Monthly Archives: January 2014
After Rough Road Trip, Miami Returns Home
The Miami RedHawks headed to Kalamazoo last weekend in search of an identity. They were starting off the second half of the season against a familiar foe, with a lot to work on. The defense needed shoring up, the penalty kill needed improvement and most of all, the power play was struggling in the first half, and it was time to figure things out.
Going in, Coach Blasi most certainly wasn’t going to say that the trip to Western Michigan was going to be an easy weekend. In fact, as we said in our weekend preview, he was very complementary to the Broncos. But in the back of his mind, Rico had to be thinking of 6 points. Western Michigan is a team that Miami is very familiar with and has played well against in recent past. The Broncos were expected to have a down year, and were tied at the bottom of the standings with the RedHawks coming into the weekend. Miami was predicted to finish at the top of the conference and started the year as the #2 team in the country.
As we are reminded of time and time again, matchups on paper mean nothing. “That’s why you play the games,” as they say. Miami allowed 3 shorthanded goals against, went just 1 for 13 on the power play (1 PPG on 5 chances on Friday, 0 for 8 on Saturday), and lost 2 heartbreaking 1-goal decisions. 0 points. Last place in the NCHC.
Ouch.
In our time cheering for Miami sports, I know we’ve all drank the Drain-O kool-aid. This was one of those weekends for us here at the Blog of Brotherhood. Having taken our annual guys trip to Kalamazoo for the weekend, I can certainly say the beer and company were better than the hockey. There were many times where we all looked at each other in disbelief as the events transpired on the ice before us.
Jay Williams can’t stop Nolan LaPorte of Western Michigan on Saturday night. LaPorte had game winning goals each night last weekend. (GS Photo)
Friday night was just a night of missed opportunities and lackluster play. The shots after 1 period were 19-5 in favor of Western Michigan Friday night and the ice was heavily slanted in their favor. Scoring chances isn’t an NCAA statistic, but Western must have had 6 or 7 grade A chances that they couldn’t put past Miami’s Ryan McKay in net in addition to the one that did find paydirt. They played well the rest of the way, but a soft goal allowed by McKay and a controversial goal with 8.3 seconds left, and Miami was headed to the hotel with a sour taste in their mouths.
I actually think the RedHawks played better on Saturday night, even with several stats showing otherwise. First, they went 0 for 8 on the power play and were behind by 2 goals for a long chunk of the game (the only time that either team was ahead by more than 1 goal, by the way). Criticisms of the power play and lack of effort rained down from various RedHawks fans in attendance at times due to the out-of-character performance by several on the ice.
New Leadership
One thing that I did see this past weekend was excellent leadership and guts by Sean Kuraly. Before the weekend, Kuraly was given an A on the newly minted sweaters for the RedHawks (more on the jerseys to come). I can’t say enough about the hustle, determination and sheer disregard for his body that Sean showed all weekend, and Sean certainly earned his Assistant Captain position last weekend. From our vantage point, it was clear that Sean was the best player on the ice for either team both nights.
On Friday night, Kuraly had 2 goals on 4 shots, went 11 for 24 on faceoffs, and I’m certain would have recorded 5 or more hits on the night if it was a recorded statistic. Saturday’s line would only see Kuraly receive an assist with 5 shots, but he did have a goal that would have been unassisted had the referees not overturned the call on the ice (due to goaltender interference).
Max Cook was also awarded an Assistant Captain’s “A” on his sweater for the weekend. The senior from Frankfort, IL is just 7 games away from playing in 100 in a RedHawks sweater and has 19 hard-earned points over those 93 games, playing mostly on the 2nd and 3rd lines during his time at Miami.
New Attire
As you can see from the recent tweet from The Brotherhood (link), the RedHawks donned new sweaters last weekend. These are a return back to the jerseys of the last several years.
There have been many (unconfirmed) rumors about the jerseys over the course of the first half of the season, and it appears that the bedazzled look of the first half of the year wasn’t cutting it for the RedHawks. In the end, after a color issue for the first weekend of the year (see: jersey sale in the Goggin Pro Shop) and a general dislike for the jerseys from many fans, it seemed that the jerseys were not doing the job and Miami made a switch off of the Nike jerseys to these new Adidas jerseys. This also aligns the hockey team with the rest of the university in terms of their outfitters – a wise choice on all fronts.
The Weekend Ahead – Nebraska-Omaha in Oxford for 2-Game Set
Matthew Caito and the RedHawks look to rebound this weekend as they host Nebraska-Omaha. (Photo: Doug Cutler)
For a while this week, I thought of writing this piece with the thought that the 2 one-goal losses didn’t seem indicative of how the games were played this week. In the end, I really didn’t like how Miami played, with the exceptions of Kuraly and Cody Murphy, who is always hustling, the RedHawks didn’t impress me much last weekend.
This weekend, Miami welcomes the Mavericks of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. These will be the first games in Goggin since December 7th and 8th – a span of 7 weeks. Welcome home, indeed.
If you remember, the weekend before Thanksgiving, Miami traveled to Omaha and got spanked by scores of 6-3 and 3-1. At that point, Miami was starting to realize life in the NCHC was going to be tougher than they thought, and after the 2 wins, UNO found themselves in first place in the new conference.
On Friday night back in November, Miami was up 1-0 after the first, but UNO scored 5 second period goals en route to the 6-3 win and Miami was shell-shocked the rest of the weekend. There was no coming back from that devastating period and Miami’s slide had begun.
