Written by: Brian Buckey, the Toledo Blade
BOWLING GREEN — For Peter Eigner, it has always been Bowling Green hockey or bust.
The son of Falcons head coach Ty Eigner, Peter put everything he had into earning an opportunity to play for the program he and his family have held close.
From persevering through a childhood battle with Stage IV neuroblastoma to undergoing a position change in high school from forward to goaltender, Peter has never been one to let obstacles get in his way.
That attitude and mindset has paid off as Peter recently signed with Bowling Green and will have a chance to play Division I college hockey for his dad.
“It was BG or nothing for me,” Peter Eigner said. “If it wasn't BG this year, I would try to play juniors or something next year and figure something else out, but I would have been disappointed to play anywhere else.”
Ty Eigner has pretty much been a life-long Falcon, captaining the team in the 1992-93 season as a player, returning 11 years ago as an assistant coach, and taking over as head coach in April of 2019.
So a lot of Ty's memories the first few years back at Bowling Green as a coach involved Peter spending time in the locker room celebrating wins with the players he looked up to.
“When we moved here 11 years ago, he was just instantly a Falcon fan,” Ty Eigner said. “It was the same with every team I ever coached. He hung around the rink and whatever team I was coaching, he was a big supporter of. The thing that sticks out to me over the 11 years are after big wins on a Saturday, him being in the locker room. At the time he was 8 or 9 or 10 years old and he's high-fiving with Andrew Hammond or Sean Walker or Ryan Carpenter or the other guys who have been with the program the past 11 years. Having him, and my other kids and wife, go through this journey has been cool. I think it's not just a moment that stands out, just an all-encompassing thing.”
Peter graduated from St. John’s in 2020 and played Triple-A hockey for the U18 Tri-State Spartans last season.
Peter will be the first to admit that his speed and skating ability were holding him back from seeing consistent playing time during his early years of high school.
“Peter had amazing hands, just the way that he could control the puck and his stick-handling ability,” St. John's coach Derrick Stumm said. “He really did have one of the best shots on the team. Unfortunately, he lacked speed in the skating department. He didn't get a lot of chances to play forward just because of his speed. In terms of his puck-handling and shot, he was one of the best on the team.”
With his future in mind, Peter decided after his sophomore season to transition to goaltender.
“The decision was made kind of quickly,” Peter Eigner said. “It was after my sophomore year and I wasn't playing as much as I wanted to as a forward. Sophomore year came and I wasn't playing a bunch and I wasn't super fast and I just wanted to be on the ice as much as I could. I ended up switching to goalie because we had a senior that graduated. At the start I was terrible and I almost quit right away. Throughout the first seasons, I started to get more confident and these past few seasons I've felt good with my game. I try to surprise people when I tell them I've only been playing [goalie] as long as I have. I like where I'm at right now.”
Ty Eigner has been very clear about what he envisions Peter's role being at Bowling Green. He will start as the third goalie, and Ty said he hopes Peter will follow Brett Rich's footsteps, a goalie that never started a regular-season game at Bowling Green, but was an ideal teammate and student-athlete.
“The standard for our third goaltender is Brett Rich,” Ty Eigner said. “Brett's a local kid from [Bowling Green] High School. Brett completely took advantage of his opportunity to be a part of this program and excelled in every area. When we were looking to replace Brett, the standard was very high. We wanted to make sure whoever that individual was, really understood the role and knew everything that came with it. With Peter being as close to the program as he's been, he understands that and appreciates that.”
As a coach's son, Peter knows he will be watched with a close eye from both teammates and fans, but he is comfortable with his role.
“If I'm a distraction, then I shouldn't be here,” Peter Eigner said. “I know what I've been brought in to do and it's not start all 40 games for us. It's be the best goalie I can be in practice, push the other two guys in front of me, push guys in the classroom, and be the best guy I can to be around. It's more than just on the ice. Obviously, the on-ice part is a big piece of it and probably the most fun for me. I just have to get good at being well-rounded and being the best player and person I can be.”
Back to his days at St. John's, Peter Eigner always impressed with his work ethic and never felt entitled with his dad being a Division I college coach.
“Peter didn't really broadcast the fact that his dad was a Division I college hockey coach,” Stumm said. “You could tell from Peter's work ethic and his attitude and the way that he presented himself that he was a coach's son. ... That's one of the things that was very evident with Peter was his work ethic. When he decided that he was going to do something, he went at it 100 percent and put everything he had into it. It's a pretty unique bond, and I think they are going to enjoy it. Coach Eigner is a true professional, and I think they will handle it with nothing but class.”
While it might seem like the recruiting process would be an easy one to draw Peter to Bowling Green, Ty said he sought a lot of advice from former players and from his coaching staff about the dynamic of having a coach's son on the team.
Now that the process is complete, Ty is just excited that Peter will share the experience of playing for a program that Ty and so many others hold in high regard.
“I'm excited for Peter because of my history with this program as a player, as an assistant coach, and now the head coach,” Ty Eigner said. “I understand that it's a life-changing thing and you become a member of this program forever. I know as much as anybody, he appreciates that and he understands that. He's been around here for 11 years and has seen the alumni coming back and he's been in conversations with guys at the rink or on our deck talking about what the program means.”
It has been a long journey to college hockey for Peter, and he hopes he can take full advantage of his opportunity.
“What I went through early in life, getting to this point that I've been trying to get to for so long is a satisfying thing for me,” Peter Eigner said. “But I'm nowhere near done. I still have to finish it out over these next four years here. It's really cool to look back and see how much I've been through and see it all led to here. But I'm not going to stop at where I'm at.”