Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

[Bfalcons]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Great win, a big congrats to Coach Soderquist and the players! Friggen awesome!

To touch on the rink situation briefly, I just want to say what a disgrace it is that the administration still choses to neglect the program. Now some of you may point to the increased support on campus and the upgraded amenities at the JAR as steps in the right direction but the fact remains that the current situation is still an embarrassment. As a former Falcon, not too far removed from playing, I will always harbor a great deal of animosity towards the administration and those in charge who left class after class of Bentley hockey to rot in the JAR without so much as warm water for a shower. It was not that long ago our Falcons had to shuffle between the Dana Center and the JAR, bags in hand, only to change in frozen unheated and unkempt public locker rooms. Bronchitis, Staph, and even Pneumonia were commonplace. I have a good laugh when the school sends mail asking for money while stressing the importance of community and giving. The fact that the administration/athletic department still refuse to address this black eye is an utter joke. Make no mistake, they have turned a blind eye towards the program while dragging their feet every step of the way. I give Coach Soderquist a great deal of credit for just holding this thing together let alone competing on a national level. Whatever success the program has achieved, be it presently or in the past, is simply due to the men in that locker room without an ounce of assistance or support from the school and its administration. My rant is over, I hope for a change in philosophy but I’m not holding my breath. Great win and Let’s Go Falcons!

 

[RITProf]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Congrats Bentley ... nice win.

 

[Call It]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Nice Win Boys!!!

 

[wwjg1158]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Well said! I would like to congratulate the men on winning such a big game. I believe it was important for this group to leave for the Christmas break with a win so that they could feel good about was a great 1/2 of the season. The record may not show the great half but the people who have watched know they were in every game. Great job guys each of you are doing your job and it shows.

The administration should be ashamed of itself when they allow a team to play in a terrible rink like the JAR. You cannot dress up a pig to be any better than a pig. Don't try and fool yourself saying you are upgrading the JAR as it still is the JAR. I agree with the former student had to say. You cannot continue to make excuses either you want to be a D 1 team or you don't. The public rink is fine for a D III team but you must now decide should you ( Bentley ) stay in the D 1 program or should you leave? If your answer is stay as a D I program then build a rink....like RIT, Like Army, Like Air Force, Like U CONN, if not rent some other rink that is deserving of a D I program......maybe BU will help clear some dates so you can rent their facility.

 

[wwjg1158]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

This statement is uncalled for! Get some class!

 

[blazer777]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

You can pre-buy a ticket to their Frozen Fenway game on the 28th, but not sure if Bentley has any of their two blocks of tickets remaining, so you would need to buy from the vendors.

Tickets to games at the JAR are $7 at the door, one of the best deals out there. Get there a few minutes early, and you can have your pick of any seat in the barn. Or, you can stand right next to the net near the entrance; where else can you do that?

That's a good deal. Holy Cross is much like that, I stood right behind the net as players crashed into the boards.

 

[schiegs]

I have a good laugh when the school sends mail asking for money while stressing the importance of community and giving.

One of the many reasons you had such crappy facilities is because the generation that came before you had the same good laugh. I'd encourage you to be a part of the alumni generation that breaks the cycle of having the worst alumni giving rates of any school in the east. Things will never improve if every generation "has a good laugh" when asked to support their alma mater.

 

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

What a great victory over a historic program for the Bentley Falcons! Watching BU, I think there is a lot of raw talent on the program, but they were well-scouted and Bentley was well-prepared for the Terriers. BU was far too predictable in their style throughout the entire game. And Komm standing on his head didn't hurt.

Congrats to him for breaking the all-time program wins total. Somewhere Barratt Davison '84 should be laughing that it took this long!

http://jarpride.com/2013/12/15/bentley-dominates-bu-wins-4-1/

As to the rink situation, everyone knows my opinion on the matter. The administration is behind a new rink, but they just can't build a new hockey rink without having it for multiple purposes. There are a lot of different discussions up in the administration, none of which are public. Unfortunately, if it's not made public, it doesn't happen. This has been discussed ad nauseum, and I don't want to keep reiterating the same points. Let's just savor this victory.

And besides, we have a new home rink in 2 weeks when they give us Fenway (haha!). Bentley is giving us both BU and Frozen Fenway; the administration is clearly behind this team in the athletic department, and President Larson dropped a puck at the beginning of the season. I had Dean Shepherdson on air as a guest during the AIC game. We had a great talk. Institutional support isn't an issue anymore.

