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Miami’s home ice advantage
Watch as the coach and the captains talk about the importance of Miami’s home ice advantage.
New (adidas) sweaters confirmed!
Not that it should come as a big surprise, but over the weekend, Miami unveiled new home (adidas!) uniforms for the 2014-15 season. And, they look fantastic!
Adorned with an adidas hallmark, the back collar of the sweater features the words, “Established 1809” as a sign off and a reminder that as beautiful as Mother Miami is, she’s seen a thing or two.
Take a look at a few shots from Fan Appreciation night and let us know what you think!
2014-15 Preview: The new guys
Yesterday, we provided our review of the returning letterwinners from last year’s Miami club that finished dead last in the inaugural NCHC regular season but just a goal away from a Frozen Faceoff championship. Now, let’s take a look at the new guys who will be called upon to do two specific things.
- Shore up the defensive corps that were so poor a year ago. Remember, despite having the top two scorers in the league
A goal, a helmet-less Ryan McKay and no defenseman in sight. (photo: Bradley K. Olson)
(senior captain Austin Czarnik and junior Riley Barber), Miami won just six league games and continually hung junior goaltenders Ryan McKay and Jay Williams out to dry.
- Add “Miami size” back into the lineup.
Defense
To address the defense, welcome 7th round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens and Boston College transfer, junior Colin Sullivan and highly regarded 3rd round pick of the Minnesota Wild, freshman Louie Belpedio.
Boston College transfer, Colin Sullivan, should contribute immediately on Miami’s blue line. (photo: Getty Images)
Colin Sullivan’s journey to Oxford is an interesting one. As you may know, Miami is the third collegiate program to which Sullivan has committed since his initial declaration to play at Yale beginning in the fall of 2013. However, the New Haven Register has reported that Sullivan agreed to play a season of junior hockey before enrolling at Yale and that Sullivan decided against it wanting to play college hockey immediately at the beginning of the 2012 season. With Yale’s incoming class having been filled, Sullivan re-opened his recruitment landing at Boston College. After scoring just one point in 32 games as a freshman with the Eagles in 2012-13, Sullivan who according to the Register had fallen out of BC’s top six, left the school just before the season started in October 2013 and played for Green Bay of the USHL last season. There, Sullivan had two goals and six assists in 41 games for the Gamblers. Sullivan brings size (6’1″ 205) and an impressive resume of prep hockey starring in the northeast. Here’s hoping Colin can recapture his game and elevate Miami’s top six back to where we are accustomed to seeing them.
Louie Belpedio (5’10” 193) is a “can’t miss” college prospect who last season led all USNTDP defensemen with five goals and was the second-leading scorer from the blue line with 15 points playing in all 26 games for the red, white and blue. Belpedio,
Freshman Louie Belpedio is a highly regarded defenseman from Illinois. (photo: Tom Sorensen)
who is just the latest highly regarded Chicago-area prospect to commit to Miami, captained Team USA to a gold medal in the Under-18 World Junior Championship in Finland in April notching two assists and a +3 rating in seven games. We expect big things from Belpedio over the course of his Miami career.
Size
Cue the music!
The 2013-14 season might best be remembered by the phrase, “they’re small, but Rico is trying to match up better against Hockey East schools.”
Well, if that was indeed true, it backfired big time.
The smallish RedHawks were routinely pushed around by the bigger squads of the NCHC, and even when matching against smaller, faster teams, deficiencies in physicality were apparent. Yet, there’s no question the current roster is probably the fastest group Miami has ever put on the ice, but with the addition of 6’5″ Nebraska-Omaha transfer, junior forward Andrew
At 6’6″, freshman forward Conor Lemirande is the tallest RedHawk since Justin Vaive.
Schmit and his “crash cousin” (I’m trademarking that one right now), 6’6″ freshman forward Conor Lemirande and the addition of 6’3″ freshman defenseman Scott Dornbrock, Miami returns to the days of Will Weber, Justin Vaive and Joe Hartman. I’m sure you’ll remember that size has always been a Miami hallmark throughout head coach Enrico Blasi’s tenure.
And, while I’m suggesting this new size means more physical play, I’m not going to negate the impact these three will make in other ways though Schmit has just one collegiate goal and 30 penalty minutes in 38 career games (but another 19 goals and 188 PIM in 105 games in the USHL) and Lemirande had 7 goals and a whopping 139 penalty minutes in 58 games for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL last season. As for Dornbrock, he had a more “typical” line with the NAHL’s Minot Minotaurs notching 7-17-24 and 41 PIM in 59 games from the blue line.
