Since We've Been Gone

Sorry for the Kelly Clarkson reference. It was too easy. Winter break has been busy for both Geoff and me, and we haven't been around the team an awful lot as a result, which is why we haven't posted anything in quite a while. Here are some quick thoughts from both of us regarding the games we missed, as well as the upcoming games against Canisius this weekend (we'll have a Michigan preview by itself at some point later).

On Notre Dame (L 4-1):

Kevin:

I hate to say it, but sometimes, the team you're playing is better than you are and they show it. Notre Dame big guns came to play, and the stats show it, especially with T.J. Tynan (1 G, 1 A), Anders Lee (1 A), Mario Lucia (2 A), Shayne Taker (1 G, 1 A), and goalie Steven Summerhays (18 saves, .947 SV%). Sure, the Falcons could have played better, and Coach Bergeron mentioned it in the postgame, but Notre Dame was firing on all cylinders, and no matter how well the Brown and Orange played that night, it was going to be hard to stop the Irish.

Geoff:

Well, the next time there is a break, we will make sure to stay up on the team a little better.  I was lucky enough to be on color commentary for the ND game and when BGSU and the Irish went scoreless in the first period, I knew that BG could hang with this team.  It was a lot of back and forth action.  Then about a minute and a half into the second, ND takes a penalty and 30 seconds later, Mingo shoots from the circle and the ever-dependable Ryan Carpenter was in front of the net for the deflection.  Even though that goal didn't come until the second, it was still huge.  The Notre Dame crowd was fairly sizable.  Summerhays was in net and to get that goal I thought was huge because now Bowling Green saw first hand that they can indeed beat this amazing goaltender.

The momentum shifted on the crazy bounce play off of the boards that was easily the worst bounce I have ever seen in my life.  Andrew Hammond went to play the puck as he has done a thousand times and the puck just bounces beyond his reach and over to a ND player who pushes it the rest of the way into the slot where Tynan was in front for a wide open goal.  It was a kooky play and the kind of play that can stop a team right in their tracks.

I don't think this happened in the BG case though.  Notre Dame really elevated their play after that and BG couldn't match it.  They played like the #3 team in the nation should.    


On Niagara (W 3-0):

Kevin:

A huge win for the boys to start the 2nd half against a very good Purple Eagles club. Niagara came in ranked 17th in the USCHO.com poll, and the Falcons took it to them for the majority of the game. The effort was there, and BG played a full 60 minutes, which is something that has been lacking from this club for the majority of the first half.

It's nice to see some of the bigger names step up offensively as well. There's been some solid secondary scoring of late (Cooper, Mohler, Shea, etc.), but against Niagara, 3 of the bigger offensive players (Williamson, Wojtala, Mingo) tallied for the Falcons. It was only a matter of time before these guys started putting more numbers up, and hopefully that will continue throughout the second half of the year.

Andrew Hammond came to play Saturday night, as he stopped all 38 Niagara shots en route to his second shutout of the season. Anytime a team puts 38 shots on your net, you need your goaltender to come up big, and that's exactly what Hammy did. If this team wants to be consistently better in the second half of the year, it is going to start in net. Congratulations are in order for #1 as well for receiving CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors.

How about that power play, eh? The 2-5 on the night for the Falcons makes it the 3rd straight game the boys have tallied on the man advantage, and it's about time the power play started producing. It's looked a lot better the last few weeks WITHOUT the results, and it's nice to finally see some better numbers on the board from the BG power play. That being said, there's still a long way to go.

Geoff:

This is the game where I think we have finally found without a doubt that Andrew Hammond has hit his stride.  He is in a serious groove.  Right now he is only 1 shutout away from being tied for the all time lead with Tyler Masters.

Mike Sullivan needs some recognition too as he continues to perform well for the Falcons.  He hopefully will remain a bright spot for the rest of the season and the next few years from now. 

Kevin pretty much covered everything pretty well.  That was a great effort all around.


On Canisius (January 5 & 6, 12:05 PM EST, Chris Cournan, 88.1 WBGU FM):

Kevin:

The one thing I worry about is the Falcons taking this series for granted. I'm worried they will be both looking back on the win over Niagra and looking ahead to a winnable (very winnable) game up in Ann Arbor on Tuesday. However, if the boys are focused and ready to go this weekend, I don't see any reason why they cannot pick up 2 wins over the Golden Griffins (they did it last year at the BGSU Ice Arena).

