It was a good night for college hockey. It would have been better if the setting was a 6,000-seat arena packed to the rafters with scarlet and gray rather than a giant crater with the black drapes drawn. But it was still a good night for college hockey.
Miami University, possessing one of the nation's elite programs, visited Value City Arena to take on a resurgent band of Ohio State Buckeyes. A good crowd settled into the crater to watch these two rivals have at it. Nobody requested a trade.
There is a stark beauty to the college game, and it is centered in the hearts of the young men who play their guts out on every shift. Thumping body checks, open-ice hits and kamikaze rushes are the common fare. Last night, these attributes were mixed with the grit of Ohio State, wearing camouflage-gray jerseys, and the sublime puck-possession game of Miami, in their usual Red Wings knockoff uniforms. It was free cowbell night in the canyon, and so the place sounded like an Olympic downhill.
"It was probably one of the best crowds I've seen in 12 years of coming here," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. "You could see that the fans, from both Oxford and Columbus, were into it. It was a great hockey game, a great crowd."
The Buckeyes won 1-0 before a clanging crowd of 5,154. Goaltender Cal Heeter made 40 saves.
The lone goal was scored by Sergio Somma, and it was a lovely garbage goal as it came with 8.9 seconds remaining in the second period, with the Buckeyes on a power play. They managed to kill off six penalties, including nearly a minute of five-on-three midway through the third period.
Miami, ranked No. 7 in one national poll and No. 8 in the other, lost in Columbus for the first time in five years. The rematch is tonight. The storylines will remain largely the same.
Miami is a prominent example of what can be done in Division I hockey with a good coach and a good building.
Blasi, an alumnus, came into the weekend with a 250-165-43 record in 12 seasons. (Blue Jackets TV analyst Bill Davidge, by the way, had a four-year run of 39-111-3 at Miami in the late 1980s. But you've got to love the effort.) Blasi's program got its springboard in 2006, when the Goggin Ice Center opened.
The building has two sheets, including a gorgeous, intimate arena that holds 4,000 with standing room. It's one of the loudest joints in the college game. It is magic for the RedHawks.
They have the best winning percentage (.667) in Division I since 2005-06. They have recorded at least 20 victories in each of the past five seasons. They have made it to the past two Frozen Fours. They're like Duke basketball, circa 1985, and it's only a matter of time before they win it all.
So it is, then, that down the road in little ol' Oxford, where Roethlisbergers (and Vogelhubers) on skates abound, Ohio State has its hockey benchmark.
"They're the benchmark for the country," first-year Ohio State coach Mark Osiecki said. "They're a top-five, top-10 team every year. Rico's done a great job recruiting. They got that new building and they just took off."
In Osiecki, the Buckeyes may have a gem. Osiecki has the pedigree and, coming off another stint as an assistant with Team USA at the world junior championships, he has cachet.
He has the Buckeyes playing with high levels of energy and intelligence, if last night's game is any judge. Granted, the Buckeyes took too many penalties - but you'll have that against the RedHawks, one of the most potent offensive teams in the country. The Buckeyes balanced the ledger with tight checking, sublime goaltending, an ever-running motor and an opportunistic goal.
"It was a gem we survived and played hard for one another," Osiecki said.
That is how they are trending. After getting off to a 2-5 start, the Buckeyes are 11-8-1, 9-4-2-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. They have won five in a row. Tonight, they will measure themselves yet again.
They played at the Schott . Ohio State's goalie was probably very tired when the second game was over. He must have thought he was facing a firing squad with a number of shots he stopped.
