Butler hockey is proud to announce Landon Meyers as the new Head Coach for the upcoming season! He served as Butler hockey’s assistant coach two years ago and was the off-ice hockey assistant and team recruiter for the team last year. Meyers gave us his hockey background to share:

I grew up in Muncie, Indiana where there were no rinks within an hours drive. My family drove me to Indianapolis when I started playing youth hockey in the 4th grade.

I played high school hockey in Indianapolis and won a state championship my senior year. I had a few junior tryouts, but went to Bowling Green State University and played D1 club hockey for the Falcons. After college, I attended a few minor league trading camps and played some preseason games, but never got to play in the regular season.

The former head coach here at Butler, Jeff Gazior, gave me my start in coaching two years ago and I have coached Butler as an assistant and also coached youth hockey in the area.

We are excited to have Meyers join our team as we continue into next year after posting the most wins Butler has had since the return of the team three years ago. We want to thank all our fans for all the support we have had and hope for another great season next year!

Indiana Hockey recently put on a “Try Hockey for Free” day  for Indianapolis kids focusing on putting kids on the ice in hockey equipment for the first time. They asked the Butler hockey team for help and four of our members — Eric Gentry, Jesse Longtin, Jack Becker, and Ryan Barrett — volunteered at the event as on-ice help. The event brought back some memories for the players.

“It was kinda full circle for me,” club president Jack Becker said. “I remember my dad giving me a bucket to push around the ice and letting me hold onto his hockey stick as I marched around the ice. And I got to do the same to the next generation of hockey players.”

INHockey.net reported that the camp had nearly 300 kids aged three to eight years old that came out to put on gear for the very first time. Even the select few who had skated before, still used the ice to learn some new skills from the older players.

“It just made me feel really fortunate for my dad helping me out so much by building a rink in our backyard,” sophomore forward Jesse Longtin said. “I was able to learn so much out there and having camps like these help so much in the progress for young and inexperienced players.”

The Butler hockey team hopes to help grow youth hockey in the area in an effort to create a new wave of Bulldogs.

The Butler Bulldogs dropped both games this weekend to the perennial ICHC league winner Indiana University by final scores of 7-2 and 7-1.

The Bulldogs’ first game of the weekend was Senior Night and the Kappa Foundation game which gave the teams a crowd over 400 people, the largest in Butler hockey history. The four Butler seniors – Eric Gentry, Hunter Byram, Noah Brayton, and Jack Sigman – were celebrated in front of family in friends as the founders of the Butler hockey team’s charter which was revived three years ago. The teams traded chances early but Indiana took the game over scoring three goals in the first period. In the second period, the Bulldogs clawed back, holding IU at bay and Captain Eric Gentry popped in a goal to make it 3-1 going into the third period. The Hoosiers pulled away in the third adding two quick goals before Brady Murphy scored for the Bulldogs. Indiana popped in another two goals with under 5 minutes left in the game to push the final score to 7-2.

In the second game of the weekend the Hoosiers came out flying early in the first period scoring four goals in the first period. The Bulldogs slowed down the Indiana offense in the second period only allowing one goal with Brady Murphy scoring his second goal of the weekend for Butler. The Bulldogs again slowed down the Hoosiers in the third behind stellar goaltending from Ryan Dyball holding them to one goal. The Hoosiers added an empty netter late with under four seconds left to make the final 7-1.

Butler’s regular season is now over and now looks forward to their ICHC playoff game. It is unknown at this time what time the game is at but will more than likely play Eastern Kentucky University next Friday.

The Butler Bulldogs hockey team dropped both their games last weekend to the Miami University RedHawks with final scores of 2-0 and 9-2.

The RedHawks field a much larger roster than the Bulldogs and have had over 30 players play at least one game this year for them. The Dawgs endured a number of injuries on the weekend and by game 2 were playing with only 13 total skaters.

In game 1, Miami’s Robert Berner opened up the scoring early off a Butler turnover to take an early lead. The RedHawks added another goal late in the period from Evan Ingram to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

Butler’s freshman goaltender Ryan Dyball stood on his head for the remainder of the game making 52 saves in the game. However the Dawgs couldn’t solve the Miami goaltender Jack Spaulding who made 29 saves in the shutout.

In game 2 the following morning, the teams took the ice at the Goggin Ice Arena, the Division 1 hockey rink on Miami’s campus. This clearly fired up the hometown RedHawks as they led the game from start to finish. Butler had goals from leading scorer Brady Murphy and senior captain Eric Gentry. Both of the Bulldog goals were quickly answered by the RedHawk goals. Miami then took the game over and scored 6 unanswered goals to put the game out of reach.

