Author Archives: Redskin Warriors
>Randy Robitaille Headed Overseas
>
SF Sport is reporting tonight that MU alum Randy Robitaille has signed with Hockey Club Lugano. HC Lugano is based in Lugano, Switzerland and is one of the more successful hockey clubs in the Swiss National “A” League, having won seven national championships, the last of which, in 2006.
You can view the release from SF sport at this link.
I think, on all accounts, this was a good move for Randy. As we all know, he’s been well traveled in the NHL through his career and, obviously, wanted to continue playing hockey. Considering his age and skill-set in the NHL, this was an outstanding move for Randy, as I for one, would have been surprised if he were signed by a team here in North America.
You can view his team biography by clicking here.
Best of luck to Randy. Hopefully, he’ll find a few more good years with Lugano.
>A Diamond Is Forever…
>
“Diamond” Dave Allen began his journey into the world of broadcasting in 1978 at age 12, by taking a tape recorder to Cincinnati Reds games and calling the action. He hasn’t looked back since. Born and raised in Butler County, Allen returned to his roots in 2002, replacing longtime radio voice John Walton. But it was long before that when he first got his “official” start in the business. Well traveled in the broadcasting industry, Allen’s first on air play-by-play was at WTRE-AM in Greensburg, IN, however, his first on-air sports announcing job was as a color commentator for a pro boxing match in St. Paul, IN. He has done on-site reporting for USA Radio Network, WFAN in New York, KCFX in Kansas City and KTAR in Phoenix. He also worked for the NFL office on their Sportsphone service (in the days before the Internet explosion), and was part of the start-up of SportsLine USA, now known as CBS SportsLine.
And that was just the non-hockey experience.
He called selected games for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, when they began in 1997, which landed him his first play-by-play position in Huntington, WV with the Blizzard in 1998. He called a couple of playoff games for the Dayton Bombers filling in for Greg Waddell in 2000. Then, it was on to Greensboro, NC for the 2000-01 season as Voice of the Generals (ECHL).
However, there was one thing more important to Allen…and that was coming home…to Southwest Ohio. As Miami Hockey was on the air via WHSS-FM at the time, Allen says that the situation…was a perfect fit.
“The radio signal was good and I’d be back in broadcasting close to my home, and I love announcing hockey. Being able to again announce hockey games close to home and to be a part of the sport was the real attraction.”
“Love and Honor to Miami,” goes the fight song. But it’s much more than just a lyric to Allen.
“Getting on board with Miami hockey was the absolute best thing to happen to me in my professional life and my joy of being here grows every day,” he said. “I feel completely blessed to be at Miami. To be a part of the magic and excitement that is game night at Steve Cady Arena is something that I don’t believe even the NHL could top.”
Finally, when asked if there was anything he had yet to do in hockey, but would eventually like to do, Allen provided an answer that many of the Miami faithful would love to hear.
“I’d love to say the words…”and the Miami RedHawks are the NCAA hockey champions”!
…wouldn’t we all?
Dave Allen’s Top 3 Miami Hockey Moments:
3. March 13, 2004: Todd Grant’s goal at 12:05 of overtime against Lake Superior State sends Miami back to “The Joe;” the team’s first appearance since the 1996-1997 season. Read.
2. March 11, 2006: Another OT thriller. Alec Martinez scores against Western Michigan at 17:00 of the extra period to send Miami to the semifinals of the CCHA Championship at “The Joe.” Martinez’ goal was the final tally at Goggin Ice Arena. Read.
1. January 24, 2006: 2 goals in the final :22 by Mitch Ganzak and Marty Guerin lift the RedHawks past the Western Michigan Broncos 4-3. Read or watch and listen to Allen’s call.
>Effinger Signs With Gladiators
>
The Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL have announced, today, the signing of goaltender Charlie Effinger. You can view the press release here.
Charlie becomes the first goaltender signed by the Gladiators for the upcoming season. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound netminder posted a perfect 6-0-0 record during his senior season with the RedHawks. He finished the season with a 2.16 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 6 games while posting a 4-0-0 record during CCHA conference play.