 

[Snively65]

What a great victory over a historic program for the Bentley Falcons! Watching BU, I think there is a lot of raw talent on the program, but they were well-scouted and Bentley was well-prepared for the Terriers. BU was far too predictable in their style throughout the entire game. And Komm standing on his head didn't hurt.

Congrats to him for breaking the all-time program wins total. Somewhere Barratt Davison '84 should be laughing that it took this long!

http://jarpride.com/2013/12/15/bentley-dominates-bu-wins-4-1/

As to the rink situation, everyone knows my opinion on the matter. The administration is behind a new rink, but they just can't build a new hockey rink without having it for multiple purposes. There are a lot of different discussions up in the administration, none of which are public. Unfortunately, if it's not made public, it doesn't happen. This has been discussed ad nauseum, and I don't want to keep reiterating the same points. Let's just savor this victory.

And besides, we have a new home rink in 2 weeks when they give us Fenway (haha!). Bentley is giving us both BU and Frozen Fenway; the administration is clearly behind this team in the athletic department, and President Larson dropped a puck at the beginning of the season. I had Dean Shepherdson on air as a guest during the AIC game. We had a great talk. Institutional support isn't an issue anymore.

Perhaps you are right, Dan. The next capital campaign has been postponed for many years now, in part because of the recession, but more important because a large percentage of the funds for whatever goal is eventually announced are not yet in hand. Given that many years ago there were board members willing to pay for a rink on campus, perhaps those offers are still on the table, which could be part of the next capital campaign. When I talked to former president Morone a couple years ago, he could not believe that Bentley was still playing home games at the JAR.

Also, really fine game and hockey program summary, Dan.

 

[brookie]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

http://jarpride.com/2013/12/15/bentley-dominates-bu-wins-4-1/[/url]

Nice game notes....fwiw....Marginsky was not in the locker room for the man down BU goal, he was on the ice.

 

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

http://jarpride.com/2013/12/15/bentley-dominates-bu-wins-4-1/[/url]

Nice game notes....fwiw....Marginsky was not in the locker room for the man down BU goal, he was on the ice.

I believe Marginsky was still in the locker room; the goal was scored on the power play, I do remember that, but I thought it was Blomquist that was skating with Berry. I know the +/- gave 19 on the ice, but I had not seen him out there. Blomquist had skated the start of the pk with Berry, and I never got a chance to really see the 2nd pairing. I could be wrong though, but I know I believed Blomquist was on the ice with Berry to start the PK.

Twitter blew up after the game (naturally) - some highlights: http://jarpride.com/2013/12/16/bentley-bu-postgame-reaction/

 

[beenthere77]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

I believe Marginsky was still in the locker room; the goal was scored on the power play, I do remember that, but I thought it was Blomquist that was skating with Berry. I know the +/- gave 19 on the ice, but I had not seen him out there. Blomquist had skated the start of the pk with Berry, and I never got a chance to really see the 2nd pairing. I could be wrong though, but I know I believed Blomquist was on the ice with Berry to start the PK.

Twitter blew up after the game (naturally) - some highlights: http://jarpride.com/2013/12/16/bentley-bu-postgame-reaction/

Tough when watching from stream
and with all the excitement in the closing minutes it is easy to lose tract...but the BU highlights (on their site) of the goal clearly show Marginsky and Berry on the ice for BU pp goal. Blomquist and O'Brien were out for the start of the kill. After the goal Marginsky may not have returned to the ice.
Hope he is ok, as the team seems to finally hit it's stride and wouldn't want to shuffle things up at this point!!! As they say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The TEAM from the goalie on out have shown they can compete with the best of them including Hockey East. Coach isn't surprised since this was apparent in the games vs Maine and Merrimack too. One goal games with boat loades of successful penalty kills , different outcomes if given more time full up in those games.

They came into BU and played a great, focused , no nonsense game and got the well earned W.

Congrats Falcons. If the Players stay focused on the Team Game and the Coaches keep the ship steady, hopefully they can sail right into a great Frozen Fenway.

