Category Archives: NCHC

>Game #33 – Miami v. Nebraska-Omaha

Feb 20

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Justin Vaive and the RedHawks have been punishing teams of late

Oxford, Ohio (Feb. 19) – Junior forward Justin Vaive scored his fourth goal of the season and senior Jarod Palmer, the CCHA’s reigning offensive player of the week, continued his hot streak by registering three points as #1 Miami defeated Nebraska-Omaha 6-2 at Steve Cady Arena.

After a shaky first period that saw Miami trade chances with the Mavericks, the RedHawk defense took over the game. Led by sophomores Will Weber and Cameron Schilling, Miami limited UNO to just 10 shots during the final two periods of the game after surrendering an uncharacteristic 11 in the first period. In fact, Miami allowed two first period goals which broke a streak of 13 unanswered first period goals by the RedHawks who had not allowed a goal in the first period of a game since a 1-1 tie at Alaska on January 22.

Dean Blais professes “race horse hockey.” And, he had his Mavericks running in the first period. But, Miami made the necessary adjustments and got back to locking down the neutral zone, and frankly, kept UNO out of the Miami zone for much of the second and third periods. The ice definitely seemed tilted after that first period that saw Cody Reichard allow an uncharacteristic goal when UNO sophomore forward Alex Hudson fired a wrister past Reichard on a 1-on-1 rush and Hudson also had the second Maverick goal on a 5×3 power play. After the game, Blais seemed to sum up the night’s effort succinctly.

“The better team won,” said UNO coach Dean Blais. “We just got outplayed, and we got what we deserved.” Omaha.com

More to the point, Blais felt his squad ran out of juice as Miami squeezed the Mavs during the last two periods.

“I didn’t think we battled as hard as we have been — it was almost like we ran out of emotion,” Blais said. Omaha.com

For the game, Miami outshot the Mavericks 45-21 as the RedHawks once again got balanced scoring as six Hawks scored goals. Jarod Palmer led the effort with a line of 1-2-3 for the night and now has an eight game scoring streak and leads the team with 15-23-38. The 38 points are a career best for the senior from Fridley, Minn.

With the win, Miami improves to 23-4-6 overall and 20-1-4-2 CCHA. They extended their CCHA unbeaten streak to 23 games and continue to play inspired hockey despite having clinched the regular season title last weekend.

Head coach Enrico Blasi agreed.

“This team is focused on just one day at a time,” Blasi said. “You go out there and play hard and you leave it all on the ice. It’s going to be really hard if you take some weeks off and try to turn it on again. You gotta keep the pressure on and keep working hard and they’re doing that.” MURedHawks.com

Tonight, Miami will attempt to sweep the Mavericks and continue trending toward a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Faceoff is 7:05 from Steve Cady Arena and the game can be seen across the great state of Ohio on ONN.

Posted in CCHA, College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks, UNO Mavericks

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>Game #28 – Miami v. Western Michigan

Jan 31

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#1 RedHawks sweep Western Michigan, extend conference lead to 10 points

Oxford, Ohio (Jan. 30) – The #1 Miami RedHawks finished off a weekend sweep of Western Michigan by defeating the Broncos 2-1 at Steve Cady Arena Saturday night. Bronco senior netminder Riley Gill nearly stole at least a point by stopping 47 Miami shots but a late powerplay goal from junior Andy Miele with just over four minutes remaining in the third period enabled Miami to emerge unscathed.

Sophomore Connor Knapp was relatively untested as the RedHawk defense corps once again bottled up the opposition. Knapp made just 15 saves in registering his fifth win of the season lowering his goals-against average to 1.86.

Miami improves to 18-4-6 overall and 15-4-4-2 CCHA opening a 10-point lead over second place Michigan State in the league standings. In addition, with Robert Morris’ win over Bemidji State, Miami has regained the top spot in the Pairwise rankings to themselves but Denver is closing fast in the nice to look at, but essentially meaningless, KRACH computer rankings with their weekend sweep of North Dakota.

In attempting to predict when Miami could possibly seal the CCHA regular season title, the math is a bit “fuzzy,” but here’s what we know.

