Adam Berkle came to campus last season with a unique set of expectations.
For a team looking to become hard to play against, to be more physically dominating, he embodied that philosophy. The bruising six-foot-three forward fits both molds to a tee.
He was immediately inserted into the BG lineup and never looked back. He was one of only three players to suit up for all 44 games the Falcons played last season.
Aside from being able to stay healthy, part of the reason he consistently found himself in the lineup was his combination of skill and grit. He finished fourth on the team with 21 points and second on the team with 45 penalty minutes.
“I thought I brought a good physical play to the game,” he said. “I thought I was a good motivator out on the ice, just getting the bench going.”
His standout freshman season helped him gain some recognition, as he joined teammates Ryan Carpenter and Andrew Hammond in Chicago during the summer for Blackhawks prospect camps.
While there, he said he learned some of the finer aspects of how professionals approach the game, such as healthy eating and physical fitness.
“You just learn that you have to be a professional in every aspect of life,” he said. “You can’t be putting the wrong things in your body and expect to be great.”
He also learned some of the things he needed to improve on the ice, namely his footwork and his shot release.
Like teammate Dan DeSalvo, Berkle hit his stride in the postseason for BG.
He was instrumental in helping the Falcons defeat Northern Michigan in the first round of the CCHA Tournament, leading the team with seven points — two goals, five assists — in the three game series.
“He’s the kind of guy who works really hard in the corners and will lay the body on someone,” said DeSalvo, who skated on the same line as Berkle for much of last season. “He’s got a hell of a shot and scores some goals as well.”
Berkle also learned to be more aggressive with the puck as the season progressed.
Last season, he led the team with 125 shots. In the Falcons’ season opener against Niagara, he co-led the Falcons with five shots on goal and added a primary assist on Cam Wojtala’s goal.
And while the stats for the game don’t count toward season totals, he had two more assists, had two shots on goal and was a plus-3 in the Falcons’ 9-1 exhibition win against OIT on Sunday.
While he came to BG with college-hockey-size, he said that he wasn’t up to speed in some other aspects of the game.
Heading into year two, that’s something that has helped prepare him to improve this season.
“I wasn’t aware of the game speed, how fast everything was going to be,” he said. “Now I’m ready to jump right into it instead of taking a few games off.”
