CCHA 2011-12 Preseason Poll
The CCHA media and coaches have spoken, and we agree with them. Notre Dame is our unanimous pick to win the CCHA regular season title with Miami extending its run of never finishing outside the top 4 in the current playoff format (hear: earning a first round bye) in the runner up position. In fact, Miami is the only school to have never played a first round match-up under the current tournament format.
Here are the results of our 2011-12 CCHA Poll (last season’s finish in parenthesis).
1. Notre Dame (2)
2. Miami (3) – Defending Mason Cup (tournament) Champions
3. Michigan (1)
4. Western Michigan (4)
5. Alaska (7)
6. Michigan State (10)
7. Ferris State (5)
8. Lake Superior (8)
9. Ohio State (9)
10. Northern Michigan (6)
11. Bowling Green (11)
Miami tops Windsor 4-1
In their only exhibition tune-up before the puck drops for real next weekend, the Miami RedHawks got two goals from “Awesome” Alden Hirschfeld and defeated the Windsor Lancers 4-1 at Steve Cady Arena.
Hirschfeld got his final season in a Miami uniform off to a fast start, and along with classmate Matt Tomassoni and junior Curtis McKenzie, provided all the offense senior goaltenders Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp would need as the RedHawks outshot Windsor 51-13.
Miami went 2 for 5 on the powerplay and surrendered one goal in six shorthanded situations as the game featured 21 penalties for 48 minutes. One night earlier, the Lancers skated to a 6-5 loss in Columbus as their game with the Buckeyes was also a chippy affair for the visitors from Canada who play their hockey in the Ontario University Athletics Conference.
The RedHawks skated without top returning goal scorer, Reilly Smith, but were able to overcome his absence in dominating lesser competition. If Smith is out for an extended period, Hirschfeld and the other upperclassmen will have to shoulder the load until his return.
Next weekend, Miami skates for real against Bemidji State of the WCHA in the first two regular season games of the year. We’ll have a season preview for the RedHawks as well as a weekend preview posted later in the week.
MURedHawks.com has a game recap HERE.
Notre Dame Announcement Expected Wednesday
As we first reported last week, Notre Dame will make an official announcement Wednesday, October 5 on its future conference affiliation, widely expected to be Hockey East. The South Bend Tribune is reporting along with the NCHC’s announcement today the 2013-14 season will be played with eight schools (Miami, North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, Colorado College, Western Michigan, St. Cloud State, Denver and Nebraska-Omaha), Notre Dame’s destination appears set.
The only other loose end is whether RPI is invited as the 12th member of Hockey East as our source close to the situation indicated last week.
We’ll continue to update the story as we learn more.
Michigan’s Merrill Suspended
USCHO is reporting Michigan sophomore defenseman Jon Merrill has been suspended 12 games including exhibition contests for violating team rules.
Merrill was expected to contribute at a high level and carry the Wolverines on the blueline as they work to replace the potent scoring they lost with the departures of seniors Carl “That Miele Guy” Hagelin and Louis Caporusso.
The suspension must have been for something grave because 12 games is roughly a third of the regular season and Merrill is expected to have a big sophomore campaign. He’s already been named to the CCHA preseason team and a leader on head coach Red Berenson’s 2011-12 squad.
Merrill will be eligible to return from his suspension on Friday, November 11 against, wait for it, Miami in Oxford. Figures.
2011-12 Season Preview: Ohio State
Last year’s Ohio State Men’s Hockey team disappointed a lot of Miami faithful by beating the ‘Hawks 1-0 and 5-2 in Columbus on January 7-8. But fret not Buckeye haters RedHawks fans, this was the beginning of the end, and Ohio State promptly finished the season 3-10-3 which included a 2-game sweep out of the CCHA tournament at the hands of Lake Superior State.
Head Coach Mark Osiecki will be at the helm for his second season after a 15-18-4 overall and 10-14-4-2 CCHA record last year. He will have a new goalie coach to mentor senior netminder Cal Heeter and will take one of the largest freshmen classes in college hockey history into the season with 13 rookies on the roster to start things off.