 

[jrobes01]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Congrats on a well-deserved win. Really hoping some more wins like that can eventually lead to your program getting an on-campus rink someday.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Well said! I would like to congratulate the men on winning such a big game. I believe it was important for this group to leave for the Christmas break with a win so that they could feel good about was a great 1/2 of the season. The record may not show the great half but the people who have watched know they were in every game. Great job guys each of you are doing your job and it shows.

The administration should be ashamed of itself when they allow a team to play in a terrible rink like the JAR. You cannot dress up a pig to be any better than a pig. Don't try and fool yourself saying you are upgrading the JAR as it still is the JAR. I agree with the former student had to say. You cannot continue to make excuses either you want to be a D 1 team or you don't. The public rink is fine for a D III team but you must now decide should you ( Bentley ) stay in the D 1 program or should you leave? If your answer is stay as a D I program then build a rink....like RIT, Like Army, Like Air Force, Like U CONN, if not rent some other rink that is deserving of a D I program......maybe BU will help clear some dates so you can rent their facility.

UCONN?

 

[Bfalcons]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

One of the many reasons you had such crappy facilities is because the generation that came before you had the same good laugh. I'd encourage you to be a part of the alumni generation that breaks the cycle of having the worst alumni giving rates of any school in the east. Things will never improve if every generation "has a good laugh" when asked to support their alma mater.

Laying blame at the feet of alumni for the current situation is completely misguided. The fact of the matter is that it was the SCHOOLS choice to compete at the div 1 level. With that decision it is then their responsibly to ensure the funds and resources necessary are in place, whether that’s from alumni donation campaigns or some other route. This simply has not been accomplished. You may point to the new paint job at the JAR or locker room improvements as steps in the right direction but I’m sorry, that does not equal a full commitment to the program no matter how many times they say it. This is their 14th season competing at the division 1 level; you cannot look around at the conditions the team still endures and honestly say to yourself ‘hey you know what, the school really has done a great job with this program.’

Whatever little I can contribute goes directly to the hockey program but I refuse to support the school. And if your alumni giving facts are true, it seems like I am not the only one who feels this way, maybe this should raise some red flags?? I’m sorry if you disagree but I am still ticked off at the way the school mistreated and neglected kids who gave a great deal of themselves while wearing a bentley jersey. My position will not change until the school is ready to fully commit to the program and finally gets something done for these guys, they deserve it.

That’s all I care to say about the situation. Lets go Bentley, keep rolling boys!

 

[schiegs]

Laying blame at the feet of alumni for the current situation is completely misguided. The fact of the matter is that it was the SCHOOLS choice to compete at the div 1 level. With that decision it is then their responsibly to ensure the funds and resources necessary are in place, whether that’s from alumni donation campaigns or some other route. This simply has not been accomplished. You may point to the new paint job at the JAR or locker room improvements as steps in the right direction but I’m sorry, that does not equal a full commitment to the program no matter how many times they say it. This is their 14th season competing at the division 1 level; you cannot look around at the conditions the team still endures and honestly say to yourself ‘hey you know what, the school really has done a great job with this program.’

Whatever little I can contribute goes directly to the hockey program but I refuse to support the school. And if your alumni giving facts are true, it seems like I am not the only one who feels this way, maybe this should raise some red flags?? I’m sorry if you disagree but I am still ticked off at the way the school mistreated and neglected kids who gave a great deal of themselves while wearing a bentley jersey. My position will not change until the school is ready to fully commit to the program and finally gets something done for these guys, they deserve it.

That’s all I care to say about the situation. Lets go Bentley, keep rolling boys!

I assume from your position that you would have supported either leaving hockey in the dead-end that is D-II non-championship hockey, or folding the the program altogether. Because moving to D-I was the only other option left. The administration had no other choices.

All other schools that have on-campus rinks have a name on the building. There is a reason for that. It's not because "the administration" stepped up. It's because the guy with his name on the building did.

The administration doesn't have massive piles of cash that they sit upon, wringing their hands, deciding who they're going to leave out in the cold. They get their cash from basically two sources; Tuition, (which doesn't even cover the cost of educating students), and charitable grants and donations (which Bentley embarrassingly lags compared to other institutions.) The vast majority of this latter money goes to make up the aforementioned gap between tuition and the cost of educating students. Hence students, even those that paid full tuition, room, and board, are beneficiaries of charity. It's all in the publicly available financial statements.

