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Weekend Preview: Miami at Michigan
As the RedHawks head to Ann Arbor this weekend, they’ll have memories of recent series against Michigan in their minds. 5 of 6 points in November. A 4-2, 3-0 sweep to honor Brendan Burke this same weekend 1 year ago in Oxford. A double overtime victory in Fort Wayne, Indiana to head to the 2010 Frozen Four. Another epic sweep with 3-1 and 5-1 wins in Michigan in November 2009 – Miami’s first ever in Yost Ice Arena.
That’s right folks. Miami hasn’t lost to Michigan since the CCHA Semifinal game against Michigan on March 19, 2009 in Detroit. 6-0-1 in the last 2+ seasons with the one tie being a shootout win earlier this season after a longstanding series of losses for the Red and White. With the all-time series tilted heavily in Michigan’s favor 69-26-4, the recent swing for Miami is a welcome change. Don’t miss HappyGirl2525’s thoughts about the hated Wolverines and the ongoing rivalry.This week should be another fantastic measuring stick for the recently hot RedHawks, as they head to Ann Arbor to face the equally hot #7/8 Michigan squad that has only lost twice since the start of December. Michigan split an intense series last weekend losing 3-1 at Notre Dame before coming back for a 2-1 win last Saturday.
In addition to a stellar 8-1-2 record since December 3rd, Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick was named Gongshow CCHA Goalie of the month for January and Freshman Alex Guptil won the Gongshow Rookie of the Month as well.
Perhaps someone can explain to us why Hunwick won the monthly honor instead of Connor Knapp? Hunwick posted a 4-1-0 record, with one shutout, a 1.08 goals-against average (9 total goals allowed) and a .971 save percentage as he played in 5 of 6 games for the Wolverines in January. On the other hand, Knapper went 5-1 in January, allowed just 5 goals in 6 games, was named the INCH National Player of the Week for the first weekend of the year, won 2 of the 4 CCHA Weekly awards for goaltenders, had a minuscule 0.83 goals-against average and equally impressive .964 save percentage in his 6 contests.
Guptill recorded five goals and five assists in six games for a team-best 10 points in January. According to CCHA.com “the Newmarket, Ont., native leads Michigan in scoring and his 14 goals place him in a tie for second in the CCHA and his 26 points are good for a tie for fifth in the league. Nationally, Guptill ranks first in goals and third in points among freshmen.”
Stopping the Wolverines will require Miami to slow down Guptill, as well as Senior captain David Wohlberg who is second on the team in points with a line of 11-14-25 but is currently nursing an injury and his playing status is unknown. Even if Wohlberg does play, how effective will he be? Michigan’s style has them constantly looking for an odd man rush with long passes through the zone. Miami will need to limit these chances and will rely on great goaltending all weekend long.
In addition, don’t be surprised if the ‘Hawks try to get in Hunwick’s head early. Perhaps an accidental run into the crease? Ring a shot off the facemask? Anything to get Hunwick off of his game, and perhaps get him to pull a Hacksaw Jim Duggan clothesline like he did here:
If you’re like us and like to keep a close eye on the nightly scoreboards and CCHA standings, you’d be interested to know that currently 7 teams stand within a weekend sweep of the CCHA lead. Any of the 7 teams other than Lake State could find themselves in first after this weekend if the dust settles correctly.
- Ferris State (20 games played) – 37 points – at Northern Michigan
- Miami (22), Western Michigan (20), OSU (20) – 36 – MU at Michigan, WMU vs. Alaska, OSU vs. MSU
- Lake Superior State (22) – 35 – vs USNTDP (no CCHA games)
- Notre Dame (20) – 33 – vs. BGSU
- Michigan (20) – 32 – vs. Miami
In addition, the CCHA has 7 teams in the USCHO Top 20 rankings (the above 7, minus LSSU, plus NMU). Michigan State and Lake State are in the “others receiving votes” section at #21 and 22 respectively. Ferris State even picked up a #1 vote in this weeks poll. While we’re at it, take a gander at this week’s CCHA Now show.
Both games this weekend are at 7:30 and both will be televised. If you get the “sports pack,” look for Fox Sports Detroit Plus on Friday, and CBS College Sports on Saturday.
You won’t want to miss action like this from Miami’s latest victory over Michigan, so if you’re anywhere near Ann Arbor, join miamibeef04 at Yost – tickets are still available for both games.
Go RedHawks!
