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Miami University Ice Hockey
At Miami University there is a diverse range of athletic events, everything from swimming to basketball to track to volleyball. Numerous fans enjoy these various events, but there is one sport that is captivating in the eyes of Miami’s students: ice hockey. For each home game, students line up, sometimes 12 hours early, waiting to get wristbands to be admitted into the recently redone Goggin Ice Arena. Once inside, the sea of red and white clad students fills the seats. Energy gushes from the student section, filling the northern third of Steve Cady Arena. Fans from around the Oxford area and parents of students start to pack the rest of the arena as it gets closer to game time. The website muredhawks.com provides an insight into the team statistics, facilities, and players. This has the information about all the current and past statistics, the players, the coaches, and the facilities. The Redhawks went 29-6-1 last season compared to this season’s 19-10-5 record. The Miami Ice Hockey program has never won a championship, though they have made it to the playoffs a significant number of times. Also, Miami was ranked number 7 in the nation at the end of their season, and they took second in their conference behind Notre Dame.

Central Collegiate Hockey Association
Miami is part of the Central College Hockey Association which includes the teams from Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame, Ohio State University, University of Michigan, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Ferris State University, Bowling Green University, Lake Superior State University, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Northern Michigan University and Western Michigan University.

2008 - 2009 Season
This season has been quite an up-and-down season for the Redhawks. They got off to a good start at the beginning of the year and then quickly went on an eight game winning streak right before the break for the holidays. This streak started on November 14 at Michigan State University and ended with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on December 14. Unfortunately, as soon as Miami returned from the break, they hit a slump and lost 5 games in a row starting with a loss at Clarkson on January 2, and ending with a win at Michigan State on January 17. Even though the season has been challenging, Jarod Palmer, a junior forward, says the team is staying positive and looking forward to their last few games of the season, leading up to playoffs. This season the team leaders in points were as follows : 1. Carter Camper with 38 points 2. Justin Mercier with 25 points 3. Jarod Palmer with 24 points 4. Andy Miele with 24 points 5. Brian Kaufman with 21 points. Speaking of allowed goals, Miami is fortunate enough to have two immensely talented goal keepers in Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard. Knapp had a .906 save percentage this season, and Reichard had a .912 save percetage. The team is confident with either of these two goalies in net, and they each have three seasons left at Miami, being that they are both freshmen.

The Off Season
In the off-season Palmer says that the team trains at Miami, mostly together, working on their fitness by taking 6 a.m. spin classes at the Recreational Sports Center. They also lift together at the Walter L. Gross Jr. Family Student-Athlete Development Center (a building located between Millet and Yager on Miami’s campus, home to a workout facility, a computer lab and a lounge), and they run the stairs at Yager Football Stadium. Palmer also says that all of the players also work on individual skills and fitness, plus they spend time on the ice, doing conditioning and puck handling. For the most part, during the school year and the regular season, the team lifts twice a week at the Glos Center and has the remainder of their practices at the Goggin Ice Center. A quick note about the Goggin, it was redone in 2002, and the new rink that was built was a $34.8 million dollar state-of-the-art building.

Season Summary
The Redhawks finished second in their division, ranked 7th nationally, with a 19-10-5 record, 8 points behind Notre Dame and only 2 points ahead of Michigan. With this finish, the ‘Hawks have a positive outlook on their playoff hopes. For the first round of the playoffs, the Redhawks have a bye, which was secured following their sweep of Lake Superior State on February 20 and 21. A few weeks ago, the Redhawks notched two key wins against divisional opponent Bowling Green. Following this series, and with six games remaining in the season, Jarod Palmer, a junior forward on the team, said, in regards to their playoff hopes, “Hopefully [in] the next 6 games, we get better every game and by the time playoffs start we’re reaching our peak and it just becomes habit for us to play at our best.” The final two games of the season mirror the ups and downs of the overall season. The Redhawks had a relatively slow start to the season, winning only 5 of their first 11 games. Then, right before the holiday break, the players picked up the speed of their play and won key divisional games against Michigan and Michigan State. Continuing their success, following the sweeps of these two long-time rivals, the Redhawks went on an 8 game winning streak, and players and coaches alike had high hopes for the rest of the season. However, immediately after the break for the holidays, the team showed no signs of their previous successes and proceeded into a 5 game losing streak, causing concern for both coaches and players. When asked about this slump, Palmer said, “It was extremely disappointing, I don’t remember ever losing 5 games in a row. Man that was just a whirlwind of pain and hurt and confusion.” With these increasing struggles, the team was uncertain of their playoff opportunities. Fortunately, starting with the second game of the second series against Michigan State on January 17, the team turned things around with a 6-1 victory and finished off the season well, taking wins in 7 of their final 11 games. Throughout the season, Miami struggled to perform in their important divisional games, with 5 of their 8 losses coming against conference opponents, including two key losses against Michigan on January 10 and 11. Last year, on the other hand, at the end of the season, the ‘Hawks record was 29-6-1, demonstrating the significant decrease in wins this season.

Hobey Baker Award
Finally, with big offensive production coming from Carter Camper this year, the team had high expectations for him during their playoff run. Camper acquired 38 points this season, compiling 19 goals and 19 assists. Camper has also been nominated for the Hobey Baker award this year, an award signifying the best player in college hockey. The winner of this award will be announced April 10, prior to the skills competition during the final weekend of the playoffs.

Photographs