The Butler Bulldogs move to 7-6-1 on the season and move on to their toughest test of the year, the Indiana University Hoosiers. They are nationally ranked in Division 3 and beat the Bulldogs three times last year. The first game on Friday will be a benefit game for the Kappa Foundation and is also Senior Night. The four soon to be graduates – Noah Brayton, Eric Gentry, Hunter Byram, and Jack Sigman – were four of the founding members when the club team was granted its charter three years ago. Game 1 starts at 9:15 PM and game 2 starts at 3:40 PM in Bloomington.

Butler went 1-1 this weekend after falling to IPFW 7-4 in the first game but came back the next day and defeated them by a final score of 8-5 riding a 49 save effort from Ryan Dyball.

In game one, Butler came out fast with Hunter Byram knocking in a rebound six minutes in to give the Dawgs the early lead. IPFW fired back with three quick goals to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. Byram scored again off a rebound early in the second period but again it was quickly answered by a goal by IPFW. Captain Noah Brayton knocked in another rebound on a power play goal to bring the score to 4-3 Mastodons at the second intermission. Butler came out flat in the third, promptly giving up a goal less than 10 seconds into the period. IPFW scored another goal to push the score to 6-3. Brady Murphy made things interesting with a goal but a Mastodon empty net goal sealed the 7-4 win.

In game two, Butler’s Ben Otto opened the scoring early but it was again answered by an IPFW goal. Ryan Barrett knocked in a power play goal but the lead was again short-lived with a Mastodon goal before the end of the period. Finally sick of giving up leads, the Dawgs came out flying in the second period. Butler dominated the period getting a goal from Noah Brayton and two from Jack Becker. Jack Unterseher added a goal late but got a celebration penalty which lead to a late IPFW goal with under 15 seconds left in the period. Butler went into the intermission up 6-3. The Mastodons clawed their way back into the game in the third period, firing shot after shot at Butler goaltender Ryan Dyball and getting two goals. The Dawgs fought hard to keep their lead and a pair of empty net goals from Ben Otto and Jesse Longtin sealed the 8-5 win.

The Dawgs record now sit at 7-4-1 and will play the Miami of Ohio Redhawks on the road next weekend with start times of 9:10 PM on Friday and a 5:00 PM Saturday game.

The Dawgs go 1-1 this weekend falling in the first game 5-0 but defeated the Colonels the following day 5-4.

In game 1, the Colonels and Dawgs went back and forth with great chances on both sides until EKU struck first on a rebound. The Colonels came out flying in the second period and immediately scored 3 goals in two minutes pushing the score to 4-0. The Dawgs came back getting some keys saves from Freshman goaltender Ryan Dyball but were unable to solve the EKU goalie even hitting multiple posts. The Colonels scored a goal late in the third period to push the final score to 5-0.

In game 2, the Dawgs came ready to play. They controlled play and got an early first period goal from Jack Unterseher. Butler goaltender Jack Sigman was dynamite in the first period and made a number of incredible saves. The Dawgs scored two goals in two minutes midway through the second from Brady Murphy and Jack Unterseher’s second of the game. Ben Otto would score on the power play five minutes later to push the lead to 4-0. Sigman made another incredible glove save in the slot and the Dawgs came back with Captain Noah Brayton scoring on a breakaway to give Butler a 5-0 lead heading into the third period.

The Dawgs let their foot off the peddle in the third and EKU scored four goals in the period to make things interesting. Jack Sigman stood tall in net however and the Dawgs held on for a 5-4 win. With the win they improve to 6-3-1 on the year and 3-1 in conference play. Butler will start play again following Christmas Break at IPFW on January 19th and 20th.

The Butler Bulldogs tied Denison University 3-3 in a rough and penalty-filled game.

A return of a former Butler player now playing for Denison resulted in both teams beginning the game on edge. The Dawgs started the game on their heels and gave up an early goal. Butler had their chances but were held scoreless in the first period. Denison went into the first intermission up 1-0.

The second period was scoreless until Ben Otto finally got one passed the Denison goaltender with 4 minutes left in the period. This broke the game open with Brady Murphy scoring a minute later but that was quickly answered by Denison to tie the game 2-2. The Dawgs would not be stopped however as Eric Gentry scored with a minute left in the period to give Butler the 3-2 lead going into the second intermission.

Both teams had multiple chances in the third period before Denison tied it up with 8 minutes remaining in the 3rd period. Neither team could score so an overtime period was needed. Both teams traded chances again but both goaltenders stood tall. The game ended in a 3-3 tie as ACHA rules do not include shootouts after the second week of play.

