BGSU hockey (2-3-3, 2-1-3) was able to capture three of a possible six points toward the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings during last weekend’s series in Mankato, Minnesota, against the No. 16 Minnesota State Mavericks (4-2-4, 1-1-2).
This weekend, the Falcons return home to the Slater Family Ice Arena to face the visiting Ferris State Bulldogs (2-8-0, 1-3-0) on Nov. 14 and 15.
During the weekly press conference held on Nov. 11, Bowling Green head coach Dennis “Willi” Williams addressed his team’s performance during the Minnesota State series, the parity within the CCHA and college hockey as a whole, his goal for his team’s continued improvement, and the mindset behind choosing lineups.
Here are the Falcon Four takeaways from the press conference:
Good weekend, but want more
Bowling Green was able to claim three of a possible six points toward the CCHA standings from the No. 16 team in the country via a shootout loss following a 4-4 draw on Friday night and a shootout win following a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
While the Falcons played well on the weekend, Williams still wants more out of his squad.
“It was a really good weekend for us,” said Williams. “We obviously want more points. I don’t want to sit here and also pat us on the back.”
Coach Williams continued, “We still go there to win hockey games, and two ties is what we got, but at the end of the day, we gotta continue to pull the positives out of it and build for this coming weekend.”
Keep Building
This weekend, the Orange and Brown will return home to the Slater Family Ice Arena to face the Ferris State Bulldogs on Nov. 14 and 15.
When asked about what he wants to see out of his team this weekend, coach Williams responded, “Just keep building. We got a lot to learn, we got a lot to continue to grow into, but I like where we’re going.”
Coach Williams emphasized the importance of continuously improving in order to remain competitive.
“We just can’t put on our skates and expect that we’re gonna keep challenging for tight games or winning hockey games. We have to continue to get better, and our job as coaches is to keep raising the benchmark.”
Finding a niche
Building off the idea of continuously improving, Willi discussed what he looks for out of his players when deciding who to put in the lineup and how different players are utilized.
“Their (the players) job is to make my life difficult and pick a lineup,” said Willi. “Here’s what I tell ‘em: how do you separate from everybody? Why does a coach need you in the lineup every night?”
“I always say to guys, you have to find a niche and a reason why to be in the lineup, and if not, you just kinda go in the mixer with everybody else, and that’s not a bad thing, but you gotta try to separate to be a fixture.”
Coach Williams also went on to explain the conversations shared between his coaching staff when deciding which players need to be included in the lineup.
“When we sit down and talk lineup, it’s always the one thing I always ask is why do we need him, like to our staff, why do we need this player in the lineup,” explained Willi. “Well, we need him because (for example) he’s a centerman, he’s good on faceoffs, he’s 62% (faceoff percentage), he’s a fixture on our penalty kill, Curt (Associate head coach Curtis Carr) says perfect, he goes in. If you don’t have that fixture, you kinda just, you gotta find it.”
Parity within the CCHA
Over the last two weekend series against Bemidji State (7-4-1, 5-0-1) and Minnesota State, all four games have gone to overtime, with three of the four going to a shootout before finally being settled.
“I think it just gives more credit to how the parity in the CCHA is, the parity across college hockey, you’re seeing it every night,” said Williams. “We’ve played six CCHA games now. One game was 4-1 over Lake State, our first game, and every other game was one goal (difference).”
The CCHA has long been known for its parity across the conference, with seemingly anyone being able to compete for a playoff spot and have the chance to go on a deep playoff run depending on when teams get hot.
“There’s a very small separation from top to bottom,” said Willi about the CCHA.
“You saw Ferris State this weekend, go out and split with Augustana (6-4-0, 3-3-0). I’m sure most people watching probably would’ve thought Augustana would’ve swept that, but it just, again, goes to what I think is good parity, good coaching, good recruiting, and it makes the league very difficult to play in.”
