Bowling Green State University Men's Ice Hockey

Eigner returns for a sixth season behind the bench of his alma mater, as an integral part of a coaching staff that has directed the rise of the program back to national prominence. The 1993 Bowling Green graduate accumulated 14 years of coaching and administrative experience prior to being named to the Falcons staff in May of 2010 and played three years at the professional level.   With his experience as a defenseman from his playing days, Eigner has helped guide five freshmen classes, aiding heavily in the development of the defensive corps. BGSU has continued to rely heavily on its defense and the Falcons ranked second in the country on the penalty kill in 2014-15 at 89.8 percent.  BGSU allowed just 2.38 goals per game last year, the best average since Eigner arrived in 2010 and a stark difference over the 3.77 goals per game allowed in the year prior to his arrival.   Under Eigners tutelage, freshmen defensemen Mark Friedman, a third-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, and Nolan Valleau were both named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team in 2014-15. Friedman was also named co-Rookie of the Year. Prior to his return to the Orange and Brown, Eigner completed a two-year stint as an associate coach for the boys hockey program at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota. While there, Eigner helped lead the Eagles to the Minnesota AA state championship, and was named State AA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009. Between 1996 and 2008, Eigner led two Minnesota high school hockey programs, receiving recognition as an outstanding head coach at both stops. Between 1996 and 1999, he headed the Rosemount High School (Rosemount, Minn.) hockey program, and was named the Section 5AA Coach of the Year for the 1997-98 season. In 1999, Eigner moved on to coach Brainerd High School (Brainerd, Minn.), where he was named the Section 7AA Coach of the Year for the 2005-06 season. The Minnesota Hockey Coaches also honored Eigner with the Dave Peterson Award in his final season (2008) with the Warriors. From 1999 to 2008, Eigner served as a full-time instructor for Minnesota Hockey Camps, as well as the Hockey Director for the Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association. He also coached and evaluated within USA Hockey 15 & 17 National camps, a position held since 2005. Prior to his return to Bowling Green, Eigner had coached 30 young men who went on to play collegiate or junior hockey. At Eden Prairie he coached Nick Leddy, the 16th overall selection in the 2009 NHL Amateur Draft and now a defenseman for the University of Minnesota. In Brainerd, he coached defenseman Carl Sneep, who helped Boston College to two national titles before signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Eigner served as Bowling Greens captain for the 1992-93 season, and was a member of the programs last two NCAA tournament teams. Eigners playing career at Bowling Green spanned 123 games, where he had a line of four goals, nine assists and 13 points. He played under Falcon coaching legend Jerry York, and as captain in 1992-1993, led the team to an 11-game turnaround, as well as a five-game improvement in CCHA play from the year before. Eigner and his wife, Erika currently reside in Bowling Green with their three children, Peter , Ellie and Kate.    

Schutte enters his sixth season as an assistant coach for the Bowling Green State University hockey program in 2015-16, joining the Falcons after spending the majority of his hockey career with Miami University. Schutte works primarily with the offense, while also dealing with recruiting and academic affairs.   Despite not having a single player ranked among the top 100 point scorers in the country in 2014-15, the BGSU offense ranked 15 th nationally due to the balance and depth developed by Schutte. He developed freshman Brandon Hawkins into one of the most dangerous first-year scorers in the country and Hawkins was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team. Schutte joined the Orange and Brown as an assistant coach in May 2010, bringing a wealth of hockey knowledge from a player, coach and administrative standpoint. While at Miami, Schutte served as Director of Goggin Ice Arena, and was responsible for the oversight of the facility. Schuttes time at Goggin Ice Arena spanned nine seasons, starting from 1999-2003, with a second stint coming from 2005-2010. Schutte, whose leadership made Goggin one of the best facilities in collegiate hockey, also served as the Senior Director of Recreational Auxiliaries for the university in 2007. Schutte received his bachelors degree in physical education from Miami in 1997, playing four seasons of varsity hockey for the RedHawks. In 131 games, he scored 25 goals, adding 33 assists for 58 total points. Schutte also earned 99 penalty minutes over his collegiate career. Beginning in 1999, he spent the next four years working at Miami in various capacities, including physical education instructor and head coach of the Miami University club hockey program. As head coach, Schutte guided the team to their first ever National Championship in the 1999-2000 season. After leading the club team for two seasons, Schutte eventually took the role of volunteer assistant coach for the varsity hockey team from 2001-2003. In 2003, Schutte left Miami for the first time in his professional career, serving as the associate head coach and general manager for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. While in Chicago, Schutte earned 60 victories from 2003-05. Schutte returned to Oxford in 2005, resuming the role of Director of Goggin Ice Arena.  After his return to Miami, the RedHawks compiled a 135-52-21 overall record, five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, two regular-season CCHA championships and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four each of the last two seasons. Barry is a great example and leader for our players," head coach Chris Bergeron said upon his arrival. "His experience in the CCHA and USHL make him a great addition to our staff. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native and his wife, Carey, now reside in Bowling Green, Ohio with their two sons Brady and Colin, and daughter Hallie.  