At present, Miami sits in the cellar of the NCHC, a conference they were picked to win at the start of the season, and are a whopping 13 points behind first place St. Cloud State. At 3-7-0 in the NCHC, there’s a lot of work to be done over the last 14 games of the season. UNO is in a tie for 3rd in the conference – a position not many expected to this point in the 2013-14 campaign. There are 14 games left for the RedHawks, and this weekend is critical to their success in the conference as well as their hopes to make the NCAA tournament come March.
Injury update
If you remember this past weekend, Austin Czarnik was hit high during the second period of the Friday night game in Kalamazoo. It was a hit that didn’t really look to cause any grief for Miami’s Captain at the time, but Czarnik didn’t play a whole lot in the second and was not on the bench for the third when Miami let the game slip away. Then on Saturday, Czarnik was in his Miami warm-ups and was a spectator in the stands and would disappear into the locker room with the team at each intermission.
Blake Coleman has been a catalyst for MIami, but missed last weekend with an upper body injury. (Miami University Athletics)
We cannot confirm nor deny what happened to Czarnik (because we simply don’t know), but he was out with an undisclosed upper body injury. While a concussion is still a serious injury, I’m hopeful that this is all it was, as this usually means a short turnaround time. With a shoulder, collarbone or other upper body injury, he could miss an extended period of time. We will see tonight whether Czarnik is on the ice or not.
Blake Coleman also didn’t play last weekend, as he is still recovering from a suspected collarbone injury suffered on Friday December 6th against Denver (he was seen in a sling in Goggin also spectating that Saturday’s game before the holiday break). Again, no confirmation if that’s what the injury is/was, but Blake may also make return this weekend against UNO.
Both games will be televised on Miami All-Access, and Friday’s Game is Televised Locally on Time Warner Cable.
Enjoy the games RedHawks. Let’s get a W (or 2?) this weekend!
RedHawks Back in Action with Weekend Set at Western Michigan
KALAMAZOO, MI – After 5 weeks off from NCAA play, Miami gets back at it this weekend, and starts a demanding set of 8 weekends of NCHC play. From here on out, Miami doesn’t play a non-conference game unless they make it to the NCAA tournament. 16 games, 16 NCHC contests, with 1 bye week (1/31-2/1) and the all important conference seeding on the line in the mostly upside-down NCHC.
It’s not going to be an easy for the RedHawks. “It’s nice to have everybody back and healthy again,” Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. “With the exception of Blake Coleman, we’ll have everyone back in our lineup. It’s been a good little mini-camp before we play Western Michigan on Friday. I feel like we’re ready to go now.”
Miami did play the US National Team Development Program (USNTDP) on New Year’s Eve, and dropped that exhibition contest 4-2. Max Cook and Johnny Wingels picked up the goals in the game, Austin Czarnik assisted on each goal, and Jay Williams and Ryan McKay split in net. Williams allowed 2 goals on 15 shots and McKay picked up the loss by allowing the 3rd goal, and the US team scored an empty netter to seal the win. Miami was without Taylor Richart, Riley Barber (playing in the 2014 World Junior Championship in Sweden) and Blake Coleman – three main components of Miami’s roster to this point.
Riley Barber led Team USA as the Captain at the 2014 World Junior Championsihp. (USA Hockey)
Heading into the weekend against the Broncos, Blasi had this to say about the team’s break, and was very complementary regarding their upcoming opponent. “At practice it has been great. The guys had a little bit of fun with [Barber] and we’ve had some good days off the ice where we have done some things together as a team and as a program and those things are always important. [The Broncos] are well coached and they play a good systematic game and they play hard. You’ll have to play your best to play with them and it’s been like that for the last 4 years. These guys understand how to play at a high level. Our rivalry over the last 4 years has been unbelievable – intense, physical games. Their building will be jammed. Their students will be there to give them a real high energy boost. Our conference is pretty good and Western poses a lot of issues. We’ve been preparing hard for a big time battle in our conference and we’ll be ready to go.”
As far as the Broncos go, they are led by Senior Shane Berschbach (a former Miami decommit), who has 8 goals and 15 assists on the year. Junior Frank Slubowski was the Broncos mainstay in net, but Sophomore Lukas Hafner was awarded the Jack Tompkins Trophy as the Great Lakes Invitational’s most valuable player over the holiday break. He sports an impressive 4-2 record, .947 save percentage and 1.26 GAA for a stat line, and has started taking playing time away from Slubowski. He has played in (and won) 3 of the last 4 games for Western, and is likely to see at least split time in net this weekend.
Blake Coleman has been a catalyst for MIami, but will miss this weekend’s play with an upper body injury. (Miami University Athletics)
Blasi reiterated the sentiment about the rest of the season. “There are 16 games left and we won’t look at the standings at all right now. There’s so much hockey left to play and so much that can happen. We’re going to have to play well. Are we where we need to be? Probably not, but are we going to work our tails off to get there? Absolutely.”
The second half test starts Friday and Saturday in Kalamazoo. Both games start at 7:05 PM. According to MURedHawks.com, “an All-Access broadcast will also be available for both contests.” Western Michigan also uses Neulion, so we’re hopeful that the feed will be picked up by the Miami All-Access team for the weekend.
If you’re in town for the weekend, hit us up! I’ll be in the house with a group of RedHawks faithful and you can find us on Twitter by heading to @MiamiHockeyBlog. Enjoy the games!
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