Miami cannot technically clinch until at least the Bowling Green series on February 12-13 unless Ferris State is swept this weekend and Michigan State loses one. Here are the games remaining and the maximum possible league points for the current top four.

Miami – 8 games remaining – 75 max points (currently at 51 points)
Ferris State – 8 games remaining – 63 max points
Michigan State – 6 games remaining – 59 max points
Alaska – 6 games remaining – 59 max points

To get to 63 points, and close out everyone else, Miami needs four wins (remember, CCHA regulation wins are worth three points). But, the number assumes that Ferris and MSU win every night. If Miami sweeps Lake Superior State this weekend, Ferris is swept by Northern Michigan and MSU splits, Miami would clinch the regular season title this weekend at Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.

Miami is back in action this Friday and Saturday, February 5-6 vs. Lake Superior State in Oxford.

Posted in College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks, Western Michigan

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>Game #27 – Miami v. Western Michigan

Jan 30

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#1 Miami held serve at home Friday night with the RedHawks knocking off CCHA basement dweller, Western Michigan 4-1. Four different Hawks scored goals for Miami while Cody Reichard delivered another outstanding performance in net making 18 saves as Miami dominated the shots on goal category outshooting Western 43-19. Miami retains its 7 point lead in the CCHA standings as Michigan State defeated Michigan 3-2.

Defensemen Cameron Schilling and Chris Wideman staked the Hawks to a 2-0 lead before Western’s Luke Witkowski would capitalize on a powerplay to pull the Broncos to within one early in the second period. However, Miami would receive goals from Reilly Smith and Carter Camper to ice the game.

Miami and Western Michigan return to the ice at 5pm this evening. The game will be televised on FSN Detroit as part of it’s doubleheader coverage of “Hockey Day in Michigan.” Miami head coach Enrico Blasi and the RedHawk program were followed yesterday by an FSN camera crew and they will be featured on “CCHA All-Access” on FSN Detroit immediately following the game. The late game will feature Michigan State and Michigan from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich.

Posted in CCHA, College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks, Western Michigan

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>Game #26 – Miami v. Alaska

Jan 24

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Knapp earns third shutout of the season as Miami blanks Alaska 5-0


Fairbanks, Alaska (Jan. 23) – #2 Miami earned five points on their longest road trip of the year defeating the Alaska Nanooks 5-0 in Fairbanks, Alaska last night. Sophomore Connor Knapp stopped all 19 shots in registering his third shutout of the season. It was Knapp’s first game action since a 2-1 loss to Robert Morris on January 10 where he made just 13 saves. His goals-against average is now a sparkling 1.95 with a 91.8 save percentage as he improved his record to 4-2-3 on the year.

This weekend saw the reunion of last year’s top line of juniors Carter Camper and Tommy Wingels and sophomore Alden Hirschfeld that was so good throughout the NCAA tournament. And, they didn’t disappoint managing five points between them for the weekend. It was also nice to see Hirschfeld pick up his game as he seemed much more involved and active than I can remember seeing over the past several weeks. In addition, Trent Vogelhuber seems to have picked up some of that energy as he was also much more visible, working much harder than I have seem him. It’s good to have those two sophomores helping contribute to take some of the scoring pressure off senior Jarod Palmer and the juniors (e.g., Camper, Pat Cannone, Andy Miele, Wingels, etc.).

The RedHawks jumped to an early 1-0 lead at 6:42 of the opening period when freshman Reilly Smith redirected a Tommy Wingels shot past Nanook goaltender Scott Greenham. The goal was scored 6×5 during a delayed penalty as Miami was able to control the puck in the offensive zone and find a quality chance. Miami would tally just six minutes later when sophomore Matt Tomassoni found the net off a chance on the right side. Tomassoni took a pass from senior Brandon Smith and wristed a high, hard shot that appeared to hit Greenham’s right shoulder and bounce up and over the sophomore. The RedHawks would complete their highest scoring first period of the season when Palmer scored off a feed from Andy Miele that chased Greenham from the net at 14:50 of the first period.

