Miami Preview

The Frozen Four has arrived (finally)! BC draws the late game this go-round, playing top seed Miami (OH) at 8pm on Thursday. Here is a look at the Redhawks:

How they got here:

- CCHA regular season champs

- Overall #1 seed

- Defeated Alabama-Huntsville in first round, then beat CCHA rival Michigan in double OT to advance to Frozen Four

Scouting Report:

- Puck-possession offense

- Deep offensively, can roll four effective lines

- Strong on back end: Two top-notch goalies and tough blueliners

- Not great on the power play for the year, have been better in tourney

- Like to force their will on opponents, make them play their game

- Can struggle at times with speedier opponents (like BC)

Players to watch:

- Jarod Plamer (F) leads the team in goals with 18. So, you can see they don’t score a lot, but they don’t have to because…

- Cody Reichard/Conor Knapp (G) whoever plays in nets, they will be tough to score on

- Chris Wideman (D) top offensive D man from a year ago. Only a sophomore, but can get the job done in his end.

Miami has been playing inspired hockey following the death of their team manager, Brendan Burke. This team surprised many when they advanced all the way to the championship game a year ago, but this year they are no longer a surprise. BC has handled Miami the last three times they have faced each other, but the scores are getting closer (4-3 OT win by BC last time). Is it a matchup problem? Can Miami handle BC’s team speed or was BC just flat out better every time they played? We’ll have to wait and see. Bottom line: BC’s fate lies with goalie John Muse. If Moose plays like he did in 2008 or even the Hockey East finals against UVM, then BC will have a great chance to advance. If he plays like he did against Maine or Yale, no way Jose. I don’t think Miami plays a style of hockey that is conducive to going back and forth and scoring 6-7 goals (they only played in one barn-burner, a 5-5 tie with North Dakota), so I’m pretty sure we won’t have to worry about that. But who knows? This is always an interesting time of year for BC hockey fans. Hopefully the next post has me breaking down another opponent....

Prediction:

BC 4 Miami 2