That being said, Canisius is no slouch. They come in with an overall record of 6-8-4, and an Atlantic Hockey conference record of 5-4-2. They don't really have any big time wins, (I'm starting to sound like a member of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee, but I digress...) but they have been close in almost every game they have played in, including against #12 Western Michigan, #2 Minnesota, and #18 Niagara.

Canisius is a team pretty similar offensive club as compared to the Falcons. They average around 1.9 goals/game, and about 28 shots/game. The good thing for the Orange and Brown is that they give up about 31 shots/game, so there will be plenty of chances for the Falcons to beat Golden Griffins goaltender Tony Capobianco. And they will need every last one of those chances, as Capobianco comes in with a 1.79 GAA and a .941 SV%.

In closing, these are two very winnable games for the Falcons this weekend, but that does not mean that cannot afford to give less than a 100%, 60 minute effort both afternoons against Canisius. It will still come down to special teams, process/details, and goaltending (by the way, look for Tommy Burke to start at least once this weekend with the Tuesday game at Michigan). Those three things have been better as of late, and hopefully they will continue this weekend against the Golden Griffins.

Geoff: 

I'm running short on time myself, so I will edit this later when I have more time.  Right now though, we definitely wanted to get the post up.  Hope you enjoyed and keep reading.


Beat Canisius. Roll Along.

Preview-#3 Notre Dame @ Bowling Green

We decided the best format to come up with is having both of us have our thoughts on the same post. So, without further ado, here is our preview for #3 Notre Dame @ Bowling Green.

Overall: 3-9-4 | CCHA: 2-6-3-1

Overall: 13-4-0 | CCHA: 9-1-0

@

Saturday,  December 15, 2012
7:05 PM
BGSU Ice Arena
Listen: Chris Cournan & Geoff Roberts (6:35 Pregame--88.1 FM WBGU, WBGUFM.com)

Geoff:

Notre Dame is one of those teams.  You never really know what you’re going to get out of them.  This year however, they have been far from shaky.  They were ranked all the way down at 14 in the USCHO.com poll to start the year after finishing last year 19-18-3.  This year however, they have played some solid hockey with a 13-4-0 record, boosting themselves up to #3 in the latest poll behind only Boston College and New Hampshire who traded positions this week as #1 and #2.  Notre Dame has lost only 1 game in the CCHA.

Bowling Green can’t think about that though.  The focus has to be to expose Notre Dame’s weak areas, and let me tell you, there aren’t a lot of them.  As a team they average 32.2 shots per game, scoring on 11.8% of shots for the season.  They’ve got a stellar goalie in Summerhays whose stat line looks like that of a Vezina Trophy winner, he’s allowed only 12 goals in 9 games.  1.43 GAA, .941 SV%.  They’ve got some guys who make good decisions on the ice and that shows in the +/- of Kevin Lind (+14), Bryan Rust (+13), and Jeff Costello (+10).  They’ve got an amazing Freshman Winger named Mario Lucia who on top of being named the CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week for the second straight week was selected to the Preliminary USA Roster for the IIHF World Juniors the very next day.  Notre Dame is no stranger to having USA World Junior players as Junior Center T.J. Tynan and Junior D-Man Stephen Johns have also played on the team.  Oh yeah, since I just mentioned him above...they've got T.J. Tynan (I know Kevin appreciates his talent a lot).

If that weren’t enough, Notre Dame’s 4 losses this year come all at the hands of a ranked opponent and none were at a difference of more than 2 goals.  All rankings were at the time of matchup:

October 18, #13 Minnesota Duluth, 3 to 1

November 2, #11 Western Michigan, 3 to 2

November 9, #1 Boston College, 3 to 1

November 23, #7 North Dakota, 2 to 1

Needless to say, it is a really great year for Notre Dame so far.  They’ve got 5 players in double digits in points.  Anders Lee (11-5-16), Robbie Russo (4-11-15), Bryan Rust (4-9-13), T.J. Tynan (4-9-13), and Jeff Costello (5-7-12).  Obviously, the number that most stands out there has to be Anders Lee’s 11 tallies in the goal column.  Lee is the Reigning CCHA Player of the Month because he netted 7 goals and 2 assists in November.  

So, does Bowling Green stand a chance?

