Author Archives: miamibeef04
Winter Break in Review; Weekend Preview against MSU
Get over your New Year’s hangovers, ladies and gentlemen. IT’S HOCKEY TIME AGAIN!!!!
While the Redskin Warriors were busy feasting on some football bowl games, delicious Christmas dinners, and partying way to hard on New Years, but we’re back in the groove now, and ready to rock the second half of the RedHawks’ season.
Austin Czarnik plays in the U-18 WJC in Canada
Austin Czarnik was named Team USA’s Best Three Players of the World Junior Championship in Canada. Czarnik had 3 points in the tournament opener (1-2–3) against Denmark, and was featured by the NHL Network and CBS College Sports’ Dave Starman in a special feature before the US’ loss to Finland last week. Sweden won the WJC in an overtime thriller over Russia last night if you didn’t catch the game, and the US was 3-3 in the tournament, but did not make the medal round. Have no fear – Czarnik will be back in red and white (minus the blue) Friday and Saturday in East Lansing.
Tommy Wingels was called back up to the San Jose Sharks, and Andy Miele made another appearance in Phoenix.
Wingels came from the Worcester Sharks on 1/5/12, and has a 13-8–21 line in 29 games this season. Tommy had 4 goals, 2 assists and a +6 rating during the week ending 12/18/11, and was named AHL Player of the Week for his efforts. Wingles likely takes the place of the Sharks injured Colin White, who is on IR. He has recoorded 10 shots, 1 assist and 4 penalty minutes in his previous 4 games with the NHL club this season. Tommy has since been sent back to Worcester. He played over 10 minutes against the Blue Jackets on 1/5/12, and registered just 1 shot.
Miele was called back up on December 27th. He has played 24 games with the Portland Pirates (AHL), and was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for November (4-9–13 points in 10 games in November) and earned a spot on the AHL Eastern Conference’s All-Star Team. In his previous stint with the big club, Miele played 5 games and collected 4 penalty minutes, but no points. If you’re in the Providence area, Andy faces off against the Providence Bruins and former classmate Carter Camper tonight as he returns to AHL action.
Kevyn Adams to be inducted to Miami Hall of Fame on February 11
Kevyn Adams, Miami’s 4th leading scorer all time with 172 points and a lenghty NHL career, will join the Miami Hall of Fame on February 11. Adams scored 69 goals, 103 assists and was a CCHA All-Rookie Team member, hit the 2nd Team All-CCHA squad in 94-95, and signed redhawk95’s #10 Miami jersey in a now-infamous visit to Oxford several years ago. Adams’ good looks are rivaled only by redhawk95, and for it, Kevyn bought the table a pitcher of beer.
That’s myself, some guy who was stealing our “Kevyn Adams beer” (Hi A.S.!!!), and redhawk95 from left to right.
Adams is also one of just 2 Miami Redskins/RedHawks to have his name enscribed on the Stanley Cup, having won the cup with the Carolina Hurricanes (now the Winnipeg Jets) in 2006. The induction will take place at the Miami Men’s Basketball game on February 11 at 3:30pm, and Adams is sure to head over to the Goggin for the 7:05 puck drop against Alabama-Huntsville.
WEEKEND PREVIEW: RedHawks travel to East Lansing for 2-game set against Michigan State
Michigan State (the “consensus No. 15 team in the country” per MSUSpartans.com) starts a 6 game homestand with this weekend’s series, and they come off of a runner up finish in the Great Lakes Invitational last weekend. MSU beat Michigan Tech in the semifinals of the 4-team tournament, and allowed a game-winner 3:22 into overtime against Michigan last Friday night in the championship game.
MSU is led by former CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos, and are currently tied for 6th in the topsy-turvy CCHA standings. Michgan State is 6-5-1 in the CCHA and 11-7-2 overall. The Spartans have at least 2 games in hand on each of the other 10 teams in the league though, and will look to climb up those standings quickly in 2012.
It’s been a long time off for the Hawks, as they have not played since losing to the second-ranked Ohio State University in overtime on December 10th. After the month off, it will be interesting to see how the Hawks fare as they start the second half, or if the Rico Swoon will be of the season-long variety this year. Miami finished the first half losing 3 of 4 games, and looks to make a turnaround in the second half after a disappointing start of the season.
