Dennis Williams has been busy the last three weeks.
He hasn’t stopped working since he was named Bowling Green’s head hockey coach June 30.
Williams took over for Scott Paluch, who resigned to accept a position with U.S.A. Hockey.
An assistant coach at BG last season, he spent the first four to five days talking to the returning
players via phone.
Since then, he’s reviewed résumés of candidates for the two full-time assistant coaching positions to be
filled, finalized team travel plans, worked on recruiting and reviewed plans for the 2009-season.
Of course, the BG program isn’t guaranteed to exist after next season. The program could be cut to help
the university and the athletics department deal with a large budget deficit.
“There are days I’ll look up at the clock and it’s (4 p.m.) and I haven’t even had lunch yet,” said
Williams, an interim coach for the 2009-10 season. He played at BG from 1997-2001.
The Falcons return 16 players from last season when they were 11-24-3 overall and last in the Central
Collegiate Hockey Association at 8-19-1. BG also has 10 freshmen.
“The talks with the players were real good,” Williams said. “Everyone was real excited and they’re
excited to get here and get started. The players are ready to move forward and have a great season.”
The players will return to BG for the start of school Aug. 24. The NCAA starting date for official on-ice
practice is Oct. 3, the same day BG hosts Wilfred Laurier in an exhibition. Before that, teams can hold
small group individual workouts with players on the ice.
Williams was the head coach at NCAA Division III member Neumann (Pa.) College from 2003-06.
“It definitely helps from an administrative standpoint because you know what to expect and what needs to
be done,” Williams said. “And having been here for a year also helps because I know how things work and
where I can go to get answers. But when the players get back here, we want the pure focus to be on
hockey.”
STAFF: Williams said he’ll have his assistants hired “within the next couple of weeks.” He’s in the
middle of on-campus interviews with four to six candidates. The interviews should be finished within the
next week or so.
“I’m tired of talking to the walls,” Williams joked. “It’s weird being in the office by yourself. I’m
anxious to start talking hockey with my staff.”
RECRUITING: BG will have a full coaching staff in place
by the time the recruiting season resumes in late August/early September.
“This is a down time because there aren’t a lot of camps this time of year,” Williams said. “All three of
us will be out on the road when the recruiting starts up again.”
STRATEGY: The uncertainty of the program will make BG’s recruiting difficult. The Falcons have just one
recruit for next season, defenseman Mike Montrose, who played for Waterloo in the United States (Junior)
Hockey League.
“Obviously, it’s a bit of a challenge, but everyone faces difficulties and challenges with their
recruiting,” Williams said. “We still have a great product here and that’s what we have to focus on
selling.
BG has eight seniors this season — defensemen Kyle Page and Brian Moore; forwards James Perkin, Kai
Kantola, Tomas Petruska, Todd McIlrath and Josh Boyd; and goalie Phil Greer.
“We’ll discuss as a staff how we’re going to approach it and put our best foot forward,” Williams said.
“We know other schools are going to talk about it, but we’re only going to worry about what we can
control.”
CCHA: The Central Collegiate Hockey Association is expected to vote in August on Alabama-Huntsville as
the league’s 12th member for the 2010-11 season.
Nebraska-Omaha will leave the CCHA for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association at the end of next
season.
UAH will play this season in College Hockey America, but the CHA is disbanding after the 2009-10 season.

But UAH could have a tough time getting the needed nine votes for admission, due in part to BG’s
uncertain future. If UAH is admitted and BG eventually drops its program, the CCHA would be left with 11
teams.
An odd number of teams makes for difficult scheduling and some schools already were concerned the
addition of UAH would add another long trip.
But UAH is rumored to be willing to pay for the majority of the travel costs to Huntsville, just as the
University of Alaska has done for years as part of its agreement to be in the CCHA.