And I sincerely thank you for giving. Just like you, I direct my contribution to the hockey program. If more of us did this, and just a small number were significant donors, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But they don't, so here we are.

 

[Chris_NH]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

What local school can we look at that might be a mirror of Bentley with respect to hockey...Merrimack? The Warriors 'proudly' declare themselves as having the smallest enrollment of any D-1 school, and the Volpe Complex seems to be of the size and style that would suit Bentley.

My biggest beef is that upon entering Division 1, no one (seemingly) produced a 'What-Does-This-Mean-Going-Forward' plan that said by such-and-such a year the school would have a home that it could be proud of. Also, no one (seemingly) gave thought to the possibility that--GASP!!!--the team might just start to make some positive noise and draw some positive press attention. I almost get the feeling they hoped that none of that would occur, and that life would go on with men's & women's basketball being the be-all/end-all.

 

[schiegs]

What local school can we look at that might be a mirror of Bentley with respect to hockey...Merrimack? The Warriors 'proudly' declare themselves as having the smallest enrollment of any D-1 school, and the Volpe Complex seems to be of the size and style that would suit Bentley.

My biggest beef is that upon entering Division 1, no one (seemingly) produced a 'What-Does-This-Mean-Going-Forward' plan that said by such-and-such a year the school would have a home that it could be proud of. Also, no one (seemingly) gave thought to the possibility that--GASP!!!--the team might just start to make some positive noise and draw some positive press attention. I almost get the feeling they hoped that none of that would occur, and that life would go on with men's & women's basketball being the be-all/end-all.

Very fair criticism. As long as we realize their hand was somewhat forced when the NCAA eliminated the D-II championship. Some schools chose to continue the sport with no eligibility for a championship (Assumption, St. A's, Stonehill and St. Mike's), or move up to D-I (AIC and Bentley.) Bentley did not just make a unilateral decision to move to D-I in a vacuum.

Given this reality, an argument that they should have joined the former and stayed in D-II is a very valid point.

If on the other hand, you're glad they chose the latter, this is the result. This is all they have had the resources for, to date.

 

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

I was told that during the last couple of years Morone was president and during the two years that Terry Carlton was acting president, the donor(s) was/were there. Then came new president with no interest in a rink on campus, followed by a recession that dinged the endowment by 35-40% (still need to cover maintenance from general funds), end of story. I have heard some rumors that the school might consider building an Events Center, for graduation and convocation ceremonies and the like, which could be used as a rink for a few months in the winter, but I will believe it when I see it, as I have heard also that there are many other building projects higher on the list. I think that we all need to face the fact that the JAR will be our hockey team's home for the foreseeable future. Learn to love the JAR, and this year's team!

 

[Humanoid]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

I was told that during the last couple of years Morone was president and during the two years that Terry Carlton was acting president, the donor(s) was/were there. Then came new president with no interest in a rink on campus, followed by a recession that dinged the endowment by 35-40% (still need to cover maintenance from general funds), end of story. I have heard some rumors that the school might consider building an Events Center, for graduation and convocation ceremonies and the like, which could be used as a rink for a few months in the winter, but I will believe it when I see it, as I have heard also that there are many other building projects higher on the list. I think that we all need to face the fact that the JAR will be our hockey team's home for the foreseeable future. Learn to love the JAR, and this year's team!

First off - congratulations to Bentley on a great victory. It's been a while since I posted here, clearly me not posting gave the team a great run.

Snively - from what I've heard, you've hit the nail on the head with respect to this entire thing. So I won't repeat what you said.

I know the rink is always a hot button topic with these parts, but I think we're forgetting something. They got scholarship limits increased, and they are getting new uniforms to match the school. They're playing BU, winning, and going to Fenway. They dominated that game, too, and outclassed BU in every facet of the game. Two weekends in a row, they've had a team walking off the ice defeated with heads hanging before the third period. That's three games in a row dating back to RMU. Maybe BU is that bad, but maybe Bentley can be that good.

I'm a Soderquist apologist, but there's no doubting his abilities or the players anymore. He recruited a very talented group of players who are ultra hungry this year. Coaching behind the bench for this team isn't mattering as much; they're a team that could step out together without him and win (right now, at least), which is phenomenal and a credit to how far both parties have come. That's when you know everything's clicking. Just hope they keep it up. Can't let up.