Five days prior to classes beginning at Bowling Green, coach Ty Eigner was spotted at Detroit Metro Airport hopping on a flight for Los Angeles.

Was coach getting in a final vacation before the seven-month college hockey slog? A chance to hone his beach volleyball skills on Manhattan Beach with old Falcon teammate Rob Blake? A recruiting tour of America’s best roller hockey players? Actually, none of the above, though Blake, the current L.A. Kings General Manager, was the driving force behind Eigner’s west coast sojourn.

The Kings were hosting a development camp for their prospects, and Blake along with Kings player personnel chief Nelson Emerson—both BGSU teammates of Eigner back in the day—invited the coach of their old school to lend a hand with future Kings stars. Eigner was eager to comply.

“I was happy to say yes,” said Eigner, who clearly enjoyed the BGSU hockey reunion with Blake and Emerson. “The relationship that Rob and Nelson and I have is a special one, we’ve been friends for 30 years. For them to think enough of me to invite me out…they were unbelievable to me.”

A natural educator, Eigner made his presence felt at each ice session.

“They were doing a lot of teaching with those young guys, that’s my background; both my parents were teachers,” said Eigner, who taught life skills at Rosemount High outside Minneapolis before coming to Bowling Green. “I was prepared to sit there and push pucks and try and take it all in, steal a few things. But they were, ‘C’mon Ty, jump in, you got any suggestions?’ So, it was great, I learned a bunch.”

A day after returning to campus, Eigner shared his L.A. story with the 2021-22 Falcons, trying to inspire his new charges.

“We talked about the L.A. prospects—first round draft picks and future NHLers—and some of the things that they did, and how we can do some of the same things to potentially put [themselves] in that position, two, three, four years down the road as a player,” he said.

Eigner lost a half-dozen brand name skaters this past off-season from a squad that spent much of last year riding inside the national polls. Like many other CCHA schools, he has scrambled to replace talent lost to the NCAA transfer portal. The Falcons have since added a 6-foot-3 freshman goalie from Detroit (Christian Stoever), a former captain from rival Ferris State (Coale Norris) and a French-speaking defenseman from Division III power Norwich (Gabe Chicoine).

“We want this group to write its own story,” said Eigner. “We’ve got a bunch of new kids. Everybody’s focused on this year.”

Eigner has carefully plotted this season’s early schedule, beginning with a trip to Ann Arbor to play an exhibition against national power Michigan, followed by four routine non-conference games. Then his Falcons open their conference schedule with a daunting run through the CCHA’s “Minnesota Gauntlet” with six consecutive games against Bemidji, St. Thomas and Minnesota State. By mid-November, the hockey world will know if Eigner’s Falcons will be contenders again for national recognition.

“Minnesota State, obviously they’re the standard in our league,” Eigner said, “And anybody that knew our league was not surprised with how Bemidji played in the NCAA tournament. They deserved to beat Wisconsin.”

With the eyes of Bowling Green teammates Rob Blake and Nelson Emerson watching from the Los Angeles Kings offices, Eigner’s skills as a teacher will be carefully monitored as he rebuilds their alma mater.