Steve Thompson would enter the game and keep the Nanooks in it, but Miami would finish off the evening on third-period goals from Wingels and Brandon Smith to secure a five-point weekend and an enjoyable flight back to Ohio for the Red and White.

Head coach Enrico Blasi succinctly summarized his thoughts on the 5-0 victory.

“It was a good effort by all of our guys tonight,” Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. “Connor played well (in) net and we came in with a determined effort. It was nice to get the win.” muredhawks.com

Notes

  • Knapp’s shutout was the third of the season and his fifth in just 33 career games. He has already surpassed last year’s two shutouts which was his first season at Miami.
  • Wingels’ goal was his team-leading 13th of the season. He is just two goals off his career high of 15 that came during his freshman campaign in Oxford.
  • Miami’s fourth line of Brandon Smith, Justin Vaive and Matt Tomassoni includes a fifth-year senior (Smith), the 6’6″ son of an NHL legend (Vaive) and a defenseman (Tomassoni). The line combined for 2-2-4 on the evening.
  • Miami (16-4-6, 13-1-4-2 1st CCHA) has opened a seven point lead over second place Michigan State with two games in-hand. The RedHawks ran their league unbeaten streak to 16 games.
  • Miami is once again atop the Pairwise and KRACH rankings and are positioning themselves for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament should their good play continue.
  • One of the key components of the Pairwise Rankings that effectively determine the 16-team NCAA Tournament, is record against Teams Under Consideration (TUC’s). The top 25 teams in the Pairwise are ranked and defined as “under consideration.” Miami has played 26 games this season with 18 of them coming against TUC’s. They are 12-2-4 in those games having played the 7th most difficult schedule in the nation and have achieved the 2nd best winning percentage in the country. However, only Miami’s series with Lake Superior State is against another TUC for the remainder of the regular season meaning it will help Miami’s Pairwise if the top teams they have already played, and beaten, such as Ferris State, Michigan, Notre Dame, New Hampshire and St. Cloud State continue to win.
  • Miami returns home for the next two weekends starting with a two-game series against the CCHA’s last place team, Western Michigan January 29-30 followed by what is shaping up to be a big series against fourth place Lake Superior State. The Lakers are having a surprisingly nice season and are in line for a first round bye in the CCHA playoffs.
  • After two weeks on the road, Miami will not leave the state of Ohio until at least the CCHA championship weekend in Detroit in late March.
  • Ohio State’s victory over Michigan State coupled with Miami’s win in Fairbanks enabled the RedHawks to open a seven-point spread over the second place Spartans in the CCHA. It’s roughly a 2 1/2 game lead since CCHA league wins are worth 3 points each.

Other Games of Interest
#8 Ferris State 3, Michigan 2 – Ferris earns the split in the second half of the home-and-home from Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

#3 Wisconsin 4, #1 Denver 3 – The Badgers take 3 of 4 points from the Pioneers in Madison opening the door for #2 Miami to return to the top of the polls this week.

#14 Bemidji State 5, #4 Minnesota-Duluth 4 – The Beavers of the CHA sweep the first place team in the WCHA. The sweep effectively silences the noise-makers from that western conference whom as we know, can do no wrong…for a few minutes at least.

Posted in Alaska Nanooks, Bemidji State, College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks, Ohio State Buckeyes, University of Denver, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Wisconsin Badgers

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>RedHawks Best Broncos in Kalamazoo

Nov 21

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>After a flat weekend of hockey in Oxford against Ferris State last week, Miami rebounded on Friday night with a solid 3-0 win against the Western Michigan Broncos. Junior Andy Miele scored two goals and captain Tommy Wingels added one. None of the goals were scored at even strength, however.

The clustermates resume the series tonight at Lawson Arena at 7:35pm. The game broadcast is available here.

Be sure to check out JacketsRequired (Twitter @jacketsrequired) for coverage of tonight’s game.

Random Thoughts:

– Defenseman Matt Tomassoni played on the fourth forward line last night with Justin Vaive on the left and Gary Steffes in the middle. This is an interesting decision and I’m not so sure of the reasoning behind it. A few theories: Perhaps Rico is content with the current group of d-men (Weber/Hartman, Wideman/LoVerde, Schilling/Spinell) that he’s “trying out” Tomassoni as a forward. Maybe Blasi feels that Tomassoni is a better option at forward than the scratches? Maybe injuries play into this decision? What say you?

