Bowling Green enjoyed its run to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals
last season.
But a last-place finish in the CCHA during the regular season is a quick reminder the
Falcon still have work to do.
BG was 14-25-5 overall and 6-20-4 in the CCHA.
"We don’t forget that, that’s something that doesn’t dictate who we are, but
it’s definitely something that is in the back of our heads," said
co-captain Ryan Carpenter, who led the Falcons in scoring last season as a
freshman. He had 11 goals and 19 assists in 44 games.
BG won first-round playoff series at Northern Michigan and CCHA regular-season
champion Ferris State losing to seventh-ranked Michigan in double-overtime at
Joe Louis Arena.
BG played well most of the second half last season and won of four of its last seven
games.
"The confidence level is up from where it was last year, just based on how we
finished last year, but the work ethic has stayed the same," Carpenter
said.
CCHA: Carpenter said the Falcons haven’t discussed specific goals for the season
The CCHA coaches poll will be announced next week.
"We’re taking it one day at a time," said Carpenter, one of BG’s 21
returning lettermen. "If you ask the guys, our expectations are higher and
our expectations are to be the best we can we."
When asked if BG’s goal would be to finish in the top half of the 11-team league at a
minimum, Carpenter said: "Definitely. We’re not OK with mediocre. We’re
definitely not OK with last place. We’re definitely trying to build off how we
finished last year."
PRACTICE: Under NCAA rules, teams can’t begin practice until Oct. 6. BG visits
Niagara that night to open the season.
But teams are in their second week of limited NCAA workouts. Those workouts allow the
coaches to be on the ice for two hours a week.
"The intensity is really good," said BG coach Chris Bergeron, who is in his
third season. "We’re trying to fit a lot of things in, in a short period of
time in terms of the two hours a week. We’re not trying to over think it or over
do it.
"We’re just trying to implement the way we want to play and it’s a little bit
easier with the coaches out there because we can focus on the little things that
make a difference."
HARD WORK: Bergeron is pleased with BG’s work ethic, the staple of the team the last
two seasons.
"We haven’t lost that work ethic that we’ve created the last couple years and we
look like a bigger group and a group that has a little more purpose to what’s
going," Bergeron said. "We have a group of guys who are a year or two
into this thing, and we’ve got the five or six freshmen who are
contributing."
Of course, BG will learn more much once its starts playing games.
"Our guys have done a nice job of picking up where they left off last
season," Bergeron added. "It’s been collective effort. Everyone has
taken their game to another level on and off the ice, but when somebody really
starts to push back, we’ll really find out who has made those strides
forward."
PP/PK: The Falcons are expecting major improvement from their power-play and
penalty-killing units this season. Part of the improvement will come from the
skill and the depth of the freshmen.
"They’re going to get opportunities on the special teams," Bergeron said.

BG is hoping to have more players earning ice time on the special teams. During the
last two seasons, its best players have become fatigued because of too much
special teams duty, the result of not having enough good players to fill those
units.
"It’ll come down to who’s getting the job done on a daily basis," Bergeron
said.
Last season, BG scored just 17 power-play goals in 191 chances (8.9 percent) and
killed off only 173 of its 206 short-handed chances (82.2 percent).
INJURIES: Bergeron said veteran forwards Marc Rodriguez and Brett Mohler are back to
"100 percent" after recent injuries, but added it hasn’t been decided
if they’ll play against Niagara.
Whether or not they play will, in part, be determined if they’re able to get back
into game shape, Bergeron said.
CHANGE: The starting time for the BG-Niagara game has been changed to 4:05 p.m.,
instead of the original 5:05 p.m.