Every time the Michigan hockey team enters the north gate of the
Yost Ice Arena surface on game night, it is greeted by a team on a
mission.

Every college hockey team wants to win each time they hit the
ice, but the desire to prevail seems to escalate when a team is
donning the white sweaters in Ann Arbor.

“‘At Michigan’ is everybody’s biggest
weekend,” junior alternate captain Eric Nystrom said.

Under Red Berenson, the Wolverines have enjoyed well-documented
success, including two national title championships and nine Frozen
Four trips. Michigan’s track record has placed a constant
target on the team’s figurative back. To many college hockey
coaches, including Miami’s Enrico Blasi, the Wolverines have
become the team to beat.

“We’ve really built our team around playing against
Michigan,” Blasi said. “We have nothing but respect for
the Michigan program. I think a lot of the teams in our league have
taken that approach as far as emulating what (Michigan’s)
done and tried to do some of the things that they’ve
done.

“Michigan is probably at the top of the country as far as
how consistent a winning program it is, and Red Berenson and staff
have done a great job.”

Blasi and the No. 8 RedHawks (18-9-3 overall, 15-5-2 CCHA) enter
Yost Ice Arena with sole possession of first place in the CCHA,
holding a three-point lead over second place Michigan. With just
over a month left in conference play, success in Ann Arbor this
weekend would give the RedHawks a good chance of winning their
second conference title ever. But, victories at Yost don’t
come easy. Blasi and the Miami program know this all too well.

Since starting as head coach in 1999, Blasi has gone 0-6 in the
hallowed building. Miami hasn’t won on Michigan’s home
ice since 1994. But Blasi says the losing streak hasn’t even
crossed his players’ minds.

“Not at all,” Blasi said. “Every year’s
a new year. As far as we’re concerned, we’re 0-0-0 at
Yost this year and we’re going in there with that mindset. We
have not talked about it. A lot of these players weren’t
around for a lot of those losses.”

This weekend should be Blasi’s best chance yet to triumph
at Yost. The coach believes this is the finest overall team
he’s had in his five years at Miami.

“I think you have to emphasize the word
‘team,’ ” Blasi said. “This is the best
‘team’ (I’ve ever had). They do a lot of things
together and it’s been a good year. We’re excited about
where we’ve put ourselves.”

Miami and No. 5 Michigan (19-8-1, 14-5-1) are very evenly
matched, sitting atop the CCHA in most statistical categories.
Miami leads the conference in goals per game (3.55), while holding
second place in goals allowed per game (2.27) and powerplay
percentage (.205). Michigan is just behind the RedHawks in goals
per games (3.50), but the Wolverines sit atop the conference in
goals allowed per game (2.05) and powerplay percentage (.218).

“These are going to be two great games,” Blasi said.
“We know Michigan’s a great team, they have a lot of
balance and they’re well-coached, and we’re looking
forward to it.”

Most of the Redhawks offense comes from three players who rank
in the top six in the CCHA in goals. Seniors Derek Edwardson (1st)
and Greg Hogeboom (3rd) and freshman Matt Christie (6th) head a
lethal scoring attack.

In October, the teams split the series in Oxford. The Redhawks
trounced Michigan 8-3 in the weekend opener, but the Wolverines
bounced back the next night and edged Miami 3-2.

“We’re a different team than that time and so are
they, so we don’t really know what to expect,” Nystrom
said.