Monthly Archives: June 2016
Part I: 14 freshmen on Miami roster
The letters “FR” are listed in the rows of 14 of the 27 players on Miami’s 2016-17 roster.
Meaning over half of the RedHawks expected to hit the ice this fall will be freshmen.
Of the other 13, seven are sophomores-to-be, three will be juniors and three enter their senior seasons.
Part I of this two-part series will focus on Miami’s position-by-position breakdown for the upcoming season, while the latter installment will introduce everyone to the newest crop of RedHawks.
FORWARDS
OUT: 6 – Kevin Morris (graduated), Sean Kuraly (graduated), Alex Gacek (graduated), Devin Loe (cut), Michael Mooney (graduated), Andrew Schmit (graduated).
RETURNING: 8 – Seniors – Anthony Louis, Justin Greenberg. Junior – Conor Lemirande. Sophomores – Jack Roslovic, Kiefer Sherwood, Josh Melnick, Zach LaValle, Ryan Siroky.
IN: 7 – Gordie Green, Carson Meyer, Christian Mohs, Carter Johnson, Alex Alger, Karch Bachman, Willie Knierim.
ANALYSIS: Yes, Miami took some major hits in this department, but it’s the most stable of the three facets. The RedHawks’ top four scorers all return (Louis and Sherwood, 11 goals; Roslovic, 10 goals; Melnick, nine goals). The toughest thing to replace from this group will be the leadership – Kuraly was team captain and Morris was an alternate – and the penalty killing ability. Morris, Kuraly and Gacek were all studs on the PK. Last season’s freshman class was impressive, especially the second half of the year, and will be relied on heavily in 2016-17. Even if all of the returning skaters dress, that leaves four openings for incoming freshmen, so at least one-third of the forwards will be rookies every night this fall.
DEFENSEMEN
OUT: 4 – Matthew Caito (graduated), Chris Joyaux (graduated), Taylor Richart (graduated), Michael Mooney (graduated).
RETURNING: 4 – Senior – Colin Sullivan. Juniors – Louie Belpedio, Scott Dornbrock. Sophomore – Grant Hutton.
IN: 4 – Bryce Hatten, Grant Frederic, Chaz Switzer. Jared Brandt.
ANALYSIS: Caito has been one of the best blueliners to play for Miami in recent years, and Richart and Joyaux were solid shut-down D-men for four years. The RedHawks were so deep here last season that Sullivan had trouble getting into the lineup despite playing very well just about every time he dressed. Like the forward corps, at least one-third of this group will be freshmen this season with only four blueliners returning. The good news is that this coaching staff has always brought in solid skaters on the back end that are game-ready as soon they come to Oxford. Hutton was the most recent example last season. If Belpedio takes another step forward he could be the top D-man in the conference. He is the lone returning alternate captain from 2015-16 and could wear the ‘C’ this fall.
Defenseman Louie Belpedio (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
GOALTENDERS
OUT: 2 – Jay Williams (graduated), Ryan McKay (graduated).
RETURNING: 1 – Sophomore – Evan McCarthy.
IN: 3 – Ryan Larkin, Chase Munroe, Andrew Masters.
ANALYSIS: The Zatkoff effect continues. Jeff Zatkoff left after his junior year, leaving Miami with two freshmen in net for 2008-09, and eight seasons later the cycle repeats. Williams and McKay both had outstanding careers with the RedHawks, and the bar is high for the newcomers. McCarthy played the final minutes of one game last season, as he enters 2016-17 the most game-tested netminder on the team, having logged 9:39 between the pipes. Like with the blueline, Miami’s coaches continue to bring in excellent goalies. Masters was a late addition and gives the team four goaltenders on the roster, which is a bit of a rarity.
BOTTOM LINE: Scoring was a major issue for Miami last season, and while Roslovic was a stud early in the season, the rest of the freshman class caught up after the break, providing optimism in that area for 2016-17. And as for the goaltending, call fans spoiled but the RedHawks haven’t really struggled with talent in that area since Enrico Blasi took over the coaching reins 17 years ago, so there’s little reason to believe that will be an issue this season. The defense is arguably the biggest concern, and it’s no knock whatsoever on the incoming and returning players but a compliment to the graduated seniors from last season. The amazing two-way play of Caito, the passion and toughness of Richart, the physical and shut-down ability of Joyaux – that’s half of the blueline on the nightly lineup sheet – will be difficult to replace. Plus a D-corps can either make that transition to collegiate hockey much smoother or rougher for a team with three freshmen goalies. With all of the youth overall, at the risk of sounding cliché, this team may be much better in March than in October, which is the ultimate goal for a hockey team anyway.
Miami pros won Cups at three levels
It was a memorable spring for several former Miamians, as ex-RedHawks won hockey championships in the top three North American pro leagues this playoff season.
Goalie Jeff Zatkoff will have his name etched on hockey’s most coveted trophy, the Stanley Cup, after a the backup’s Pittsburgh Penguins beat San Jose in a six-game title series that wrapped up on Sunday.
