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Miami hockey notes -- OSU  matchup about  bragging rights

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer Updated 6:58 AM Friday, March 12, 2010

OXFORD — Never underestimate the power of bragging rights.

Miami University sophomore forward Trent Vogelhuber is a firm believer in that philosophy and will have plenty of motivation this weekend when the RedHawks battle visiting Ohio State in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament.

Vogelhuber is from Columbus. Dublin, actually. He attended Watterson High School. And, yes, he grew up as a fan of the Buckeyes.

“More so for football and basketball, but I was definitely a Buckeye fan,” Vogelhuber said. “My whole family is Ohio State fans. All my friends in high school were Buckeye fans at heart. They have a tough time rooting for me when I play the Bucks.”

On the ice, he’s expecting a challenging series. OSU is 0-3-1 against Miami this year, but the Buckeyes managed a scoreless tie/shootout win over the RedHawks two weeks ago.

“This is a team that we don’t like, and they don’t like us,” Vogelhuber said. “We know they come out strong in the first period. The times that we’ve beaten them, we’ve really done a good job of weathering that storm and coming out on top in the later periods.”

He considered attending Ohio State before becoming attached to Miami.

“Once I kind of grew up a little bit, I really liked what Miami was all about,” Vogelhuber said. “Before I started the recruitment process, Ohio State definitely was on the horizon. But after I took a visit to Miami, my college recruitment process was pretty much over.”

And the bragging rights? Well, let’s just say he’s looking forward to a victorious weekend and the next time he’s back home in Dublin.

“I’m really excited about showing that we’re the best team in the state in this rivalry,” Vogelhuber said. “It’ll be good to talk to all the Buckeye fans about that.”

Eyeing the prizes

Four Miami individuals are in the running for CCHA awards. The winners will be announced Thursday night, March 18, at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.

Here are the finalists in each category:

Player of the Year — Cody Reichard, Miami; Erik Gustafsson, Northern Michigan; Zac Dalpe, Ohio State

Coach of the Year — Enrico Blasi, Miami; Bob Daniels, Ferris State; Rick Comley, Michigan State

Rookie of the Year — Andy Taranto, Alaska; Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Bowling Green; Chris Brown, Michigan

Best Offensive Defenseman — Zach Redmond, Ferris State; Eddie DelGrosso, Nebraska-Omaha; Erik Gustafsson, Northern Michigan

Best Defensive Defenseman — Will Weber, Miami; Matt Case, Ferris State; Erik Gustafsson, Northern Michigan

Best Defensive Forward — Tommy Wingels, Miami; Cody Chupp, Ferris State; Matt Rust, Michigan

CCHA notebook

• This is the third time Miami has entered the CCHA Tournament as the No. 1 seed. In the first two instances, the RedHawks lost in the title game (1993 and 2006).

• Ohio State junior forward Hunter Bishop notched a hat trick and two assists last Saturday in an 8-2 win over Notre Dame. It was the first five-point night for a Buckeye since Hugo Boisvert did it at Cornell on Jan. 16, 1999.

• For the first time since the CCHA adopted its current playoff format in 2006, all four first-round series ended in sweeps for the home team last weekend. The closest series was Alaska over Western Michigan by a combined score of 8-1.

• Ohio State has just one senior, forward Mathieu Picard, on its roster.

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