Guest Article: My Favorite Miami Hockey Moment
On the heels of the Miami Memories series from www.muredhawks.com, and the RedHawks upcoming series against the hated Michigan Wolverines, Guest Warrior @happygirl2525 brings us another of her guest articles. Let’s go back a few years with her…
Can you imagine Miami University without hockey? One of my favorite Miami memories is a hockey moment. And it almost never happened. It’s a shocking thought, but something that was discussed 20+ years ago.
The program was abysmal. In its first eight seasons in the CCHA, Miami had a losing record every season, going a collective 83-210-19 (I had to get out my calculator to double check my math on that loss column – just awful). The team was more known for its late-night parties and prowess at the Uptown watering holes than any success on the ice.
My first year at Miami, the 1990 – 91 season, George Gwozdecky’s second season as the Redskins head coach, the team went 5 – 29 – 3. You could show up 15 minutes past the opening faceoff of a Miami hockey game and get a seat in the third or fourth row behind the bench. The only lines waiting to get in to Goggin were students trying to register their broomball teams in the Co-Rec leagues.
We had two organized cheers, the obligatory Rock and Roll History Party 2 “We’re Gonna Beat the Hell Out of You,” and the “And they still suck,” cheer as the visiting team returned to full strength. I have horrible memories of being out-cheered in our own building by fans from Michigan and Michigan State.
Those were some dark days in Miami hockey history. But the tide was turning. Gwozdecky, the former assistant coach at Michigan State, was creating a new environment for Miami hockey that would revitalize the hockey program and captivate a university.
In October 1992, the Redskins started their season with road games the first two weekends, first taking on Alaska and then going up to East Lansing at month’s end to take on the Michigan State Spartans. The Redskins split the series with Alaska, which wasn’t too surprising. Alaska was trying to gain admission into the CCHA and had been about a .500 team.
The following weekend, the Redskins found themselves battling Coach Gwozdecky’s former school, NCAA hockey powerhouse, Michigan State. Something remarkable happened in East Lansing, Miami won both games, sweeping the Spartans. It was the first time we swept MSU. As a road series though, the excitement really didn’t have much of an affect on campus.
That November of 1992, the Redskins put together a nice little run, defeating the likes of Notre Dame, Kent State and Ohio State, but in our first two-game series versus the University of Michigan Wolverines, we tied the first game and lost the second. If you followed CCHA hockey during the 1990’s, you knew the road to the CCHA Championship went through Michigan, on its way up to the Joe.
For Miami to be taken seriously as a CCHA contender, it would need to win against the Michigan teams. Until then, we were just that “fake Miami,” the Wolverine fans kept calling us. Gwozdecky knew this. The players knew this. The students knew this. But for the first time, in a long time, people actually cared about that too.
During the holiday break, the Redskins played in a tournament out east, going up against those two Boston teams and then the University of Maine, whose roster included Paul Kariya and was one of the best teams in the nation. While we didn’t win the tournament, we held our own against the Maine Black Bears, giving the team a huge boost in confidence.
But still the fans were wondering if we would ever have that elusive win, at home, against those Michigan teams. That year, 1993, something magical happened and the Redskins faithful would be rewarded for their loyalty.
Returning back to campus, the Redskins would tie and then defeat the Lake Superior State Lakers in early January. The Redskins went on a winning streak, defeating their next five opponents, including Notre Dame, University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), Michigan State, Western Michigan and Kent State. If you checked the standings, you would have seen that the Redksins were the third best team in the nation.
The ranking and the winning made the students start to notice our hockey team. On February 6, 1993, around 3 PM in the afternoon, a line started to build outside of Goggin. Students were waiting outside in the cold and sleet to see their Miami Redskins take on the second best team in the nation, the big, bad boys from Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan Wolverines. I took turns with several of my friends waiting in line to make sure we got in to see this game.
I mean, after all of the rotten, losing games I’ve watched, I deserved to see a good game. Michigan brought its fans down to Oxford by the bus load. I swear the middle of the stands was a sea of maize and blue, waiving their flags, chanting their little Michigan cheers, reminding us the “real” Miami was in Florida.
But we Miami students were not going to take it anymore. And as the Wolverine fans started one of their cheers, the Miami crowd started a cheer of its own, “Overrated.” Quickly, Michigan realized playing in Oxford, would no longer be so friendly.
Miami had a 3 – 2 lead going into the third but the Wolverines showed why they were ranked #2, when they tied it up in the third. Gwozdecky’s Redskins showed poise and never let the Wolverines take the lead and the game was tied at the end of regulation. It was such a hard fought battle and truly neither team “deserved” to lose.
