most assists and points of any class on the team.