Jan. 7, 2009

Rico's Ristorante - GALLERY

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OXFORD, Ohio - The RedHawks return to action in their CCHA cluster this weekend as they travel to Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the Michigan Wolverines. The game on Friday starts at 7:35 p.m. and will be televised on FSN Plus and Saturday's game will also begin at 7:35 and will be televised on Comcast Local.

Both games will be radio streamed on www.MURedHawks.com and Saturday's regular season finale against the Maize and Blue will be aired on WMOH 1450. All the action will be called by Greg Waddell of the ISP Sports Network. 
                                 
"CHECKING" MICHIGAN
Michigan comes into the weekend with a record of 13-7-0 and a mark of 7-5-0-0 in conference. The Wolverines are the only team that has yet to compete in a CCHA regular season shootout. Michigan is currently on a four game winning-streak including claiming it second consecutive Great Lakes Invitational Championship.  The Maize and Blue are currently ranked fifth in the CCHA with 19 points and trail fourth place Nebraska-Omaha by two points. Earlier this season, Miami swept Michigan in Steve Cady Arena with a 2-0 victory on Friday night followed by 2-1 win on Saturday night. The weekend was the lowest scoring in Michigan history under Red Berernson. Cody Reichard (Celina, Ohio) picked up his second career shutout on Friday of that series. 

All-time Miami holds a record of 20-66-3 against Michigan and a mark of 3-41-1 against the Maize and Blue in Ann Arbor, however in the past few match-ups things have switched in favor the RedHawks. Miami has won five of the last nine match-ups and holds a record of 5-3-1 in those games.  

THE REDHAWK RUNDOWN
- Enrico Blasi will go for his 200th-carrer victory this weekend at Michigan. Blasi is the all-time wins leader at Miami and has the best winning percentage in school history.

- Miami has not allowed a first period power-play goal since Nov. 7 against Ferris State. Since that goal the RedHawks are a perfect 17-of-17 on the first frame penalty kill. Miami has only allowed two first period power play goals all season both coming in ties (Nov. 7 vs. Ferris State and Oct. 10 vs. Ohio State).

- Only Jon Whitacre, Cameron Schilling and Alden Hirschfeld have never seen action against Michigan.

- The RedHawks are currently on a six game road-winning streak with sweeps against Western Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. The Red and White also have a six game winning streak against ranked teams with a sweep at home against Michigan and road sweeps of Notre Dame and Michigan State

- Miami has allowed five short-handed goals this season with two coming in it last game against Army.

Justin Vaive

- On the power play, Miami is outscoring it opponents 24-9 with 22 of those goals coming in 5-on-4 chances. Three of the power-play goals the RedHawks have allowed this season have come on 5-on-3 chances.

- Justin Vaive (Toronto, Ontario) is only two points away from equaling his total from a season ago. The sophomore has already surpassed his goal total from a season ago with his power-play goal against Clarkson on Jan. 2.

- The magic number under Head Coach Enrico Blasi has been four for the RedHawks. The Red and White have an all-time record of 133-9-7 under Blasi when scoring four goals or more, including a 6-0-0 mark this season. When Miami allows four or more goals the RedHawk have a record of 10-85-7 under Blasi with two losses this season. 

- Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) recorded his fourth game-tying goal of the season against Army. Cannone has recorded the last three game tying goals for the RedHawks including the game tying-strike against Ferris State (Nov. 7). That Ferris State game ended in a tie and it was Cannone who found the net in the shootout to give the RedHawks the two points in the CCHA standings.

- Connor Knapp (York, N.Y.) is the only goalie to defeat Michigan goalie Bryan Hogan this season. Knapp made 25 saves in the game on Nov. 22 allowing only a second period power-play goal to Chris Summers.

Cody Reichard

- Cody Reichard (Celina, Ohio) shut out the Maize and Blue on Nov. 21 making 20 saves. The win was the second in four-game winning streak for Reichard that ended last weekend with his 4-2 loss to Clarkson.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
Miami has won eight it last 10 games with road wins against Michigan State (Nov. 14-15), Western Michigan (Dec. 6-7) and back-to-back wins against Michigan (Nov. 21-22) and RPI in Steve Cady Arena.  Miami has only two wins this season coming in series splits. The RedHawks have also won six in a row on the road, sweeping the Broncos, the Spartans and Notre Dame (Oct. 24-25). The Fighting Irish are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation with only three losses this season, two of those coming on their home ice to the Red and White.  
 

