The following is graciously submitted by Mark Kunstmann, BGSU's
Assistant Sports Information Director in charge of hockey. It is the
text that will appear in the game program for Saturday night's
Falcon-Redskin contest. BG plays at Miami Friday evening, btw.
Keith [log in to unmask]
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BGSU Hockey Notebook (Copy For Nov. 30, 1991 Game Program)
Contact: Mark Kunstmann, BGSU Sports Information (419/372-7076)
SERIES DATA: After taking last weekend off, the Bowling Green
State University hockey team concludes its home-and-home series
with the Miami University Redskins tonight at the Ice Arena.
BG entered Friday's game in Oxford with a 2-6-0 record
overall and in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association,
and maintained a share of seventh place in the league with
Ohio State and Illinois-Chicago. Two weekend's ago, the
Falcons occupied sixth place in the CCHA despite splitting
with UIC (Nov. 15-16) at home. BG played well in Friday's
9-4 win against the Flames, but was less than impressive
in Saturday's rematch losing, 10-1. The setback was BG's
worst ever at the hands of UIC and was the Brown and Orange's
largest margin of defeat at home since Nov. 11, 1988, when
Michigan State downed the Falcons, 12-1. In the long run,
the loss to the Flames may do more good than harm. It has
forced the team to re-evaluate its work ethic and focus on
all areas of the game. This weekend may definitely prove
to be the turning point of the season. Surprising Miami
enters this weekend's series with a 5-5-0 record overall
and a 4-4-0 mark in the CCHA. The Redskins, who were tied
for first with LSSU two week's ago, have since dropped to
fifth after losing their last four contests. Last weekend,
MU lost a pair of games on the road against the Lakers,
5-1 and 8-5.
THE COACHES: Jerry York is in his 13th season as head coach at
Bowling Green and 20th overall in the collegiate ranks. The
Watertown, Mass., native entered Friday's game two wins shy of his
300th behind the Falcon bench. York owns a 298-195-23 (.600) record
at BG. His overall record of 423-282-26 (.596), which includes a
seven-year stint at Clarkson College (1972-79), ranks eighth on
the NCAA's all-time victory list and is fourth among active coaches.
York moved into sole possession of eighth place last season with
a pair of wins against Western Michigan (Nov. 23-24). He earned
his 400th career win in a 4-3 win over Miami on Feb. 3, 1990, at
the time becoming only the ninth coach in the 45-year history of
NCAA hockey to reach that level.
BGSU's first coach to reach the 250-win plateau, York has guided
the Falcons to three seasons of 30 or more wins, four CCHA
regular-season crowns, nine appearances in the CCHA Championships,
and six trips to the NCAA Tournament including the 1983-84 title
team. BGSU has won at least 20 games in all but three of York's
seasons at the helm of the Falcon program. York owned a 218-127-17
(.626) record in CCHA regular-season play entering weekend play
including a 38-5-1 ledger against the Redskins (overall as well).
Under York's tutelage, BG is 21-2-0 vs. MU at the Ice Arena.
George Gwozdecky is in his third season at Miami and sixth
overall in the collegiate ranks. His 89-88-9 career record
(22-58-7 at MU) entering this weekend's series includes an
0-7-1 mark against the Falcons. Gwozdecky was the head
coach at Wisconsin-River Falls (1981-84) for three seasons
prior to taking over the coaching reigns at MU. At UW-RF,
he led the Falcons to the NAIA championship in 1983.
THE SERIES: Entering last night's game at Goggin, BG led the
all-time series with Miami which began Oct. 27, 1978, 40-5-1. The
Falcons were unbeaten in their last 11 games against the Redskins
(10-0-1) prior to Friday's encounter and had lost only once in the
previous 20 meetings (18-1-1). BG is 22-2-0 at home vs. MU and
held an 18-3-1 advantage in games played in Oxford before last
night's contest. The Brown and Orange also maintained a 9-3 cushion
in one-goal games and held a 4-2-1 advantage in overtime decisions
before the series started. Last season, the Falcons captured seven
out of a possible eight points from MU. Senior center Martin
Jiranek led BG offensively with five goals. Senior right wing
Peter Holmes, junior forward Brett Harkins and sophomore rearguard
Jeff Wells each contributed two markers.