Goalie Jeff Zatkoff.
The RedHawks were guaranteed a Stanley Cup champion, as Tommy Wingels skated for the Sharks in all six games of that final.
Forward Trent Vogelhuber also skated a trophy, winning the Calder Cup with the AHL Cleveland-based Lake Erie Monsters, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ top affiliate.
Gary Steffes was an integral member of the ECHL Allen Americans, who won their second consecutive Kelly Cup.
Zatkoff picked up one of Pittsburgh’s 16 postseason wins, posting a .908 save percentage. He went 4-8 in the regular season with a 2.79 goals-against average and a save percentage of .917.
Zatkoff has 16 career wins in 1,940 regular-season minutes, and he has one shutout. He played three seasons for Miami in 2006-09.
Vogelhuber went 2-5-7 this playoff year after recording 11 goals and 16 assists in 70 games in the regular season. He has played parts of five seasons with Lake Erie, racking up 24 markers and 35 helpers for 59 points.
Steffes scored 13 goals in the playoffs for the second straight season and has 29 career playoff postseason tallies in 65 ECHL games. He went 22-23-45 in the regular season and has scored 84 times in the last three seasons with Allen.
Other season highlights…
NHL – Forward Reilly Smith made quite an impression in his first year with Florida, scoring a career-high 25 goals and notching four more in six postseason games. Smith has 150 career points and has missed just one game the past three seasons.
Defenseman Alec Martinez also set a career high, racking up 31 points including 10 goals for the Los Angeles Kings. Martinez is 39-69-108 in 337 career games.
Defenseman Dan Boyle became the first former RedHawks to reach 600 NHL points, as he went 10-24-34 this season for the New York Rangers. Boyle is Miami’s all-time leader in NHL games played (1,093), assists (442) and points (605), and he second to Brian Savage in goals with 163.
AHL – Forward Andy Miele set several personal milestones this season, eclipsing 100 goals, 200 assists and 300 points for his AHL career. Miele went 18-44-62 this season with Grand Rapids, giving him 106 goals, 205 assists and 311 career points. He has played 355 AHL games in five seasons, averaging 0.88 points per game.
Forward Pat Cannone established career highs in goals (20) and points (52) with Chicago this season. Cannone has scored 80 career goals in the AHL and surpassed the 200-point mark for his career, finishing this regular season with 203.
Forwards Riley Barber and Austin Czarnik may be on different teams now, but they both proved they can roll up the points in the pros. Barber scored 26 goals and added 29 assists for 55 points for Hershey in his first AHL action. Czarnik went 20-41-61, giving him 63 career points in 71 games for Providence including his three-game stint at the end of 2014-15.
Forward Carter Camper was a playoff stud, racking up six goals and 10 assists in 19 games as Barber’s teammate with Hershey. The Bears lost to Lake Erie in the Calder Cup final.
ECHL – In addition to his playoff scoring, Steffes reached 150 points for his ECHL career this regular season. He has 84 goals and 59 assists for 153 points in three seasons with Allen. Steffes has scored 150 goals and dished for 126 assists in six minor league seasons between the CHL, the ECHL and the AHL.
While Steffes led all former Miamians in the ECHL, forward Alex Wideman also had a strong showing, going 15-24-39 in 58 games with Evansville.
Below is a list of 2015-16 stats for Miamians playing in the pros around the world, and RedHawks’ pro stats can always be accessed at this link:
https://blogofbrotherhood.com/redhawks-in-the-pros/
2015-16 STATS – FINAL REGULAR SEASON
Regular season
NHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Reilly Smith | Florida Panthers | F | 82 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 19 | 31 |
| Alec Martinez | Los Angeles Kings | D | 78 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 16 | 40 |
| Dan Boyle | NY Rangers | D | 74 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 0 | 30 |
| Tommy Wingels | San Jose Sharks | F | 68 | 7 | 11 | 18 | -10 | 63 | Chris Wideman | Ottawa Senators | D | 64 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 34 |
| Andy Greene | New Jersey Devils | D | 82 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 26 |
| Curtis McKenzie | Dallas Stars | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
Goalies
| Player | Team | GP | Min. | W | L | GAA | Sv% | SHO |
| Jeff Zatkoff | Pittsburgh Penguins | 14 | 728 | 4 | 7 | 2.79 | .917 | 0 |
AHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Andy Miele | Grand Rapids | F | 75 | 18 | 44 | 62 | 18 | 77 |
| Austin Czarnik | Providence | F | 68 | 20 | 41 | 61 | 17 | 24 |
| Riley Barber | Hershey | F | 74 | 26 | 29 | 55 | 4 | 34 |
| Curtis McKenzie | Texas | F | 61 | 24 | 31 | 55 | 11 | 120 |
| Pat Cannone | Chicago | F | 73 | 20 | 32 | 52 | 5 | 38 |
| Carter Camper | Hershey | F | 64 | 9 | 25 | 34 | 3 | 16 |
| Vincent LoVerde | Ontario | D | 56 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 19 | 54 |
| Trent Vogelhuber | Lake Erie | F | 70 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 13 | 65 |
| Cameron Schilling | Rockford | F | 73 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 10 | 38 |
| Marc Hagel | Iowa | F | 53 | 4 | 15 | 19 | -8 | 43 |
| Justin Vaive | Bridgeport | F | 63 | 11 | 6 | 17 | -5 | 79 |
| Blake Coleman | Albany | F | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 19 |
| Tyler Biggs | WB/Scranton | F | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Gary Steffes | San Jose | F | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 2 |
