2011-12 Miami Hockey Season Preview
9/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Sept. 29, 2011
By Chris Rydburg and Michael Weisman
OXFORD, Ohio - By most standards, last year's Miami hockey team had a season of firsts. First Mason Cup. First Hobey Baker Award winner. Three First-Team All-CCHA selections. Two All-Americans, including one first-teamer. A top-three power play nationally, the second-rated penalty kill in the country, and the top scorer in the NCAA also highlighted Miami's 2010-11 campaign. On all accounts, it was a season marked by unprecedented success.
Yet despite losing both All-Americans in Carter Camper and Andy Miele, who became the first RedHawk to win college hockey's most prestigious award in the Hobey Baker and was the CCHA Player of the Year, Miami sits No. 1 in multiple preseason polls (USA Today and College Hockey News) entering 2011-12. With plenty of talent returning and a strong freshman class arriving in Oxford, the `Hawks will have the chance to accomplish another first this season - their first national championship.
Camper and Miele aren't the only key players to have departed the team. Miami also lost Pat Cannone, who was fourth in scoring last year and was Honorable Mention All-CCHA, Justin Vaive (ninth in scoring), and defenseman Vincent LoVerde, who led Miami in blocked shots by a wide margin. These 2011 seniors combined for 190 points a season ago, while the rest of the team combined for 222 points.
But Head Coach Enrico Blasi is far from concerned about his team's ability to generate offense. "We'll hopefully get some scoring from different guys and any time you have graduation there's always an opportunity for someone to step up and make their contribution. The guys that haven't had as many opportunities or prominent roles on our team will now be in a situation where they are and they need to step up."
First and foremost, junior forward Reilly Smith will be Miami's most potent returning offensive weapon. Last season, Smith, a Dallas Stars prospect, was third on the team in scoring with 54 points and was named First-Team All-CCHA and an All-American by College Hockey News and Inside College Hockey. He led the CCHA with 28 goals, which tied for fourth nationally, and is the top returning goal-scorer in the nation.
"Reilly is going to be Reilly," Blasi said. "He's a very talented player who's very quick and can do things on his own that many players probably couldn't. But this is still a team game and he'll have to find his way with at least one new linemate. It'll play out; Reilly understands his role and that won't change."
Also returning up front for Miami is senior co-captain Alden Hirschfeld. Last season, Hirschfeld had a solid junior campaign, posting 12 goals and 14 assists in 34 games. He tallied four of those goals on the power play but will be counted on to contribute more on the man advantage this season with Camper, Cannone and Miele gone from last year's potent power play.
Seniors Trent Vogelhuber and Matt Tomassoni, junior Curtis McKenzie and sophomore Bryon Paulazzo are other returning forwards who the RedHawks hope to see increased offensive production out of in 2011-12. Vogelhuber had a career-best 21 points last year, including 14 assists, playing much of the year on Miami's top line with Miele and Smith, while Tomassoni made a seamless transition from defenseman to forward as a junior. McKenzie struggled to find a rhythm last year (12 points) after a strong freshman campaign (27 points), but should have ample opportunity to become a go-to scorer this season. Paulazzo saved his best games for the end of the year, scoring a goal each in the CCHA semifinals, CCHA championship game and NCAA Tournament game, despite just four goals all season, and will look to ride that surge into 2011-12.
"Some of these guys are seniors now and have seen it all. They need to take that step and they'll be given the opportunity to do so," Blasi said. "We'll wait and see what happens, but we're very confident in all our guys. I think this is a deep team. Up front this is a balanced team and it'll be very difficult to decide who plays on a given night, but one that with time will grow and could be very, very dynamic and impressive up front."
In addition to Miami's returning offensive threats is the stable of gifted freshmen that are chomping at the bit for top six positions at forward. "All of them are very talented and can contribute in their own way," Blasi noted of one of the most highly anticipated rookie classes in Miami history.
Leading the newcomers is Tyler Biggs, a Cincinnati native who is probably the most anticipated player to step on campus in some time. Biggs was selected 22nd overall in the first round of this year's NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs and comes to Oxford after playing for the U.S. National Development Team the last two years. He is a 6-3 power forward who is not afraid to use his body to create plays and will be a physical presence on the ice.
Another freshman selected in the 2011 NHL Draft is Blake Coleman, who was the 75th overall pick, going to the New Jersey Devils in the third round. The Plano, Texas, native has an intriguing skill set and could be a jack of all trades after earning USHL Player and Forward of the Year and USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year honors last season. He has grit, finesse, and the skating to be a solid contributor for the `Hawks this year.
Rounding out Miami's "hat trick" of NHL-drafted freshmen is Jimmy Mullin, who was taken in the fourth round by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2010 Draft. Mullin, who was roots in both Cincinnati and Philadelphia, possesses the speed that has proved difficult for defensemen to cover. Several NHL scouts have agreed that his combination of smarts and shot makes him a serious threat due to his ability to maneuver into scoring areas with his speed.
Other freshmen joining the mix up front in 2011-12 will be Austin Czarnik, Cody Murphy and Alex Wideman, the brother of Miami senior defenseman Chris Wideman. All three will have the chance to contribute on the offensive end each night and should provide depth at the forward position.
"They're going to have to acclimate themselves to the college level. It's a little quicker, it's a little bit tougher to do things than they did in juniors," Blasi said of the newcomers. "I think if they contribute as a group, that will be something that we're looking for them to do."