Reilly Smith is still leading the way for the RedHawks, tallying 12 goals and 5 assists. Czarnik, who will be back from Canada in time for the game Friday night, has 7 goals and 9 assists and also leads the team with a +7 rating. Captain Alden Hirschfeld is the only other ‘Hawk in double digits with 5 goals and 9 assists. No other ‘Hawks were in action over the break with any international teams, so look for a slow start on Friday night and a better effort Saturday.
MSU will likely send out Drew Palmisano to keep the net clear of RedHawk shots in both contests. Last year, Palmisano led MSU to a 7-4 victory on Friday night in East Lansing. Miami’s head coach Enrico Blasi got medieval on the Hawks, only starting 20 skaters the next night, and the motivation worked, as Miami took a 4-0 victory Saturday night. Look for the Reichard/Knapp rotation again for Miami, as both goalies are healthy (as are all skaters, INCLUDING Cody Murphy, who starts Friday night!).
Fearless Predictions
MSU got a jump on the break and will rock us tonight, but we’ll come back strong Saturday night.
MSU 4-1 Friday, Miami 4-2 Saturday.
Enjoy the games, and Go RedHawks!
Steven Spinell garners first Player of the Week award
Congratulations to Miami Junior Steven Spinell for earning the CCHA Gladiator Defenseman of the Week for his performances against Ohio State this past weekend. This is his first career weekly or monthly award from the CCHA, and the second time the ‘Hawks have taken home the Defensive POTW, as Chris Wideman won the same award November 21st.
As Redhawk95 mentioned on Friday night, Spinell was propelled by his +4 rating on Friday, and he also assisted on Bryon Paulazzo’s game winning goal in the 5-3 victory in Columbus. He was on the ice for 4 of the 5 Miami goals including Matt Tomassoni’s shorthanded goal, and also blocked 3 shots on the night. In Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the same OSU squad, Steven had 3 shots and blocked another 2 for a total of 5 on the weekend. Spinell also spearheads Miami’s second Penalty Kill line, and for the weekend the ‘Hawks were 10 for 11 on the penalty kill.
On the season, Spinell has played in all 20 games (only 1 of 4 Hawks that can say that), he leads the team with 29 total blocked shots, and has 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 total points. Spinell is turning into another excellent blue-liner, and appears headed towards a captaincy in the 2012-13 season if things fall right for Head Coach Enrico Blasi next year.
Video Issues Tonight on Miami All-Access? You’re Not Alone
As confirmed by “The Voice of the RedHawks” Steve Baker in tonight’s Miami Hawk Talk game thread, the All Access Video feed was haunted by some ongoing issues in Oxford this evening. Around campus, the university has been dealing with “upload bandwith problems” and this was causing issues uploading tonight’s video feed for the Hockey game. All throughout the game, the feed was choppy and had the impression of buffering.
According to The Voice of the RedHawks, he “believed the university may have some bandwith issues, as [he] had the same problem at Millett today” (for the Men’s and Women’s Basketball games held this afternoon). Upload speeds were cut in half for the day.
By the end of the game, the video feed was approximately 18 minutes behind. The feed showed Ohio State scoring their 2nd goal of the evening late in the third period just seconds before they were actually scoring the game winner in overtime.
We thank Steve Baker for all that he does for the university and Miami Athletics, and especially for diligently working through the entire officiating debacle game to try to get our video feeds up and working.
RedHawks Take a Step Back, Tie BGSU
After last weekend and coming immediately off of a night where the RedHawks looked like they belong as the #7 team in the country and a pre-season #1 team, they took a rather large leap backwards tonight in a 4-4 tie with CCHA foe Bowling Green State University. After last night’s 4-0 picking apart of the Falcons, Miami gave up 4 1-goal leads on the night, and earned just a point in the CCHA standings. In the shootout, Miami failed to convert any of their 3 shots, and BGSU walked away with 2 points and the shootout victory. Although the ‘Hawks did extend their unbeaten streak to 6, I feel like I’m kissing my sister in saying that, as this could have been another 3 points and a victory for The Brotherhood over a weaker BG squad.