| Alden Hirschfeld | Grand Rapids | F | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Chris Joyaux | St. John’s | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 6 |
| Will Weber | San Antonio | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Morris | Binghamton | F | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goalies
| Player | Team | GP | Min. | W | L | GAA | Sv% | SHO |
| Connor Knapp | Lehigh Valley | 2 | 113 | 1 | 0 | 5.31 | .821 | 0 |
ECHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Gary Steffes | Allen | F | 69 | 22 | 23 | 45 | -4 | 56 |
| Alex Wideman | Evansville | F | 58 | 15 | 24 | 39 | -11 | 14 |
| Alden Hirschfeld | Toledo | F | 27 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 3 | 13 |
| Will Weber | Fort Wayne | D | 64 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 103 |
| Devin Mantha | Norfolk | F | 26 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| Matthew Caito | Toledo | D | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Kevin Morris | Manchester | F | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Biggs | Wheeling | F | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 16 |
| Jarod Palmer | Evansville | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 |
Goalies
| Player | Team | GP | Min. | W | L | GAA | Sv% | SHO |
| Connor Knapp | Reading | 22 | 1,195 | 10 | 11 | 2.96 | .899 | 2 |
| Cody Reichard | Evansville | 11 | 511 | 4 | 4 | 3.75 | .896 | 0 |
SPHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Devin Mantha | Mississippi | F | 26 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 4 | 20 |
Europe
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Justin Mercier | Val Gardena (Italy)$ | F | 39 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 0 | 72 |
| Matt Tomassoni | Frankfurt (DEL-2)% | F | 52 | 11 | 31 | 42 | 13 | 38 |
| Dan Stewart | Fife (EIHL)+ | D | 59 | 14 | 20 | 34 | 0 | 75 |
| Ryan Jones | Cologne (DEL)# | F | 41 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 3 | 55 |
| Mitch Ganzak | Belfast (EIHL)+ | F | 63 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 0 | 146 |
| Cody Murphy | Vasteras (Sweden)@ | F | 52 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 11 | 16 |
| Mike Glumac | Zagreb (KHL)& | F | 58 | 8 | 3 | 11 | -4 | 30 |
Coaches
| Coach | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | Pct. |
| Chris Bergeron | Bowling Green | WCHA | 39 | 23 | 11 | 5 | .654 |
| Jeff Blashill | Detroit | NHL | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | |
| Brian Kaufman | Omaha | USHL | 60 | 26 | 34 | .433 |
2015-16 PLAYOFFS
NHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Reilly Smith | Florida Panthers | F | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Tommy Wingels | San Jose Sharks | F | 18 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 21 |
| Dan Boyle | NY Rangers | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Alec Martinez | Los Angeles Kings | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Curtis McKenzie | Dallas Stars | F | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
AHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Carter Camper | Hershey | F | 19 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 3 | 2 |
| Andy Miele | Grand Rapids | F | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| Trent Vogelhuber | Lake Erie | F | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| Austin Czarnik | Providence | F | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 2 |
| Riley Barber | Hershey | F | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -6 | 24 |
| Vincent LoVerde | Ontario | D | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -3 | 10 |
| Curtis McKenzie | Texas | F | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Cameron Schilling | Rockford | F | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Biggs | WB/Scranton | F | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 |
ECHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Gary Steffes | Allen | F | 22 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 9 | 23 |
| Matthew Caito | Toledo | D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Will Weber | Fort Wayne | D | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 22 |
SPHL
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Devin Mantha | Mississippi | F | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Europe
Skaters
| Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/– | PIM |
| Justin Mercier | Val Gardena (Italy)$ | F | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | |
| Ryan Jones | Cologne (DEL)# | F | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |
| Matt Tomassoni | Frankfurt (DEL-2)% | F | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 18 |
Coaches
| Coach | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | Pct. |
| Jeff Blashill | Detroit | NHL | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 |
Last updated: 6-4-2016
*-no longer with team
$-Val Gardena is in the Italian League Serie A, the top league in Italy.
%-Frankfurt is in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga and plays in DEL2, the second highest league in Germany.
#-Cologne is in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the top league in Germany.
@-Vasteras is in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest league in Sweden.
+-Fife and Belfast are in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the highest league in the United Kingdom.
&-Zagreb is in the Kontinental Hockey League, the top league in Russia, its territories and surrounding countries.
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