Waiting for the Overtime period to begin, I was preparing for a loss. I told myself we at least got one point from those blue and maize cake eaters. And we shut their darn fans up – which was a huge win in my book. Regardless of the outcome, this was a huge battle won for my Redskins. I just didn’t realize how huge it was about to become.
Redskin fans didn’t have to wait long for this contest to be decided. Jason Mallon, who was definitely more of a mucker and grinder, put the puck into the Michigan net. The horn blew. The red light flashed. For a brief second, time stopped. Then the arena exploded. The team poured out on to the ice. I hugged people I’d never even seen before. Our lives were changed by a kid from Thunder Bay, Ontario, (where?) and Miami Hockey would never be the same.
Miami went on to win its first CCHA Regular Season Championship and qualify for its first NCAA Tournament. One of the most influential members of that Redskins team, Rico Blasi, would eventually come back to coach Miami.
It’s been 19 years since that season. To put that in perspective, current Miami center Austin Czarnik was not even two months old when this happened.
I’ve seen a lot of great Miami hockey moments since that day in February 1993. But for me, that will always be my favorite Miami hockey moment, watching Jason Mallon bury that puck against Michigan in OT, that look of exhilaration on his face, the Wolverine goalie slamming his stick in total frustration, the look of disdain on Red Berenson’s face, the tears pouring down my face, not to mention the drinks we had Uptown after the game.
Each time I walk into the new Goggin Ice Center, I think about that, how far this program has come in such a short time. It makes me proud to be a Miamian and a proud supporter of The Brotherhood.
Reilly Smith named CCHA Player of the Month
Just a few weeks off having been named the National Player of the Week, Miami junior forward Reilly Smith has been named the RBC Financial CCHA Player of the Month for January.
Smith potted seven goals and three assists in Miami’s eight January contests including four game-winning markers as the RedHawks have surged into a 2nd place tie in the CCHA standings and are firmly in contention for an NCAA tournament bid as the season’s penultimate month begins. And, as a credit to Smith’s all-around excellence, he also blocked five shots as he has ramped up his defensive prowess. Miami is now tied for 7th in the nation in team defense after a shaky start.
Overall, Smith has 19 goals and eight assists for 27 points, good for third in the CCHA. His seven game-winning markers on the season are tied for first nationally while Smith’s 0.73 goals-per game average is fourth-best in the country. (source: CCHA.com)
Congratulations, Reilly!
Blake Coleman named CCHA Rookie of the Week
On Monday, Miami’s Blake Coleman was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week for his efforts in Miami’s home series split with Northern Michigan.
For the weekend, Coleman was 1-2-3 with a blocked shot earning the first weekly award of his career.
Miami freshman have now claimed 1/3 of the league’s rookie awards with Austin Czarnik having earned three and Coleman and Tyler Biggs with one apiece.
Congratulations, Blake!
Miami Steady in National Polls
Coming off a weekend that saw the RedHawks play and deserve better than a series split against Northern Michigan, here’s a quick look at where Miami checks in the national polls. This week, the RedHawks are #16 (Inside College Hockey), #18 (USCHO), and effectively, #17 (USA TODAY) in all three major polls. They can’t seem to crack the top 15 of the USA TODAY poll which only ranks fifteen teams unlike the Inside College Hockey Power Rankings and the USCHO poll which rank the top twenty.
And, after a weekend shakeout of the PairWise, Miami checks in tied for 10th in the all-important rankings that largely determine the field for the NCAA tournament. The PairWise rankings also tell us that Miami has the most wins in the country against Teams Under Consideration (TUCs) with 14. Alaska’s win over Notre Dame on Friday night enabled the Nanooks to reenter the rankings as a TUC, and on the strength of Miami’s two wins earlier in Fairbanks, the RedHawks have a nice exclamation point to add to their NCAA tournament resume. That said, it will certainly help Miami if Alaska can continue to play well and win a few more games down the stretch.
As for Miami, they’ll have a chance to improve upon that win mark as six of their remaining eight games are against TUCs (Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State). The only exception is the home series with Alabama-Huntsville in Oxford later this month.
Lastly, Miami is holding down the 11th position in the KRACH rankings that, by many prognosticators estimates, are a truer way to rank teams than is the PairWise. The KRACH tells us that Miami has played the fourth most difficult schedule to date which makes Miami’s 15-11-2 record that much more impressive when you consider the level of competition the RedHawks have faced this season.
