There are several former RedHawks in the playoffs at the various stages of professional hockey. Here now is an updated look at their performance thus far.

NHL

– The San Jose Sharks defeated the LA Kings in overtime on Monday night to win the best of 7 series 4-2. Miami fans had a keen interest in this game, as both Alec Martinez (LA) and Dan Boyle (SJ) were looking to advance to the next round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 6 games of the series, Martinez had 0-1-1 (an assist in Game 6) and drew 2 penalty minutes. Boyle, also in 6 games, registered 0-3-3 and 4 penalty minutes. The Sharks are awaiting the conclusion of the Vancouver/Chicago series to find out who they’ll play next.

AHL

– Jarod Palmer and his Houston Aeros are in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs after sweeping the Peoria Rivermen in round one. Palmer played all four games and notched one goal and one assist. Game one of the second round series against Milwaukee is on Friday night.

– Things didn’t go well for former Miami netminder Jeff Zatkoff, as the Manchester Monarchs couldn’t make it past the first round, losing to the Binghampton Senators in seven games. Zatkoff finished the 2011 playoffs with a 1-3 record and a 3.80 GAA. Pat Cannone was not with the Senators for the first round series.

– Justin Mercier and the Lake Erie Monsters fell to the Manitoba Moose in 7 games of the opening round of the quest for the Calder Cup. Mercier played well, adding two clutch goals in 64 seconds in game 4 of the series and finishing with 3 goals, 2 assists, for a total of 5 points. The Monsters couldn’t cash in on a 3-1 series lead.

CHL

– In the CHL, the Allen Americans and former RedHawks Nino Musitelli and _ are moving right along en route to a championship celebration. In 8 games, Musitelli has 2-4-6; the Berry Conference Finals are set to begin Friday night. Allen will take on the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, with the winner earning a trip to play for the President’s Cup against either Rapid City or Colorado. Musitelli has played VERY well in two seasons with Allen. One has to wonder if a step up is in line next season.

>Welcome back to “The Brotherhood!” You’ll notice a few changes, including the overall look and feel of the webpage. It’s still a work in progress, so everything isn’t up to par just yet. This new look offers a much cleaner feel and is easier to navigate.

In the meantime, if anyone is good with Photoshop, I would LOVE to have a new header image to go with the new blog design. If you’d like to make one, please incorporate several elements and images that represent what Miami Hockey is all about. Please also incorporate the name “The Brotherhood” into the image, which needs to be the same size as the current one. If you can help, please e-mail me your design. I’d be happy to use it.

Please provide feedback in the poll found on the right hand side and let me know what you like and don’t like. Thanks for your continued support and Go RedHawks!

>What. A. Game.

>
Miami seals third CCHA regular season title in school history with
3-2 win over Bowling Green

Bowling Green, Ohio (Feb. 12) – One of the most difficult weeks the Miami Brotherhood has ever endured ended with a silver lining as the RedHawks clinched the third CCHA regular season championship in school history by defeating the Bowling Green Falcons 3-2.

As you know by now, Miami student manager Brendan Burke died suddenly last Friday when his vehicle collided with an oncoming truck on a snowy road in rural Indiana. Burke’s story has been well-documented, and on Tuesday, the RedHawks attended his funeral in Massachusetts and have almost certainly been grieving since learning the unfortunate news after last Friday’s 2-0 win over Lake Superior.