Bergeron has directed the rise of the program back to national prominence. BGSU Hockey won just five games the year before Bergerons hire, but the Falcons have improved upon their win total in every season of his tenure, culminating with a 23-11-5 campaign in 2014-15.   The 23 wins represented the most for a Falcon hockey team since a 26-win season in 1995-96. It continued the positive momentum of a program that went from 10 victories in Bergerons first season to 14 in 2011-12 and then to 15 in 2012-13. The 2013-14 team finished above .500 for the first time since 1996-97 by going 19-15-6. Last year, the Falcons missed out on the 16-team NCAA Tournament by just .0002 points in the Pairwise Rankings, the system used to determine the qualifiers for the event.   BGSU was anchored by a penalty kill unit that ranked among the top teams in the country throughout most of the season and finished the year second in the country at 89.8 percent. BGSU also ranked among the top 20 in the country in scoring offense, scoring margin and combined special teams, while ranking seventh in win percentage. The program broke the BGSU Ice Arena attendance record when 5,353 fans packed the Madhouse on Mercer on Nov. 14 against Ohio State. Bowling Green also hosted the first outdoor hockey game in program history in a 2-2 tie against No. 19 Robert Morris on Jan. 3, 2015 at Fifth Third Field in Toledo.   Although the team did graduate four seniors from the 2014-15 squad, the Falcons earned three spots on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) All-Rookie team. Bergeron and assistant coaches Ty Eigner and Barry Schutte have built the program for long-term success.   While the win total has continued to climb, Bergerons teams have built a tradition of postseason success as well. Bowling Green is the only program in the country to have won at least one best-of-three playoff series in each of the past five years.   In just his first year at the helm, Bergerons squad upset Northern Michigan on the road in the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Tournament. The following year, the Falcons were seeded 11 th in the CCHA Tournament before again upsetting Northern Michigan on the road and then stunning top-seeded Ferris State in three games in the second round. The 2012-13 team won another road playoff series, this time beating Lake Superior State, before the 2013-14 squad earned a home series in the programs first year in the WCHA.   That squad swept Michigan Tech at home and Bowling Green again earned a home sweep in 2014-15, when the Falcons beat Northern Michigan in the playoffs for the third time in five years.   Bergeron has smoothly transformed the team into a WCHA power in just two seasons. The Falcons tied for third in their inaugural season in the league and then improved to third in 2014-15.   Overall, Bergeron has a career mark of 80-99-25 but the Falcons have gone 41-26-11 in the past two seasons.   Well-known as an outstanding recruiter, Bergeron helped rebuild the Miami RedHawk program and sustained success from 2000-2010. In his time in Oxford, Ohio his teams collected a cumulative record of 226-139-37 overall and a conference record of 161-83-28. Over the last ten seasons, Bergeron helped guide the RedHawks to six NCAA Tournament appearances, consecutive Frozen Four showings in 2008-09 and 2009-10, two first places finishes in the CCHA and six seasons with 20 or more overall wins. In 2009-10, the RedHawks finished 29-8-7 (21-2-5-2) and spent all but three weeks as the No. 1 team in the country ranked by the USCHO.com Coaches Poll. During the regular season, the RedHawks mounted a 23-game unbeaten streak in conference play. Under his guidance, Bergeron saw nine Miami forwards earn All-CCHA honors. He also saw goaltender Cody Reichard named to the All-America West Second Team while also obtaining CCHA Player of the Year honors. In six of his last seven years at Miami, Bergeron saw at least one student-athlete named to the All-American team and eight times had a player named to an All-American Team. Since 2001 and prior to the 2009-10 season, 19 RedHawks have been drafted by a NHL team and 34 have played professionally. He was part of a staff that was honored with the CCHA Coach of the Year award four times (2000-01, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2009-10) and the AHCA National Coaching Staff of the Year award in 2005-06. Bergeron played at Miami from 1989-93 and was a two-year team captain, leading the team to its first CCHA Championship in program history as a senior. During that season, Bergeron scored a team-high 61 points on 21 goals and 40 assists. Along with his offensive achievements that year, the four-year letterwinner was named the CCHA's Best Defensive Forward as well as Miami's Most Outstanding Senior. He then spent seven years playing professionally before returning to Miami as an assistant coach. During that time, he played with the Adirondack Red Wings (AHL), the Birmingham Bulls (ECHL), the Toledo Storm (ECHL), the Cincinnati Cyclones (IHL) and the Columbus Cottonmouths (CHL), being named a league all-star four times. He also has coaching experience at the professional level, having served as a player/assistant coach with the Port Huron Bordercats of the United Hockey League for two seasons. Bergeron graduated from Miami in 1993, earning a bachelor's degree in education. He and his wife, Janis, now reside in Bowling Green with their two sons Logan and Connor.