Starting off the scoring was the RedHawks leading scorer Reilly Smith, from freshman Austin Czarnik. Miami had come off of a penalty kill just seconds before the goal after having a great penalty kill to start off the evening. After BG’s Mike Fink scored to tie it up the first time, Czarnik quickly took matters into his own hands and scored his 4th of the season on a beautiful pass from Chris Wideman.
Miami’s Bryon Paulazzo headed to the penalty box just 3 minutes into the second period, and BG capitalized on the power play to make it 2-2 with a goal from Dan DeSalvo. To take their third lead of the night, Captain Alden Hirschfeld slammed home a Chris Wideman rebound to take a 3-2 lead. However with 1:45 left in the second, Bryce Williamson made a nifty move, and Miami had blown 3 leads in just 2 periods. Much of the second half of the second period was disjointed, ugly hockey from Rico Blasi’s squad, and you could sense BG starting to build some confidence by limiting the Miami attack.
Miami seemed to have turned that dial to mute in the third period, playing typical Miami hockey and keeping the puck in their end for much of the third period. Tyler Biggs had scored just 1:49 into the final period, and all the boys needed to do was protect the puck. Miami seemed to have the win wrapped up with 2 BGSU penalties in the last 5 minutes but with 1:12 to play, Ryan Carpenter slid a softie through Cody Reichard’s legs and Miami’s 4th lead of the evening went with it, and free hockey and another shootout were all that remained.
Miami again dominated in overtime, but could not find the back of the net. Finally, in a stark contrast from last weekend’s shootout, there were no fireworks, as Miami couldn’t convert on any of their 3 shootout chances by Czarnik, Smith and Paulazzo. On BG’s second attempt, Williamson got the puck past Reichard for the eventual game winner.
Last night I speculated that tonight would be a perfect time to get Connor Knapp back into the rotation, but Blasi stuck with the hot hand in Cody Reichard. With injury notes hard to come by from the Miami Hockey staff, we can only perpetuate the rumors that Cody is still playing because of the outstanding play of late. Connor Knapp did dress for each of the last 4 games, but did not see any time in net, lending me to believe that he is healthy, but riding the bench for the time being until Reichard cools off. And speaking of going cold, tonight may have been the night. Reichard only made 12 saves on 16 shots. The 4th goal was a squeaker right through the 5-hole on what should have been a routine save.
Up next for the RedHawks is a road trip to Denver to face the Providence Friars and Denver Pioneers. Miami and Providence play in the first game of the Denver Cup on Friday at 6:37 Eastern time. Saturday, Miami faces Cradle of Coaches member George Gwozdecky and the Denver in the evening matchup, starting at approximately 9:07 PM Eastern.
Game Notes:
– Czarnik, Hirschfeld and Smith each had 1 goal and 1 assist on the night
– The CCHA referee committee and commissioner mush have read our column from last night as it seemed that John Philo and Kevin Langseth were back to their usual penalty-calling ways. Miami was called for a more Blasi-esque 7 minor penalties, and BGSU was whistled for 8 infractions. Miami was just 4 for 6 killing penalties and 1 for 7 on the power play, continuing a somewhat slow start to the season on special teams.
– Alex Wideman was still nowhere to be found on the Miami bench. After a promising start to the season, Alex has not played for several games and has us wondering why he has been in a suit for these latest games rather than the red and white.
– Austin Czarnik is Miami’s main faceoff specialist, even as a freshman. He took 25 out of 60 faceoffs on the night, winning 13 of them. With 4.1 seconds left in the third period and Miami needing a faceoff win to send one final shot on net, Czarnik was the man on the faceoff dot for Miami.
Hawks take down BGSU 4-0
The Alumni Weekend welcome wasn’t too kind for former Miamians and current BGSU head coach Chris Bergeron and assistant coach Barry Schutte. Miami Freshman Blake Coleman scored twice, and Cody Reichard handily stopped everything thrown at him tonight in Oxford, as your Miami RedHawks put together a complete game in taking down the Bowling Green Falcons 4-0. After a 5-game winless streak, the ‘Hawks are now streaking in the right direction, running it to a 5 game unbeaten streak.