Carter Camper

GOING CAMPING - CCHA PLAYER OF THE MONTH - HOBEY BAKER CANIDATE
Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) leads the team in points with 27 (12-15-27) and that ranks him tied for third nationally in points and trails two players, who have both played more games. Camper also leads Miami in goals (12), power-play goals (6) and is tied for the team lead in assists (15) and game-winning goals (2). Camper leads the CCHA in points, ranks second in power play goals and is tied for third in both goals and assists. With his 26 points this season, Camper now has 68 points and has a chance to become the first player in school history to rack up 100-career points in his first two seasons.  The native of Rocky River, Ohio is averaging 1.28 points per-game, which is the best career points per-game average by any player under Enrico Blasi and is second only to Steve Morris (1.39), the Red and White's career points leader in school history.

Camper picked CCHA Player of the Month honors with his performance on the ice in the month of December. The sophomore racked up 10 points in the month including four goals and six assists. The Rocky River, Ohio native also picked up his first career hat trick on Dec. 7 against Western Michigan. The three goals were a career high for Camper but he was not finished setting career high water marks as a week later he passed out a career high four assists against RPI. Camper set a new career high in points in the Western Michigan game with a four point night and then matched it Dec. 14 against RPI.

Miami has also named Camper as it Hobey Baker Memorial trophy candidate. Camper is currently tied for fourth in the nation in points, leads the CCHA in points and is tied for first in the CCHA in power play points. Over the past two seasons Camper leads in the nation in points per game with 1.25.

WING MAN
Tommy Wingels (Wilmette, Ill.) has racked up seven goals and eight assists this season. Wingels is tied with Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) for the team in game-winning goals with two. During the RedHawks eight game winning-streak (Nov. 14 - Dec. 14), Wingels picked up both his game winners and 13 points. In his last 10 games the Wilmette, Ill., native has recorded 14 points (5-9-14). In the Red and White's 2-1 victory of Michigan on Nov. 22 it was Wingels that scored the game winner, giving Michigan goalie Bryan Hogan his only loss of the season

Tommy Wingels

REDHAWK SPECIAL TEAMS
The RedHawk special teams units are currently rated as the best in the CCHA. Miami leads the conference and is second in the nation on the penalty kill with a unit that kills off 92.8-percent (116/125) of power plays for opposing teams. The RedHawks also have a solid power-play unit that is currently ranked third in the CCHA with a 20.0-percent (25/125) success rate. This season Miami is 8-3-2 when it scores on the power play, 8-4-0 when they are perfect on the penalty kill and 6-2-0 when they do both in the same game

CLOSING IN ON 200 WINS
With 12 wins in 2008-09, head coach Enrico Blasi has drawn closer to the 200-win mark. Blasi is in his tenth season and has 199 wins at Miami, including one regular-season CCHA title. Blasi has the most wins by a head coach in school history as well as the highest winning percentage. Blasi is also closing in on his 150th career win in the CCHA, he currently has 146 conference wins, including 10 this season.  Over the past four seasons, no coach has posted more wins or a higher winning percentage than Enrico Blasi.
                                                                                                     
IN THE RANKINGS
Miami is currently ranked sixth in the USCHO and CBS College Sports Division I men's hockey poll. The RedHawks have moved up and down in the Top 10 this season but have been ranked within the nation's Top 10 for 37 consecutive weeks. During this run, the RedHawks have been ranked as the nation's No. 1 team for ten weeks. Miami has also been ranked in the Top 10 for 72 of the last 80 weeks and has been ranked No. 1 for 11 of those weeks. This season, Miami has played eight games against ranked opponents and holds a record of 6-1-1 including six consecutive wins.

LAST TIME OUT - JAN. 3 VS. ARMY
Army's Jay Clark made 56 saves and teammates Cody Omilusik and Eric Sefchik each scored shorthanded goals to lead the Golden Knights to a 3-2 upset win over No. 2 Miami Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the Ohio Hockey Classic.

The Red and White was forced to go on the penalty kill early as Will Weber (Gaylord, Mich.) was sent to the "sin bin" for contact to the head high sticking.  The RedHawks killed off the infraction but were back on the PK after Kevin Roeder (Glenview, Ill.) was called for tripping.  Miami killed off that penalty and another by Chris Wideman (St. Louis, Mo.) to finish the period perfect three-of-three. Connor Knapp (York, N.Y.) stopped all five shots he faced in the period. The Red and White registered 15 or more shots for the seventh period in the last 10.

Miami fell behind in the second after Cody Omilusik slammed in a Will Ryan rebound to give Army a lead at 1:57 of the second.  Omilusik would widen the margin at 11:34 of the frame as he slipped one by Knapp stick side with assists from Marcel Alvarez and Jake Hannon. Miami would battle back as Andy Miele (Grosse Point Woods, Mich.) found the net at 15:16.  Gary Steffes (Grand Blanc, Mich.) passed the puck from behind the net to Justin Vaive (Toronto, Ontario) who tipped the puck on to Miele.

