After a break last weekend, the Bowling Green hockey team resumes action tonight against the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
“What Omaha was able to accomplish last weekend was pretty impressive, to take two games from Ohio State, after what we witnessed in Ohio State, as what we thought was one of the top teams in the country,” BG head coach Scott Paluch said.
The Falcons faced the Buckeyes two weeks ago and dropped the two-game series (6-3, 6-1). However, BG is also coming into this contest with a win under their belt after defeating Wayne State 4-3 on Jan. 21.
The Falcons come into tonight with a 6-15-2 overall record and a 3-12-2 record in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, for a No. 11 ranking in the conference. With Omaha’s victory over the Buckeyes, they are now 10-13-3 overall and 8-11-1 in the CCHA, which puts them in eighth place in the CCHA standings.
“They swept Ohio State, so they are on a little bit of a roll and they are getting one of the best defensemen in the league back, but they are not too far ahead of us in the standings. This is a pretty pivotal weekend for us going into the last 11 games of the season,” captain D’Arcy McConvey said.
UNO has been a tough team to beat at home with a 5-1-1 record in their last seven home games.
“We certainly know that they are a very good team after what they accomplished last weekend, but more importantly they have such a real good home ice advantage,” Paluch said. “They are a team that plays with a crowd well and they are able to come at you in waves and generate momentum with their crowd. It’s going to be a great road weekend.”
Along with being a tough team to beat at home, they also have a tough goalie in Dan Ellis. Ellis was named the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week this week after stopping 73 of 74 shots faced last weekend, notching his seventh career shutout against the Buckeyes.
Ellis is in his third year and, according to Paluch, he has been one of the top goalies in the league for his first two and heading into this year.
“He’s a goalie that’s extremely quick going side from side,” Paluch said. “He’s unique in that he’s a goalie who, one, plays very good positionally, but he’s also capable of making a lot of acrobatic saves. He’s one who does whatever it takes to keep the puck out of the net.”
Since Ellis is so acrobatic, the Falcons are going to have to find new ways to get the puck past him.
“You have to get a lot of pucks at him, you have to get a lot of people in front of him and make it difficult for him to see the puck,” Paluch said. “You have to jam home a lot of rebounds and make it a game that is difficult for him to see what he’s trying to stop.” Ellis, however, isn’t the only player the Falcons are going to have to worry about this weekend.
“When they are healthy, Omaha is certainly a team that has a lot of different elements in their team,” Paluch said. “When you combine Danny Ellis in goal, Greg Zanon on defense and [David] Brisson up front, you have a real good combination right through your lineup. Three leaders at each position. Guys, at that combination, that are as good as any team in the league.”
Brisson leads the Mavericks with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 total points so far this season. Zanon is right behind him with 19 points (4-15–19).
Zanon has been out the past few weeks with an injury, but he will be back in the lineup to face the Falcons tonight. According to Paluch, Zanon has been as good of a defenseman as there is in the league for the past two or three years.
“They have a lot of experience in their lineup,” Paluch said. “They have guys that know how to win and guys that know how to win this time of year, which is important. When you look at their year, it’s been kind of up and down with the injuries they have had, but they are starting to get healthy again.”
NOTES:
Both Zanon and Ellis have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, college hockey’s top individual prize. The award is hockey’s equivalent of college football’s Heisman Trophy. So far the award is in its first phase, and both Zanon and Ellis have received votes at this point. However, the process is far from complete.