Coleman started the scoring early, burying a pass from Trent Vogelhuber (who had 2 assists of his own on the night) at 15:26 of the first period. Blake seemed to have “the look” tonight, as he had several scoring chances throughout the game, and tallied a team-high 4 shots. Blake looks to be jealous of his fellow freshmen forwards Tyler Biggs and Austin Czarnik – the last to CCHA Rookies of the week, and is taking care of business when he is on the ice.
Tonight’s game was a continuation of the Hawks weekend against Michigan last weekend. There was a plethora of blocked shots, great goaltending, and timely offense – 30 total shots and of course the 4 goals (all even strength), which tied a season high for this young Miami squad. It seems the 3,700-mile trip to Alaska was more than just another away series for the Hawks. Since the trip, the team is playing more complete hockey, and the upperclassmen and underclassmen are really coming together as a team. It seems the trip was well worth it, if not only for the 6 points they took from the Nanooks.
In the second period, Garrett Kennedy showed that he was another of the RedHawks wanting to get in on the fun. Garrett was seen pinching down from the point several times, was taking excellent shots, and looks more and more like a top tier defenseman every time he’s on the ice. Steven Spinell flipped a wrister into the crease area later in the second period, and it was deflected perfectly by Curtis McKenzie to put the Hawks up 3-0. Coleman’s second on the night finished the scoring at 14:33 left in the game, as Trent Vogelhuber threw another in on net
There with Kennedy and Spinnell were the always staunch defensive pairings featuring Cameron Schilling, Will Weber and Chris Wideman, and Senior netminder Cody Reichard. Cody feasted on all 23 shots that the Falcons threw at him, rarely letting up a good scoring chance, and limiting any rushes BG had by swallowing up any rebounds he let loose. Cody has regained the form we’ve come to expect over the last 3 years, and has been fantastic in net since Connor Knapp got sick during the Alaska trip. This was the first shutout for Miami since Reichard blanked Michigan on February 5th, 2011 in Oxford, and leaves him 1 shutout away from the Miami career record of 12, held by David Burleigh.
Another CCHA win puts the ‘Hawks in a tie for 5th in the CCHA with a 4-4-1-1 record, and brings their record to .500 at 6-6-1 overall. Catch the RedHawks in Ohio on the Ohio News Network (ONN) again on Saturday night as they take on the same Bowling Green State Falcons at 7:05 PM from Steve Cady Arena.
Some additional notes on the evening:
- It will be interesting to watch how Blasi plays the rotation going forward with Reichard’s success, having now led Miami in net for each of the last 5 games. Tomorrow presents another opportunity for Miami, and the young BGSU squad may be just the break that Reichard needs, and may also be just the right team to break in Knapps pads after his illness.
- While the Hawks only took 4 penalties for 8 minutes, some inexperience still showed by the Freshmen. Biggs was caught in a scuffle with the Hawks up 3-0 in the third and ended up throwing one last punch to a Falcon’s face, immediately in front of Referee John Philo. The 4 penalty kills stretch Miami’s streak of perfection to 26 penalty kills in a row.
- Curtis McKenzie is bringing the pain. Tonight reminded me of nights past when the likes of Kevin Roeder and big Joe Cooper roamed the new and old Goggin Ice Arenas. Throw in his assist on Kennedy’s goal and then his own twine-tingler in the second period, and you begin to see the all around player that Coach Blasi intended on bringing to Oxford. McKenzie now has 3 goals on the season
- We’re probably going to need an explanation from radio announcer Greg Waddell after Coleman’s second goal. Waddell quipped “Fruity Pebbles for one and all!” just after Blake slammed it home. Perhaps there’s an inside joke there that we aren’t privy to?
- While Miami tallied 30 shots, they also had 23 shots blocked on the night. While this could be seen as a concerning stat, I see it as a promising one, as it means Miami is getting back to playing Rico Blasi, put-the-puck-on-the-net, down and dirty hockey. Along with 53 shots on or around the net comes a few dirty goals, including Coleman’s second which was of that variety.