With Miami’s depth, it will be interesting to see if these three are in the lineup on a nightly basis. Of the three, I think Schmit will see the most ice time given his familiarity with the program as he was in the press box with the team all of last year sitting out following his transfer. I think Schmit will add size, toughness and leadership to a club that last year at times seemed to lack all three. Because, if it means anything based on our Twitter (@schmittythedog) interactions with him, he seems like a quality guy
Something’s fishy here.
that we’re rooting for. We also believe he secretly loves “The Bachelor,” or perhaps something even better, but that has not been confirmed. We expect full disclosure soon.
Projected Lineup
Having not seen the team practice this season, and having not even played an exhibition yet, here’s our guess at how Miami will lineup when the puck drops for real on October 10 at Bowling Green.
Offense
Coleman – Czarnik – Murphy
Louis – Kuraly – Barber
Wideman – Morris – Doherty
Schmit/Mooney – Greenberg – Gacek
Other forward possibilities: Devin Loe, Lemirande – Actually, when you look at the roster like this, Jimmy Mullin’s injury really hurts the depth at forward. While I do not think we’ll be seeing Conor Lemirande on opening night, it’s completely reasonable to expect to see him soon, especially if there is any other injury concern. With the depth at defense, and the lack of it at forward, Michael Mooney’s move to forward makes even more sense now.
Defense
C. Joyaux – Caito
M. Joyaux – Sullivan
Belpedio – Hamilton
Other defense possibilities: Taylor Richart, Dornbrock, Ben Paulides – Rico will have his work cut out getting ice time for everyone but the depth here is dramatically better than last year when you figured his best play was to shift Matt Caito for 60 minutes and and take his chances.
So, there you are. The new guys. Welcome all to The Brotherhood and best of luck this year!
What do you think the opening night lineup will look like?
Miami falls to DU in NCHC Championship 4-3
In what can only be described as a season to forget, Miami’s run to the inaugural NCHC title game will at least provide a silver lining to an otherwise dismal year. In the end, Miami tried valiantly to salvage the season over the past two weekends, but ultimately it was Miami’s lack of consistency, tight defense and, at times, leadership that was its undoing.
Never was Miami’s inconsistency more apparent than tonight, which was a reminder of how the team played for much of the year. The squad seemed disinterested and was certainly not the team we saw a night before against North Dakota. As a result, the Pioneers seized upon Miami’s uncertainty and took a 2-0 lead into the locker room after the first period.
In his postgame press conference, Miami head coach Enrico Blasi addressed Miami’s lack of energy at the start of the game.
“We had no energy. Our guys came out flat. I guess that’s my fault. I’ll take full blame for that. That was unacceptable in the championship game so that’s on me.”
As Miami began to find their legs, they erased the two goal deficit by netting two of their own in the second but Miami would fall victim to its own inconsistency as mistakes they avoided last night crept back into their game.
“I thought at 2-2 we were going to get some momentum then they come out in the 3rd period, we make a couple mistakes, they score a couple of goals. Really just indicative of our year, said Blasi. Every time we made a mistake it cost us. But, our guys battled hard. Whatever we had in the tank, that’s what we did.”
So, it goes that Miami made things interesting late as Anthony Louis (who made the all-Tournament team) scored his second goal of the night with just 90 ticks left and Miami even had a couple good chances to tie the game 6-on-5. Louis will be a big part of the program moving forward and his surge down the stretch makes you feel good about the offense even if Riley Barber or others leave early.
“He’s (Louis) one of those guys that we’re going to make sure he’s at a high level next year. He’s got to play consistent. He’s an 18 year old young kid that’s going be better. He’s going to be one of our go-to guys and we’ll get him ready to go.”
Blasi was asked about his goaltender, Ryan McKay, who while allowing a soft goal, probably played well enough to win.
“Ryan (McKay) and Jay (Williams) need to be better. They had a great freshman campaign but as sophomores they let off the gas a little bit and we’ve got to regain that. I think there’s a lot to work with in our locker room. I don’t think there’s any panic in the locker room, but we’ve got to get to work.”
So, as this year concludes, we’re left to wonder about next year much earlier than we’re used to in these parts. The NCAA tournament will start next week without Miami for the first time since the ’04-’05 season.
Thinking ahead, Blasi concluded, “I think we have something to work with. We got a lot of work to do in certain areas and we’re going to address those things. Actually we’ve already addressed some of those issues. We’ve got some youth that needs to learn how to work, how to compete at a high level and that’s on us as a coaching staff and we’ll begin the teaching here in a week. I saw some things I think our team is capable of doing. Obviously we’re capable of playing with anybody. Anybody in this league is. This is a tough league. You have to come every night. You have to play every night. We’ve got a lot of work to do, there’s no question about it. You can’t finish last in the league and try to make a run at the the end. I thought our guys did as good a job as they could. We needed that kind of consistency in January and February and we didn’t have it.”
