Jan. 14, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

Timeout with Kaufman

OXFORD, Ohio - The RedHawks return to Steve Cady Arena for the first time in 2009 to take on the Michigan State Spartans Friday at 8:05 p.m. and Saturday at 5:05 p.m. Both games will be televised on CBS College Sports.

Both games will be radio streamed on www.MURedHawks.com and Saturday's series  finale against the Spartans will be aired on WPFB. All the action will be called by Greg Waddell of the ISP Sports Network. 
                                 
"CHECKING" MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State comes into the weekend with a record of 6-13-3 on the season and a 3-9-2-2 in the CCHA standings. The Spartans' 10 points rank 11th in the conference. Matt Schepke leads the Spartans in points with 13 and in goals with 10. Tim Crowder leads the team in assists with nine.  Michigan State has split its last four matchups, finishing second to Michigan (5-1) in Great Lakes Invitational after defeating North Dakota in the opening round (2-1). The Spartans opened 2009 with a split against Alaska in East Lansing and did not play a week ago.  Michigan State started the season 4-2-1 but then the Green and White went on an 11-game winless streak.     

Miami holds an all-time record of 24-65-5 against Michigan State and a mark of 10-27-3 against the Spartans in Oxford. However, in the past few match-ups, things have switched in favor the RedHawks. Miami has won the last four meetings and five of the last six. Michigan State's last win over the RedHawks came on  Jan. 6, 2007 in Oxford (4-1).

Carter Camper

THE REDHAWK RUNDOWN
- Connor Knapp (York, N.Y.) and Cody Reichard (Celina, Ohio) only allowed one goal apiece against Michigan State the first time around

- Brandon Smith (Pepper Pike, Ohio) recorded his first career goal earlier this season against Michigan State. Smith pushed a rebound from the wing back to the center of the ice that hit Michigan State goalie Jeff Lerg and went in the net. The goal proved to be the game-winner.

- Justin Mercier (Erie, Pa.) missed his first game since the NCAA tournament in 2007, last week against Michigan. Mercier had played in 63 consecutive games.

- Miami swept Michigan State earlier this season in Munn Ice Arena. The RedHawks were led by Mercier and Andy Miele (Grosse Point Woods, Mich.) who both had three-point weekends. Miele posted a goal and two assists and Mercier recorded two goals and one assist.

Enrico Blasi

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

 
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) that ranks him tied for ninth nationally in points. 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). Campers tied for fourth in the CCHA in points, ranks tied for fourth in power play goals, is tied for third in goals and is fifth in assists. 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 up 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 watermarks as a week later he passed out 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 its Hobey Baker Memorial Trophy candidate. Camper is currently tied for ninth in the nation in points, is tied for second in 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 1.28.

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 11 points (5-6-11).  Wingels set a career high four points in a game on Dec. 14 against RPI as he netted two goals and passed out two assists. 

Raymond Eichenlaub

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 (127/139) 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 19.1-percent (26/136) success rate. This season, Miami is 8-4-2 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 as he currently has 146 conference wins, including 10 this season.  Over the past four seasons, no coach in the country has posted more wins or a higher winning percentage than Enrico Blasi.
                                                                                                     
IN THE RANKINGS
Miami is currently ranked ninth 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 38 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 73 of the last 81 weeks and has been ranked No. 1 11 times. This season, Miami has played 10 games against ranked opponents and holds a record of 6-3-1.

Pat Cannone

LAST TIME OUT - JAN. 10 VS. MICHIGAN
No. 6 Miami (12-7-3) dropped its fourth consecutive game on Sunday as Michigan (15-7-0) and goalie Bryan Hogan shutout the RedHawks, 4-0 in Yost Ice Arena.

Miami fell behind at 4:13 of the first when Luke Glendening gave the Maize and Blue the lead as he slipped the puck between the pads of Miami goalie Connor Knapp (York, New York). Miami killed off the only Michigan power play of the period but was unable to convert on its only man-up opportunity of the period. Knapp made seven saves in the first frame including four on the penalty kill.