- A note on the CCHA referees. Perhaps I’m just taking a small sample size, but it seems to me that they are being more lenient than in years past? Perhaps they are just calling less penalties, or really need to improve their medial coverage on eye exams, but tonight’s game had only six penalties. In addition to the lack of arm-raising being done, it seems the leagues head pairing (Brian Aaron and Wilkins) has a thing for calling off big goals. In tonight’s matchup in South Bend, Boston College had a goal waved off with 2 seconds remaining in the second period. This followed their weekend in Oxford, where the same pairing took 2 apparent goals away from Miami on Saturday night’s tie and shootout win for Miami.
The Power Play: 2 (more) Minutes with Scott Hicks
Welcome back to the Power Play, RedHawks fans. We sat down with Scott Hicks a while back and we just had to give him a 4 minute major penalty so he could blab on and on and on introduce us to the RedHawks Women’s Club Hockey Team.
The RedHawks had a rough weekend against Michigan State last week. Friday was quite the struggle, as MSU jumped to a 3-0 lead after just 7 minutes of play. The ‘Hawks were able to slow things down and bring it back to 4-4 halfway through the third, but ended up falling 6-4. Saturday’s contest wasn’t as close, as the ladies were overpowered 4-1 by the defending National Champions.
This weekend provides a great opportunity to catch the Ladies in action as they take on Western Michigan at 9:30 on Friday night and 12:30 on Saturday. If you’re in Oxford for the men’s games, be sure to stick around on Friday night for the Women’s game and catch the second game before you leave for the weekend!
Here’s the second part of our interview with Coach Hicks. If you haven’t read the first half of the interview, click here.
Redskin Warriors (RW): Many of us missed your first couple of series in Oxford against Grand Valley State and Michigan State. What does the rest of the schedule hold? And what can we expect from the Lady RedHawks this season?
Scott Hicks (SH): The rest of the year posses a lot of challenges for our program. Mainly by joining the CCWHA we have increased our competition level. Every week will be a challenge but I see us moving forward and competing every week just like we had this past weekend. We have a few home series left including November 11-12th against Western Michigan and December 2-3 against Northern Michigan. Another highlight is a visit at the end of January from the University of Wisconsin.
I would expect to see exciting hockey from our program this year. We are young and as these freshmen and sophomores get more used to playing the college game they will get more comfortable and we will see increased production. With that, it will open up more chances for our two captains, Jess Wood and Channing Ahbe, who we count on tremendously. Our goals this year are to finish in the top half of the conference and give ourselves a chance to be in the national tournament hunt.
RW: How would you compare the team to the men’s product? Do you have to coach them differently?
SH: You do have to coach women a little differently than Men. Women are tougher than Men, and it poses a challenge at times. I can say I truly have enjoyed coaching women. The response and dedication they provide is more than I have seen from some men’s programs.
RW: The old website for the club team stated you practiced only once a week last year. In your second year, are you practicing more? Do you have more games on the schedule?
SH: Our website is in the process of being refined (many updates are complete – check it out here), but we have increased our ice time. It has more than tripled this year. We practice twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays for an 75 minutes.
In addition, last year we played a 7 game schedule and this year it will be close to a 24 game schedule. We are now members of the Central Collegiate Womens Hockey Association (CCWHA). This will carry a 14 game conference schedule with schools like Michigan, Ohio St., Michigan St., Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, Grand Valley St., and Robert Morris-Chicago. This conference just helps add prestige to our program as it has been the top women’s club conference in the country for some time.
I would also encourage your readers to check out our league website www.ccwha.net as well as www.achahockey.org. The ACHA is the governing body for club hockey and it is a great organization which has nearly 800 total teams that compete under their name at the Men’s and Women’s level. You can see more of our results, schedule, and stats under the Women’s Division I label on the website.
RW: What are the plans for the future of the program? Will we be cheering on a Division I Women’s Ice Hockey team in Oxford soon?
