By Kaleb Page

January 22, 2015

College hockey is something that has a select few college towns captivated every season and as this very season starts to hit the home stretch there is a team that should have its town at full attention.

The Bowling Green Falcons hockey team started this season with potential of being a great one. With leadership from seniors Dan DeSalvo, Adam Berkle, Rusty Hafner, Mike Sullivan, Connor Kucera and Ted Pletsch this team had a solid core that could keep the team together and fulfill that potential. Potential to be a great team is something nice to have in mind, but does it really settle any match out on the ice? (<<

Having a great group of senior leaders is needed for a majority of teams no matter what the sport. However, there needs to be younger guys that come in to infuse the team with new energy along with providing an exciting look to the future for falcon hockey.  Like freshman goaltender Chris Snell who averages only 1.74 goals allowed per game (save percentage of .937) and an impressive 6-1-1 record when starting in the net (wins-losses-ties). It can be seen elsewhere with sophomore forward Kevin Dufour who has 10 goals and five assists on the season including three power-play goals and a game winner. There are many more cases with this team where freshman, sophomores and even juniors are making huge strides to improve this team.

This season has seen this team soar to new heights with a record of 14-4-4 (10-2-2 in conference play). To this point in the season there has not been a losing streak longer than a game and with such a hard-working team there has been recognition nationally.

This falcons hockey team as of this moment sits at #6 in the nation and third in the WCHA conference only behind the number one team in the country Minnesota State and the 11th ranked Michigan Tech Huskies (BGSU has played fewer games to this point than those two schools). This team has made a drastic climb from when this season started.

The team began the year un-ranked, then as things moved along and the team proved its worth; the move up the charts was unstoppable. From week to week the falcons were on the move from 25 to 17 to 13 to 11 to 7 and now to 6.

The town of Bowling Green and its campus should really get behind this team, and watch what could be a team that has a real legitimate chance to bring home a national title. I was there for the tough 3-2 loss to Ohio State that had a packed “Madhouse on Mercer,” the largest crowd ever at a game with 5,031 people in attendance and I think it should be like that almost every night this team is home.

It’s time to recognize what is going on here and to give this team more praise/coverage they deserve. It will be interesting to see when the season ends what this team will do in tournament play. Either way, this team has proven it belongs in the conversation with elite clubs in the college circuit this season.

Roll Along BG Hockey!