The RedHawks battled hard in the second period and earned four power plays but were unable to capitalize.  The game play became more physical in the second frame but got a little too rough when Cameron Schilling (Carmel, Ind.) was called for checking from behind and also received a game misconduct. Michigan would convert on the five-minute penalty with 4:34 left in the second when Matt Rust gave the Wolverines a two-goal advantage. Knapp stopped six shots in the second period and three on the penalty kill.

David Wohlberg would open scoring in the third period as he netted his second goal of the weekend at 4:30 of the frame. Steve Kampfer add  the final goal of the game with 38 seconds remaining to make the final tally 4-0.

The game on Sunday was a makeup game. The game was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved to Sunday after a snow storm inflicted damage to Yost Ice Arena.   

Miami RedHawk Hockey
Game Notes
#2 Miami 0 vs. #10 Michigan 4
Jan. 11, 2009 • Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Mich.

Miami was outshot on Sunday ending Miami's streak of eight straight games with more shots on net. During the streak the RedHawks outshot their opponents 309-171

The weekend is the lowest scoring for the RedHawks since Jan. 14-15, 2005 when Northern Michigan held Miami to one goal.

The sweep by Michigan marks the first time the RedHawks have been swept in CCHA play since Feb. 15-16 of last season when Ferris State claimed two in a row against the Red and White.

The shutout was the first time that Miami has been blanked since Dec. 8, 2007 when Alaska and Chad Johnson held Miami without a goal.

The shutout was the first for Michigan against Miami since Dec. 4, 1998.

The four goals are the most allowed by Connor Knapp (York, N.Y.) this season.

The goal by Michigan's Steve Kampfer at 19:22 of the third period was the first goal given up by Miami this season in the final minute of agame. 

Miami was without Carter Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) and Justin Mercier (Erie, Pa.) due to injury.

LAST TIME VS. MICHIGAN STATE- NOV. 15, 2008
The RedHawks picked up their fourth consecutive win against Michigan State in East Lansing on Friday, 3-1.

Miami was forced to put its penalty kill to work early when Raymond Eichenlaub was called for interference at 4:20 of the first period. Michigan State earned a two-man advantage when Will Weber was called for cross checking at 5:41.  The RedHawk penalty kill, ranked second in the country coming into the game, continued to impress and stopped the early 5-on-3 Spartan advantage for the second consecutive night.

Both teams battled hard in the first period and came away even with each team unable to capitalize on the power play. Connor Knapp came up big in the first frame making seven saves.

Miami and Michigan State continued to be physical in the second period and the Red and White finally broke through when Justin Mercier picked off a puck near the blue line. He took the puck the length of the ice and slipped it between the pads of Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg to give the RedHawks the 1-0 advantage.

For the period Miami killed off all three Michigan State power plays and Knapp posted nine more saves to push his two-period total to16.

Michigan State came out hard in the third and Corey Tropp looked like he had a great opportunity to even the score but Knapp made a kick save to preserve the lead for Miami. The RedHawk offense would reward their goalie when Brandon Smith scored his first career goal at 9:40 of the third period. Andy Miele passed the puck up ice to Gary Steffes who fired a shot. After the save Brandon Smith fired the puck toward the center of the ice it hit Lerg in the back and went into the net. 

The Spartans would not go quietly and Tropp fired a shot that slipped through Knapp to pull Michigan State within one. Tim Crowder would pick up the only assist on the goal. Michigan State was unable to even the score and pulled Lerg in the final minute. Carter made them pay as he picked up the puck behind the Miami net and fired a shot the length of the ice into the open net.

Trent Vogelhuber

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 heads west Jan. 23-24 to take on the Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha. Both games start at 7:05 p.m. Central Standard Time and will be televised on CBS College Sports.