To suggest the Miami hockey team has been through a tumultuous year on and off the ice would be an understatement. Between the high of earning their first Frozen Four appearance last March to losing a close friend last week, the team has been through the ringer. Consider:

• March 2009 – Miami defeats UMD 2-1 to win the NCAA West Regional and a berth in the Frozen Four
• April 2009 – BU defeats Miami 4-3 in overtime rallying from a two goal deficit with less than a minute to play to steal the national title from the RedHawks
• October 2009 – Miami is predicted to finish as high as third in the CCHA pre-season polls
• January 2010 – Miami drops its first two games after the holiday break to lowly Robert Morris to fall from the top spot in the polls for the first time since October
• February 2010 – Miami has been ranked number one in the polls for 15 of the season’s 17 weeks; Brendan Burke dies suddenly; Miami clinches the regular season title

With all that’s happened, this group of remarkable young men have managed to maintain their focus, poise and composure, and continue to play outstanding hockey. With tonight’s victory, Miami runs its school record league unbeaten streak to an amazing 21 games. They have lost just one conference game this season, in overtime, back on October 24 to Michigan State. The RedHawks are now 21-4-6 overall and 18-1-4-2 in CCHA play. Even more astounding is that Miami has yet one more game in-hand over second place MSU who is off this weekend. The RedHawks have an almost unbelievable 17 point spread over the Spartans and still have five games remaining before a first round bye in the CCHA tournament.

Ultimately, this Miami team will be remembered for a remarkable regular season. But, history will judge them by what they do in March, and hopefully, April. Will their amazing run continue? Or will they falter during the playoffs? With what they have accomplished during the season, there is absolutely no reason why the RedHawks shouldn’t win their first ever CCHA Tournament Championship and hoist the Mason Cup at Joe Louis Arena in just over a month. But, to do so, will require this team to dig deep once again and find the strength, courage and resiliency they’ve shown over the past year.

>Sad news late tonight from the Toronto Maple Leafs organization that Brendan Burke, son of Leafs’ General Manager Brian Burke, was killed in an auto accident earlier today. As most of you know, Brendan was a part of ‘The Brotherhood,” working with the Miami hockey program as a student manager. Burke gained notoriety earlier this year when ESPN’s John Buccigross wrote this article publicizing Brendan’s revelation that he- was gay. The article goes into detail about just how accepting the Program was of his situation and how “The Brotherhood” accepted him as one of their own.

>Just a few notes from this weekend’s first ever sweep of the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor:

– The Miami sweep is Michigan’s first at Yost Ice Arena since October 26 and 27, 2001 when the Northern Michigan Wildcats swept the Maize & Blue 1-0 (OT) and 5-3.

– I’d like to take credit for Pat Cannone’s first goal, thank you. Okay, just kidding. But in my recap of Friday night’s game, I questioned where Cannone had been all season long. He got the Miami scoring started on Saturday night and added an assist on Reilly Smith’s first goal.

– The RedHawks are 8-1-1 through the first ten games and own sole posession of first place in the CCHA with 15 points. With series’ upcoming against Ferris State in Oxford and Western Michigan in Kalamazoo still to come (and not to be overlooked), the matchup with North Dakota in Grand Forks over the American Thanksgiving holiday is building up to…be…huge. The Fighting Sioux host St. Cloud State next weekend and hit the road to battle Denver in Magness Arena the following week. A lot could happen between now and then, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

– Andy Miele and Jarod Palmer are tied for the team lead in points, both with 11. Curtis McKenzie leads all freshman with 8 points; Chris Wideman leads the blueliners with 5.

– Cody Reichard was OUTSTANDING this weekend. The sophomore netminder stopped 47 of 49 shots and now has a 7-0-1 record and a 1.58 GAA. Folks, here’s your number one goaltender. He also leads the CCHA in winning percentage, at .938%.

– Be sure to check out great game recaps from either RedHawkey or Jackets Required. Both sites do a great job of covering the RedHawks, so please, check it out!

>The scenario: Team A has the home ice advantage going into Friday night’s contest and a commanding lead in the series between the two schools. Team B, on the road in a hostile environment mind you, has only won three games in Team A’s building in the entire history of the universe. Team B had a total of 28 penalty minutes and Team A outshot Team B 28-13 at the game’s end and 14-2 in the second period. Who won the game?

I would have picked Team A, too.