If the RedHawks can win five of their final eight regular season games, they’ll finish with 20 victories for the seventh consecutive year and the ninth time in ten seasons. The last time Miami finished with fewer than 20 victories was the 2004-05 season when they finished 15-18-5.
This weekend, Miami travels to Ann Arbor for the final road series of the regular season (that’s hard to believe, but it’s true) to take on 7th ranked Michigan. The teams met in Oxford back on November 11 and 12 as the RedHawks gutted out a 2-1 victory on Friday and had to settle for a 3-3 tie and shootout win after they surrendered the tying goal late in the third period. We’ll have a full preview up later in the week.
In case you’ve forgotten, here’s Bryon Paulazzo’s sick shootout winner as he does the spin-o-rama and roofs the backhand over Shawn Hunwick.
RedHawks Return to Form, Reichard blanks Wildcats
The young men on the Miami RedHawks squad know when to flex their muscle. Despite playing their hearts out on Friday night, the Hawks couldn’t recover from 2 early Northern Michigan goals. Tonight was a different story, however, as Miami showed the Wildcats why they are one point out of first place in the CCHA and why the Wildcats still find themselves in ninth place. Miami showed its size, speed, agressiveness, and all-around skill to put 6 goals past Northern Michigan goaltenders when they had only scored 3 goals in 3 previous meetings this season.
On the offensive side of the ice, Miami was doing their best to get to the 41 shot total they had last night. They came awfully close, hitting the 40 mark, which made a total of 81 shots in the 2 game series. Pretty impressive, and truly off the charts when you consider on the other end of the ice, Miami allowed 7, 7 and 2 shots in the three periods tonight. That’s 16 on the night and only 29 on the weekend.
While the offense was doing its thing all over the ice, the defense did all it could to stop everything coming across the Miami blue line. There was rarely a shot that wasn’t contested, and many rushes were stopped before they could even get started. What did sneak through the staunch defense was easily put aside by Cody Reichard.
Reichard started the evening not having won a game since November 26th against Denver, and only playing a handful of times since then. His confidence may have hit an all time low with his recent results. He had been 0-3-0 in his last 3 games, had allowed 12 goals and was pulled after allowing a goal in the first 9:39 of the first period in the Friday matchup in Marquette against these same Wildcats.
Tonight was the Cody Reichard we have grown accustomed to, as he pushed everything sent his way to the corners, and swallowed the rest. While there weren’t many big scoring chances on the night, Cody comes out of the evening without a puck hitting twine, earning his 2nd shutout of the season, and 12th of his career. This 12th shutout ties him on the all-time career shutout list at Miami. David Burleigh previously set the mark with his 12 shutouts in 134 games. As we all know, Reichard has spent his 4 years at Miami splitting time with Connor Knapp, another phenomenal goaltender, and has equaled Burleigh in just 88 games. (Knapp has 10 shutouts in 73 games between the pipes as well.)
Reilly Smith didn’t want his teammate to get away with the only spotlight on the night, however. As if we didn’t know this before, Reilly Smith is good at hockey. The newly named co-captain leads the team in goals and points, has 7 game-winners, plays on the power play, the penalty kill, and does just about everything on the ice you could ask from your co-captain. A night after seeing his 5 game point streak come to an end, Smith’s assist on Alex Wideman’s first goal was the 100th point of his Miami career, becoming the 47th RedHawk to reach the century mark. Smith later would add to his CCHA leading goals total, scoring his 19th of the season.
After a night where the ‘Hawks seemed to do everything right, but couldn’t get a puck past Jared Coreau, tonight was the complete opposite. As a fair assessment, all 6 goals were of the “dirty” variety, and Coreau was pulled after allowing 4 goals. He lasted 43:43 of game time, and was pulled in favor of Reid Ellingson. On a night where Miami was clicking on all cylinders, I can’t say I blame Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle. Coreau was not the same as what the ‘Hawks saw on Friday night or in previous meetings between the two teams.
As the dust settled on the evening, Miami had another 3 points in hand in the CCHA standings. Taking a look at those standings might make you shake your head a couple times.
Other Notes:
– Not to be out done by Reichard and Smith, Alex Wideman was the Perani Cup #1 star of the game on the strength of his 2 goals, the first of which was tonight’s game winner. The goals were his first since the season opener vs. Bemidji State. Alex also led the team with 7 total shots on the night, including 4 shots in first.
– On the night, both Widemans (Alex 2G, Chris 2A), Blake Coleman (2A), Matt Tomassoni (2A), Bryon Paulazzo (1G, 1A) and Reilly Smith (1G, 1A) all had 2 points and 12 RedHawks had at least a point.
