In any sport, individual accomplishments go hand-in-hand with winning. The impressive early season play of forward Derek Whitmore and the coinciding hot start of the BGSU hockey team are a prime example of that.
Whitmore’s play this season has helped the Falcons open their 2006-2007 schedule with wins over Connecticut and Providence and a tie with Alabama-Huntsville. Whitmore recorded the game winner in overtime against UConn and netted two goals against Huntsville after BG fell behind early 3-0.
BG’s lone defeat came on the road at the hands of No. 1 Boston College 5-1 last Saturday, with Whitmore scoring the Falcons’ only goal.
For Whitmore, his own personal accomplishments and the success the team has enjoyed so far is a matter of fulfilling goals and expectations that have been in place since he arrived at BG.
“You come into the CCHA wanting to make it to Joe Louis Arena [for the conference finals]. I haven’t been able to get there yet,” Whitmore said. “When my [recruiting] class came in, the coaching staff said ‘when you guys are juniors and seniors we want to get back to a competitive level and that’s why we brought you here.’ Hopefully things can fall into place for us.”
So far everything has been falling into place for the Rochester, NY native and the Falcons, as they are off to the second best start of coach Scott Paluch’s tenure.
Coming into the season with the loss of Alex Foster to the NHL draft, BG was in need of someone to step up in the place of the Falcons’ top scorer from last year. Whitmore has been able to stand out in Foster’s absence.
“He’s on pace to score a lot of goals right now,” Paluch said. “I think after losing a lot of production from last year, he was the guy we were counting on to pick it up, and clearly he has.”
Whitmore’s 1.5 points per game is tied for the lead on the Falcons along with line mate Jonathan Matsumoto, who was also drafted in last year’s NHL draft but chose to return to BG.
“It’s been a great boost right now,” Matsumoto said. “I think [Whitmore] brings a good enthusiasm to the game. He’s always out there having fun. Things are falling into place for him right now, and he’s making the most of it.”
According to the BG coaching staff, the success that Whitmore has had this year is a result of the work that he put in over the summer in the off-season.
“Derek had an outstanding off-season,” Paluch said. “He was really noticed by our young guys as being someone you want to be around. I think, even though at this point he’s not wearing a letter, he’s been a true leader on our team.”
Whitmore is aware that his attitude is rubbing off on his teammates, which is something he hopes will continue.
“I just think how I go about my business, coming to the rink everyday wanting to work hard, having fun and being a leader on and off the ice,” said Whitmore. “I consider myself a veteran and a leader on this team, and luckily everything is falling into place right now, and the team is playing well so that helps.”
Whitmore and the Falcons open up CCHA play tonight when they head to Oxford to take on last year’s regular season conference champion, the No. 7 Miami Redhawks.
