Monthly Archives: October 2008
>Miamians New Mugs…
>As the ECHL begins to update their 20008-2009 rosters, I just thought I’d share some of our Miamians photos:
For those that don’t know…here are the players:
(Top Left) Marty Guerin, F, Charlotte Checkers
(Top Right) Charlie Effinger, G, Gwinnett Gladiators
(Side) Nino Musitelli, F, Dayton Bombers
I’ll also be doing a “Who Plays Where” post for the upcoming season in a few days, once final cuts are made.
>Zatkoff Expected to Reign Over Ontario Goaltending
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After a five day drive from Manchester, New Hampshire to Ontario, California, Jeff Zatkoff is just ready to play some hockey. The San Bernadino Sun has a quick article about Zatkoff’s cross country quest and future with the Ontario Reign this season…a season in which he’s slated to be “the man” between the pipes for the first year ECHL franchise.
You can see the article at this link. Thanks to laxmom for the heads up…again.
>NCAA Re-thinking Tournament Seeding?
>Inside College Hockey has a rather interesting feature on their web page today. They have reportedly obtained a memo from the NCAA regarding a “three-tier plan” that would minimize travel costs for NCAA Frozen Four play and seed teams for the tournament, based on geographic location.
If passed and approved by NCAA presidents and its executive committee this January, here’s what it means for Division I men’s ice hockey: Unless you’re a No. 1 seed, the NCAA tournament bracketing philosophy will strongly emphasize geographic proximity – keeping eastern teams in the east, and western teams in the west.
Instead of seeding teams based on bands and protecting bracket integrity, as has been done in recent years, only four of 16 teams would be seeded, earning top seeds in each region. The rest of the region would be determined by geography to minimize travel expenses for participating teams. In order to accommodate these new objectives, the recommendations include disregarding previously-established “working principles” of tournament selection to allow for regional matches between members of the same conference.
The article offers two possible scenarios, using the 2008 tournament brackets as examples. Here they are:
Scenario one under new seeding:
2008 West Regional
*Miami
Colorado College
Michigan State
Air Force
Scenario two under new seeding:
2008 Midwest Regional
* Miami
St. Cloud State
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Personally, I’m ALL for this. There is no reason Miami should be sent out East every single year (maybe it’s the BC bitterness in me). Seeding teams in this manner, just makes more sense to me.
What do you think?
>RedHawks Up To Number…
>Seven. The USCHO/CBS College Sports Division I Poll has our Miami icers ranked seventh in the nation…up one spot despite a Friday night tie with unranked Ohio State. Here are the rankings, in their entirety:
1. Boston College (45)
2. Michigan (2)
3. Colorado College (3)
4. Denver
5. Boston University
6. New Hampshire
7. Miami
8. Notre Dame
9. Minnesota
10. Princeton
11. Michigan State
12. St. Cloud State
13. North Dakota
14. Clarkson
15. Minnesota State
16. Cornell
17. Vermont
18. Harvard
19. Northern Michigan
20. Wisconsin
Five CCHA teams ranked in the top 20 this week. Other notes of interest…North Dakota falls from number five to number thirteen this week. Notre Dame drops from fourth to eighth, Boston U jumps from number nine to number five, and the RedHawks opponent this weekend, Vermont, moves up three spots to number seventeen.
>Ganzak Added to Nailers Roster
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The Official Website of the ECHL is reporting tonight, that former RedHawk defenseman Mitch Ganzak has been added to the Wheeling Nailers training camp roster.
If you’ll recall, Ganzak was in camp with the Ottawa Senators, then assigned to Binghamton of the AHL, then released all together.
Let’s hope Mitch catches on with Wheeling (who, by the way, are affiliated with the Pittsburgh Penguins).
>Much Expected from Mercier
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Thanks to laxmom for the heads up on this article, as the Colorado Avalanche have a great feature up on the team website about senior forward Justin Mercier. Here’s a short snippet:
During this, his senior season at Miami, Mercier is taking on more of a leadership role than ever before. While he’s not wearing a letter on his sweater to make that responsibility official, Mercier has taken the lessons he learned from previous leaders of the RedHawks and is trying to use them to help out a young squad.
