| Bergeron ready to rebuild Falcon hockey |
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| Written by KEVIN GORDON/Sentinel Assistant Sports Editor | ||
| Saturday, 24 July 2010 07:21 | ||
He’s hoping to do it, in part, by raising expectations on and off the ice. The Falcons were 5-25-5 overall and next-to-last in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with a 4-18-6-5 record. They’ve finished last or next-to-last in the league in four of the last five seasons, and haven’t had a winning record overall since 1997. “We’re not going to talk about winning and losing hockey games,” said Bergeron, who was Friday’s guest speaker at the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce mid-year luncheon at Stone Ridge Golf Club. “That’s something that will take care of itself by surrounding myself with great people, setting expectations high and holding people accountable to those expectations.” Bergeron was hired as BG’s head coach in April after serving as an assistant for 10 seasons at Miami where he helped transform the RedHawk program from one of the worst in the CCHA into one of the country’s best. The Falcons, who won the NCAA title in 1984, last played in the NCAAs in 1990. Although BG won just five games last season, it was out-manned in every game. Yet, it steadily improved and worked hard almost every game. Seventeen players return this season, but only four seniors. “If you come to Bowling Green and want to finish sixth, don’t come because sixth place is mediocre,” Bergeron said. “I’m not saying we’re going to finish higher than sixth or get higher than 11th, but we want our expectations to be higher. “I don’t want them to be my expectations, or Ty’s or Barry’s (assistant coaches Eigner and Schutte, respectively) or Greg’s (athletics director Christopher). I want them to be each individual player’s expectation that we are going to finisher higher, we are going to get degrees, we are going to be in the community and we are going to be known as good people.” Bergeron believes BG has the ability to return to its status as one of college’s hockey’s elite programs. It had one of college hockey’s top programs during the late 1970s and most of the 80s. Off the ice during the 2009-10 academic year, the hockey team had the highest grade-point average of any Falcon team and the players were active in the community. The program just lacks the talent and depth to win consistently on the ice. The renovation of the BGSU Ice Arena and the Bring Back the Glory Campaign are helping provide the program with the resources to be successful. “How do you want to remembered as a Bowling Green hockey player from this day forward — nobody cares about yesterday, we only care about tomorrow and we only care about today,” Bergeron said. “That has to be our focus. “We’re close. The boys are known as good boys in the community, we’re developing relationships and we’re working on that being a bigger piece, and they’re doing a nice job in the classroom.” BG opens the season Oct. 8-9 when it hosts Michigan. The Falcons were last in the league last season in goals scored (1.97 per game), goals allowed (3.83), power plays (11.7 percent) and penalty-killing (74.9 percent). “No offense, but five wins and 11th place, that’s not acceptable,” Bergeron said of last season. “That has to change. But that just can’t be unacceptable to the coaches. It has to be unacceptable to the locker room and those individuals in the locker room. We’ll start chipping away at that in late August. The plan is in place.” BG also has an exhibition Oct. 3 against Wilfred Laurier, the day after official practices can start under NCAA rules. The Falcons can be on the ice for limited team and individual workouts before that. “Expectations are something I want to focus on as part of our plan for this program,” Bergeron said, adding he wants his players to be active in the community, and great on the ice and in the classroom. “To me, if you set high expectations for a group of guys age 18-23, they’ll find a way to live up to the those expectations. “With that being said, you can’t have kids who want to cut corners or take the easy way out, and not work and don’t care what people think of them. It’s what you want to do on a daily basis to be a part of that solution, to be a part of that turnaround. It’s that not something you’re interested in, then don’t come here. “Our focus is on daily improvement and holding you accountable ... If you’re not getting there and it’s always somebody else’s fault, it’s going to be a long four years. This is what we’re about.” |
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| Last Updated on Saturday, 24 July 2010 07:27 |
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