BGSU hockey (2-2, 2-0) secured its first wins of the season in a series sweep on the road against Lake Superior State University (2-4, 0-2) to begin Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) play.
This weekend, the Falcons return home to the Slater Family Ice Arena for a weekend series against CCHA opponent Bemidji State (4-4, 2-0) on Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1.
During the weekly press conference held on Oct. 21, head coach Dennis “Willi” Williams addressed his team’s upcoming opponent, his team’s success at the faceoff dots, the idea of giving both of his new goaltenders a chance last weekend, and the excitement and emotions going into the home opener at the Slater Family Ice Arena.
Here are the Falcon four takeaways from the press conference:
Giving two goaltenders a chance
BG started two goaltenders over the weekend as sophomore netminder Tyler Palmer started Friday night, with freshman Jacob Steinman getting the nod for Saturday.
“I went in with the mindset of giving both those guys an opportunity,” said Williams.
“It worked out that both got wins, both feeling good about themselves.”
Willi continued and explained the depth of the Falcons’ goaltending room, “I’ve said all along, we’ve got Cole (junior goaltender Cole Moore), Tyler, and Jacob, and three goalies that we feel very fortunate to have with us and (I’m) confident in all three of them.”
Faceoffs
Through their first four regular-season games of the season, Bowling Green has won 145 of the 257 faceoffs they’ve been tasked with for a faceoff win percentage of .564. This win percentage ranks the Falcons as the best team in the CCHA and the sixth-best team in the NCAA for faceoff win percentage.
“Faceoff readiness is so important to us,” explained Willi. “Everyone has to be on the same page through wins and losses; it’s gotta be entrenched. You can’t have four guys understanding what the faceoff play is and one guy not, because you’re probably gonna lose that battle.”
Coach Williams continued and explained the work that goes into preparing his team for faceoffs, “We talk a lot, we work a lot on it (faceoffs), we have good pre-scouts on it, we have our staff work with centermen on faceoffs, but also having the help from (defenseman) and forwards as well.
Bemidji State
Bemidji State is fresh off a CCHA weekend sweep of its own as the Beavers defeated Augustana University (3-3, 0-2) by scores of 1-0 and 3-2.
“They’re (Bemidji) definitely coming in feeling really good about themselves, and they should,” said Williams.
“It’s gonna be a team that if we don’t manage pucks properly, they can score in waves, they got skill, they got speed, they got size, they got good goaltending, so right now, for us it’s focus on what we want to do but also know that we can’t give ‘em freebies.”
Williams explained what his team needs to do to compete with Bemidji, “We gotta be really diligent with the puck, having numbers in all three zones, protecting the inside of the ice, not get out fishing for pucks. We gotta defend hard inside the blue paint, inside the dots, and make it uncomfortable for them coming to our net.”
Home opener
While the Falcons previously played Robert Morris University and the University of Windsor at the Slater Family Ice Arena earlier this season, this weekend will be the team’s true home opener, as the previous games were exhibition matches.
“It’s going to be interesting for sure,” said Williams. “First home games, bigger crowd, more excitement, moms and dads, grandmas, grandpas, girlfriends, whoever, they’re all coming in normally for this type of weekend.”
While the excitement and anticipation are growing as the home opener nears, Williams wants his team to remain focused on the task at hand.
“The one thing I’ve really stressed to our guys is you gotta stick to a routine and schedule,” said Willie. “We talked to them about trying to prepare them for life after college hockey and pro hockey, and you gotta stick to that and not get distracted.”
