>The 3 finalists for the CCHA individual awards have been announced and two RedHawks, Carter Camper and Kevin Roeder have been nominated. Camper was nominated for the CCHA Player of the Year Award, along with UAF goaltender Chad Johnson and Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce. Some tough company there. Camper was also nominated for the Defensive Forward of the Year, joined by U of M’s Tim Miller, and Notre Dame’s Erik Condra.

Roeder was nominated for the Best Defensive Defernseman honor. Also in that group is U of M junior Chris Summers and Notre Dame junor Kyle Lawson.

The winners will be annoucned on Thursday, March 19th during the CCHA Awards Banquet at the Fox Theater in Detroit.

– Paula C. Weston is back with her predictions and insight into this weekend’s quarterfinal matchups. She predicts a RedHawk win…on Sunday:

Last weekend, the Wildcats decimated the Michigan State Spartans to advance to the second round of the CCHA playoffs, beating MSU by a collective score of 13-5. The series gave several players a chance to shine, especially senior Nick Sirota and sophomores Mark Olver and Gregor Hanson, each of whom netted two goals in the weekend. They face a team that is 21-31 all-time in CCHA playoff action and 4-2 in the past three seasons in the first round in which they’ve played. The Wildcats took three points from Miami in Steve Cady Arena just three weeks ago, beating the RedHawks 2-1 Feb. 20 before tying 1-1 the next night (when Miami earned the shootout “win” point). In those two games, NMU’s Brian Stewart made 89 saves, allowed two goals, and earned a .978 save percentage for the weekend. Miami is 6-4-1 against Northern dating back to 2005-06, including a 5-2 CCHA semifinal win March 17, 2006. NMU 3-2, Miami 4-2, Miami 4-2

This weekend’s games will be televised on ONN, with Dave Allen and Kevin Ackley handling the broadcast duties. This is your last and final chance to see your Miami seniors take the ice at Cady Arena.

Go RedHawks!