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RedHawks stop #8 Western Michigan
Reilly Smith had all three RedHawks goals on the night, and the Miami defense stood tall in handing #8 Western Michigan it’s 8th loss of the season. Senior goaltender Connor Knapp took the ice again after a much criticized benching against Lake Superior State last weekend. Proving to be the wise choice tonight, Knapp stopped all but 1 of the 27 Bronco shots, bringing his personal unbeaten streak to 5 games.
With yet another stellar performance in net, you’d think Knapp would take home the Perani Cup #1 Star of the Game. However, that honor goes to Captain Reilly Smith. Starting the scoring before the first media timeout, Smith scored the opening goal from Freshmen Austin Czarnik and Jimmy Mullin. Smith would go on to score the game winner in the second on a shorthanded chance, and a final goal in the third for his 3rd career hat trick. Reilly has 17 goals on the season, along with 7 assists and leads the team with 24 total points. It isn’t the scoring outbreak that we saw in 2010-11 from Andy Miele, but he is on his well on his way to reaching his 28 goals from last season.
On the night, Czarnik had assists on all 3 goals, and Mullin had assists on the bookend goals. It was quite a night for the RedHawks top line who were a combined +8 on the night with all three goals and all 5 assists handed out. Reilly’s second period, shorthanded goal was also the game winner. That’s his 6th of the season, tying him for the national lead once again.
Outside of the top line, the defense also looked fantastic as the ‘Hawks returned to Oxford for the first time since December 10th. Chris Wideman was a stellar +2 on the night, and the rest of the defense will go down tonight as being the unsung heroes. In the Miami zone, 19 Western Michigan shots were blocked, and there were countless hits from Miami defenders who were by far the more physical team behind the Miami net all night long.
The RedHawks faithful was treated to a fantastic showing on every inch of the ice, and were very vocal in cheering on the Red and White. Smith’s third goal was some much needed insurance as well. Miami hadn’t played in Oxford since December 10th and hadn’t won in Oxford in over 2 months. The last Miami win in Oxford was a 4-0 win over BGSU on November 18th. In that span, they had lost an overtime heartbreaker to Ohio State 3-2, and lost in a shootout to BGSU after losing 4 one-goal leads on November 19th.
Be sure to watch the rematch tomorrow night as Miami takes on these same Western Michigan Broncos at. Tomorrow night’s game will be broadcast across the great state of Ohio on the Ohio News Network (ONN) and puck drop is set for 7:05 PM.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@RedskinWarriors) and take a look at our Saturday #SixPack in the morning for some eye-opening statistics from the Friday Night College Hockey landscape.
My 3 stars of the night… Hard to argue with the three official choices made by the Miami Athletic staff, but I’ll change it up a bit:
Connor Knapp: 26 Saves, 1 Goal Allowed, 5th consecutive win
Reilly Smith: 3 G, +3 Rating, 8 SOG
Austin Czarnik: 3 Assists, +3 Rating, 2 SOG (he was too busy passing to the red hot Smith)
Notes
– Two of Western Michigans’ three leading scorers, Shane Berschbach and Dane Walters did not play. At one point, Berschbach was a Miami commit before his scholarship offer was revoked due to off-ice issues prior to enrolling at Miami. We understand Walters is injured but do not know why Berschbach did not suit up for the Broncos. Something to watch for in the series finale.
Weekend Preview: Western Michigan at Miami
Miami returns home this weekend (finally!) coming off a run of ten games that saw the RedHawks play nine of those games on the road. Fortunately for Miami, they kept their heads above water and finished 6-4 over that stretch.
The first two-game home series since November 18-19 has the newly minted 20th ranked team in the nation facing former NHL head coach Andy Murray and the 8th ranked Western Michigan Broncos.
Much was made over the summer about former head coach Jeff Blashill’s decision to leave Kalamazoo after just one season, a season in which the Broncos went from last in the CCHA to an overtime exit in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the hands of Denver. Rightly, many WMU fans were concerned the resurrection of a dormant program would be short-lived with the loss of Blashill and that the impending demise of the CCHA might leave the Broncos holding the bag with the also-rans of what will be the new WCHA. Or, maybe they were left wondering if they could somehow find a home with either the newly formed NCHC, or perhaps, Hockey East alongside Notre Dame.
