BLOG 9: Ferris happy to be back on the ice

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris State freshman Jordie Johnston (11) fights to win a faceoff against Windsor’s Tyler McKinley (9) during an exhibition contest on Sunday afternoon in Big Rapids at Ewigleben Ice Arena (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – OK, so maybe Sunday’s home contest was just an exhibition game – officially.

But, after weeks of hardcore conditioning since the beginning of the fall academic semester, Ferris was ready to hit the ice for its first action of the season. The Bulldogs scored a 4-1 exhibition win over the University of Windsor in Ewigleben Ice Arena. No one expects perfection in terms of conditioning, after just the first contest with only one official full team practice, but the Bulldogs were clearly enthusiastic about having a true opponent in opposing colors.

“Overall, I thought we came out and played a strong game and we got a chance to get a lot of guys in there,” Ferris head coach Bob Daniels said. “On the negative side, I thought we took too many penalties and there was too much after-the-whistle garbage out there that we need to leave behind. It’s not a key to success in big games … it’s a key to failure and we need to address that.”

Daniels saluted several freshmen for solid performances, including forwards Jordie Johnston and Derek Graham and defenseman Chad Billins.

The Lancers, coming off an exhibition game the night before in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan University, provided Ferris an opportunity to make early personnel evaluations inside the newly-renovated Ewigleben Ice Arena in front of the 937 fans in attendance.

The Bulldogs four goals were scored by Brendan Connolly, on the power play at 6:24 of the first period; Corey Couturier, at 2:27 of the second period; Connolly again, at 15:08 of the second period; and Scott Wietecha, at 12:24 of the third frame.

Ferris, which finished 18-16-5 overall last season and 12-12-4 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, doesn’t have a whole lot of time before it officially opens the season. Friday, the Bulldogs begin a two-game home series against a Canisius team coming to Ewigleben for 7:05 p.m. game, on Friday, and a 5:05 p.m. contest, on Saturday.

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com