“I take full blame for the entire year, actually, and we’ll get better. I can guarantee that.”
2-2 after 2…
Well, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and in the 2nd period, Miami got two HUGE breaks that led directly to two goals. So, it all comes down to this. Whomever digs deepest and wins the third period will claim the hardware and the ticket to the dance next weekend.
Some second period observations and stats:
– Cody Murphy has been all over the place. He has easily been Miami’s hardest working skater. He leads Miami in SOG with 3.
– Ryan McKay seemed to regain his composure and is playing the puck much more effectively.
– Sean Kuraly’s goal was of the “seeing eye” variety and perhaps surprised Brittain. The goaltenders are now even in allowing bad ones.
– Miami really shut down Denver in the 2nd and kept them to the outside.
– Anthony Louis now has a goal in his last three games and 11 on the year.
– Denver was really clutching and grabbing, and getting away with it. Miami was having difficulty entering the zone, but with the two markers, sometimes it’s good to be lucky.
Third period hockey for all the marbles. Let’s do this, boys!
2-0 DU after one…
Well, that was an ugly period of play with Miami looking tentative and unsure of themselves and completely unlike the team we saw last night that took it to UND. Here are a few initial thoughts and stats.
– Riley Barber’s early penalty was a foolish slash from behind and led to DU’s first goal late on their first powerplay.
– Miami looks incredibly tentative and almost disinterested.
– Ryan McKay is not on his game tonight. He’s fighting the puck and had another puck slip past after hitting him in the chest. That’s happened several times this year and can’t happen in a big game such as this.
– Miami did a fairly good job keeping DU to the outside, but they need McKay to pick it up and offensively, the RedHawks need to drive to the net and get traffic in front of Brittain. When they did that, they had success generating chances in the first period.
– Denver blocked 3 Miami shots in the first period.
– Faceoff wins were even at 9 apiece.
You know what they say, a two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey. Let’s hope that’s the case tonight as Miami will need to come from behind to claim the trophy and continue this late season run.
Miami v. Denver for the NCHC Championship
Miami and Denver will battle for this baby.
If at the beginning of the season you said that Miami and Denver would play for the first ever NCHC tournament championship, no one would have been surprised. However, if the same question were posed about a month ago, it would certainly have elicited curious looks.
But, that’s how quickly a season can change.
Eighth seeded Miami will face sixth seeded Denver with the winner earning both a championship trophy and a trip to the NCAA tournament. With St. Cloud firmly in the field and Miami or Denver earning an automatic bid, the NCHC will have at least two teams represented. But, if North Dakota can rebound and defeat Western Michigan in today’s third place game, UND may have a shot to get in if they get help.
If Miami prevails tonight, that would mean playing in the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati where the RedHawks are the host institution. After a regular season that saw Miami finish last in their new conference, the magnitude of their current four-game winning streak was not lost on head coach Enrico Blasi.
“I was thinking on the bench, you know, sometimes you got to have a little bit of faith in your team. About a month ago, I don’t think any of you guys would have picked us to be here in this position. I always say everything happens for a reason. Guys stayed with each other. They played hard. They practiced hard. They stayed positive and we’re going to the championship game tomorrow night.”
Miami has gone 2-2 against Denver this year and has had a pretty good run of success against the Pioneers over recent years. With the way the RedHawks are playing, nothing would surprise me. And, if the Miami team that showed up last night against North Dakota is there tonight, I think it’s reasonable to believe Miami will live to play on next weekend in Cincinnati. If not, at least this late season run breathed some life into an otherwise lackluster season.
Rise and Prevail! Let’s do this!
Postgame comments — 3/21
Enrico Blasi, Blake Coleman and Austin Czarnik address the media following Miami’s 3-0 victory over North Dakota.
Miami Defeats North Dakota 3-0
Miami is coming together as a team at just the right time.
In their most complete game of the season, at precisely the right time, the Miami RedHawks defeated North Dakota 3-0 tonight at Target Center. With one more victory, Miami will qualify for the NCAA tournament where they would be the #4 seed in Cincinnati. Imagine that, a home game in the NCAA tournament sits as a reward for persevering through a tough season. Regardless of how they got here, Miami is truly improving every day and is now a threat to make a serious run if all continues to go well.
With the win, the RedHawks were able to gain a measure of revenge and satisfaction after sustaining a 9-2 drubbing at the hands of UND in Grand Forks in February. Thinking back to that game and then looking at this Miami team tonight, you wouldn’t believe they are the same squad. A commitment to team defense. Timely scoring from the prime scoring areas. Going to the hard area of the ice and sticking up for teammates. A true team victory tonight.