But, the hiring of a big time head coach in Murray and Notre Dame’s decision to join Hockey East opened the door for WMU to receive an invitation to join the NCHC and secure its hockey future. So, along with longtime MAC rival Miami, plus North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State, Colorado College and Denver, Western joined the new eight team conference that will begin play in 2013.
With the drama of the future of the program seemingly behind them, Western picked up right where they left off last year when they earned a fourth place regular season CCHA finish and a spot in the Mason Cup championship game. Of course, they dropped a 5-2 decision to Miami in that title game when the RedHawks claimed their first Mason Cup title by scoring three times in the third period to pull away.
Offensively, the Broncos are led by sophomores Chase Balisy (9-15-24) and Shane Berschbach (6-16-22) and junior Dane Walters (10-8-18) who is coming off an injury in Friday night’s victory over Notre Dame. Walters left Friday’s game with the injury, did not return and also missed Saturday’s series finale when the Broncos finished an impressive home-and-home sweep of the Irish. At this point, I’d assume Walters is a “gametime decision,” but I fully expect to see him in the starting lineup for WMU tonight.
Defensively, the Broncos are impressive. Led by sophomores Dennis Brown and Dan DeKeyser, junior Matt Tennyson and senior Derek Roehl, Western features one of the best bluelines in college hockey. They can defend, they have size and they all possess big shots. However, Miami should be able to exploit the Broncos with their speed as I have not been impressed with the foot speed of the Broncos. In their two games (both losses) against Minnesota-Duluth two weeks ago, it was blatantly apparent the Broncos could not skate with an elite group of forwards like both the Bulldogs and the RedHawks possess. If Miami can get their legs going, they should have a distinct advantage in that area.
Check out this sweet “double one-timer” executed perfectly by the Bronco blueliners in last weekend’s game at Lawson Ice Arena against Notre Dame. Some serious skill here.
In net, Western has featured both junior Nick Pisellini and freshman Frank Slubowski who it appears is taking over the reins as Andy Murray’s go-to guy. Slubowski has an impressive 1.98 goals against average and a more human .909 save percentage with two shutouts. If Slubowski does start tonight, it’s safe to say the Goggin crowd will do their best to introduce “The Big Slubowski” to the Balcony.
It will be interesting to see who Miami head coach Enrico Blasi starts in net tonight. Not to beat a dead horse, err Bronco, but will Rico follow his own advice and start the goaltender who had the best week of practice and will tonight’s outcome truly dictate what happens tomorrow night? Because he did not do that last weekend. What should be certain is the RedHawks will regain the services of freshman forward Tyler Biggs after he served a two-game suspension last weekend for an elbow to the head of Michigan State’s Matt Grassi a couple weeks ago. Biggs, should be able to provide the big body the RedHawks need to work their puck possession game against the stout defense of Western Michigan and add a much needed burst of energy in front of what should be a raucous student section in Oxford.
Fearless prediction:
The Broncos (12-7-5, 9-4-3-3 2nd CCHA) come in flying high off last weekend’s sweep of Notre Dame. Miami (12-10-2, 8-8-2-1 t5th CCHA) is 3-1 in their last four (they should be 4-0) and is beginning to find the back of the net with more regularity. Connor Knapp has played very well recently having won four straight starts and has allowed just two goals in his past three starts. I really like the way Miami matches up with what I feel is a bit of a plodding Western Michigan team. Our size, speed and goaltending should provide an advantage over a hard working, but not as talented Bronco squad. I really want to call a Miami sweep playing tonight in front of the home crowd for the first time since December 10, but I have to admit I have been surprised by the staying power of the Broncos. They have been impressive and a good showing this weekend might just make me a believer.
Split.
Notes
– Here’s the series preview at MURedHawks.com
– Pete Conrad’s take on red hot Jimmy Mullin
– Miami is 9-0-1 in the last 10 at home vs. WMU
Deep (Weekend) Thoughts…belatedly
This is more of a rant than a true weekend recap at this point, but I haven’t completely been able to put my shock into words at how the weekend series split against then #19 Lake Superior State went down.
