Bowling Green Falcons v. Western Michigan Broncos

Friday, 1/22/2010 @ 7:05PM
Saturday, 1/23/2010 @ 5:05PM

Background:

BGSU:
-Record: 3-18-3 (2-13-3)
-Last game: v. Northern Michigan SOL 3-3

WMU:
-Record: 6-12-4 (2-11-3)
-Last game: v. Michigan L 1-6

Last time out...

Pain, Misery, and Loss[es]...

The previous Falcon series ended much the same as those that preceded it. Friday night's game was a sound 6-0 thrashing at the hands of the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Saturday's game was significantly closer, but still a familiar experience, as the Falcons dropped a 3-1 3rd period lead, ended regulation 3-3, and finally lost the shootout 2-0.

Tomas Petruska (2-1-3), Jordan Samuels-Thomas (1-1-2), and David Solway (0-2-2) all had big games on Saturday, and Nick Eno performed impressively, stopping 34 of 37 shots.

"Falcons Attempt to Buck the Trend"

This week it's on to one of the other directional Michigan schools, as the Falcons return home to take on the Broncos of Western Michigan in the friendly confines of their beloved nameless ice arena.

The Broncos, like the Falcons, currently reside near the bottom of the CCHA standings. In fact, they're the only CCHA team currently lower in the standings than BGSU. Their two CCHA wins have come in the form of a 2-1 victory over Lake Superior and a 3-1 win against Alaska.

We'll get into a little more detail about the Broncos later, but for now, let's have some fun at the Goons' expense.

There are actually not very many funny names to pick on here, but I'll do my best.

One Bronco you wouldn't want to go hunting with is freshman defenseman #6 David Chaney. Or at least make sure to wear a facemask and chest protector.

I also really hope senior forward Jared Katz eventually gets his Ph. D. someday. For those of you tragically unaware of where I'm going with this, I give you this. You're welcome.

Lastly, there's someone who I can't help but believe was poached from the Miami Redhawks - sophomore forward J.J. Crew. Yes. This guy's name is actually J. Crew. I wonder if he sewed a special collar onto his jersey so he could pop it.

What to watch for: Western Michigan

The good:

Despite their rough season this year, the Broncos have some hope for the future. Their top three scorers are all underclassmen. Sophomore J.J. Crew (7-8-15) leads WMU in scoring, with sophomore Greg Squires (2-13-15) and freshman Trevor Elias (5-6-11) filling out the top three.

The bad:

In their past six games, WMU has been outscored by their opponents by a margin of 20-7, including three shutouts, two of which were back-to-back in a weekend series with top-10 ranked Bemidji State.

The ugly:

There's not much more to be pointed out here than the Broncos' record. Don't worry, I'm no hypocrite. BG's record will be pointed out in the next section.

What to watch for: Bowling Green

The good:

After a 0-6 shutout loss to Northern Michigan last weekend, the Falcons bounced back and played a dominating 50 minutes of hockey in the second game of the series, outshooting NMU 26-21 through the first two periods of play. But then...

The bad:

...The 3-1 lead the Falcons took into the third period of last Friday's game evaporated into a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation, thanks to a 14-4 shooting disadvantage in the final period of play. What looked like a fairly exciting, successful game, turned into yet another disheartening loss.

The ugly:

I'm not usually the type to see the negative in things, but "the ugly" here is what is becoming more obvious by the week: This team just doesn't have what it takes to make a run at the CCHA this year. Let me make this clear - that's no knock against the players or coaches. The personnel we have this year are hard-working, dedicated individuals. The truth is that it's hard for a team to go through what this team went through and come out the other side and immediately be successful.

Yes, I was optimistic earlier in the season, but it's hard not to see the writing on the wall here. It seems like every time I write one of these previews, I point out that our opponent is in the midst of a bit of a slide. Every time, my thought is, "Good, we've caught them at a low point and should be able to get some wins." Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. The only explanation I can come up with is that we just don't have the tools to pull it off.

Regardless, being the eternal optimist, I'm still hoping the Falcons can put together a run in the CCHA tournament and surprise some people.

Hopefully the team can bring in some new talent and capitalize on the young players that have stepped up thus far and make some big improvements next season.

Pick me a winner:

Fantasy scoring picks:

Inspired by a BGSU Fantasy Hockey game from the spectacular Falcon fan-site Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba, I will be making fantasy scoring picks for each series. I will make five picks each game, consisting of three forwards and two defensemen each night. Players cannot be used twice in the same series. These picks will be a combination of players from either team, and I will be restricted to not picking any of the top three scorers from either team. (Thanks, Freddie!)

For this series, the top three scorers from Bowling Green are Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Tomas Petruska, and David Solway.

The top three scorers from Western Michigan are J.J. Crew, Greg Squires, and Trevor Elias.

Friday:

Forwards: Tommy Dee (BG), Ian Slater (WMU), James Perkin (BG)
Defensemen: Kyle Page (BG), Tyler Ludwig (WMU)

Saturday:

Forwards: Josh Boyd (BG), Marc Rodriguez (BG), Chris Clackson (WMU
Defensemen: Ian Ruel (BG), Jordan Collins (WMU)

Game score picks:

Friday: 4-1 BG

Saturday: 2-0 BG