I think so.  Here’s why:

1.      The Small Stuff

2.      Andrew Hammond

3.      Dajon Mingo and Dan DeSalvo

The Small Stuff, Go Ahead and Sweat It

This seems like a few very small things, and probably is honestly, but Notre Dame’s four losses all have similarities.  They all come in either the first look at a team in a two game series i.e. the first game, or they come on the road in a one game matchup (Boston College).  Now, obviously these are small things to look at, nit-picky almost.  When you’re dealing with this kind of matchup and looking for bright spots for the underdog, these are what you have to look at, especially with the favorite being #3 in the nation.

Second, this is Notre Dame’s first road game since November 16, when they swept Michigan in Ann Arbor for the first time since disco was still alive.  Will the road play be rusty?  It’s hard to say.  Of their four losses, 3 of them unexpectedly come in South Bend at the Compton Family Ice Arena.  Their one loss on the road came at Boston College.

Andrew Hammond

Notre Dame shoots the puck.  A LOT.  They average over 32 shots a game.  Andrew Hammond is a goaltender who prefers to take a lot of shots as opposed to having long periods of time without them.  We’ve definitely seen this is the discrepancies in performance when he has to make 50+ saves (Ferris State last year) versus somewhere in the teens (Ferris State this year).  The Senior goaltender could very feasibly find himself very busy on Saturday night, and as a result, Bowling Green could find themselves very much still in a position to win for the entire game.   

Dajon Mingo and Dan DeSalvo

I know this seems like a random tandem (rhyme time), but it’s not.  Mingo and DeSalvo barring any unforeseen changes, play on the 1^st and 2^nd line, respectively.  Both of these players love having the puck, both are fast and both can outskate a ton of D-men on any team.  Junior D Kevin Lind is one of the most physical players that Notre Dame has, but he’s not fast and is a blow-by candidate.  On the other coin, Junior D Stephen James is 6’4” and 233 lbs.  He may not be speedy but he is good at playing the body in 3 of the most important zones for forwards, in front of the net, in the corners, and on open ice and is a definite threat that the Forwards have to pay attention to.  Either way, I think both Dajon and Dan are due for a goal.  There's no real way to know if these two will be key in the matchup, but I think they are the best two candidates for a huge performance right now with this matchup. 

BG however has to beat Steven Summerhays and the guy is ridiculous.  He won ND’s Most Improved Player award last year while splitting time almost evenly with then-Junior Mike Johnson and this year he has run with it.  Senior Mike Johnson is now in the official two spot and has only played in 2 games on the season, while Summerhays has played the rest, and performed exceptionally.

In closing:

If BGSU can pull out a win, it won’t be pretty.  It won’t be a blowout.  This is the 3^rd best team in the nation, 1^st in the CCHA (Thanks to Miami’s loss to Lake), and a team that has won 4 straight CCHA games and 5 straight games overall.  This is an uphill climb.  And much like Mount Everest, it’s going to be tough, but it is possible.  It will be good hockey to watch, and it should be fairly physical.  Just remember, this is a sport.  Any team can beat any team on any given day.  Let’s hope that day is Saturday.  Roll Along.  

Kevin:

As much as I'd love to see the boys pick up 3 points on Saturday and pull off the major upset, like Geoff chronicled above, it's going to be a very difficult test. Everywhere you look, the Irish have someone who can beat you, whether it be up front, (Lee, Tynan, Costello, Lucia, Fogerty, Russo), on defense (Johns), and in net with Summerhays. Goaltending has been perceived as an issue for the Irish over the last couple years, but Summerhays has certainly quieted the critics.

Here are my 3 keys for Bowling Green victory: 
   
1. Discipline  

Seems simple enough, right? Stay out of the penalty box as much as possible. Notre Dame is a team that already puts up enough shots on goal per game as it is, so BG cannot afford to give them excess opportunities on the man advantage. 

 2.  Power Play

I'm sure I'm as sick of talking about it as you are of hearing it, but it remains true: if the boys want to pull off the upset, they'll have to convert at least once on the power play. Over the last few games, the power play has looked much better than it did earlier in the year, and the Falcons even got a goal on the man advantage last Saturday (Cooper on the 5-3). 

3. Start Fast

Getting the first goal of the game (preferably within the first 10 minutes) is imperative on Saturday. If the Falcons let Notre Dame score first, it's going to be very tough for them to come back and win the game. 