The RedHawks would even the score at 4:21 of the third period when Army tried to clear the zone and it was intercepted by Pat Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.) and he fired it past Jay Clark to even the game at two. Army would respond with its second shorthanded goal of the period at 5:11 as Eric Sefchik and Owen Meyer broke out and Sefchik netted the goal that proved to be the game winner.  

Miami will head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for its first trip to Yost Ice Arena since Oct. 20, 2006. The RedHawks and the Wolverines will play both games at 7:35 p.m. with the contest on Friday televised on FSN Plus and Saturday's battle televised on Comcast Local and the NHL Network. The game on Saturday will be shown live on the NHL Network in Canada and at 12 noon (EST) on Sunday on the NHL Network in the United States.

Miami RedHawk Hockey
Game Notes
Ohio Hockey Classic Consolation Game
#2 Miami, 2 vs. Army, 3
Jan. 3, 2009 • Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio

Miami allowed the first goal of the game for the second straight night after having taken a 1-0 lead in seven straight before that. The RedHawks have now fallen behind on the first goal eight times in 20 games and are 1-5-2 this year when the opponent scores first.

Army's opening goal came shorthanded at 1:34 of the second period. It was the fourth shorthanded goal allowed by Miami this year, including the second in five games. The Golden Knights added another shorthanded goal in the third period.

After falling behind 2-0, Miami evened the score with goals by Andy Miele (his seventh) and by Pat Cannone (his eighth). Assists were credited to Justin Vaive and Gary Steffes on the first strike.

Miami has now lost back-to-back games after winning eight in a row. The RedHawks had not lost two straight non-conference games since Oct. 29-30, 2004 when they dropped a pair at St. Lawrence.

Miami has participated in all six Ohio Hockey Classics, winning last year and in 2005. This year marks the second time that the RedHawks have gone winless and drops their OHC record to 4-4-2.

For the second straight night, Rico Blasi was denied in his attempt to reach 200 career wins. The 10-year head coach now has a record of 199-143-31. Blasi took 218 games (Oct. 9, 1999 to Jan. 24, 2005) to reach the century mark in win, but this was only the 155th game since (Jan. 22, 2005 to Jan. 2, 2009) earning career win number 100.

Connor Knapp suffered only his second loss of the season against Army. He is now 7-2-1 after seeing a four-game winning streak snapped.

LAST TIME VS. MICHIGAN - NOV. 22, 2008
Miami finished off its second consecutive sweep of a nationally-ranked team from the state of Michigan with a 2-1 win over Michigan.

The first period was hard and physical, but got a little too rough at 13:31 as Matt Rust was called for a five-minute major for checking and a game-misconduct penalty. The penalties resulted in an ejection for Rust and a five-minute power play for the RedHawks. The Red and White came up empty on the advantage, but just as the power play ended, Carter Camper put the RedHawks on the board. Justin Mercier took a shot that Michigan's Bryan Hogan kicked wide.  Tommy Wingels grabbed the rebound and found Camper in the slot.

Miami went 0-for-2 on the power play in the period, including the five-minute major, but the RedHawk penalty kill also stopped Michigan on its only man advantage of the period. Connor Knapp picked up where Cody Reichard left off last night, making four saves in the first frame.

Wingels would give the RedHawks a two-goal advantage 2:41 into the second period on a hard one-timer. Camper picked up the assist as he found Wingels with a well-placed cross-ice pass. The Wolverines would get an opportunity to close the gap, when Pat Cannone was called for slashing at 14:16 of the frame. Michigan took advantage as Chris Summer found the net at 14:43 of the second period, ending Miami's streak of 25-consecutive penalty kills.

The Wolverines would have another big opportunity when Will Weber was called for boarding late in the second and 35 seconds later Mercier picked up a slash. The Miami penalty kill came up big and killed off the 1:25 two-man advantage for the Maize and Blue. Miami went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill in the second and was held to 0-for-2 on the power play.

Both teams peppered the opposing goalie in the third period as Hogan and Knapp each made 13 saves to keep the third period scoreless. Miami and Michigan each went 0-for-2 on the power play in third as well.

IS THERE A DRAFT IN HERE?
Freshmen Trent Vogelhuber and Will Weber are both draft choices of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Weber was chosen in the second-round of the 2007 NHL draft by the Jackets. Vogelhuber, a native of Dublin, Ohio, was taken in the same draft, in the seventh-round. Vogelhuber called being drafted by his favorite team "a dream come true." Weber and Vogelhuber join three other RedHawks, who have been picked in the NHL draft. Justin Mercier was picked by the Colorado Avalanche in 2005. Justin Vaive was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and just this past off season Tommy Wingels was picked by the San Jose Sharks.   
  
NEXT UP
Miami returns to Steve Cady Arena for the first time in 2009 to host the Michigan State Spartans.  Both games will be televised on the CBS College Sports with the game on Friday starting at 8:05 p.m. and Saturday's game starting at 5:05 p.m.

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