– With tonight being parents night, almost all of the players’ parents were in attendance for the pregame festivities. In addition, tonight was Mr. Wideman’s birthday. The proud father will certainly appreciate 4 points from his 2 sons on the evening (sure makes for a better present than a new tie or tube socks).
– The Hawks were 5-5 on the penalty kill and 2-4 on the power play tonight. The power play has been ranked in the bottom 15 of the country for much of the season, and seems to be coming around at the right time.
Next Up:
Miami heads to Ann Arbor to play the Michigan Wolverines (off this week). Friday night’s game will be on Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday will be in HD on CBS Sports Network. The puck drops for each game at 7:35pm. As always, the Redskin Warriors will have coverage next week!
SixPack:
Don’t miss out on the Sunday #SixPack. Follow our twitter feed: @redskinwarriors for some bone chilling stats from Saturday night!!
Coreau, Wildcats frustrate Miami again
Sometimes there’s a team that simply has your number. Northern Michigan seems to be it for the Miami RedHawks.
The Wildcats received first period goals from Justin Florek and Tyler Gron and that was all sophomore goaltender Jared Coreau would need as he made 40 saves and Northern Michigan defeated Miami for the third time this season in as many tries 2-1.
The RedHawks (14-11-2, 10-9-2-1 CCHA) dominated this game in every facet with the exception of the scoreboard outshooting NMU (12-8-5, 7-7-5-2 CCHA) by an incredible 41-13 margin. Including the December 2 game at Marquette, Mich., Coreau has a 2-0 record, 1.00 goals against average and an unbelievable .970 save percentage this season against Miami.
After falling behind as a result of two defensive mistakes that led to offensive zone rushes, and goals, for the Wildcats, Miami settled down and dominated play outshooting NMU 30-9 over the game’s final two periods.
Freshman Blake Coleman pulled Miami to within one with an early third period goal, but despite having a late powerplay opportunity, then an extra skater on for the game’s final 1:18, the RedHawks were simply unable to find the equalizer.
Miami head coach Enrico Blasi felt his team lost a bit of its composure and became frustrated by the Wildcats’ netminder.
“When you get down to this time of year, one thing you can’t get is frustrated. You have to play with composure and discipline. You have to make plays under duress. Hopefully one thing we learned from tonight was exactly that, you have to keep playing no matter what.”
Frankly, it’s hard to blame the RedHawks for feeling the pressure as they battle to remain in the top 5 of the CCHA regular season standings and the top 16 in the Pairwise. And, with the tilted play in two of the three games against the Wildcats this season, it seems understandable that frustration could be mounting.
Senior tri-captain Alden Hirschfeld had this to say about the effort.
“It was a tough game, a tough one to lose. I thought we had a lot of chances out there. Their goalie made some good saves. We had a couple of turnovers that cost us. I thought we fought back really hard and we just have to let this one go and get ready for tomorrow.”
With last night’s loss, this much is clear.
Miami must find a way to win Saturday night because things do not get easier with next weekend’s series at Michigan, a home series against Notre Dame and the regular season finale, a home and home with Ohio State all still to come. Clearly there is still time for Miami to solidify their standing in the Pairwise and the league, but they will have to do so against the conference’s elite teams. So, it’s imperative they get started tonight, against a Northern Michigan team that Miami is clearly much more talented than.
Amazingly, Miami did not commit a single penalty all night after committing 14 in the previous matchup with the Wildcats.
Notes
– Miami is just 1-6 against the Upper Peninsula teams this year (1-3 vs. Lake Superior; 0-3 vs. NMU)
– Miami is an unimpressive 19-34-3 all-time against NMU
– Head coach Enrico Blasi is just 16-19-1 behind Miami’s bench against the Wildcats. NMU is one of the few CCHA teams that he does not have a winning record against.
– Miami is now tied for 10th in the Pairwise. With several games going the RedHawks way, they actually gained ground despite the loss. But, they are in a precarious league position having played two more league games than several contenders who are chasing Miami. They are essentially as close to first as they are to ninth.
– MURedHawks.com reports that senior goaltender Connor Knapp had his six-game winning streak snapped as he allowed more than one goal for the first time since a 5-3 win on December 9 at Ohio State. His last loss was December 2 at NMU. And, Miami had no penalties in last night’s loss for the first time since the 1996-97 season when they did it twice (vs. Michigan State and Cornell) in the same year.
