Men's Hockey
Close is Not Good Enough to Snare Classic Trophy
By Craig Merz

The difference in the Ohio State team that was blown out in successive games against top-ranked Miami in October and the one that played for the Ohio Hockey Classic title Sunday night was as wide as the difference between seeing a game in the tiny OSU Ice Rink and one in the cavernous Value City Arena.

Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, the result was the same.

Gary Steffes scored on a fluttering deflected shot with 1 minute and 38 seconds left in the third period to boost the RedHawks to a 3-2 victory before a divided turnout of 4,087.

"We're still trying to figure out how it went in," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. "If you ask Gary Steffes he'll say he shot it right in."

The goal ruined what could have been a special weekend for the Buckeyes. Coming off a disappointing 5-13-2 record before the holiday break, they nonetheless entered the tournament with an air of confidence after going 3-3-1 in the previous seven games. A 4-2 win over No. 15 Harvard in the first game of the Classic reinforced that attitude.

Ohio State battled Miami (18-2) to the end but could not repeat as the Ohio Hockey Classic champion.

"People are underestimating how well Ohio State is playing and how much they've improved," Blasi said. "In college hockey you can't look at the records. Their coaching staff is doing a great job of motivating them."

It shouldn't have been hard for the Buckeyes after absorbing back-to-back 5-1 losses to the RedHawks Oct. 19 and 21.

"Miami is a little bigger, a little more mature," OSU coach John Markell said. "We've got to learn how to play teams like that. We're improving. We could have easily won that game."

He said Miami's winning goal was "loopy" but acknowledged that the RedHawks were unlucky as well – hitting the post at least four times."

Reed Equals Speed

Ryan Jones and Jarod Palmer also scored for the RedHawks while Kyle Reed and John Albert, a pair of freshmen, had markers for the Buckeyes.

Reed, who scored against Harvard as well and was named to the all-tournament team, said the game is slowing down for the 15 freshmen. The break also gave them a chance to regroup and refresh.

"Eighteen games in that freshman thing is kind of out the window," he said. "Eighteen games in you're another hockey player out there."

Actually, he was a cut above the rest in the third period and was dominant during an Ohio State penalty kill when he had a breakaway but misfired and also had another clean shot at goalie Jeff Zatkoff on the same shift.

"He possesses great speed," Markell said of Reed. "That's the type of game he can play. We saw glimpses of that in the first half."

Get Shorty

The Buckeyes could have used a short-handed score there to make amends for its woeful power play. Moments earlier they had a 5-on-3 for 1:23 and couldn't get a shot and were offside twice.

"That was the turning point in the game," Blasi said.

Overtime loomed before Steffes' mystery goal, which came after a faceoff in the Miami zone following an icing on OSU. The probably never should have happened because it appeared the RedHawks were offside.

"I told the linesman it was a little late in the game to miss a call like that," Markell said.

Especially in such a tight game for the Ohio rivals.

The teams alternated the first four goals with Miami getting on the board short-handed followed by a Buckeye counter less than a minute later. The RedHawks led 2-1 after the first but as was the case in Saturday's win over Harvard, OSU scored early in the second to knot the score but unlike that game the Buckeyes were unable to grab the lead heading into the third.

Jones gave Miami the initial lead when he took a feed from Carter Camper in the low slot while surrounding by three Buckeyes. Still, he had enough time to drag the puck forward to shovel it past Dustin Carlson at 5:16.

Netting a Good Result

The freshman Carlson was solid again in his second straight start for sophomore Joseph Palmer, who is at the World Junior Championship. He made 21 saves in his third career start.

"He did a great job for the situation he's in," Markell said.

The RedHawks' fans, who made up more than 50 percent of the crowd in Value City Arena, barely had time to complete their chant blaming Carlson for the goal when Zatkoff clearly was to blame for the soft goal he allowed 57 seconds later. The play was energized when Peter Boyd put a lead pass to Kyle Reed at center ice. Reed raced down the left side and sent a low drive from the faceoff circle that somehow eluded the normally reliable Zatkoff. The puck slowly trickled across the line.

A key to Miami's success is its speed through the neutral zone and it showed while the Buckeyes were on their second power play. Raymond Eichenlaub started the transition at the OSU blueline with crisp outlet to Justin Mercier. He skated into the right circle, put on a deke then dished a pass in front to Palmer for the one-timer at the 14:33 mark.

OSU scored in a similar manner to tie the score at 2 at 2:08 of the second when Tommy Goebel dropped the puck to Albert for an off-wing shot from the right slot at 2:08.

Although the Buckeyes came away empty after that, they gained more respect from their opponent.

"They've come together as a team a lot better," Palmer said. "They're tougher and tighter as a group."

Cloud Nine (teen)

St. Cloud State defeated Harvard 4-1 in the loser's game behind the three goals by Ryan Lasch, No. 19 in your program. Lasch put the No. 16 Huskies (9-9-2) ahead at 18:26 of the first and countered a goal early in the third by Harvard's Jon Pelle with the winner at 9:48.

After John Swanson made it 3-1, Harvard (6-6-2) went with an extra attacker but Lasch sealed the deal into an empty net with 27 seconds left. It was the first hat trick in the four-year history of the Ohio Hockey Classic.

Afterward St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko said he enjoyed the tournament and would like to bring his team back. Harvard coach Ted Donato was his usual dour self.

He was miffed at his team's effort Friday and said it wasn't prepared in the 4-2 loss to the Buckeyes. In other words, the Crimson took OSU lightly.

Donato also didn't like that the tournament was moved from Nationwide Arena because of a scheduling conflict; the practices that had the teams in the OSU Ice Rink Saturday morning or having to play at 9 p.m. that night.

Blasi thought otherwise.

"It's not like this building is bad," he said. "The Ohio State administration did a great job of bringing it here."

Take a Bow

In addition to OSU's Reed, the other forwards on the all-tourney team were Lasch and Palmer. The defensemen were OSU's Jason DeSantis and John Swanson from St. Cloud State while Zatkoff was the goalie. Palmer,

who had the overtime winner Saturday against St. Cloud State, was the MVP.

Of Note

The Buckeyes were 0 for 5 on the power play with three shots while Miami scored on its first attempt but went scoreless in six subsequent tries… Miami has defeated the Buckeyes in 2005 and this season for the Classic title. This was the first regulation loss in the eight tournament games for the Buckeyes… A day after Tom Fritsche reached 100 career points, fellow Parma, Ohio, native Goebel reached 97 with his second-period assist. He has 44 points (22-22) for the Buckeyes and 53 (21-32) in two seasons at Michigan State… Albert has a four-game point streak… The Buckeyes return to CCHA play at home Jan. 4-5 vs. Alaska.

Game Photos

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page