But it was “Team B” that walked away with this one on Friday night as the #1 ranked Miami RedHawks defeated the Michigan Wolverines 3-1. The Miami win on Friday was only the fourth at Yost Ice Arena in the 28 year series history of the two schools, a series that MU now trails 69-21-3 all-time and 4-43-1 in Ann Arbor. Jarod Palmer started the scoring early on in the first period, knocking home a loose puck in a scramble near the Michigan goal crease, and giving Miami a huge first goal on the road at the 3:42 mark. Five minutes later, it was Palmer again, this time on the 4 x 3 power play. A beauty of a shot from the high slot eluded UM netminder Bryan Hogan and Miami now found itself with a 2-0 lead, thanks to Palmer.

In the second period, it was all Michigan. Thanks to the outstanding effort by Miami goaltender Cody Reichard, the Maize & Blue only found the net once in the second frame, despite outshooting and outplaying the visitors. Chris Brown tapped in the only Michigan goal of the evening, drawing assists from Carl Hagelin and the slow-starting Louie Caporusso to cut the lead to one goal, at 2-1. It was a power play tally.

In the final period, Miami delivered a lesson on how to close out a game (take note, Columbus Blue Jackets). Senior Brandon Smith, certainly not known for his scoring prowess, sealed the deal with a wrist shot through Hogan’s 5-hole and Miami had a two-goal lead at 3-1. Drawing the assist on the Smith goal…was Dane Hetland and that’s the way it would end, a Miami winner over Michigan, 3-1.

Notes:

– I think Cody Reichard has officially solidified himself as this team’s number one ‘tender. In seven games, Reichard is 6-0-1 with a 1.67 GAA and a .932 save-percentage. He played extremely large in last night’s win stopping 27 of 28 shots and even stopped his second penalty shot of the season. Especially with Connor Knapp missing his regularly scheduled start last week at Northern Michigan because of the flu, I think Cody is “the” guy at this point.

– Senior Gary Steffes and Sophomore Matt Tomassoni did not make the trip to Ann Arbor this weekend. Tomassoni is still presumably feeling under the weather and pure speculation leads me to believe that Steffes is going through the same.

– The RedHawks were outshot 28-13 on Friday night and still managed a two goal win, including being outshout in the second period 14-2.

– What about the play of Jarod Palmer this season? An undrafted free agent, Palmer will certainly earn himself a professional contract of some kind at the season’s end. His hard work and leadership qualities, just to name a few, would certainly be an asset to any team. He now leads the RedHawks scoring this season with ten points (5G, 5A).

– Anyone noticed Pat Cannone this season? The junior center has two goals and two assists in the nine game season so far and seems to be struggling a bit out of the gate. In the first 9 games of last season, he registered 12 points on 4 goals and 8 assists.

– Michigan State defeated Nebraska-Omaha on Friday night in a shootout. With the win, MSU (13 points) has a one-point lead on Miami in the CCHA standings.

– Dane Hetland was playing in his first college hockey game since October of 2007. How appropriate that he and Brandon Smith combined to add to the RedHawks’ total. Smith didn’t play his first game of his college career until his junior season, a drought similar to Hetland’s. After seeing action in 22 games during his freshman year in 2006-2007, Dane played the Canisus series the following season and not at all last year. The senior’s assist on Friday was his first point since Febuary 17, 2007 in a 5-3 win at Robert Morris. Hetland drew an assist on a Joe Cooper goal.

– The two teams are back at it tonight in the Wolverine State, with a 7:35pm drop at Yost. TV coverage will once again provided by ONN.