Miami entered Saturday night’s game having won three straight including Friday’s 2-1 victory. They’d clawed their way into third place in the CCHA and into the Pairwise top 10. Connor Knapp had been in net for all three of those contests and (still) has won four straight starts. Knapp had been nearly flawless allowing just two goals in the three wins and lowered his goals against average to 2.04 and improved his save percentage to .922. Both of those numbers are in line with Knapp’s career averages at Miami and if the season ended today, his save percentage would set a career’s best mark (by .001).
But, as we know, head coach Enrico Blasi decided to sit Knapp and instead start senior Cody Reichard who hadn’t seen the ice since a 3-2 overtime loss to then #4 Ohio State on Saturday, December 10. By my fuzzy math, that’s a span of 35 days between starts.
Now, I understand the need to get Cody into a game, but it seems clear the winningest head coach in Miami hockey history did not heed his own preachings.
Prior to the series, Blasi went on record with the Dayton Daily News’ Pete Conrad and told the longtime Miami beat writer that practice would determine Friday’s starter and Friday’s game would determine Saturday’s starter.
Specifically, Blasi said, “We’ve told both goalies the week of practice will determine who plays Friday and Friday’s game will determine who plays Saturday, and it’ll be that way for the rest of the year.”
By that account, there is absolutely no reason I can think of (save an undisclosed suspension, violation of team rules or injury) why Knapp did not play Saturday night. Obviously, this is Coach Blasi’s team, not mine, but “getting Cody some ice time” when you have a goaltender so locked in right in the middle of a dogfight for CCHA points and national Pairwise rankings does not make sense.
The numbers and Coach Blasi’s own testimony speak to putting Connor Knapp in the net and riding him as far as he can go.
Consider that before Friday night’s game, Knapp’s goals against average was 2.35. Reichard’s was 2.52.
Before Friday’s game, Knapp’s save percentage was .917. Reichard’s was .900.
And, obviously by now, you know what happened.
Reichard started and was rocked for four goals on just 26 shots as Miami lost 4-3. This despite outshooting the Lakers 46-26 including an 18-2 margin in a dominant third period that saw Lake’s Kevin Kapalka do his best “Dominik Hasek in his prime” impression. Cody saw his goals against average balloon to 2.63 and his save percentage fall to .897 which as most know, are pedestrian numbers by today’s goaltending standards — and Reichard’s career numbers for that matter.
So, there wasn’t a huge statistical disparity but Knapp was hot. He obviously earned the right during practice to start Friday, so I just can’t understand how making 25 saves and surrendering one goal in Friday’s victory wasn’t enough to earn him the start on Saturday night?
And, trust me, this isn’t to say I don’t want to see Cody Reichard in Miami’s goal. Everyone knows he’s EARNED the right to playing time. I just question Coach Blasi’s thought process when he could not have laid out a clearer path just a few days prior.
Hopefully, both netminders get/stay hot for the remainder of the season, but Saturday night’s loss was costly as Miami fell from third to fifth in the CCHA and from 10th in the Pairwise to a tie for 15th, barely good enough to make the tournament if the season ended today.
Thankfully, there’s still plenty of hockey (12 meaningful games) to be played.
Miami to play an outdoor game?
According to an initial report by Andy Baggot and picked up by Chuck Schwartz at Bucky’s 5th Quarter, a Wisconsin sports blog, Miami could be tapped to play an outdoor game at Soldier Field as soon as next year as the University of Wisconsin is interested in going outdoors once again. The game could be part of a doubleheader with Wisconsin and Minnesota playing one half and Miami and Notre Dame the second.
Schwartz referenced the story by the Wisconsin State Journal’s hockey writer Andy Baggot that said Badgers head coach Mike Eaves was “intrigued” and that both Miami and Notre Dame had also been approached about the idea.
This would obviously be a big deal for Miami and being invited to such an outdoor “classic” would provide yet another big time recruiting tool and additional exposure for the program. Chicago is close enough to SW Ohio and has a huge Miami alumni base that we could see big numbers of RedHawk fans in the Windy City.
The reports provided the following rough details:
-The game would take place February 16, 2013.
-There could be a double header including a game that features Notre Dame and Miami. Both teams are currently in the CCHA, but Notre Dame will be moving to Hockey East after the 2013 season and Miami will be moving to the new NCHC after the 2013 season.
Both schools would be geographical fits for an outdoor game played in Chicago, especially obviously Notre Dame.
-Eaves is “absolutely” intrigued by the idea according to Baggot.
