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.