March 28, 2008

WORCESTER, MASS - In the midst of its winningest season ever, Coach Rico Blasi's Miami RedHawks ice hockey team hopes to add the first of four more victories to its record total of 32 at the NCAA Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass.

The top-seeded RedHawks (32-7-1 ) face No. 4 Air Force (21-11-6) at 4 p.m. Saturday at the DCU Center.

No. 2 seed Boston College battles No. 3 Minnesota in the second game. Saturday's winners will play for a berth in Denver's NCAA Frozen Four on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

ESPNU's Barry Melrose and John Buccigross will describe the action on TV, while Greg Waddell calls the game on radio for Cincinnati's 96.5 FM and the Miami ISP Sports Network.

At the pre-tournament press conference, Blasi warned RedHawk fans against overlooking the Falcons of Air Force.

"At this point, every team in the tournament can win the national championship," Blasi told the media. "That's the way we've approached it. We know that Air Force is a great team. They're coming off a championship in their league. They're well coached and they have a lot of guys who have a lot of confidence right now. Air Force is getting their stud back in Eric Ehn. So we've focused all week, just as we do all year long, to make sure that we're playing at our best during the weekend. Our guys know what they need to do. They know what's at stake. There's no reason to warn them or anything like that."

Miami's Hobey Baker finalist Ryan Jones heeds the warning of his coach.

"We proved last year that a No. 4 seed can beat a one seed," said Jones, "and it just so happens that the tables are turned this year. As a one seed, Coach Blasi stresses that we can't look past Air Force, because we did the exact same thing to New Hampshire last year."

Said Blasi, "Our focus is to play our best hockey on Saturday."