In Closing:

I'm going to sound a lot like Coach Bergeron here, but if the Falcons want to get the 3 points on Saturday, they are going to focus on the process and the details of their game. If they let up for even a split second, Notre Dame will take advantage, and it could get ugly pretty quickly. But a win is definitely possible. 

Beat the Irish. Roll Along.

 

Trip to Alaska - Part I

Andrew Wallace did all of the Falcon faithful a favor in documenting the team's trip to Alaska to take on the Nanooks.  Here is the footage from part one.  Special thanks to BG Athletics for the YouTube link.

Kevin-Intro

Greetings Falcon hockey fans. Like Geoff said, we wanted to create this blog for a couple reasons. One is to obviously stay in touch with the BGSU hockey community aside from our show and when we do broadcasts. The other big reason is that both Geoff and I are very opinionated people, especially when it comes to the boys in brown and orange. 

We are not only involved with the team, we are two of its biggest fans (it tends to be the primary focus of our conversations and the reason we've become such close friends over the past year), and we wanted to give our thoughts about the team we both have grown so fond of. It just gives people another outlet to find news and opinions about the team, and that's something I've always wanted to see since my freshman year here at BG. I know both Geoff and I look forward to maintaining this blog through the end of this season, as well as heading into both the offseason and the 2013-2014 season. Ok, enough of my rambling. Here is my bio:

Name: Kevin Meyers
Twitter: TheKevinMeyers
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Major/Minor: Sport Management/Telecommunications
Favorite NHL Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Favorite NHL Player: Jonathan Toews
Favorite Current Falcon Players: Dajon Mingo, Mike Sullivan, Ryan Viselli
Other Favorite Hockey Teams: Toronto Maple Leafs, Rockford IceHogs (AHL)
Other Favorite Teams (other sports): Chicago Bears, Cubs, Bulls, Florida State Seminoles

"Resume":

BGSU Hockey Color Analyst
November 2010-Present

Host-“The Neutral Zone”

September 2012-Present

BGSU Ice Arena Senior Hockey League Co-Comissioner
Spring 2013 

BGSU Basketball Play-by-Play Broadcaster/Color Analyst
February 2012-Present 

BGRSO High School Hockey Play-by-Play Broadcaster
January 2011-Present

Co-Host-"Between the Pipes"
October 2010-May 2011

BGRSO 2010-2011 "High School Sports" Broadcaster of the Year

We hope you enjoy the blog as much as we will enjoy running it. Look for a preview of the game this Saturday vs. #3 Notre Dame either later today or later in the week.

Roll Along.

-Kevin

Welcome to The Neutral Zone All Day.

Hey everyone!  This is the first post on the Neutral Zone All Day blog.  This blog is going to be operated primarily by Kevin Meyers and Geoff Roberts for the remainder of the 2012-13 season and most likely next 2013-14 season.  We toiled around with the idea to do a blog or not for the show/BG hockey and with the extended break coming up (we won't be back on air until Sunday January 6 at 5 PM, falconradio.org), we definitely wanted to stay in touch.  Kevin and I do color commentary on BGSU Hockey radio broadcasts as well as host the show.  We set out to do the show as a NHL, NCAA, CCHA, and BGSU hockey show, but with the extended lockout, we have done BGSU primarily.  It is going to stay that way for now.  I figured we can post our bios as the first things, so I will do mine on this post, and Kevin can make a separate one.

Name: Geoff Roberts
Twitter: @GimmeAnOPlease
Hometown: Port Huron, MI
Major/Minor: Sport Management/Journalism
Favorite NHL Team: Detroit Red Wings
Favorite NHL Player: Pavel Datsyuk
Favorite Current Falcon Player: Andrew Wallace, solid in the faceoff circle, hard-worker, good ol' Nova Scotian.  Also refereed some of our Senior Hockey League games in the summer @ the BGSU Ice Arena, definitely a good guy.

Other Favorite Teams: Carolina Hurricanes, Sarnia Sting (OHL), Army Black Knights
Other Favorite Teams (other sports): Detroit Lions, Tigers, Pistons.

"Resume": 
Co-host, The Netural Zone, August 2012-Present
Color Commentator, BGSU Hockey, January 2012-Present
BGSU Ice Arena Senior Hockey League Co-Commissioner Spring 2013
Play-By-Play, BGSU Volleyball, Aug. 2012-Present
Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization Production Director Dec 2012-Present
Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization Promotions Director Aug 2012-Dec 2012

We hope you enjoy the blog. 

-Geoff