>As the RedHawks prepare for a tough weekend against the Michigan Wolverines, Miami radio voice Greg Waddell will be checking in throughout the season with a view of “Life on the Road.” Here’s the first edition, hot off the presses from the Great Lakes State:

Greetings from Ann Arbor as two of the premier teams in the CCHA…nay….the nation, hook up for a weekend series at the Yost as Miami plays the you of em. We had an uneventful trip up here that took right around 4 hours. Despite preparing for the games itself, one of the big questions when heading out on the bus, is what movies the guys will want to watch. Being a mid-40’s kind of a guy that I am, the generation gap is never more evident, than with the sense of humor of college-age guys. The first movie of choice was a Paul Rudd/Seann William Scott flick called Role Models. Not the best of choices I have seen over the years, but not bad either. It is one of the kinds of movies I would probably never see, unless riding the roads with the team. The second movie was an old stand-by, Meet The Fockers. The early trend this season of movies on the bus seems to be a newer comedy (and I use the term loosely), followed by a sure-thing. Usually the sure-thing movies are the choice of Coach. It’s like a make-up call after a bad penalty call by the ref’s. Rico is able to erase what is a bad movie memory, with a classic. Other examples this year following a bad movie with a good, Talladega Nights after a completely forgettable flick on the way to Northern Michigan last week, as well as Austin Powers Goldmember.

A couple of player notes, Dane Hetland made the trip and will be dressed and in the lineup for Friday’s game. It will be his first game-action since November 23, 2007 against Canisius. It’s great to see the hard work by the players who haven’t had a lot of recent playing time. And it’s great to see them rewarded too! Cody Reichard will get the start on Friday and freshman Steven Spinell will also be dressed. Gary Steffes and Matt Tomassoni did not make the trip.

The Yost has not been kind to most visiting teams over the years and the RedHawks/Skins are no different; to the tune of just 3 wins since the first-ever game played by Miami in 1981. But the team seems loose and ready for action this weekend. The last win here in AA came in October of 2006. And you might remember last season was a particularly painful weekend. The old-school barn had some structural issues which caused the series to be delayed by a day. That extra day did not help the Red & White as they lost 5-1 and 4-0. But a lot has happened since that series and Miami continues to show that they belong. This weekend will be a great test to see if they are up to the challenge! Go RedHawks!

From the 4 Points Sheraton…Waddell out!

>Well, at least the Halloween reference is out of the way. By now, most of you undoubtedly know that Miami took game one of the weekend series on Friday night at Northern Michigan, with a 4-3 win.

But what you may not know about, is the nightmare that this game could have turned into. The RedHawks had a 4-0 lead going into the third period, largely thanks to Justin Vaive’s first two goals of the season early on in the second period. Joe Hartman and Alden Hirschfeld also found the twine in the middle frame, marking the third time this season that Miami has scored four goals in one period and they outshout the ‘Cats 12-5.

But the third was quite a different story. The visitors seemingly took their collective foot off of the gas and the Wildcats came roaring back with three goals and outshot the RedHawks 12-4.

Game two from the Berry Events Center begins tonight at 7:35 PM. You can also listen to tonight’s action at this link and on 1450 WMOH-AM in the Hamilton/Oxford area.

Here is a link to the official website with a more comprehensive summary. Also, check out RedHawkey, an AWESOME Miami hockey blog for their thoughts on the weekend’s action.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween! Go RedHawks!

>Cleaning out my spam e-mails today, I found a response from Connor Knapp on his reaction to being drafted by the Buffalo Sabres this past summer. Sorry it’s old, but I thought I’d share it!

Connor Knapp:

“I just think it is a great honor to be selected by the Buffalo Sabres. It is a great organization with a great history. Buffalo is also only an hour from my home town so it would be amazing to be able to play there one day. It still seems unreal because this is something that I have dreamed about for a long time. Getting drafted to the NHL has been one of my life long goals. However, getting drafted is only the beginning of a process. It will only mean something if a player works hard and takes advantage of it. Getting drafted to Buffalo is just a step in the right direction to the NHL. The draft was also a testament to Miami University Hockey. I do not believe that I have ever matured and improved as much as I did last season at Miami. The coaches, staff, and players create a perfect atmosphere for self improvement and development, both on and off the ice. I am excited to have the opportunity to excel with a great college hockey program, and now also to have a chance with a great professional team. I am looking forward to my future seasons at Miami and with the Buffalo Sabres organization.”