UNH-Miami (Ohio) NCAA Preview
Well we have come to the real part of the season, the NCAA playoffs. The last 6 months have all lead up to this. The Cats earned the #1 seed in the Northeast bracket of the tourney. They also get luck of playing in their own backyard in Manchester, thanks to hosting the regional. The Cats do come into the tourney coming off a lost in the Hockey East Championship game, 5-2. They also have had a bad case of the flu going through the team. It kept Brett Hemingway out last weekend, and is still questionable for this weekend. Here is hoping the team is healthy for the weekend
So what can we except out of the Redhawks of Miami? Well Miami is limping into the playoffs losing their last 3 games, including a 2 game sweep at the hands of the 8th seed in the CCHA playoffs, Lake Superior State. The Redhawks season in part was like the Cats, started off very hot, and cooled off towards the end of the season. But UNH did manage to get some of there momentum back with 2 solid wins against Providence and a hard fought 2OT game in Boston against UMass. The Redhawks have 5 players with double digit goals this year, and a lot of experience on the blue line. This is similar to the Cats. They also have a Hobey Baker finalist in Nathan Davis. Davis season mirrors Trevor Smith, a hot start and cooling off in the second half. The Hawks also have 2 very capable goalies in Jeff Zatkoff (2.24 GAA,.918 SV%) and junior Charlie Effinger (2.67 GAA,.896 SV%). As of Thursday night Coach Blasi has not named a starter yet, though the smart money is on Zatkoff. From what I have read it seems like the Hawks play an aggressive offensive style game. This style could play well for the Cats, as it can lead odd man rushes then the Cats have seen in a while. UMass and BC were probably polar opposites of this. This sounds a lot like the style Maine has played this year, and I think the Cats matched up well in that series. The Hawks have the #2 rated penalty kill in the country. So the Cats will have to patient on the power play, and hopefully be able to take advantage of any they might get. The Hawks did take a lot of penalties in their NCAA tourney game against BC last year, a 5-0 loss. But this team is more experience and more discipline. I have heard people say that the Hawks have played more discipline in the 2nd half of the year and taken less penalties, again like the Cats.
So it looks like we got 2 pretty evenly matched teams. So how do the Cats gets past the Hawks and move on to play Sunday? I think the Cats depth will be an advantage for them. If the first 2 lines are healthy that will be a huge boost for the Cats. Also the third line played really well last weekend, a healthy inspired 3 lines along with some quality play from the 4th line will go along way. The defense will have to play aggressive and try to slow down the Hawks offense. The Cats will have to limit the turnovers that were costly last Saturday night. I have no doubt Regan will have another Mr. Regan game. I think last Saturday nights game will only motivate him more. Overall I think the Cats can win this game, but they can not take Miami lightly, they are a dangerous team that can also win this game. If both teams come out with their A games, I would have to give the advantage to the Cats. So here is hoping we see the Cats Sunday afternoon.
GO CATS!!!
So what can we except out of the Redhawks of Miami? Well Miami is limping into the playoffs losing their last 3 games, including a 2 game sweep at the hands of the 8th seed in the CCHA playoffs, Lake Superior State. The Redhawks season in part was like the Cats, started off very hot, and cooled off towards the end of the season. But UNH did manage to get some of there momentum back with 2 solid wins against Providence and a hard fought 2OT game in Boston against UMass. The Redhawks have 5 players with double digit goals this year, and a lot of experience on the blue line. This is similar to the Cats. They also have a Hobey Baker finalist in Nathan Davis. Davis season mirrors Trevor Smith, a hot start and cooling off in the second half. The Hawks also have 2 very capable goalies in Jeff Zatkoff (2.24 GAA,.918 SV%) and junior Charlie Effinger (2.67 GAA,.896 SV%). As of Thursday night Coach Blasi has not named a starter yet, though the smart money is on Zatkoff. From what I have read it seems like the Hawks play an aggressive offensive style game. This style could play well for the Cats, as it can lead odd man rushes then the Cats have seen in a while. UMass and BC were probably polar opposites of this. This sounds a lot like the style Maine has played this year, and I think the Cats matched up well in that series. The Hawks have the #2 rated penalty kill in the country. So the Cats will have to patient on the power play, and hopefully be able to take advantage of any they might get. The Hawks did take a lot of penalties in their NCAA tourney game against BC last year, a 5-0 loss. But this team is more experience and more discipline. I have heard people say that the Hawks have played more discipline in the 2nd half of the year and taken less penalties, again like the Cats.
So it looks like we got 2 pretty evenly matched teams. So how do the Cats gets past the Hawks and move on to play Sunday? I think the Cats depth will be an advantage for them. If the first 2 lines are healthy that will be a huge boost for the Cats. Also the third line played really well last weekend, a healthy inspired 3 lines along with some quality play from the 4th line will go along way. The defense will have to play aggressive and try to slow down the Hawks offense. The Cats will have to limit the turnovers that were costly last Saturday night. I have no doubt Regan will have another Mr. Regan game. I think last Saturday nights game will only motivate him more. Overall I think the Cats can win this game, but they can not take Miami lightly, they are a dangerous team that can also win this game. If both teams come out with their A games, I would have to give the advantage to the Cats. So here is hoping we see the Cats Sunday afternoon.
GO CATS!!!
posted by Qman16 at 9:13 PM
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