Effinger had a career year during his sophomore season appearing in 19 games and ranking first in the CCHA in both goals-against average (1.83) and save percentage (.931). He was also ranked second nationally in both categories. During his sophomore season in 2005-06, Effinger was named the CCHA’s best goaltender and was named to the All-CCHA Second Team while he was honored as Miami’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Effinger became the first RedHawks netminder to earn all-CCHA honors since the 1996-97 season when Trevor Prior, who played for Gwinnett during the 2003-04 season, earned all-CCHA honors.
During his four-year collegiate career, Effinger appeared in 53 games with the RedHawks while posting a 32-12-4 record. He finished with a .912 save percentage and a 2.35 goals against average and two shutouts.
Gwinnett is the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.
Best of luck to Charlie!
>Guerin Signs With Checkers
>
The Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL have announced the signing of former RedHawk Marty Guerin. Here is an excerpt from the release:
“In 156 collegiate games, Guerin totaled 49 goals and 66 assists for 115 points with 147 penalty minutes. He was a 9th round selection of the Los Angeles Kings during the 2003 National Hockey League Entry Draft.”
“During his year with the South Carolina Stingrays, Guerin managed 18 goals and 32 assists for 50 points in 68 games. He also added 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 points in 17 playoff games.”
You can read the rest of the press release at this link.
The Checkers are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.
>Miele Represents on INCH’s A-Z List
>
Sophomore forward Andy Miele has been chosen as Inside College Hockey’s “Player to Watch” for the Miami
RedHawks.
Here’s a brief snippet:
“One of Miele’s best assets is his ability to see and process what’s going on around him on the ice, a skill which elevates his own play and the play of his linemates.”
You can read the article on Miele by clicking here.
>Davis Ranked 15th By Hockey’s Future
>
Hockey’s Future has put together a nice feture on the Chicago Blackhawks’ top twenty prospects, and Miami alum Nathan Davis cracked the list at number fifteen. Here’s their assessment of the Rocky River, Ohio native:
“Davis is similar to Billy Sweatt in many ways. Though he does not possess Sweatt’s speed, he is a sound skater who sees the ice well, thus making him dangerous in transition. Additionally, like Sweatt, Davis can play defense with the best of them. In fact, he was considered by many to be one of the top defensive forwards in college while at Miami. Davis’ quality two-way game makes him an ideal special teams player. Now that he has been signed by Chicago, Davis will likely see time in Rockford next season.”
To check out the rest of the Blackhawks’ top twenty prospects, click here.
>Martinez High On Kings List
>
Frozen Royalty, a wonderful site about the Los Angeles Kings, has a nice article about Alec Martinez. Below, is a small excerpt from the original article:
As with all of their young prospects, the Kings’ coaching staff worked with their young defenseman to refine their games, and Martinez was no exception.
“There’s always little things,” Martinez explained. “You can improve your deception, picking your head up a little earlier, surveying the ice to get better vision. There’s definitely room for improvement.”
To read the rest of the Martinez piece and check out the rest of Frozen Royalty, click here.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Creech.
>CCHA Welcomes the Shootout
>
The CCHA announced today, that it plans to mandate the use of the shootout following 60 minutes of regulation play and a five minute overtime period.
To read the official release from the CCHA and to view the final rules changes for the 2008-2009 season, click here.
>THN Ranks CCHA Logos
>
The Hockey News continues their logo rankings today, with the CCHA. For those who are unfamiliar with this, THN does a league-by-league breakdown, everything from the NHL, to the NCAA, to the OHL, and ranks each teams logo by conference. For the CCHA logos, THN says Miami has the third best.
3. Miami RedHawks: formerly the Redmen, Miami of Ohio rebounds with a strikingly intense hawk.
A few things here. It’s great that we’re so high up on the the list…but “Redmen“? Really? Could they not print “Redskins,” or are they just that sadly misinformed?
If you’d like to check out the rest of the THN logo ranking list, it can be found here.
>One On One With Coach Blasi
>
As it’s hard to find news during the off-season months, I recently had the chance to conduct an e-mail interview with Coach Blasi. Everything from the OOC schedule to the power-play is addressed. Hope you enjoy it! Feel free to send any feedback.