– The penalty kill was superb, turning in two shorthanded goals, one by Wingels and the other by Miele. The last time the RedHawks netted two “shorties” was on December 15, 2007 against RPI.

– Miami now has a share of first place with Michigan State. Both teams have 20 points, but Miami leads due to the goal differential.

Go RedHawks!

Posted in Western Michigan

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>Destination: Washington…RedHawks Are In the Frozen Four

Mar 29

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“It’s the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen.”

The RedHawks are moving on to Washington, D.C. They’ve won the West Regional and will move on to the Frozen Four. It was Miami hockey at it’s finest, as they Red & White upended the streaking Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth, 2-1 on Saturday night. After a scoreless first period in which Miami only had one official shot on goal, Justin Mercier got things going in the second, to give Miami a 1-0 lead. It was a shorthanded tally, his 51st as a RedHawk and 13th of the season. Later in the second, Mercier struck again, potting his second of the night on the power play and giving the RedHawks a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish.

It appeared that Duluth had gotten on the board in the second, but the goal was overturned due to interference in front of the net. All night long, the Miami penalty kill was outstanding, holding UMD’s third-best power play to an 0-6 mark on the night. Miami, however, was 1-7 with the man advantage.

UMD goaltender Alex Stalock was pulled late in the game, in favor of the extra attacker. The Bulldogs would only score once in the waning minutes, with 2:05 remaining, although they had several chances in the Miami end as time wound down.

Not to be lost in all of this…the outstanding play of Miami goaltender Cody Reichard. He was very, very good tonight and kept his team in the game with some gigantic saves. Reichard was named the game’s second star. MReichard, Mercier, and defenseman Cameron Schilling were named to the West Regional All-Tournament team, with Mercier being named the Regional MVP with 3 goals in this weekend’s action.

The RedHawks now have some time to prepare for their next matchup, as they’ll meet the winner of Cornell/Bemidji State on April 9 in our Nation’s Capitol. They’re two wins away from a National Championship.

Congratulations to everyone involved that paved the way. The Brotherhood is truly something special.

Frozen Four ticket info from MURedHawks.com:

Tickets for the Frozen Four are available by calling the Miami Athletic Ticket Office at 1-866-MUHAWKS. In order to be eligible to purchase tickets to the Frozen Four fans must be an active member of the Red & White Club.

Frozen Four ticket orders will be processed under the following Red & White Club guidelines:

$2,500 and above = maximum of six (6) tickets per membership;
$1,000-$2,499 = maximum of four (4) tickets per membership;
$250-$999 = maximum of two (2) tickets per membership;

Seat locations will be filled based on active membership level of the Red & White Club. The Frozen Four ticket price is $177 for an all-session ticket (two semifinal games and the national championship game).

The Miami Athletic Ticket Office will be open on Sunday, March 29th from 2-3 p.m. to process orders and answer questions about the Red & White Club.

Updated TV Schedule:

Miami PostGame Following Minn. Duluth Win

Stay tuned. More to come as updates follow.

Posted in University of Minnesota-Duluth

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>RedHawks 1, Adversity 0

Mar 27

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>They never trailed. The RedHawks defeated No. 1 seed Denver 4-2 on Friday afternoon, punching their ticket to the quarter-finals of the NCAA Tournament. Miami jumped out to a quick lead in the first period, when senior Justin Mercier made a nice toe-drag and fired a wrist shot past Denver goaltender Marc Cheverie. It was the 50th of his Miami career. As time ticked down in the first period, the RedHawks struck again. This time, it was Alden Hirschfeld, netting his fourth goal of the season. The result? 2-0 Miami, end of the first period.

They never trailed.

