Bowling Green will play in one of college hockey’s newest events during the 2013-14 season.
The Falcons will join host Robert Morris, Penn State, and Boston College in the Pittsburgh College Hockey
Invitational.
The event will be played between Christmas and New Year’s at Consol Energy Center, home of the NHL’s
Pittsburgh Penguins.
In addition to the Falcons, the tournament will have a distinct BG flavor.
Former Falcon head coach Jerry York, who guided BG to the 1984 NCAA championship, is the head coach at
Boston College. Penguin head coach Dan Bylsma and assistant coach Todd Reirden are former Falcon players
and assistant coaches.
“It’s pretty neat Jerry York and his ties to Bowling Green, and Dan Bylsma and Todd Reirden and their
ties to Bowling Green will be there,” Falcon coach Chris Bergeron said. “The fact they were interested
in having Bowling Green be a part of this is a great thing. We’re excited about it.”
Bergeron said it hasn’t been decided if the event will be played in a true tournament format with
semifinal, consolation and championship games or if the pairings for each day will be determined in
advance.
The event debuts this season with Miami and Ohio State joining Robert Morris and Penn State.
NONLEAGUE: In addition to the Pittsburgh trip, BG has six other nonleague contests during the 2013-14
season.
BG visits Union and hosts Colgate to complete home-and-home contracts that start this season, and it’ll
play Ohio State in a home-and-home series.
All of college hockey’s realignment starts with the 2013-14 season, meaning the Falcons will move from
the soon-to-be-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association to the Western Collegiate Hockey
Association, and OSU will switch from the CCHA to the Big Ten Conference.
Bergeron is optimistic BG’s nonleague schedule will have a CCHA look to it. In addition to OSU, BG hopes
to face Miami, Western Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State in nonleague series.
Five schools from Atlantic Hockey — Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara, Robert Morris, and the Rochester
(N.Y.) Institute of Technology — also are within a reasonable driving distance.
“If at all possible, we’d like to stay closer to home for non-conference games because the travel
increases for our conference games,” Bergeron said.
BG’s closest trip in the WCHA will be to Ferris State. The WCHA also consists of three teams in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and two teams each in Alaska and Minnesota.
“We’re lucky enough, that in our general area, there are nonconference games that are close. That’s going
to be our focus,” Bergeron said. “If that doesn’t work out, we’ll have to look elsewhere.”
JUNIOR BOUND: Falcon recruit Matt Pohlkamp will play for Fargo, N.D. in the United States (Junior) Hockey
League this season, instead of coming to BG.
When Pohlkamp committed to BG last season, it wasn’t decided if he would join the team this season or in
the fall of 2013. The 19-year-old forward played high school hockey in Brainerd (Minn.) last season.
Pohlkamp would have given BG 15 forwards this season. Sophomore Dajon Mingo became eligible after sitting
out last season for academic reasons.
“We feel like the best situation for Matt is to go play a year in juniors and fine-tune his game that
way,” Bergeron said.
RECRUITING: Pohlkamp is one of seven recruits for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
The Falcons have four seniors this season and are scheduled to have eight for the 2013-14 season.
“When (the recruits) come is going to depend on when they’re physically ready from the hockey
perspective,” Bergeron said.
BG’s senior class this season consists of goalie Andrew Hammond, defensemen Ryan Peltoma and Bobby Shea,
and forward Marc Rodriguez.
“Barring anything that is unforeseen, we’re pretty close to being done,” Bergeron said of the recruiting
for the 2013-14 season. “My experience says we’re not done. We feel like we’re headed in the right
direction in terms of a program. At any point this year, we feel that if we need to add pieces to that,
we’re going to do it.”
SWITCH: BG’s series at Canisius Jan. 4-5 this season has been moved to Jan. 5-6, a Saturday and Sunday.
Both games start at 12:05 p.m.