For all of the so-called “draw” of the upcoming Big Ten Conference and the Ohio State “brand name,” this year’s out of conference schedule certainly isn’t impressing us. Ohio State opens up tomorrow (10/1) with an exhibition against Windsor (Canada) College, followed by a home series against Quinnipiac October 7-8. They later have a November series against Alabama-Huntsville and one game at the RMU/Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase on December 30th. Throw in a game against Little Sisters of the Poor and it looks something like the football team’s OOC schedule (in which they’ve played Akron, Toledo and Colorado this year, and looked awesome awful at Miami of Florida 2 weeks ago).
Outside the weak out of conference schedule, Ohio State does have a couple “marquee” games this year. They will play at Notre Dame in potentially the final game/series in the Joyce Center Ice Rink on October 14-15 (schedule is still undecided for the Irish). Then there’s the aforementioned College Hockey Showcase in Pittsburgh against host Robert Morris University. Finally, to top it off, on January 15th Ohio State heads to Cleveland and Progressive Field for the Frozen Diamond Faceoff against arch-rival Michigan.
Our Fearless Predictions:
The Buckstache rides again…towards the bottom of the league and another first round CCHA tournament road trip and early exit. And with these HIDEOUS “traditional” new uniforms, I’m not sure it will be a pretty ride, either.
The CCHA Media took Ohio State 9th and the Coaches predict a 7th place finish.
Ceiling: 7th
Floor: 11th
Related Links:
Ohio State Hockey Men’s Hockey Examiner – Season Preview
OSU Lantern – Season Preview
2011-12 Season Preview: Northern Michigan
A look back:
The ‘Cats were picked 7th by media, 6th by coaches in 2010-11 and finished 6th. However, in their 1st round playoff series at home against Bowling Green – who had only won 8 games prior to that series – they were taken down 2-0 in game 2 and 2-1 in a 2OT thriller in game 3, ending NMU’s season early.
Where they stand:
NMU’s Top 3 scorers return as seniors, and one of them, Tyler Gron, was just named to the Preseason All-CCHA 2nd-team. Gron was not named as one of the captains of the team by head coach Walt Kyle (NMU class of 1981), however and those honors go to seniors Justin Florek, Andrew Cherniwchan, and junior Scott Macaulay. Kyle has a rather surprising record of 176-153-39 in his 10 seasons in Marquette, and will likely ride Reid Ellingson as the ‘Cats primary goaltender this year.
A look ahead:
The Wildcats start the season without an exhibition, but with 2 games in the Kohl Center vs. the Wisconsin Badgers. Although the Badgers won’t be there, this will be a small taste of the WCHA, and they’ll get a full dose starting in the newly reconfigured WCHA starting in the 2013-2014 season. A strong start could get this young team (16 underclassmen) on the right track.
Predicted Finish: This year looks to be more of the same from the Wildcats. In the CCHA preseason polls released 9/28, the coaches tabbed NMU at 6th and the Media in a tie for 7th.
Floor: 10th
Ceiling: 6th
Links:
SOURCE: Notre Dame and RPI to Hockey East
Redskin Warriors has received an unconfirmed report that Notre Dame and RPI are moving to Hockey East in 2013.
Our source with credible access to the ongoing talks tells us the Irish will take their talents east, and along with the Engineers of RPI will become the 11th and 12th members respectively, of Hockey East. If true, it could also signal Notre Dame’s intent to join the ACC for all other sports as the rest of the collegiate athletic world undergoes the same sort of seismic shift as hockey. And, for certain it’s a coup for Hockey East to land the last remaining free agent gem in the Fighting Irish.
For Notre Dame, this move makes sense. They would become conference mates with longtime rival, and Catholic college brethren, Boston College as well as Providence and Merrimack who also don the cloth.
For RPI, well, what an opportunity. They will be reunited with former ECAC rivals and this ties nicely to their reemergence on the college hockey scene as young head coach Seth Appert has the Engineers headed in the right direction. Their travel costs won’t rise and their sense of prestige and strength of schedule will certainly improve.
In the meantime, we’ll try to gain confirmation and will update this story as we can.
Preseason All-CCHA teams announced
The CCHA has released its 2011-2012 preseason All-CCHA teams.
Reilly Smith heads up the 1st-team with 10 first place votes – only he and Notre Dame’s T.J. Tynan received 10 first team votes, earning them both unanimous decisions. Cody Reichard makes the first team as the league’s top goaltender. Defenders Chris Wideman and Will Weber made the 2nd-team as well.