After the game, junior forward Blake Coleman addressed the 9-2 loss by saying, “It wasn’t really something we talked about much, to be honest. We just, we focused on the process. Games happen like that. It was a low point but the way we’ve responded has been incredible and we’re looking to keep this journey going.”
With the victory, the journey does indeed continue for at least one more game as Miami advances to the first ever NCHC championship game where they will face the Denver Pioneers who advanced by knocking off Western Michigan 4-3 in a hard-fought game.
In the first period, Miami used their speed to its advantage and came out flying.
Riley Barber, Sean Kuraly and Anthony Louis were particularly effective as the RedHawks denied space and time to UND. But as the period wore on, UND started to push back winning puck battles and picking up the physical play. Head coach Enrico Blasi said that he was pleased with the overall effort from his team in keeping UND to the outside which would be a theme throughout the game.
After a penalty to UND’s Andrew Panzarella at 9:58 of the first period, Miami would take advantage of its first powerplay of the night as Blake Coleman found the back of the net spinning and firing a wrist shot that beat UND goalie Zane Gothberg top shelf. Coleman had several good chances on the man advantage but capitalized on a great keep in by Matt Caito off a poor clearing attempt, and the puck came right to Coleman who, in his words, “just closed my eyes and put it on net.”
As second period began, both teams seemed sluggish.
There was significant attention to defense by Miami with Ben Paulides leading the charge and captain Austin Czarnik shadowing UND’s Mark MacMillan mercilessly. Czarnik was effective in limiting MacMillan’s chances on UND’s top line and took him out of the game. UND carried the play after the ten minute mark and tilted the ice in its favor. But, sophomore netminder Ryan McKay made some key saves and the Miami defense bailed him out a few times by clearing rebounds as UND pushed for the equalizer. In earning the shutout, McKay made 32 saves and was praised by his coach. Said, head coach Enrico Blasi, “When McKay is on you can hear him barking. He was barking again tonight. Most of the time we have no idea what he’s saying. But he’s barking and that means he’s in the game.”
While McKay barked, Miami and UND continued their battle with neither team giving much.
But, the game turned on a simple play when with 30 seconds left in the second period, UND was called for icing and rather than sitting on the one goal lead, Blasi sent out the number one line with a twist. With the faceoff to the right of Gothberg, junior Blake Coleman took the draw winning it cleanly to Austin Czarnik who carried the puck between the circles and fired a wrist shot back against his body beating Gothberg high.
Miami was then able to carry the momentum of the late goal into the third period and took the play to UND. Unlike the first two periods where it could be argued that UND had the better of most of the play, Miami dominated the third period culminating with yet another wrister from between the circles when at 6:13 of the period, freshman Anthony Louis took the drama out of the outcome and gave Miami a 3-0 lead.
Tomorrow night, Miami will face Denver, a team they’ve beaten twice this year. They will face arguably the best goaltender in the league in Sam Brittain and in order to advance to the NCAA tourney, will need to continue to commit to defense and get scoring from throughout the lineup.
The puck drops at 7:38 PM CST and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Greg Waddell will have the Miami call on Miami All-Access as well.
2-0 Miami after 2…
With a goal in the final minute of the 2nd period, Miami takes a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period of the second semifinal here in Minneapolis.
Thoughts after 2:
– The first 10 minutes of the period were largely throw-away. Neither team really did much.
– UND dominated the second half of the period until about the 17 minute mark when Miami began to find its legs.
– UND iced the puck with 30 seconds left and you just had a feeling that giving the Coleman/Czarnik line a chance might be bad for UND. And, it was.
– Ben Paulides picked up the physical game in the 2nd period playing the heavy for a team without a lot of it.
– Austin Czarnik has been outstanding shadowing UND’s Mark MacMillan everywhere including behind the net tonight. He will have skated a full marathon and then some following the completion of this game.
– Alex Gacek has also been throwing the body despite his rather small size.
– Miami began to allow too much space, and accordingly, odd man rushes to UND in the second half of the period. However, they have played the most responsible game I have seen them play in a long while. Can they keep it up in the 3rd?
– Matt Caito has now blocked 4 shots tonight and Miami has blocked 14 overall. UND has blocked 10.
– Coleman (5) and Barber (4) lead Miami in SOG.
– Both Miami goals have come from the same spot on the ice — right between the circles in the premium zone. UND did not get a shot on goal in the 2nd period from that location. Miami did a terrific job keeping the UND shots to the outside. They must continue doing it.
– They are showing the damn BU highlights on the big screen. Please stop.
Let’s see if the boys can finish. Go RedHawks!
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