TalonsUpPuckDown
Roll along you BG Warriors!
The BG Coaches Caravan rolled through Columbus this evening, had the chance to talk to coach Bergeron 1-on-1 for nearly 20 min. Highlights below:
Good season, kids felt good. Program is ahead of schedule. Seniors haven’t internalized how close they were to the NCAA’s and that they won’t get another crack at it. They know they left the program better than they found it. We’re losing leadership and minutes with the departing seniors, but not a big hit in scoring (which is good). He made an interesting comment; this year’s underclassmen know the program only on its upward trajectory, they don’t remember the lean years like the seniors do. The team now has workout shirts with .0002 printed on them. The kids liked the outdoor game in Toledo (except for the lousy weather) and they continue to work the relationship up there. I took this to mean there will be future outdoor games.
Overall, recruiting continues to improve. Now able to get conversations with more top echelon recruits, but not wasting time on kids who only want to play for York or in MN. We are better able to pick and choose who we invest our recruiting time in. Incoming freshman class is as good as the current (previous?) Freshman class.
Facilities are in good shape, getting good hockey alumni support. Morrow, Bylsma, Ellet, Blake, McPhee, Hills and Wilson (RPI) were some of the names he dropped as alumni who have stopped by.
Need to hang on to assistant coaches. It’s OK to lose one to a head coaching position, can’t afford to lose one to another assistant coaching spot (does Ty need a raise?). Sensing BG is once again becoming a destination for recruits and coaches like it was before.
He is pleased with the fan support. He feels the support on campus and with the alumni. Fire marshal told the AD to stop selling tickets to the OSU game. He twice mentioned the current president and AD are fully behind the program and the president has been attending games.
He likes where we’re positioned for realignment (should that come). He mentioned ASU could go to the B1G but they’d need another team as a 7 team league won’t work. He seemed to think WCHA was behind Nacho on the list as we would expect travel cashola and Nacho teams self-fund their travel.
Speaking of self-funding travel, I asked him what he’s hearing at his alma mater, Miami State. “They’re towing the company line; everything’s great, couldn’t be better.” He then went on to say Miami State’s travel budget in the CCHA days was $100k but now it’s up to $250k (they fly everywhere except WMU). Not sure how that plays out given attendance at the Noggin isn’t any better than it used to be so there’s no revenue offset from attendance. We, of course, bus everywhere except AK. Apparently the last trip to Bemidji was 20 hours. Blech.
AD said COA would cost $800k across all sports and that we’re going to be playing. Make those Falcon Club donations count.
In short, the program is in good shape, recruiting continues to improve, funds are available, support is improving, things continue to look up for us.
Good season, kids felt good. Program is ahead of schedule. Seniors haven’t internalized how close they were to the NCAA’s and that they won’t get another crack at it. They know they left the program better than they found it. We’re losing leadership and minutes with the departing seniors, but not a big hit in scoring (which is good). He made an interesting comment; this year’s underclassmen know the program only on its upward trajectory, they don’t remember the lean years like the seniors do. The team now has workout shirts with .0002 printed on them. The kids liked the outdoor game in Toledo (except for the lousy weather) and they continue to work the relationship up there. I took this to mean there will be future outdoor games.
Overall, recruiting continues to improve. Now able to get conversations with more top echelon recruits, but not wasting time on kids who only want to play for York or in MN. We are better able to pick and choose who we invest our recruiting time in. Incoming freshman class is as good as the current (previous?) Freshman class.
Facilities are in good shape, getting good hockey alumni support. Morrow, Bylsma, Ellet, Blake, McPhee, Hills and Wilson (RPI) were some of the names he dropped as alumni who have stopped by.
Need to hang on to assistant coaches. It’s OK to lose one to a head coaching position, can’t afford to lose one to another assistant coaching spot (does Ty need a raise?). Sensing BG is once again becoming a destination for recruits and coaches like it was before.
He is pleased with the fan support. He feels the support on campus and with the alumni. Fire marshal told the AD to stop selling tickets to the OSU game. He twice mentioned the current president and AD are fully behind the program and the president has been attending games.
He likes where we’re positioned for realignment (should that come). He mentioned ASU could go to the B1G but they’d need another team as a 7 team league won’t work. He seemed to think WCHA was behind Nacho on the list as we would expect travel cashola and Nacho teams self-fund their travel.
Speaking of self-funding travel, I asked him what he’s hearing at his alma mater, Miami State. “They’re towing the company line; everything’s great, couldn’t be better.” He then went on to say Miami State’s travel budget in the CCHA days was $100k but now it’s up to $250k (they fly everywhere except WMU). Not sure how that plays out given attendance at the Noggin isn’t any better than it used to be so there’s no revenue offset from attendance. We, of course, bus everywhere except AK. Apparently the last trip to Bemidji was 20 hours. Blech.
AD said COA would cost $800k across all sports and that we’re going to be playing. Make those Falcon Club donations count.
In short, the program is in good shape, recruiting continues to improve, funds are available, support is improving, things continue to look up for us.