“I think a lot of it had to do with the guys who came before me. I really looked up to Ryan Jones, Matt Christie and Andy Greene,” said the Erie, Pa., native. “I saw how those guys led and you just try to follow in their footsteps, lead by example and be good in the locker room. They showed me how to take the reins.”
Definitely worth checking out the rest. I expect big things from him this season…I can say in all honesty that Justin is one of the most exciting players I’ve ever watched…love his hustle with and without the puck.
>Wideman Earns CCHA Rookie of the Week Honors
>RedHawk rookie defenseman Chris Wideman has been selected as the CCHA Rookie of the Week.
Wideman has four assists this season, collecting two on Friday night and two on Saturday night. He leads all conference defenseman in scoring and all league rookies in scoring as well. His performance thus far has been very encouraging.
Congratulations Chris!
>What a Night…
>Just a few notes here before I head off to bed:
– What a game…four power play goals. I thought our execution on the powerplay was UNREAL. We made great tape to tape passes…kept the puck in the OSU zone and took good shots. I noticed that we were able to get our sticks on a lot of rebounds on shots taken from the point. If our PP and offense can play like this every game…look out.
– Speaking of the powerplay, how about Chris Wideman? He has impressed me so much during this early season. His quarterbacking of the powerplay is excellent. He makes good reads…can find open shooters…etc. I absolutely love him being paired with Kevin Roeder on the regular defensive lines…
– Can’t go without mentioning Pat Cannone…one goal and FIVE assists on Saturday night. Unbelievable. Justin Vaive also had a goal, AND…Gary Steffes chipped in with a hat trick! It’s great to see, at least so far, that we have scoring depth, in addition to Mercier, Palmer, Camper, etc.
– No one has won a job yet, but Connor Knapp didn’t hurt his chances tonight. What a solid player. Although two of OSU’s three goals probably should have been denied, he made some wonderful saves, all in all. He is very good with the glove. I’d love to see more out of him.
– I’m going to bed happy tonight. If there is one team I hate not beating, it’s Ohio State. As you can tell…Miami played smart hockey tonight. Nice to see Cady Arena PACKED too! We have a tough week ahead as the RedHawks travel to Burlington for a weekend series against U of Vermont next weekend. Let’s keep up the good work!
>Around the Minors
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Not much to note from Miami alumni in the AHL tonight.
– Nathan Davis saw a decent amount of ice time, competing in his first game with the Rockford IceHogs as they took on Quad City. No points however, for the Rocky River, Ohio native.
– Mike Glumac scored an empty-net goal to lift the Hamilton Bulldogs past the Manitoba Moose, 3-1.
In the ECHL…
– In pre-season action, Gwinnett Goaltender Charlie Effinger backstopped the Gladiators to a 5-2 win over the Augusta Lynx, turning away 17 of 19 shots.
– Also in pre-season action, former RedHawk forward Ernie Hartlieb scored a goal and added two assists as the Florida Everblades rolled the Phoenix Roadrunners, 7-0.
>Jones Scoreless in NHL Debut
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The Nashville Predators are off to an 0-1 start after dropping the season opener to the St. Louis Blues, 5-2. Making his debut, Ryan Jones didn’t make the scoresheet…no goals, no assists…no penalties…no shots and saw 8:10 seconds worth of ice time. One observer…noted this about Jones gameplay tonight:
Ryan Jones – Seriously, why is he here??? Looked totally lost in D-zone coverage early and never made an impact. He is a step slow to make a play and finishes his checks late and still doesn’t even make an impact with his body. Had a few BRIEF moments where you saw some talent, but they were lost in the plethora of moments that had me buying him a ticket to Milwaukee.
Doesn’t sound like the Ryan Jones I know. I’m sure nerves had something to do with it as well. It’s only game one.
Also, Jonesy is keeping his own blog about his first NHL season. I’ve linked it on the right side of my page, where it will remain. Check it out!
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