Mayes brings a wealth of hockey experience to the BGSU program as a volunteer assistant coach. Mayes has been coaching at various levels for more than a decade. Mayes played for the Toledo Cherokee of the CSHL from 2000-03 before attending Eastern Michigan University to play for their ACHA club team. Mayes graduated in 2008 with a bachelors degree in criminology. Mayes served as an associate coach for St. Mary's Catholic Central in Monroe, Mich. from 2003-10 and was then the associate coach for Honeybaked Midget Major/Minor program from 2010-13. He was in charge of skill development for the forwards and helped guide the program to 2011 (majors) and 2013 (majors and minors) state championships. The majors team placed third nationally in 2013. From there, Mayes was the head coach for Little Caesars Bantam major from 2013-15, overseeing all areas of the program, implementing systems for skill development, tactics and systems, and introduced leadership and sports psychology programs. Mayes is married to Monique, a 2009 Bowling Green State University graduate, and the couple has one son, Beckett. They reside in Monroe, Mich.  

Spratt enters his second season at Bowling Green State University as the Director of Hockey Operations in 2015-16, returning to his alma mater where he played goalie for four seasons as a member of the Orange and Brown. Spratt brings a well-rounded knowledge of the game and experience to the program after playing stints at the junior, collegiate, and professional ranks. We are very excited to bring Jimmy Spratt back to BGSU, head coach Chris Bergeron said upon his arrival. The passion he has for the school and our hockey program make him a great addition to our staff.   Spratt was a member of the staff that led the Falcons to a 23-win season in 2014-15, the best win total since 1995-96. It was four more wins than the previous year and put the Falcons on the doorstep to qualification for the NCAA Tournament. Prior to college, the former netminder played junior hockey for three seasons with the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) where he posted a record of 49-23-10 in 94 appearances. Spratt went on to play four seasons of collegiate hockey at Bowling Green State University (CCHA) from 2005 to 2009. Over his time as a Falcon, Spratt accumulated over 5500 minutes of action between the pipes. Spratt totaled a 3.45 goals-against average and made 2,441 saves in 100 appearances. Spratt also accounted for three shutouts in a single season, tying the mark for the most shutouts in a single season for a Falcon goaltender. "It feels great to be back at BG, Spratt said. The four years I spent here as a player and student were some of the best years in my life. I'm excited to be back and starting the next phase of my career. My relationship with Coach Bergeron is new and I am excited to build upon it." After graduating from BGSU in 2009 with a degree in Sport Management, Spratt spent four seasons in the ECHL. Spratt split time with several teams during his stint as a professional, making appearances with the Toledo Walleye (2009-11, 2012-13) Las Vegas Wranglers (2009-10), Victoria Salmon Kings (2009-10), Idaho Steelheads (2011-12) and the Utah Grizzlies (2011-12). Spratt also played in the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2011-12 for the Texas Stars, making 40 saves and recorded a 2.02 GAA in two appearances.      The Chesterfield, Michigan native now currently resides in Toledo.