AP NCAA Basketball
| BG hockey fundraising nears goal (06-28-12) |
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| Written by KEVIN GORDON Sentinel Assistant Sports Editor | ||
| Thursday, 28 June 2012 09:48 | ||
The campaign has raised $7.5 million, including a $4 million investment from the university and the state, of its $9 million goal. The campaign was started in October 2009 to raise money to support the Falcon hockey program and upgrade the Ice Arena. "We're on the homestretch," Christopher said "If you look at the pool of donors that we're making the final contacts with, where we are, plus the annual giving piece, I'm very confident that we will be able to wrap it up this year. It's a matter of timing in getting that worked out and all of that is based on our experience with other campaigns." The next improvement to the arena will be orange canopies at the front entrance later this year, Christopher said. The canopies will be similar to those at the Mileti Alumni Center. Among the other possible items for the Ice Arena are a new scoreboard, a video/message board and luxury suites. SUPPORT: Although BG's six freshmen are expected to play important roles next season, they're not expected to have to play leading roles as forwards Ryan Carpenter, Adam Burkle and Dan DeSalvo, and defensemen Connor Kucera, Marcus Perrier and Mike Sullivan did last season. Even Cam Wojtala, who will be a junior, centered BG's top line as a freshman. "There was a lot of pressure on those guys to perform well every night," BG coach Chris Bergeron said. "Freshmen are supposed to come in and be a nice support system and contribute at their pace with the older guys carrying most of the load. Next year, we have more potential for that." Twenty-one of BG's 29 players will be sophomores, juniors and seniors. "The guys carrying most of the load will be some seniors, juniors and sophomores," Bergeron said. "We expect (the freshmen) all to make an impact next year. How big that impact is depends on them. I see those guys being part of the discussion. How quickly that happens depends on how quickly they transition from junior (hockey) to college. There are some guys who are a little more mature and hopefully the transition won't be quite as big. It'll be hard, but at 19- and 20-years-old, it's not as hard as it is as 17 and 18. We're expecting good things from the group." PUSH: BG is looking forward to having depth in goal after Andrew Hammond started all 44 games last season. Freshman Tommy Burke will join senior Hammond, junior Scott Zacharias and sophomore Wyatt Galley in goal. Galley was expected to be the backup last season and maybe even challenge Hammond for the No. 1 job. Galley missed last season with groin and sports hernia injuries. His status for next season hasn't been determined. Because of Galley's injury, Hammond knew he was going to start every game. Zacharias appeared in just three games for a total of just over 70 minutes. "There was no push behind Andrew and we think there's going to be a push this year," Bergeron said. "It's his job to lose. We want there to be a push there. I just think there were parts of the season where mentally, not that he got comfortable or complacent, but (he knew) I'm going to play Friday regardless of how I do today. We're trying to help Andrew realize this is Andrew versus Andrew, not Andrew versus anybody else. This should be you versus you on a daily basis." Despite the heavy workload and mental pressure, Hammond's play grew stronger as the season went on. He was inconsistent during the first half, but made 55 saves in a 3-2 double-overtime loss to seventh-ranked Michigan in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. He stopped 202-of-221 shots during the first two rounds of the playoffs when BG won at 11th-seeded Northern Michigan and CCHA regular-season champion Ferris State. He had a .921 save percentage in BG's eight playoff games. COUNTDOWN: Only 100 days remain until BG opens the season Oct. 6 at Niagara at 5 p.m. BG then hosts the Ontario Institute of Technology Oct. 7 in an exhibition at 5:05 p.m. |
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 28 June 2012 12:16 |
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We're all very lucky to be here now witnessing its return. And I know many more good things are in store for us in the next few years.
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