Rankings: Miami #1/2, Notre Dame #2/1 in preseason polls
The 2 national (official) polls have released their first rankings of the 2011-2012 season. If the polls on September 26th meant anything, Miami RedHawks players, coaches and fans should be VERY happy.
The first unofficial poll was released by College Hockey News last week with Miami at #1, and today’s In the first USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll for the 2011-2012 season, Miami checks in at #2, despite having more first place votes (12) than the Irish (11). 4 CCHA teams made the Top 20, and 6 more are in the “Others Receiving Votes” category to start the season. Interestingly, 7 of the 8 NCHC teams are in the top 20 including #’s 2, 3 and 4, and the 8th team (St. Cloud State) checks in at #24. Have a look at the full poll HERE and the USCHO writeup HERE.
In the first USA Hockey Magazine / USA Today D-I Men’s Poll, Miami and Notre Dame flip spots, with Miami taking 15 of the 31 first place votes. In this 15-team poll, the CCHA has the same 4 teams ranked, with only 3 more “receiving votes.” Again, all 8 NCHC teams made the list, with St. Cloud State getting just 1 point. Full Poll can be found HERE.
Here’s Miami’s official release on the rankings.
6 days until HOCKEY!!!
2011-12 Season Preview: Bowling Green
With former Miami captain and assistant coach Chris Bergeron taking the reins, last season the Bowling Green State University Falcons finished in the basement of the CCHA winning just three league games and ten overall. However, the ten wins were a dramatic improvement from 2009-10 when they won just five games in an absolutely forgettable season.
With the continued uncertainly surrounding the Falcons once proud hockey program, this off season hasn’t been anything to write home about. And, without a conference affiliation for 2013 and beyond (they have been extended an invitation to join the WCHA but have not yet accepted), the Falcons saw their best player, junior Jordan Samuels-Thomas, transfer to Quinnipiac. Samuels-Thomas led Bowling Green in scoring each of his two seasons in the orange and brown. Sadly, the program once again looks unsteady even with recent improvements made to their home rink and having professed a desire to be included in the new NCHC with MAC brethren Western Michigan and Miami.
The latest rumor surrounding the Falcons was first published by Bruce Ciskie, the voice of the defending champion UMD Bulldogs on his Twitter feed, and then again on his blog. Ciskie is reporting the Falcons have asked the WCHA for more time as they consider the league’s invitation, but that they have met with four Atlantic Hockey schools, Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara and Robert Morris, about potentially starting yet another new college hockey league. In addition, the Buffalo Bulls, who currently field a club hockey team, could be convinced to move to Division I, and perhaps even UAH could be included in discussions. If this pans out, this league would actually make a ton of sense for all involved. First, the Falcons would have a far greater chance of competing, the geography and travel would be much better than making trips to Minnesota and Alaska, and it would not only save a program (Alabama-Huntsville), but even add one in the University at Buffalo. More on this as the story develops.
On and off the ice, the story continues to be somewhat bleak as BG lost their best player, then had two incoming freshmen declared non-qualifiers by the NCAA and the recruiting pipeline does not appear to be loaded with top-end talent. But, they do return junior goaltender Andrew Hammond who posted respectable numbers (2.67 GAA, .915) and three of their top five scorers. However, those three combined for just 48 points (Hobey Baker winner Andy Miele had 71 for Miami last season), but it’s something.
Generally speaking, BG’s recent recruiting classes feature kids from second tier junior leagues and do not possess the depth as top tier teams that are pulling the best from the USNTDP, USHL, BCHL and the east coast. Of course Bergeron has been working with the specter of their program folding, marginally renovated facilities and now the problem of not having a conference. Looking at their incoming recruits, at first blush, there doesn’t appear to be a ton in the tank, but hopefully for the Falcons, some of these guys are late bloomers. On the positive side, Bergeron’s first recruiting class seems to have landed more size for the Falcons, which would follow the trend of when he recruited larger players at Miami to fit a tough, physical style that both he and Enrico Blasi utilized successfully behind the RedHawks’ bench.
Overall, I think 2011-12 is going to be another tough season in northwest Ohio.
Season Prediction
Ceiling — 9th
Floor — 11th
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