Nov. 17, 2009
Weekly Release for Western Michigan Series 
THE WEEKEND
After a short two-game homestand, Miami returns to the road for the next four contests, beginning Friday night at Western Michigan. The games are part of a string of eight of 10 away from Oxford. Faceoff both nights takes place at 7:35 p.m. in Lawson Arena.
The RedHawks ran their unbeaten string to six straight over the weekend, earning a pair of ties with CCHA upstart Ferris State. Both games featured outstanding goaltending as Cody Reichard made 19 saves on Friday and Connor Knapp stopped 32 shots on Saturday. The Bulldogs took both extra points by winning the shootouts, including a marathon that lasted a league-record 11 rounds in the series finale.
The Broncos dropped a pair of games to Ohio State by identical 4-2 scores. Since opening their season 4-0, WMU has gained only a win and a tie in their last six games.
THE COACHES
Enrico Blasi (Miami '94) is in his 11th season behind the RedHawk bench, holding a 218-152-36 career record. He is a three-time CCHA Coach of the Year selection and was named National Coach of the Year in 2005-06.
Jim Culhane (Western Michigan `87) is in his 12th collegiate season, all at his alma mater. He holds a 155-206-41 overall record since taking over the program in February, 1999.
THE SERIES
Western Michigan leads the all-time series with Miami by a single win, 49-48-8. The RedHawks have won four straight and nine of the last 10 meetings dating back to Nov. 20, 2004. In Kalamazoo, WMU has a 28-20-5 record against Miami.
POLL NUMBERS
Miami retained its consensus No. 1 standing for the sixth straight week on Monday, topping all three major listings this week -- the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports and USA Today/USA Hockey polls, plus the INCH Power Ratings. The RedHawks have headed the USA Today poll all seven weeks, while topping USCHO.com for six straight.
QUICK HITS
- Miami's six-game unbeaten streak ranks second in the country behind Michigan State (seven). Both runs started when the teams split with each other Oct. 23-24.
- Miami trailed 1-0 in both games against Ferris State, but rallied for the tie. The RedHawks are now 4-1-2 this year when the opponent scores first after posting a 2-12-3 mark in such games last year.
- The single goal against Ferris State on Saturday night was a season-low. However, the RedHawks took 40 shots, a season-high. Miami has outshot its opponent in 10 of the 12 games this season.
- With his goal on Saturday, Andy Miele moved into the team lead in points with 13. He has three goals and 10 assists to his credit.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
Western Michigan leads the all-time series with Miami by a single win, 49-48-8. The RedHawks have won four straight and nine of the last 10 meetings dating back to Nov. 20, 2004. In Kalamazoo, WMU has a 28-20-5 record against Miami.
The complete series history can be found on page 118 of the fan guide, but here are the last 10 meetings:
1-20-06 W, 6-1 H
1-21-06 W, 4-3 H
3-10-06* W, 4-1 H
3-11-06* W , 5-4 (ot) H
1-12-07 W, 5-3 A
1-13-07 L, 3-5 A
2-23-08 W, 8-1 H
2-24-08 W, 2-0 H
12-5-08 W, 4-2 A
12-6-08 W, 7-3 A
* CCHA Tournament First Round
BLASI vs. THE BRONCOS
Enrico Blasi holds a 17-5-3 career record against Western Michigan, including 6-5-1 in Kalamazoo. The RedHawks have won four straight overall and four of the last six in Kalamazoo.
AN 8-1-3 START
Miami's quick start to the season is the third-best in school history and ranks second among Enrico Blasi's 11 seasons. The RedHawks opened 2006-07 with eight straight wins enroute to a 14-1 start.
Miami started the 1997-98 campaign under head coach Mark Mazzoleni with a 10-1 record.
IN THE MIDDLE
Miami has scored 20 of its 37 goals this year vduring the second period of play. The RedHawks have six goals in the first, 10 in the third and one in overtime.
The by-period scoring line for the six road games shows a much bigger imbalance: 6-16-3-0.
PUTTING UP ZEROES
Miami and Ferris State played to scoreless ties after one period in both games this past weekend.
It marked the first time that neither Miami or its opponent did not register a first-period goal in back-to-back games since Nov. 15 and 21, 2008 against Michigan and Michigan State.
CLOSE CALLS
Eight of Miami's 12 games this season have either ended in a tie or had a one-goal differential. Five of the games have gone to overtime.
Miami stands 4-1-3 this year in games decided by a single goal or less, including 1-1-3 in overtime games . A year ago, the RedHawks were 0-2-5 in games that were tied after regulation and 6-7-0 in one-goal games.
TWO OTs IN A ROW
Miami's back-to-back overtimes over the weekend were the first since the end of the 2007-08 season. The RedHawks defeated Air Force in the first round of the NCAA Regionals 3-2, before falling to Boston College 4-3 in the final.
PALMER PUSH
Senior Jarod Palmer became the 43rd member of Miami's 100-point club on Oct. 24 when he tied the game at 2-2 in the third period. He started the weekend with 98 points, but saw a four-game point streak end on Friday. Then, he assisted on the opening goal Saturday before putting a wrist shot past the MSU goaltender to reach the milestone.
Palmer leads the team in goals with five and is second in points at 12. He also has three game-winners.