With the official beginning of the 2008-2009 season still more than a month away, light work for the RedHawk icers has already begun. For those curious as to how the off-season schedule works, Rico says that, with the exception of a month or so, the season…never really ends.
“The players all stay for the first summer term and workout as a team. This lasts from May through the end of June. Then, they have about a month and a half on their own; some stay, some go home, and some go to NHL developmental camps. We start individual practice sessions when the guys get back to campus to start school. Our official first day of practice is October 4. Last year, we chose to play an exhibition game on that day and we are doing the same this year. For the coaching staff, the off-season schedule consists of planning, recruiting, and camps.”
Planning
Planning is a topic of which the RedHawk coaching staff has undoubtedly become very familiar with since the season-ending loss to Boston College in the quarter-finals of the 2008 Frozen Four tournament. As the team was already prepared to lose seven seniors due to graduation, juniors Alec Martinez and Jeff Zatkoff both decided to forgo their final year of eligibility and sign with the Los Angeles Kings, the rights holder to both players. With the Martinez’ departure, the RedHawks lost four defensemen, three of which were a consistent presence on the blueline, leaving only seniors Kevin Roeder and Ray Eichenlaub, as well as sophomore Vincent LoVerde as the top 3 defensemen. While defensive pairings obviously haven’t been decided upon yet, Blasi says the returning RedHawk blueliners will have a lot on their shoulders and certainly expects Michael Findorff to be in the mix.
“No question, we’ll look to our returning guys (Roeder, LoVerde, Eichenlaub, and Findorff) for leadership and consistency,” said Blasi. “At the same time, we are extremely excited about our freshmen; a very talented group of Will Weber, Matt Tomassoni, Chris Wideman, and Cameron Schilling.”
Leadership
Another area where the RedHawks were hit hard in…more specifically, senior leadership. Gone are captains Ryan Jones and Nathan Davis and while it’s a very tough task to replace a presence like Jones both in the dressing room and on the ice, Blasi, once again, looks to the senior leaders to do just that-lead…and choosing a captain to replace Jones, Blasi says, wasn’t an easy decision.
“Brian Kaufman will be our captain and our only alternate will be Kevin Roeder. It’s a tough decision when you have so many great guys in the locker room.”
A New Face Behind the Bench
No, the new face behind the bench this season isn’t Jeff Blashill with a makeover. It’s new RedHawk assistant coach Brent Brekke. Brekke, who had spent the last several seasons with Cornell, replaces Blashill, who left Miami earlier in the summer to become the head coach/general manager of the USHL’s Indiana Ice. With Blashill now in the USHL, it could be surmised that more Ice alums could be wearing red and white during their college years. Regardless of where the recruits come from, Rico feels very good about his coaching staff- past and present.
“Blash did a great job for us and we wish him the best of luck,” Blasi said. “With Coach Brekke, I have used the saying “we just keep on running.” He is a well respected person and coach around the country and an excellent recruiter. We feel very fortunate to have him on the staff.”
Miami vs. North Dakota…regular season? Yes.
We’ve all either heard the comments, or made the comments about the out of conference schedule as of late. Once again this season, Miami will face RPI, and Vermont in weekend series’ and will see Clarkson in the Ohio Hockey Classic. Blasi has his take on the OOC schedule and to those who want to play bigger and better schools? Relax. It’s coming.
“Some of these teams will not travel to play and it’s very difficult to schedule with all the different leagues and very few open dates,” Blasi said. “With that said, Vermont is a top-20 program and Clarkson is a top-10 program. RPI is an extremely tough opponent and well coached. Then you add the cluster we are in with Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State and we may have one of the toughest schedules in the country. For our fans who say we should be playing the bigger schools, it’s coming. Have a little faith. We have North Dakota, University of New Hampshire, and St. Cloud State on the schedule in the next few years.”
Other Notes of Interest
-Rico feels very good about the power play over the past 5 years. He feels that it’s more important to score timely goals, while on the PP and for the most part they have done that.
-Expect a “competition” if you will, for the number one goaltender job. Rico also says that we will probably see both Reichard and Knapp early on in the season, much like he did with Effinger and Zatkoff in the past.
The Blog of Brotherhood - RedHawks Hockey 