BGSU hockey’s defensemen Breck McKinley and Brayden Crampton were recognized by the CCHA as All-Conference selections, announced earlier today by the CCHA. The two Falcons skated in their final game of the 2025-26 season against Michigan Tech in the Mason Cup quarterfinals, a road elimination loss.
McKinley was named a Second-team All-CCHA defenseman for his first career all-conference recognition. His junior season brought an explosion of offense, two goals, 24 assists, and 26 points, exactly double his totals from his first two seasons combined.
In fact, McKinley is the highest-scoring Falcon defenseman in a season since Alec Rauhauser in 2019-20.
The St. Albert, Alberta native led conference defensemen in both assists and points during the regular season and is in the top ten among NCAA blueliners in the same categories. His +14 rating at the end of the regular season led BG and was tied for fourth in the CCHA.
McKinley had 13 games where he spent over 25 minutes skating with a career-high 30:40 in a 1-0 win for BG over Augustana, assisting the game-winning goal. Averaging over 23 minutes on the ice per game, he led the team and was on the ice for about 38 percent of BG’s season.
A top defenseman in the CCHA, and also nominated for the CCHA Defenseman of the Year award, McKinley has yet another year of eligibility. He is the first member of CCHA’s second team since Nathan Burke in 2022-23.
Crampton was named to the CCHA All-Rookie team following his first campaign with the Falcons. He was one of head coach Dennis Williams’ first recruits to BG, a highly anticipated point-per-game scorer for Spokane in the WHL in 2024-25.
As a freshman, Crampton nailed the second-most goals (3), assists (15), and points (18) by a BG defenseman with a respectable +6 rating. He was the second-highest scoring freshman and highest scoring freshman D-man on the team and would have been BG’s highest scoring blueliner last season.
Among rookies in the CCHA, Crampton has the second most assists and most defenseman assists, while having the ninth most points and third most by a defenseman. His offense-generating continued with 2.97 shots per game, ninth in the CCHA, with the most by a defenseman and third-most by a rookie.
From Chilliwack in British Columbia, Crampton led the freshmen in blocks with 26 and skated an average of about 21 minutes per game, the third-most on the team. More importantly, he finished with just one missed game, a suspension he served for a fight against Minnesota State.
He still retains three seasons of eligibility and is BG’s first skater on the CCHA All-Rookie team since Dalton Norris in 2022-23.
