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Saturday CCHA Playoff recap and #SixPack
What a night for College Hockey. It was like Christmas all over again and we haven’t even scratched the surface outside the CCHA!
Bowling Green takes 1-0 lead at Ferris State
Last night’s victory by BGSU marks the first time the last place CCHA team has won a game in the second round of the tournament. Last year, the Falcons also took down Northern Michigan in 3 games in round 1 (winning in 2OT in game 3), but they failed to take a win in round 2, going down 5-1 and 4-1 at Michigan. This year, things get VERY interesting as former Miami assistant Chris Bergeron has his Falcons playing inspired hockey. They’ve won 4 of their last 6, including once against Michigan, and now 3 in a row against NMU (2) and Ferris State.
Cam Wojtala had 2 goals in regulation, and freshman Ryan Carpenter scored the game winner in overtime. But perhaps the player of the game was Goalie Andrew Hammond, who stopped an incredible 54 shots on the night. Check out the complete BGSUFalcons.com recap including interviews after the game. Here’s the highlights as well!
For free streaming audio of the game tonight, here is the link for the BGSU Feed. Pregame coverage starts at 6:35 and puck drop for game 2 is set for 7:05pm.
Western Michigan beats Lake State 4-2
Ian Slater scored twice for Western Michigan, and Mike Leone scored the 2nd period game winner. Leone only has 8 goals for his in his 3 seasons, but 4 of those have come in the CCHA Playoffs. Frank Slubowski was only called on to make 20 saves on the night as the Broncos took a 1-0 series lead in come back fashion. After going down just 3:13 in to the game, the Broncos scored 3 times before Lake State would answer again in a relatively calm CCHA game that only had 3 power play opportunities.
You can catch the full recap from WMU.com here, and stay tuned to the CCHA Productions YouTube channel to catch the highlights later today.
Michigan survives in 2OT against Notre Dame
Michigan’s Chris Brown scored the game winner 3:11 into the second overtime period to give Michigan a 1-0 lead in their first round playoff series against Notre Dame. Shawn Hunwick stopped 37 saves, and Michigan is now just 1 win away from their 24th consecutive trip to Detroit for the CCHA Final Four tournament.
It’s no Jimmy Mullin, but Michigan scored just 1:08 into the game to take a 1-0 lead, and the game stayed that way until the 11:23 mark of the third when Notre Dame’s Anders Lee scored to tie it up. ND’s goalie Steven Summerhays stopped 40 shots on the night (14 in the first OT), many of them of highlight-reel worthy, but couldn’t stop the last one. Catch the full recap here, and then jump over to the highlights!
Tonight’s game 2 is set for a 7:35pm puck drop, and you can listen for free at the ND All-Access site by clicking here. You can also view the game on Comcast Sports on the teevee machines.
SixPack
Here is the Saturday SixPack of tweets. Be sure to follow us on twitter by hitting http://www.twitter.com/redskinwarriors or follow @redskinwarriors to make sure you don’t miss out on these juicy tidbits!
- Jimmy Mullin’s goal 12 seconds into the game is tied for the fastest goal in #MiamiU history, tying Tim Huettl, who scored 12 seconds into a game 1/3/1986 vs Mich-Dearborn.
- Jimmy Mullin had 2 G and 2 A for a career high 4 points and was a +3. Had 3 points against OSU 2/25. He’s proving he’s good at hockey too. 10 pts during 4gm pt streak. #stud
- Curtis McKenzie scores his first goal since December 10th. Reilly Smith now has 7-gm scoring streak. #MiamiU has scored first in 5 straight, 25 of 37 overall. #firingrange
- Connor Knapp is on fire. 5 shutouts in calendar 2012. 3 in last 5 gms. 13 for career is the new Miami record. #MiamiU’s CCHA-leading 7th shutout of season. #bulletproo
- When trailing after 40 minutes of regulation, Lake State is now 0-14-3. #WesternMichigan takes a 1-0 lead in their #CCHAPlayoffs series.
- Notre Dame is 16-3-0 when scoring three or more goals. Last night, they scored 1 and are now 1-14-1 when scoring less than three. #putthepuckinthegoal #CCHAPlayoffs
The highlights from last night’s game can be found on the CCHA Productions YouTube page, or by clicking here.
Puck Drop is set for 7:05 in Oxford. Don’t forget to tune in to the All-Access feed tonight, as the game will not be televised otherwise.
BEAT STATE!
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.
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.
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
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