Following its best season in decades, the Bowling Green State University hockey program remains without a
head coach.
Chris Bergeron took the job when the program was on the ropes, and left it a desirable position in
collegiate hockey.
But Bowling Green, while it would prefer to begin its next chapter, is in no rush to fill the position.

“We’re trying to be thorough with it and make sure we get the right leader into our hockey program,” said
BGSU’s director of athletics Bob Moosbrugger.
“We want to get this done quickly because it affects the student athletes’ lives and the coaches’ lives.
But we’ve sat down with probably two groups of hockey players separately and discussed the program with
them. They’re in a good spot as well.
“They would love to know who the next coach is, but they’re not in any hurry to get somebody. They
understand that we need to take our time and get the right person.”
What will define the “right person?”
Moosbrugger’s immediate response was to find a leader of men. He added that he’s looking for “someone
that can sell us. Sell us your vision and plan for this program and taking it forward.”
He said that the new coach will sell the program to student athletes, prospective student athletes,
donors, fans and community members.
Moosbrugger hired a head coach in another prominent position just five months earlier when the football
program went in a new direction.
The hockey program is in a much different spot than the football team, though.
The football hire, while ultimately a five-week process including the in-season search, was made less
than a week after the season. Following a three-win season, BG wanted a drastic change.
Hockey returns the majority of players from a 25-win juggernaut that played in its first NCAA tournament
in nearly three decades.
“Every hire that you make, there’s a context to it and what is the context,” Moosbrugger said.
“Obviously we needed something different,” he added in regard to the football program. “We know we’re
going to get a different voice from coach Bergeron, but does it have to be a completely different voice?
I don’t think so.
“There’s been a lot of work for the past nine years that that coaching staff has put in.”
Bowling Green has discussed the program with both assistants Barry Schutte and Ty Eigner.
Moosbrugger believes there is interest from both parties on either side.
“We’ve talked to people, that’s for sure. We’re trying to determine their interest in us, and our
interest in them,” he said.
“I will say we will have a good pool of candidates. We just have to determine what is best for our
program at this point in time. I don’t want to take that long, but I’ll make sure that I take the
appropriate time to make a great decision.”
BYE, BERGERON
Chris Bergeron, who was announced as the head coach at Miami University helped transform BGSU hockey.
“We had long discussions about where we feel our program’s headed. Long discussions about what we want to
get accomplished in the future. At the end of the day, it was a difficult decision for him,” Moosbrugger
said. “I can feel good about the conversations that we had. I didn’t want to make it harder on him, but
I know we did.”
BG made it harder by offering him a raise to his $185,000 salary.
“He told me that it’s not coming down to money,” Moosbrugger said. “For what Chris Bergeron meant to our
program, we wanted to make sure that he felt appreciated and was offered a nice bump in salary and a
nice extension. And so we did that. I told Chris last summer that we would do that.
“I don’t think it came down to money, I think he was honest with me.”
BG is due $150,000, with Bergeron exiting his contract early.