SH: Our plans for the future right now are to really continue our focus of building the foundation we set this year. We want to become a viable national championship contender. We do want to get our name out more, not only on campus but nationwide. We want to continue getting quality girls into our program and keep improving on a daily basis. As for a Varsity program at Miami, I think it would be fantastic. However there are logistical issues with that, first of all being money. But I am hoping that our continued success and growth of our program continues to catch the eye of the school’s administration. Miami is clearly a hockey school and the benefit of a varsity program would be great but I think we are several years off from even that conversation even happening.
Scott,
The Redskin Warriors thank you for your time. You may now leave the penalty box and resume your season. We wish you and your ladies the best of luck and Go RedHawks!!
Friends, Fans and students,
Don’t forget, 9:30 after the men play Michigan on Friday (YOU’LL BE IN THE SAME BUILDING!!!), and again at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon.
If you’re in the Columbus area, the Alumni Chapter will be attending the Miami at OSU game on November 20th in Columbus. Email douglas cut 1 at gmail dot com if you would like to go (no spaces in that email address
Go ‘Hawks!!!
RedHawks get hard fought victory at Alaska
The RedHawks have made it back into the win column!
After the grueling 3,700 mile journey from Oxford to Fairbanks, the RedHawks get their first 3 points of the CCHA Regular Season with a 2-1 victory over the Fighting Polar Bears Nanooks. The win snaps a 5 game losing streak, and should be a nice confidence booster for The Brotherhood.
Miami got on the board first as Alden Hirschfeld lit the lamp, on assists from Brian Paulazzo and Tyler Biggs at 10:15 of the first period. Alaska tied it up at 9:33 of the second period as Steven Spinell lost control of the puck in front of his own net, allowing Alaska’s Colton Beck to put one home unassisted. Just a minute later though, Reilly Smith hammered in his 5th on the season from Curtis McKenzie and Austin Czarnik for the eventual game winner.
In a game where Miami had more penalty minutes (18) than shots (14), Rico’s squad should be happy with a victory, and we’ll look ahead to a chance at the long distance sweep tomorrow night!
Game time is 7:05 Alaska time on Saturday (That’s 11:05 Eastern for those of you not watching the end of the College Football “Game of the Century”). The game can be streamed for $8 at http://www.b2livetv.com, or get the Miami All-Access Pass to hear Greg Waddell provide the Miami audio coverage.
Go ‘Hawks!
Welcome to The Power Play: 2 minutes with Women’s Club Coach Scott Hicks
Welcome to the Power Play! Our first installment of our “interview-based” articles features Miami Women’s Club Hockey Head Coach Scott Hicks. The Lady RedHawks take on defending National Champion Michigan State this weekend at The Goggin, so we thought this would be a perfect time to introduce you to Coach Hicks and the Ladies’ Team!
I had asked Scott these questions on the eve of the team’s trip to Buffalo, NY for the Buffalo Blizzard Tournament. The RedHawks started out the tournament against Ohio State, falling 4-1 on October 21st. The next day, Miami took on host school Buffalo, as well as Colorado State, winning over Buffalo 3-1 and CSU 4-1 to take their spot in the Finals on Sunday. Having just lost to Ohio State, the RedHawks were very familiar with their opponent in the Championship game. The RedHawks came back strong and took home the trophy with a 3-1 victory. On a weekend where the RedHawks got their first ever win, they earn sweet, sweet redemption against Ohio State, and took a giant step forward as a program.
Here is the first part of our interview with Da Coach, and next week, we’ll have the second part. Thanks Coach, and Go RedHawks!!!
Redskin Warriors (RW): First of all, give us an update on how the team got started. Most casual fans didn’t even know that Miami even had a Women’s team. Where did you come from? Did the administration come to you to start a team? The other way around? Or did Miami students come to the table with the idea?
Scott Hicks (SH): Well, we got started sometime in 2009 by a trio of students: Natalie Dillion, Jess Wood, and Liz Wardlow. They were a little unorganized, but got a group of girls together. In the summer of 2010 Kevin Ackley and Dan Daikaiwa got involved and really helped them organize and get sanctioned with the university. They called me in August to gauge my interest in being involved and I came on board at that point. So it was a collaborative effort, but driven by the students more than anything, and I think all of us who came on board saw the value and need for a program like ours.