While the offense will be trying to find a good mix of youth and experience, the defense will be the foundation of Miami's team this season with five of the six mainstays from last season returning to a D-core that ranked fourth nationally giving up just 2.18 goals per game. The defense will be led by 2011 All-CCHA Tournament Team member and 2011-12 senior co-captain Will Weber. Weber, a second-round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2007, notched 11 points in 33 games despite suffering a severe neck laceration early last season that forced him to miss just four games. His real impact will be felt on the defensive end though with his punishing hits, powerful size and ability to block shots. He tied for second on the team with 36 blocks last year and will need to continue to do that with LoVerde, who led last year's squad with 72 blocked shots, graduated.
Chris Wideman is another senior coming off his best season last year. The St. Louis native may not be as large as Weber, but he is an excellent puck moving defenseman with good foot speed. A fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2009, Wideman was Miami's top-scoring defenseman with 23 points a year ago, including three goals, all coming on the power play. Wideman will continue to be an offensive threat on the man advantage again this year. Both Weber and Wideman were selected Preseason Second-Team All-CCHA entering 2011-12.
Senior Cameron Schilling is the third experienced defenseman that will be returning to the RedHawks. Schilling posted 17 points in 38 games and looks to improve on his totals last season. Standing at 6-2, Schilling is an intimidating presence on defense, and is certainly not afraid to throw his body around. He tied with Weber with 36 blocked shots in 2010-11.
Juniors Joe Hartman and Steven Spinell round out the team's returning group of defensemen, each bringing experience and grit to table. They will serve as towers of hitting power and should be even better with another year under their belt. Rounding out the six-man defensive corps will likely be freshman Ben Paulides.
"We've always been under the notion that if other teams can't score then we'll be in good shape. I don't want to put us in a category of not being a team that's going to be aggressive; we're going to be aggressive. Our D-core will be at the front of that," Blasi said. "We've got some good size, we've got guys that can get up and down the ice, some guys that can make plays -- maybe early in the season it'll be a situation where they'll have to lead the way."
Of course, the most important cornerstone of the team is between the pipes. With the questions around replacing last year's scoring, keeping the other team off the scoreboard is a must - especially early in the season. Senior goaltenders Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard will once again hold down the fort in the blue ice for the RedHawks. While the goalies have split time their entire career, Reichard, the 2010 CCHA Player of the Year as a sophomore, started the final three games of last year's postseason, posting a 15-5-2 record on the year compared to Knapp's 8-5-4 record. Reichard was also tabbed Preseason First-Team All-CCHA for 2011-12.
Both players posted similar goals-against averages, 2.03 for Knapp and 2.05 for Reichard, both of which ranked in the top seven nationally. Both had similar save percentages as well, posting .909 and .912, respectively. The plan for the season is to split time for both netminders again according to Blasi.
"Both guys, as I've said before, make it really tough to decide on one guy. We're going to play and see what happens," Blasi said. "I don't think this staff is afraid to go with one or the other, we've proven that in the past. It'll really be up to them to make the decision for us. We'll just have to play some games and see how it goes."
Perhaps the most underrated part of hockey is the importance of a strong leadership group. Miami has had some strong leaders in the past and this year is no different. Hirschfeld and Weber will be co-captaining the team and Blasi is very pleased with what he's seen so far.
"Both of them bring something unique and special to the leadership of our team. Alden is very well respected, as is Will Weber, and both of them together make a pretty good team," Blasi said. "They've done an unbelievable job at this point keeping everybody on task and focused on our culture. They've really done a good job of communicating and really being a liaison between the coaching staff and the players."
While there are no assistant captains this year, Blasi said he is very satisfied about the role the seniors have played with this young team. "They've all done a real good job of leading the way in their own right and being their own person, which is very important when you're talking about leadership."
Miami has some tough games early in the season, opening with a home series against Bemidji State (Oct. 7-8), who Blasi said will be no small task. "Bemidji's going to be a tough, tough opponent. We've had our battles obviously in the Frozen Four a couple years back. Tom Serratore is probably one of the best coaches in the country at making sure his guys are ready to play, so that will be a good test for us at home."
The obvious highlights of the Miami schedule include marquee matchups against No. 9/6 Michigan, No. 2/1 Notre Dame and Ohio State in league play, all three of which visit Oxford during the year. There are also some interesting non-conference matchups at No. 4/4 Denver (Nov. 26) in the Denver Cup, which pits Blasi against his former coach at Miami George Gwozdecky, and Alabama Huntsville (Feb 10-11) in Oxford.
The RedHawks will have very few games at home to start the season, but that may actually play to their advantage. "Being on the road might not be a bad thing and we do have some tough home games in the first half. Hopefully by the time we put it all together we can be at home and that might be a good thing for our young team," Blasi noted.
With all the pieces in place for another magical season, Blasi summed up his feelings on the year. "The older guys have done an unbelievable job of bringing along the young guys and teaching them our culture and teaching them how we do things here at Miami. Those things are in place, it's just a matter of playing the games now and getting some game experience which, like I said, there might be a little bit of a learning curve at first, but when we put it all together, we can be a really good team."
Miami's season starts Sunday, Oct. 2 with an exhibition game against Windsor at Steve Cady Arena.
--MURedHawks.com--
