2020–21 Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Bowling Green's players would lose a season of play.^[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.^[2]

Despite COVID concerns, Bowling Green was able to play several non-WCHA teams early in the year and propelled themselves into the top-10 with a fantastic start. The Falcons won 12 of their first 13 games, including an impressive series sweep of Quinnipiac, and rose to the #5 ranking by mid-January. Unfortunately, when Bowling Green began facing stiff competition, the offense dropped off dramatically. Over a 4-week stretch, the Falcons went 2–6, losing the six games against teams that finished the season ranked. In those games the team scored just 6 goals. While the defense wasn't particularly bad, it wasn't good either. Bowling Green recovered with a 3–0–1 run to end the season but the damage had been done.

Even with a 19–8–1 record, the Falcons had fallen to 13th in the rankings and were considered a 'bubble team', since they possessed a 1–7 record against the other top teams in the WCHA.^[3] To get themselves an NCAA Tournament bid, the team would need a good performance in their conference tournament. BG got off to a bad start, losing the opening game 3–4 to Northern Michigan, but rebounded with resounding 5–0 win. The turnaround didn't last long, however, and the Falcons dropped the deciding game 1–5. The team was ranked 16th the following poll and were passed over in favor of Notre Dame, who were just 1 game over .500.

As of September 8, 2020.^[4]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Will Cullen	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1996-07-24	Pelham Manor, New York	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
3		Carson Musser	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	1997-04-21	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Fargo (USHL)	—
4		Garrett Daly	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-08-11	Lakeville, Minnesota	Langley (BCHL)	—
5		Cam Babiak	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-04-30	Saline, Michigan	Brookings (NAHL)	—
6		Alex Barber (A)	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-02-17	Dublin, Ohio	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
7		T. J. Lloyd	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1999-11-15	Lloydminster, Saskatchewan	Spruce Grove (AJHL)	—
8		Chrystopher Collin	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1999-05-05	Montreal, Quebec	Edmunston (MHL)	—
10		Max Johnson	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1998-05-12	Lakeville, Minnesota	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
11		Taylor Schneider	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	1998-02-18	Lakeville, Minnesota	Dubuque (USHL)	—
12		Gavin Gould	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	1996-04-27	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Michigan Tech (WCHA)	—
13		Adam Conquest	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-05-10	Brighton, Michigan	Cowichan Valley (BCHL)	—
14		Justin Wells	Senior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-07-31	North Canton, Ohio	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
15		Evan Dougherty	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1999-04-17	Kalamazoo, Michigan	Waterloo (USHL)	—
16		Cameron Wright	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1998-08-11	Newmarket, Ontario	St. Michael's (OJHL)	—
17		Ethan Scardina	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2000-11-02	South Surrey, British Columbia	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
18		Trevor St-Jean	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	1997-10-10	Findlay, Ohio	Langley (BCHL)	—
20		Connor Ford (C)	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-02-05	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Sioux City (USHL)	—
21		Seth Fyten	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2000-11-23	Didsbury, Alberta	Spruce Grove (AJHL)	—
22		Adam Pitters	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-02-09	Grosse Pointe, Michigan	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
23		Max Coyle	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-01-29	Tillsonburg, Ontario	Alabama Huntsville (WCHA)	—
25		Sam Craggs	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-05-30	Elmhurst, Illinois	Waterloo (USHL)	—
27		Tim Theocharidis	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1998-06-28	Scarborough, Ontario	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
28		Brandon Kruse (A)	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	1999-02-26	Saline, Michigan	Brookings (NAHL)	VGK, 135th overall 2018
29		Chase Danol	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-01-20	Westland, Michigan	Coquitlam (BCHL)	—
31		Eric Dop	Senior	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	159 lb (72 kg)	1998-08-23	Lewis Center, Ohio	Tri-City (USHL)	—
32		Brett Rich	Senior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1999-01-09	Bowling Green, Ohio	Bowling Green (USHS–OH)	—
33		Anton Malmström	Freshman	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	2000-03-18	Österhaninge, Sweden	Djurgården J20 (J20 SuperElit)	—
40		Zack Rose	Sophomore	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-07-03	Paradise, Newfoundland	Victoria (BCHL)	—

^[5]

^[6]

† Dop and Rich shared a shutout on February 24

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[7]