RW: Being a club hockey team, you probably don’t have a very large budget for recruiting. How do you recruit new players, and how are you growing the team?
SH: You’re right we don’t have a large recruiting budget, its virtually at a $0 balance. This is the biggest struggle we have, all recruiting is done on our own time and own dime. This season we were lucky, most of the girls we brought in contacted us with interest and we went from there. But moving forward we hope word of mouth gets out, as well as people close to the program and alumni passing along talented players. But we think our biggest recruiting tool will be our newly formed Women’s hockey camp. It was held for the first time ever this summer and we had 83 girls attend our camp which is part of the prestigious Miami Hockey Schools. (You can check out all info about the team by clicking here.)
We had such a huge interest in that camp that the director of the camp has decided to extend it to two weeks next year. So we are really going to count on this camp to bring girls onto campus and find talented players to come to Miami. We actually got our first commitment from someone who attended our camp over the summer so that is extremely encouraging for us.
RW: Tell us about the team. How many players do you have on the team? Where did the ladies come from? Be honest – were there any Synchronized Skating Team cast-offs?
SH: This year we have 16 girls on our roster. Our numbers aren’t where we would like them to be but we are a second year program and really trying to build from the ground up. It is taking time to get the girls we want here and that want to be here but I would expect our numbers to continue to grow over the next few years as we brought in 6 freshmen this coming year. Our girls actually come from all over the country. We only have 2 girls out of 16 from the state of Ohio. We brought in freshmen this year from Chicago, Phoenix and Connecticut, as well as the Cleveland area. All of these girls come from amateur hockey programs – we don’t have any figure skaters on our roster. Some come from prep school programs, public high school programs, as well as U-19 programs from across the country.
RW: What are the skill levels on the team? Have all of these women played competitive hockey? Are their skill levels similar, or is there a large spread from the top line on down?
SH: Skill level has increased tenfold from last year. We have girls who have D-I experience – having transferred in girls who played competitive Women’s hockey and some who played against boys growing up. Along with our skill level going up the gap from top to bottom has closed dramatically, which in turns makes us a much better program.
RW: We’ve seen a couple tweets from you and the team (@CoachMUwmhockey and @MiamiWHockey) about The Sisterhood. How is that catching on? Are the ladies embracing their version of The Brotherhood?
SH: All of the girls involved in our program are buying in and that is the biggest thing. I know we’re not necessarily trying to copy the men’s program but I for one respect coach Blasi and all he has done, and I think using a program like that as a template is a smart thing to do. Not only that, but it gives our girls an identity and something people can relate to. We really try to create a family atmosphere with our program and these girls have gotten really close in such a short period of time.
RW: Have you ever been kicked out of a game? Any YouTube videos of you bowing to the referees a la Rico Blasi that we need to search for?
SH: HAHA! To answer your question, no I have yet to be kicked out of a game. Although I am sure there are some officials in the area who would like to kick me out of a game, but I don’t have any YouTube moments as of yet.
Don’t forget, Coach Hicks has his shot at YouTube fame on Friday night as the RedHawks face off against defending national champions Michigan State at 9:15 PM and again Saturday at 12:15 PM. Both games will be played in Steve Cady Arena and admission is free. Go ‘Hawks!!!
To read the second part of our interview with Coach Hicks, please click here.
Smith, Miami take down Colgate 4-3
Light the Lantern!!!
After a long trip to Hamilton, NY early Thursday morning, the RedHawks have already made the trip worthwhile. Reilly Smith came off of his (now-apparent) 2 game suspension to start the year and put on a snipe show en route to a hat trick – the second of his career. Smith also had an assist on Austin Czarnik’s 2nd period goal, finished the night with 4 points, a +1 rating and scored on 3 of his 4 shots on the night.
A couple other notes to pass along from the evening:
–Austin Czarnik scored his first collegiate goal, assisted by Smith and Alden Hirschfeld. A big thank you goes out from the Redskin Warriors to the Michigan State Spartans for allowing Czarnik to de-committ from MSU and come to Miami this season.
