Dear friends,
This day has been looming on the horizon for longer than we would have liked, and it is finally here. Today we have made the difficult decision to shutdown BGSUHockey.com.
When Drew and I started the site back in the Spring of 2013, we wanted to be able to provide you with the best coverage of Falcon Hockey that any one website could provide, with Drew writing and me taking photographs. Armed with loads of energy, enthusiasm for the program, and excitement about our new adventure, we set off for South Bend, IN for the CCHA tournament quarterfinals against Notre Dame. Only the weekend before had we decided, on a whim, to start a website. And from there, we were off.
Drew and I have covered the team for the past 12+ seasons, first with Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com, and then for our site here at BGSUHockey.com. We’ve brought coverage from as far as Alaska, Minnesota, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and hundreds of contests in the friendly confines of the Ice Arena. We’ve had an absolute blast highlighting the highs and documenting the lows along the way. The relationships and now friendships we’ve made with fans, coaches, fellow media colleagues and others has been truly the best part about this entire adventure.
While there was no single factor that made us come to this decision, I can tell you that our priorities in life have changed. We were in our mid-20’s when we started covering BGSU Hockey, and the days of 14 hour road trips are long behind us. I haven’t lived in Bowling Green since late 2013 and I stopped making weekly road trips up north in late 2018. Drew and I have both started new jobs that require more attention. While Drew has been keeping the site updated with story content and game recaps for the past few seasons, we’ve come to the realization that getting access to provide even this minimal amount of coverage has proven to be difficult (and almost impossible) for this upcoming season. This, combined with the reasons above, have led us to our decision to shut down the website.
We could not have had the success we’ve had without the support of some key supporters over the site’s 8+ years. This site would not have been possible without the support of Kevin Gordon, (Dr.?) Ryan Satkowiak, and Jessi Renner. These three individuals helped support the site with incredible content over the years and we couldn’t be more grateful for your support.
We would also like to thank the coaching and support staffs that we’ve interacted with over the years including Chris Bergeron, Ty Eigner, Barry Schutte, and Jimmy Spratt. They have always been gracious with their time whenever we’ve asked and for their support of this pet project of ours.
As far as what the future may hold for us individually, we’re still figuring that out. As of today, we’ve changed our Twitter handle to @BGSUHockey. Drew will most likely continue to share news, commentary, and any other ramblings of a mad man related to the program. In the coming months, I plan to release my entire photo library to download, for free, to our readers. More details to come on that front. Our love and support of this program hasn’t waned, and we’ll always be supportive of Falcon hockey.
And finally, we want to thank you; our readers. We’ve spent a third of our lives covering a program that we always felt got the short end of the coverage stick. We did so because we thought the fans deserved better. We hope we’ve filled in gaps over the past decade and hope you will join us in continuing to support the program.
With eternal gratitude,
Todd Pavlack and Drew Evans