Saturday Highlights vs. Western Michigan
CCHA Productions YouTube Channel gives us these highlights of Miami’s 4-0 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday, January 21. And, they feature Miami radio play-by-play voice Greg Waddell.
Reilly Smith Adds National Player of the Week Award
For the second time in three weeks, a Miami RedHawk senior has been named the Inside College Hockey National Player of the Week.
Senior co-captain Reilly Smith earned this week’s honor as he poured in four goals including a hat trick in Miami’s sweep of Western Michigan. Smith is now third in the country in goals (18) a year after tallying 28 for the defending Mason Cup Champions.
Two weeks ago, Connor Knapp was lauded for his efforts in allowing one goal in a road sweep of Michigan State.
Congratulations Reilly!
Miami completes sweep of Western Michigan 4-0
Connor Knapp made 22 saves in notching his second shutout of the season and added an assist on Miami’s second goal as the RedHawks received goals from four different players and completed the sweep of #8 Western Michigan by a final score of 4-0.
With the victory, Miami moved into a tie for second place in the tightly packed CCHA and are now just two points behind league leading, duhOSU.
Junior co-captain Reilly Smith opened the scoring in the first period for Miami with his fourth goal of the weekend, and his team leading 18th on the season, while freshman Jimmy Mullin (8th) and senior co-captain Alden Hirschfeld (8th) added breakaway goals to blow open a close game in the third period. Freshman Tyler Biggs (5th) added the fourth and final Miami goal just 24 seconds after Hirschfeld’s to send the Broncos back to Kalamazoo empty handed.
Evening Observations
Miami received solid efforts from several players tonight including an “under the weather” Curtis McKenzie who fought through a bug with hustle and hard work that helped contain the Broncos and make life miserable for them.
And, in addition to scoring a goal, Miami’s Reilly Smith was all over the ice killing penalties and even blocking shots for the RedHawks. Adding the captain’s ‘C’ to Reilly’s sweater seems to have brought even more out of him.
Freshman Ben Paulides has been earning head coach Enrico Blasi’s trust lately and his game has been mentioned by several folks as having greatly improved since the start of the season. And, again tonight. Paulides was solid in his own zone and was credited with an assist on Mullin’s goal early in the third period. It bodes well for next year if Paulides can lock down one of the top six defense positions with the impending losses of seniors Will Weber, Cameron Schilling and Chris Wideman.
As much as Miami dominated the Broncos tonight by limiting their time and space, they also exposed Western as maybe not yet ready to play “big boy hockey” as their alums and fans have been shouting for the past year. With multiple breakaway chances, Miami’s speed and size were simply too much for Western to handle as they’ve proven they do not possess the kind of elite talent to match a group of forwards as skilled as Miami’s. But, they play a great team game and will be a difficult out for anyone at full strength.
For the RedHawks, it was business as usual. And, Miami needs to continue to play well and make up ground in the national standings. If they continue to ride the superior goaltending of Connor Knapp and if the second and third lines continue to contribute scoring, the RedHawks will be fine as the year begins to wind down. It goes without saying that Miami has dialed up the team defense and is becoming very difficult to play against. Expected to be a strength at the start of the year, the RedHawks are now flexing their defensive muscles as they have absolutely shut teams down since a 2-6 start to the season. And, unbelievably, there are just ten regular season contests remaining in the 2011-12 season.
With tonight’s victory, Miami has moved into a tie for second in the CCHA and has moved into a tie for 14th in the Pairwise and 10th in KRACH.
Next weekend, Miami continues a four-game homestand as they welcome Northern Michigan to the Goggin for another important CCHA series.
Notes
– Connor Knapp has now won six consecutive starts and for the second time in three weeks, played both games. He again allowed just one goal on the weekend equaling his effort at Michigan State January 6-7.
– Knapp lowered his goals against average this weekend to a ridiculous 1.77 and improved his save percentage to an inhuman .932 after stopping 48 of 49 shots in the two wins
– The Broncos again played without leading scorers Dane Walters and Shane Berschbach
– Tampa Bay Lightning GM and former Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman was in the house tonight, presumably to check in on his fourth round selection from 2010, Miami’s Jimmy Mullin (nice time to score a goal, Jimmy).
– By playing Connor Knapp in both games this weekend, head coach Enrico Blasi redeemed himself after going against his gut last weekend. Knapp has to play until he proves he can’t handle the workload.
– Here’s the MURedHawks.com recap
– An interesting, if not whiny take, from MLive.com with whiny quotes from Bronco head coach Andy Murray. I have to admit, I didn’t expect this from him.
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