The Dawgs move to 5-2-1 and get some much needed rest over Thanksgiving break. The next weekend series is at home against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels with games at 9:40 PM on Friday Dec. 1 and a 4:50 start on Saturday Dec. 2.

The Butler Bulldogs fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-1 on November 3rd.

The Dawgs were able to keep the game close against a team that defeated them twice last year. The Dawgs weathered Notre Dame’s initial onslaught in the first period and went into the second period scoreless after some fantastic saves by senior goaltender Jack Sigman. Butler started the second period on the power play, yet couldn’t score despite hitting the post twice. Notre Dame finally broke through on a power play of their own. They quickly scored again on a “knucklepuck” from the point that Sigman couldn’t see. The Irish scored again going into the break to make it 3-0 at the second intermission.

The Dawgs fought back hard in the third period and began to push the Irish back on their heels. Jack Becker was able to score on the power play to cut the lead to 2 but a few key saves by the Irish goaltender and some missed Butler opportunities ended the game with the 3-1 final. Jack Sigman made 33 saves on the night while the Bulldogs totaled 27 shots on the Notre Dame netminder.

While this was a disappointing loss for Butler, the game showed steps in the right direction with a much improved effort which proved to be a hard fought hockey game against a team who swept the Bulldogs last year.

The Dawgs push their win streak to five games after sweeping the weekend series over the University of Indianapolis with final scores of 6-2 and 6-3.

In game 1, the Dawgs started fast again with an early power play goal from Eric Gentry. The Greyhounds got the goal right back with a power play goal of their own. It was all Butler from then on with two more goals scored immediately after from Jesse Longtin and Noah Brayton. The Dawgs continued to roll during the second period with two more goals from Brady Murphy and Noah Brayton’s second of the game. The first line continued to roll for Butler as Ben Otto scored in the third period to push it to 6-1. The Greyhounds added a goal in garbage time with a minute to play to push the final score to 6-2. The Dawgs widely outshot the Greyhounds (52-23), and the first line of Brady Murphy, Ben Otto, and Noah Brayton combined for 8 points and 4 goals.

In game 2, the Greyhounds showed that they were not going to be taken lightly. Indianapolis scored two goals quickly to put the Dawgs back on their heels. Butler’s first line continued showing their scoring touch with a another power play goal from Brady Murphy. The Dawgs went into the first intermission down by a goal, but Coach Gasior clearly said something to motivate the team in the locker room because the Dawgs came out flying in the second period. After dominating the first seven minutes of the period, Captain Noah Brayton scored a power play goal to tie the game at two. Butler later scored two goals in less than a minute from Ben Otto and Jack Unterseher’s first goal of the season to take a 4-2 lead into the intermission. Jack Unterseher scored again halfway through the third period to extended the Butler lead to three. The Hounds scored a fluke, “knucklepuck” goal with five minutes left in the third to make things interesting before Jake Vance scored his first goal of the year on an empty net to give Butler a 6-3 win.

With a record of 5-1, the Dawgs have now tied their win total from all of last year and have had their best start since the return of the team a few years ago. The Dawgs return to the ice next week on Friday, November 3rd at Notre Dame for a one game series against the Irish.

The Butler Bulldogs pick up up their third straight win in OT with a 3-2 win over University of Indianapolis on Friday.The game started off slow with both teams testing each other out in their first game ever played against each other. No goals were scored in the first period with the Dawgs out shooting Indy 15-6. Both goaltenders stood tall again in the second before Indy was finally able to solve senior goaltender Jack Sigman to take the lead going into the second intermission.

Butler came out fast in the third with Jesse Longtin scoring a goal three minutes into the period. Less than six minutes later Hunter Byram scored on a 2-1 rush on a beautiful cross crease pass from Eric Gentry. Butler held the majority of the possession for the remainder of the period until a late Butler penalty led to a Greyhound goal with three minutes left. For the third straight game, the Dawgs blew a late third period lead despite out shooting their opponent by over 30 shots.

Overtime began with both teams trading blows back and forth. The game finally ended on a 2 on 1 in the corner led by captain Noah Brayton. Brayton fed the puck to forward Ryan Barrett in front of the net, and Barrett was able to deflect the puck into the net despite being cross checked to the ice. This was Barrett’s first goal of the season, and extended Butler’s win streak to three.

The Dawgs next games will be a rematch against University of Indianapolis next week at 9:40 PM on Friday and 3:40 PM on Saturday and the Pop Weaver Youth Pavilion.