LOOKING BACK AT ILLINOIS-CHICAGO: Actually, the Falcons would
rather not look back at the UIC series. After Friday's win, BG's
play looked as if it were on the upswing, but Saturday's loss just
left the team searching for more answers to the club's inconsistent
play. BG started strong right out of the blocks in the series
opener as senior right wing Llew Ncwana put the Falcons on the
board only 37 seconds into the game. BG led 4-1 at the end of 20
minutes and 7-3 after two periods of play. Sophomore forward Sean
Pronger led the Falcons with two goals - including one of the
short-handed variety. Pronger's five goals on the season are two
more than he had in the 1990-91 campaign. Holmes, Harkins and
Jiranek chipped in with one goal and two assists apiece. Sophomore
Aris Brimanis, Wells and freshman defenseman Brandon Carper accounted
for BG's other goals with their first markers of the season. Prior
to their scoring outburst, the Falcon blueliners had managed just
one goal in six games. Junior Angelo Libertucci recorded 19 saves
in earning his first win since Feb. 8 when BG defeated Ferris State
(6-5), snapping the Falcons' school-record 14-game losing streak.
The power play, which showed signs of life at Michigan State earlier
in the month, clicked four times in 11 opportunities. BG's nine
goals scored was its highest count of the year. BG only trailed
by one goal early in the second period of game No. 2 after freshman
Brian Holzinger made the score 2-1, but things went downhill from
there as UIC scored eight unanswered red-lighters - including five
in the final stanza - giving the Flames their first win of 1991-92.
UIC's win marked a remarkable, yet puzzling, 14-goal series turnaround
from one night to the other. Freshman Nathan Cressman started and
made 16 saves before being spelled by Libertucci (11 saves) at the
halfway point of the contest.
CHECKING THE REDSKINS: Miami, off to its best start in many years,
is led up front by junior right wing Chris Bergeron who had 13
points prior to last night's game. Bergeron, junior right wing
Terry Ouimet (nine points) and sophomore center Brian Savage (seven
points) were the Redskins' goal scoring leaders through 10 contests
with seven, six and five, respectively. Twelve other MU players
had at least five points before Friday including senior left wing
Ken House (4-7--11), sophomore center Enrico Blasi (3-7--10),
freshman left wing Marc Boxer (2-8--10) and junior defenseman Joe
Cook (4-4--8). Sophomore backliner, Trent Eigner, brother of Falcon
forward Ty Eigner, was tied for eighth on the club in scoring with
seven points (three goals). Sophomore Richard Shulmistra and senior
Mark Michaud have divided time in goal for MU this year. Shulmistra
owned a 2-2-0 record, a 4.98 goals-against average and an 82.3
saves percentage entering weekend play, while Michaud had a 3-3-0
record, a 5.85 GAA and an 84.6 saves percentage.
OTHER REDSKIN SMOKE SIGNALS: Miami's five-game winning streak
earlier in the season was its longest since the 1980-81 season...If
the Redskin goaltending rotation holds true tonight, look for
Richard Shulmistra to get the call in net. Entering this weekend's
series, Shulmistra had started all five of MU's Saturday contests
while senior Mark Michaud had started each of the Red and White's
Friday affairs...Assistant captain Brian Savage was named MU's
"Redskin of the Week" for his fine play against Lake Superior last
weekend. Savage had a hand in both of MU's short-handed goals vs.
the Lakers Saturday night. The sophomore center registered an
unassisted tally for the Redskins' first goal and then helped set
up Trent Eigner's goal that tied the game at 2-2 midway through
the first period...Prior to last night, MU ranked first in the CCHA
in attendance percentage of building capacity. Through three games,
the Redskins had drawn successive crowds of 3,050 - 139 percent of
Goggin Arena's available 2,200 seats
REDMOND LEAVES TEAM: Sophomore left wing Keith Redmond (Nepean,
Ont.) has decided to leave the BG hockey team and withdraw from
school for personal reasons. Redmond, a fourth-round pick (79th
overall) of the Los Angeles Kings in this past summer's NHL draft,
is expected to continue his playing career in the Junior A ranks
where his rights are owned by the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario
Hockey League. Redmond did not record a point in eight games this
season and finished his career with one goal and three assists in
43 games with the Falcons.
OHIO CUPDATE: Tonight's game with Miami marks the halfway point
in 1991-92 Ohio Cup competition. The OC is sponsored by the Buckeye
Sports Bulletin and is given annually to the team in the state
which posts the best head-to-head record against other Ohio schools
in CCHA regular-season competition. Entering Friday's contest, MU
topped the OC standings with a 2-0 record followed by BG (1-1) and
Ohio State (1-3). The Falcons, who own an all-time record of
59-12-3 in OC play, have won the last eight state crowns since the
inception of the award nine years ago. Next season, with the
addition of Kent to the CCHA, the number of teams competing for
the trophy will increase to four.
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