Additionally, with league series being two games each, the teams would have to play on Thursday night at the Kohl Center, with a day off before the proposed Saturday event at Soldier Field.
So, with that in mind, you would think this event would take a home game each from Notre Dame and Miami (to be fair) and would be an actual CCHA league series with one game at Wisconsin’s Kohl Center and the other outdoor at Soldier Field.
This could be very cool. I’m ready to purchase my plane ticket today!
Miami wins third straight, trips up #19 Lake Superior 2-1
Senior co-captain Alden Hirschfeld scored his 7th goal of the season and junior forward Reilly Smith notched his team-leading 14th as Miami used another strong performance in net by senior Connor Knapp to defeat the Lake Superior State Lakers 2-1 in Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
The Lakers opened the scoring with an extra attacker powerplay goal late in the first period, but in a good sign, Miami was whistled for just four penalties as the penalty kill went 2-for-3 on the night. The goal was scored just after a delayed penalty was called against Miami and the Lakers converted with the extra skater as Miami could not gain control of the puck.
The RedHawks would tie the game at 1:13 of the second period as Hirschfeld found a loose puck and jammed it past Laker goaltender Kevin Kapalka and would take the lead a few minutes later when Reilly Smith scored on the powerplay at the 7:11 mark of the period.
Connor Knapp made 25 saves to collect his sixth win of the season and fourth consecutive. He has backstopped Miami’s past three games allowing just two goals and has made 79 saves (.975) lowering his goals against average to 2.04 and improving his save percentage to .922. Knapp is making a serious bid to take the reins and carry this team down the stretch.
Miami will go for their second consecutive weekend sweep tonight in the SOO. Faceoff is 7pm EST.
Notes:
– Miami outshot the Lakers 34-26 as the powerplay went 1-for-5 on the evening but could not convert on a 5-minute major when sophomore forward Bryon Paulazzo was checked hard into the boards by Andrew McParland, who was awarded a game misconduct for his efforts.
– It seems head coach Enrico Blasi still has not committed to Connor Knapp over Cody Reichard though Knapp has been superb since the break. From Dayton Daily News’ writer Pete Conrad’s column yesterday,
Coach Enrico Blasi has no intention of committing to either Knapp or Cody Reichard as his starting goalie in Miami’s next game, national award or no national award.
“We’ve told both goalies the week of practice will determine who plays Friday and Friday’s game will determine who plays Saturday,” Blasi said, “and it’ll be that way for the rest of the year.”
– The official Redskin Warriors “light the lantern” after wins is picking up steam.
– Chris Wideman, Curtis McKenzie, Blake Coleman and Jimmy Mullin had the assists on Miami’s goals.
– With the win, Miami has moved into a tie for third place with Notre Dame in the CCHA standings, is 10th in KRACH and tied for 10th in the Pairwise.
– Miami now has five 2-1 wins this year and improved to 7-4 in games decided by one goal this season.
– The RedHawks have 13 regular season games remaining with nine in Oxford. At 12-9-2, Miami has a realistic shot of getting to 20 wins again this year which would be impressive given a 2-6 start.
Weekend Preview: Lake Superior State
Led by impeccable goaltending by Connor Knapp, the RedHawks swept their way to a great start to the second half of the season. This week, the ‘Hawks head further north into Michigan to take on Lake Superior State in the U.P. of Michigan. The matchup will be a great litmus test to see if LSSU is fo’ real, was last weekend’s sweep of Michigan State a fluke, and will the Rico Swoon will happen or not this season.
Miami will be without Freshman Forward Tyler Biggs this week, after Tyler was suspended for 2 games. In the 3rd period on Friday night in East Lansing, Tyler hit MSU defender Matt Grassi with a direct blow to the head. There was no penalty called on the play, but Grassi was out for the rest of the night, as well as Saturday night, and looks to be out this weekend as MSU hosts Northern Michigan. Expect Biggs to be back in the lineup next weekend in Oxford.
Miami sits 5th in the CCHA with 24 points, just 1 behind LSSU for 4th place, and only 3 points behind ND and Western Michigan who sit at 27 points and in a tie for second. With the league so closely matched, a sweep by Miami would be huge, and so would a sweep by LSSU. Miami is only 4 points ahead of 9th place Michigan State, so earning points this weekend is crucial to start gaining some separation from the bottom tier of the league, as well as to earn that first round bye in the CCHA tournament.