An abbreviated listing of the 100-point club (full list is on page 127 of the fan guide):
Player Games Points Year
1. Steve Morris 145 202 1979-83
2. Rick Kuraly 145 179 1979-83
3. Kevyn Adams 151 172 1992-96
4. Bill Bok 136 169 1978-82
5. Vern Sketchley 131 158 1978-82
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35. Brian Savage 106 109 1990-93
36. Craig Fisher 76 108 1988-90
37. Randy Robitaille 75 106 1995-97
Greg Dornbach 110 106 1984-87
39. Jarod Palmer 135 104 2005-09
Andrew Miller 141 104 1991-95
Justin Mercier 157 104 2005-09
SHOOTING GALLERY
Miami has outshot its opponents in 10 of the 12 contests this season, posting a 7-1-2 record in such outings. On Saturday, Miami posted a season-high 40 shots, three more than the previous best -- 37 vs. Michigan State on Oct. 24.
Miami has reached double figures for shots in 20 of the 36 periods this season.
SHOOTOUT NUMBERS
Miami and Ferris State went to a shootout twice this weekend, just the second time in league history that both games of a series needed individual shots to award the extra standings point. Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska had back-to-back shootouts last season.
The Saturday night affair lasted a league-record 11 rounds before Ferris State converted the deciding goal.
Miami is 2-4 all-time in shootouts, including 0-2 this season.
IN GOAL
For the first time in three weekends, Miami returned to its regular rotation of Friday-Saturday goaltenders. Sophomore Cody Reichard was in net for the opener Friday, while sophomore Connor Knapp started Saturday, ending a streak of four straight DNPs.
Reichard and Knapp swapped starting assignments through the first six games of the season and most of last year.
COMING BACK
Miami has allowed the first goal of the game in three straight outings, but that hasn't been a worry for the RedHawks this year.
Of the 12 games this season, Miami has fallen behind 1-0 in seven of them, but has managed to post a 4-1-2 record in such contests.
During the 2008-09 campaign, the RedHawks were just 2-12-3 when the opponent scored first.
PENALTY STOP
Sophomore Cody Reichard has stopped two penalty shots this season, first against Michigan State on Oct. 23 and then against Michigan on Nov. 6. Miami was also on the defensive end of two penalty shots last year with Connor Knapp making both stops.
CCHA AWARD WINNERS
Miami players have won three CCHA awards this season, including a pair on Nov. 9. Jarod Palmer and Cody Reichard were honored as Player of the Week and Goaltender of the Week, respectively, after the sweep at Michigan.
Sophomore Matt Tomassoni was the first RedHawk to gain a CCHA weekly award this year when he was named Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 19.
AND A NATIONAL AWARD
Cody Reichard was named National Player of the Week by Inside College Hockey on Tuesday.
He is the first RedHawk honored with a national award this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
After a rough patch of penalty kills, Miami has returned to early-season form over the weekend. The RedHawks have allowed just one power-play goal in the last 22 chances, including 17 straight before Ferris State broke the streak on Saturday night.
Miami opened the season with 19 straight kills of a man-advantage, but then allowed a seven-of-23 success rate over four games.
For the season, the RedHawks rank fifth in the CCHA with an 87.0 percent success rate (59 of 68).
TOP TEAMS
Since 2005-06, Miami's ice hockey team has the best winning percentage among all 58 Division I teams. Over the last four-plus seasons, the RedHawks have compiled a record of 114-45-17 (.696), ahead of Michigan, which has a record of 113-53-10 (.670) since 2005-06.
FRESHMAN FEVER
Miami freshman Curtis McKenzie has had a big impact on the RedHawks this season. With his fourth goal of the season on Friday night, the Golden, B.C., native stands tied for third on the team in scoring with nine points. His goal total ranks second, as well.
McKenzie stands fourth in the CCHA in freshman scoring.
ALL IN
A total of 13 players on the Miami roster have appeared in all 12 games this season. The number includes three freshmen -- Curtis McKenzie, Joe Hartman and Reilly Smith.
Reserve goaltender Ben Saksa is the only player on the active roster yet to see action for the RedHawks.
CAMPER FOR HOBEY
Junior Carter Camper is one of the leading candidates for the Hobey Baker Award, but has started the season with quiet success.
The Rocky River, Ohio, native is tied for third on the team in both points (nine) and goals (three). He did start this season with a bang, tallying the game-winning goal in the season opener, finding the net at 1:52 of overtime. It marked the sixth time in his career that he scored the game-winning goal.
Last year, Camper led the RedHawks with 42 points (20-22) on 122 shots. He also recorded a +5 rating.
QUICK STRIKES
Miami's two goals on in the second St. Cloud State game came just 20 seconds apart at 5:22 and 5:42 of the third period. The school record for fastest pair of goals is 11 seconds.
BACK TO THE ROAD
Miami heads back to the Great Lakes State this weekend. It marks the RedHawks' third trip to Michigan in the last four weeks.
Miami stays out on the road next weekend -- capping eight of 10 away from home -- when it travels to North Dakota for the Subway Holiday Classic over Thanksgiving.
GOING FOR THREE
The CCHA announced in September that all conference games will count as three points in the standings. When a team wins in regulation or in overtime, it receives all three points.
When a game is tied after 65 minutes, each team gets a point, while the shootout winner gains an extra point.
200 AND COUNTING
Miami University is celebrating its Bicentennial this year as the school was founded in 1809. The year-long celebration started on charter day - Feb. 16, 2009 - but the 2009-10 hockey season will be featured. A reunion will take place during the weekend of the Notre Dame series (Dec. 4-5) and the team will wear a special fourth jersey for certain games.