The second period was much of the same. Uptempo, with the ‘Hawks seeming to take advantage of Denver’s defense and Olympic size ice surface and solid puck moving ability. They seemed to get behind the defense frequently on this day and their hard work paid off. Miami struck early again. Bill Loupee potted his second goal of the season, now giving the Red & White three goal lead. Denver finally found the scoreboard late in the second, when Joe Colborne deflected a shot past Miami goaltender Cody Reichard. It was a power-play tally that cut the Miami lead to two. Momentum was high on the Denver bench. They were…back in it, one could argue, but the momentum went the other way. A great effort by the hard working Andy Miele gave MU it’s fourth goal of the contest on a controversial play. Denver argued that the puck went out of play, hitting the netting above the glass behind the goal. Miele stuck with the play and buried the puck, despite the Pioneer protest. The goal stood after a short conference by the officiating crew, and the Miami lead was once again three goals. 4-1 Miami, end of the second period.

They never trailed.

Denver would score the only goal of the third period, when the returning Tyler Bozak scored another power play tally for the Pioneers. This was a curious decision by Denver bench boss George Gwozdecky, as he pulled goaltender Cheverie in favor of the extra attacker with around six minutes left in regulation. It was a 5 on 4 Denver advantage, with Miami’s Vincent LoVerde and DU’s Brandon Vossberg serving co-incidental minors. The move paid off and Denver once again only trailed by two. That’s the way it would end after some big saves late by Reichard, Miami found itself advaning in the NCAA tournament to take on the winner of the nightcap game- Minnesota-Duluth vs. Princeton.

They never trailed.

This game was Miami hockey. This looked like the team that we saw in the first half of the season, which is a very good sign. One issue of concern, was the powerplay. 0 for 5. Have to capitalize on man-advantage chances, but with the offense running like a well-oiled machine and the defense carrying it’s share of the load, things worked out for the better. Gwozdecky said after the game that coaching against Rico was “a little bit like coaching against your son.” I’m sure that even in defeat, Rico made “dad” proud. What a classy guy George Gwozdecky is. He is still revered by many in the Miami community and will forever be.

This program has been here before…the regional finals. Never, in the soon to be storied history of Miami hockey has the team been past this stage. Teams with guys named Jones, Martinez, and Zatkoff didn’t make it past the quarter finals. This young Miami team, with no true nationally recognized “superstars” has a chance to do something great. Once again, we are one win away from the Frozen Four. Is this the year the chips get cashed in? We’ll know in 24 hours from now.

Looking ahead to tomorrow night, the RedHawks have a very tough test, once again. They’ll face a very good, very solid, University of Minnesota-Duluth squad. These guys are unreal. They’ve won five games in a row, after scoring twice in the last minute of regulation (including the game tying goal with 0.8 seconds left) and then netting the OT winner to defeat Princeton on Friday night. In my opinion, this is the hottest team in the country right now. They bring the third best power play in Division I hockey and a very good netminder, in Alex Stalock to the contest. These two teams are very similar…both play a very fast paced game, have a share of small forwards, and move the puck very well. It is, however, a home game for the Bulldogs. Not literally, of course, but the distance from Duluth to Minneapolis…2 hours, 20 minutes. Oxford to Minneapolis? 11 hours, 16 minutes.

Yikes.

If Miami plays “Miami hockey” (see: 3/27 vs. Denver), things will take care of themselves and the RedHawks will be D.C. bound. Expect a tough contest, folks. We’re one win away. One.

Go RedHawks. The puck drops at 9:00pm ET on ESPNU.

Post game comments: Justin Mercier/Tommy Wingels, Coach Enrico Blasi and DU Head Coach George Gwozdecky

Posted in University of Denver

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>The Pipeline Continues…

Nov 16

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>The following post is brought to you by Jeff Blashill and the Indiana Ice. For all of your recruiting needs, visit Jeff and the friendly folks over on E. 38th Street, in Indianapolis.

Yes, Miami has landed another commitment from Indiana of the USHL; his name…Shane Berschbach. A native of Clawson, Michigan, Berschbach stands 5’8 and weighs in at 135 pounds (Nathan Gerbe would be proud).

This makes the third player from Indiana to commit to Miami. Max Cook and Joe Hartman will be heading to Oxford in 2009.

No word on when Shane will be joining the RedHawks.

Posted in Commitments, Shane Berschbach

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