–Miami continued its slow start on the shot chart tonight. Miami’s had 20 and 26 shots in two games against Bemidji State and just 15 shots tonight. Sure, that’s a great shot percentage on the evening, scoring on over 25% of the shots taken, but Rico Blasi’s offense is based on creating chances and hammering the opposing goalie with pucks. We will have to continue to monitor the shot count each night. Let’s not take the wrong impression, however, as the ‘Hawks came out on top in the one column that matters most.
Other “inside the box score” notes:
–Miami was 2 for 4 on the power play (Smith’s first and Czarnik’s goals), and 7 for 9 on the Penalty Kill.
–22 penalty minutes for the RedHawks – sounds about right for the physicality of the Miami attack.
–Cody Reichard got the win in net for the RedHawks, making 20 out of 23 saves on the night. Expect to see Connor Knapp in net Saturday night as is the usual from Coach Blasi.
Miami’s recap can be found here.
More stories to come.
Let’s break out the BROOMS tomorrow!
2011-12 Season Preview: Notre Dame
It seems like a “here we go again” type of season for Notre Dame in 2011-12, but with a few big events thrown in at the same time. The Fighting Irish look primed for a repeat of last year’s 2nd place CCHA regular season finish and NCAA Frozen Four trip with 5 Seniors coming back and 9 of their top 12 scorers also back. Let’s take a deeper look at the Irish.
First of all, this is what BIG TIME scheduling is all about. The Irish started with an exhibition, but just returned from a trip to visit the defending National Champions Minnesota-Duluth, where they lost the opener and came back from 2 goals down to win the second game of the series. Up next, they open CCHA play against Ohio State, but later host RPI, Boston College (11/18), Northeastern (12/2-3), Boston University (12/31), and also make a 1-game trip to play Minnesota (1/7/12). This is all BEFORE any CCHA matchups, in which they play Western Michigan (2 Home/Home series), host Michigan for 2, take the 3,500 mile journey to Alaska (who wants to drive it with me??) AND will have a late-season trip to Oxford to look forward to as well. Maybe Ohio State will learn something from this kind of scheduling? (yeah right)
In addition to this schedule, possibly one of the marquee events of the entire NCAA Hockey Season will be the opening of the Compton Family Ice Center. Saturday’s game against Ohio State will be the last hockey contest the Irish will play in the Joyce Center since moving in back in 1969. The Students are on Fall Break at Notre Dame this weekend, so tickets are available if you’re really itching to sit in an old, crusty cavern of a hockey “arena” and experience the last game that will be played there.
On the other side of this weekend is the opening of the Goggin on steroids “Comp”. “CIA”? “The compton”? Gonna need a nickname for the new palace in South Bend. ND opens the Compton Family Ice Arena with a game against RPI on the 21st – a one game series, likely due to the ND vs USC football game on Saturday night in South Bend. (I’m working the angles to get tickets for the opener, but our paychecks are limited here at Redskin Warriors.)
Taking a look at the on-ice product, the Irish return 9 of the top 12 scorers from last year (although those 3 departures are in the top 6 overall). Head Coach Jeff Jackson is in his 7th year in South Bend, and holds a 141-79-27 record for the Irish (324-132-52 overal with 2 National Championships for Lake Superior State), and Jackson will rely on 20-game winner Mike Johnson in net. Although Johnson came through with 20 wins last year, Johnson posted less than stellar 2.62 goals against average and a .904 save percentage on the season – numbers he will have to improve on this year if the Irish want to make it back to the Frozen Four.
Returning on the ice for the Irish are 2010-11 CCHA Rookie of the Year T.J. Tynan – a preseason All-CCHA unanimous pick along with Miami’s Reilly Smith. Tynan is joined by fellow 2010-11 1st team all CCHA selection Anders Lee (Alternate Captain) in ND’s stellar Sophomore Class. Seniors Sean Lorenz (Captain – D) and Billy Mayday (Alternate Captain – F) also return to lead this team into what would be the second consecutive and 3rd overall Frozen Four for the Irish under Jeff Jackson.
Predicted Finish
Anything less than 3rd place is a hugely disappointing season for the Irish. Look for the Irish to show up in Tampa for the Frozen Four if their goaltending keeps improving as well.
Floor: 3rd
Ceiling: 1st
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