In addition to the usual slate of CCHA games this weekend (all teams but BGSU are in action this week, and all are in-conference games), keep an eye out for Sunday’s game between Michigan and Ohio State. This is the “Frozen Diamond Faceoff” and starts at 5:05 Eastern time. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio for those interested in seeing how ugly the jerseys can get hockey in a baseball stadium.
Lake Superior’s Andrew Perrault Suspended One Game
Well, new CCHA commissioner Fred Pletsch is certainly laying down the law.
A day after Miami freshman forward Tyler Biggs was suspended for two games for delivering an elbow to the head of Michigan State’s Matt Grassi, Lake Superior sophomore defenseman Andrew Perrault was suspended for one game (Friday’s series opener against the RedHawks) for “delivering an illegal hit to the head of a University of Michigan player.”
Now the fun starts.
So, Biggs gets two games for contact to the head, but Perrault gets just one? If the CCHA is going to be so vague, there has to be some mention of why. I’m not saying Fred Pletsch should go all Brendan Shanahan, but this is disconcerting.
Miami loses one of its most talented young players for two games for contact to the head but the Lake player gets just one?
Yet again, it is what it is I guess.
Biggs Suspended for Lake Superior Series
Today the CCHA announced that Miami freshman forward Tyler Biggs has been suspended for two games for “delivering an illegal hit directly to the head of a Michigan State player.”
Though Biggs was not penalized on the play, I can only infer from the league’s cryptic statement that it most likely was an elbow to the head of Michigan State junior defenseman Matt Grassi that knocked him out of most of the third period on Friday and all of Saturday night’s game. It’s strange, however, that very little was made of this in the postgame on Friday or the postmortem delivered by MSU head coach Tom Anastos after Saturday’s 4-0 Miami victory. From TheStateNews.com:
Grassi took an apparent elbow to the face in the third period of Friday’s game, leading to a concussion that required “8-10 stitches.” Anastos said Grassi demonstrated concussion-like symptoms and is out indefinitely until he is cleared to play.
However, Anastos was not prepared to dismiss injuries as the reason why his team struggled this weekend.
“We don’t want to have any excuses for any reason,” Anastos said. “We have to play the game. Every team has injuries. Certainly our team is not a team that’s loaded with depth, you know. But you have to play over that. Like I said before, you have injuries, and it creates opportunities for others.”
So, it is what it is, I guess, but two games feels a little harsh. It’s certainly too bad that Grassi is injured, but it’s also surprising that no penalty was called on the play.
Regardless, Biggs is out of the lineup for Miami’s big series against Lake Superior State in the SOO. Currently, Miami is just one point behind the Lakers in the CCHA standings and the RedHawks would like nothing more than to sweep them in their barn and turn the tables on the Laker sweep of the October series in Oxford. And, a Miami sweep would give them sole possession of fourth place and notch a couple more big Pairwise wins since the Lakers are currently tied for 16th in the all important rankings.
Biggs will be eligible to return to the lineup on January 20 when the RedHawks finally return home to face Western Michigan.
Connor Knapp named INCH National Player of the Week
Fresh off earning CCHA Goaltender of the week honors, Miami senior netminder Connor Knapp is the Inside College Hockey National Player of the Week.
Knapp’s stellar weekend in which he allowed just one goal on 54 shots leading Miami to a needed road sweep of then #15 Michigan State earned the distinction over several players including Daniel Bahntge (Mercyhurst), Daniel Carr (Union), Joey Diamond (Maine) and Carter Rowney (North Dakota).
Congratulations, again, Connor!
Schilling and Knapp Named CCHA Players of the Week
Cameron Schilling Connor Knapp
Senior defenseman Cameron Schilling and senior goaltender Connor Knapp were named the CCHA’s Defenseman and Goaltender of the Week, respectively for their efforts in helping Miami earn a road sweep at Michigan State.
Schilling notched two assists and four blocked shots on the weekend while Knapp stopped 53 of 54 shots including a whitewashing of the Spartans on Saturday night.
The two seniors are part of the most successful run in Miami hockey history having been part of two Frozen Four teams and a CCHA regular season and conference tournament champion.
Congratulations Cameron and Connor!
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