It was tough to ask Dan Riedel the question
without sounding insulting, but we inquired anyway:
How did the leading scorer in the United States Hockey
League last season wind up at little ol’ Ferris
State?
Riedel, to his credit, turned it around
on us: “Why wouldn’t I be here?”
“Ferris made me feel like I was
wanted,” explained Riedel, a slick winger. “Everybody
wants that, even if they don’t admit it.”
Credit, then, the FSU coaching staff
of Bob Daniels, Drew Famulak and Derek Lalonde for
rolling out the red carpet for Riedel, one of the
most skilled freshmen in the country. Bigger programs
such as Michigan State only showed cursory interest
in him, perhaps because they were put off by his 5-foot-9,
177-pound frame. So the Rochester Hills, Mich., native
had no problem pledging to the underdog Bulldogs during
his first year with Springfield in the NAHL.
That was three seasons ago, the year
when Ferris State won the CCHA regular-season championship
and went to the NCAA Tournament. After a year and
a half with Springfield, Riedel was traded to Lincoln
of the USHL, ostensibly to complete the 2003-04 season
before heading to college. But a snafu with
an improper English class branded him unworthy in
the NCAA’s eyes and forced him to play another
year with the Stars. Not a problem. He put up 81 points
(30-51) in 60 games to lead the circuit by 10 points
– and stayed true to Ferris State throughout
the ordeal.
“It was an easy decision to go
with Ferris,” said Riedel, who posted seven
points in a sweep of Western Michigan last weekend
to give him 11 for the season. “I think it worked
out in the long run. I love it here. There’s
a little bit of everything, and I think we can become
one of the top teams in the league.”
Landing Riedel was one of several FSU
recruiting coups that formed one of the most dynamic
rookie classes in the nation. The Bulldogs’
starting goalie, Mitch O’Keefe, and most naturally
gifted defenseman, Chris Zarb, also are in their first
years on campus. Throw in promising forwards Justin
Lewandowski (brother of former FSU player Phil) and
Brendan Connolly, and Daniels has a class “that
has the makings to be pretty good.”
How all of those players were lured
to Big Rapids is a testament to the coaching staff.
Without the presence of other Division I sports to
serve as bellwethers of publicity, schools such as
Ferris State can face an uphill climb with top-tier
recruits. But Daniels and his staff have the ability
to spin their pitch to suit their needs, citing growing
enrollment (up to around 11,000 students) to players
wanting a big-time atmosphere
or selling the small-town feel of Big Rapids to prospects
who don’t want the limelight.
“With all of the new buildings
and renovated buildings we have going up around campus,
the last nine years have been a joy (to recruit),”
Daniels said. “It’s a night-and-day difference.
It’s almost like being at two different universities.”
Riedel, for one, knows which school
he’s at, and he has no concerns. Ferris State
is
off to a surprising 4-2-4 start (including 3-1-4 in
the CCHA).
“I don’t look at it like,
‘Why am I here?’” he said. “I
look at it like, ‘I’m here, so let’s
do something.’”
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE CCHA
Set fourth –
Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Kemp noticed how well freshman
forwards Dan Charleston, Tomas Klempa and J.P. Platisha
worked together during a random grouping during training
camp, and he stored that nugget of information in
the back of his mind. Fortunately for him and his
skidding Mavericks, he unearthed it last week.
Finally put back together, the line
of Charleston, Klempa and Platisha combined for five
goals and 10 points in a stunning sweep at Michigan
State, helping UNO emerge from a murky 0-4 start in
the league.
“People can make you look like
a genius or a moron depending on how they actually
perform,” Kemp said. “But I liked the
way they looked. They helped turn the tide for us.”
Listed as the fourth line, the trio
got a regular shift as Kemp tried to keep the team
fresh on the back end of consecutive weekends on the
road. In fact, when Kemp finally shortened the bench
for Saturday’s overtime, the three freshmen
earned one of the team’s seven shifts, and Charleston
and Klempa were spotted with other lines, giving them
three shifts each.
Asked about the shelf life of his new
wonder-line, Kemp pointed to the all-rookie unit of
Brandon Scero, Bryan Marshall and the departed David
Phillips that was a staple for UNO last season.
“If they keep playing this way,
we’d be foolish not to keep playing them,”
Kemp said.
Great Weekend Getaway
Notre
Dame at Miami (Fri.-Sat.) It’s always a good decision to
visit Oxford, but even more so when two upstart
teams do battle. The RedHawks have allowed only
13 goals all season, a testament to the goalie
tandem of Jeff Zatkoff and Charlie Effinger,
and are tied for second place in the league
standings. For comparison, the next fewest goals
allowed by a CCHA squad is 20 by Lake Superior
State and Alaska-Fairbanks. Notre Dame comes
in on high after a thorough domination of Bowling
Green, but the Irish still have to prove that
they can handle forwards as quick as Miami’s
– particularly while on the road. Notre
Dame is averaging 3.62 goals per game this year,
or about two more goals per game than last season.
While you’re there:
If this is your last visit to Miami this season,
be sure to say a proper goodbye to Goggin Ice
Arena. It will be replaced by the brand-new
Goggin Ice Center next year. Judging
by these photos, construction is progressing
swimmingly.
Stick
Salute
Notre
Dame’s 13 goals against Bowling Green
last week were its most in a two-game series
since hanging 14 on Mercyhurst in 1990. Not
bad for a team that scored only 12 goals in
its 11 games last January. Junior forward Josh
Sciba chipped in four of the markers against
BG, including a hat trick Thursday’s 9-4
win. It was Notre Dame's first hat trick at
the Joyce Center since 1998.
Bench
Minor
Somebody
forgot to unlock the clapper of Lake Superior
State’s victory bell Saturday, curtailing
the Lakers’ traditional post-victory celebration.
The Lakers usually run out to the bell just
outside of the Norris Center shortly after a
win and ring the thing, then come back inside
the arena single-file through a tunnel of remaining
fans in a tradition that dates to the early
1980s. But after Saturday’s 3-2 win over
Miami, the bell was locked and the silence was
saddening. We're told that Lakers coach Jim
Roque has a copy of the key now, so there shouldn’t
be any future problems.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• New Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson
said he’s pleased by his team’s level
of effort thus far, but there’s another level
that must be raised. “I want to see the commitment
level be there, paying the price to win. That’s
the last hump to get over, and that doesn’t
happen overnight.”
• It has been said that playing
against Bemidji State’s grinding defense is
as much fun as a root canal. Well, now Ferris State’s
Bob Daniels will have a point of reference. Daniels
underwent the sometimes-painful dental procedure after
practice on Tuesday and should be fine by the time
his Bulldogs host BSU for a nonconference series this
weekend. Asked whether delaying his appointment was
an option, Daniels declared, “I don’t
want to be a wuss.”
• Buckeye notes: We think Columbus
is getting pumped for a certain football game on Saturday.
Not only was “We Don’t Give a Damn for
the Whole State of Michigan” a popular tune
in the stands during Tuesday's win over Michigan State,
the Ohio State band performed the incomparable “Script
Ohio” on the ice at Value City Arena for the
third time in school history during the second intermission.
... The victory stopped the Bucks’ five-game
winless streak (0-4-1), which was their longest since
the 2001-02 season, and got them out of last place
in the league.
• Schedules, Schedules: Alaska-Fairbanks’
game at Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday has been pushed
back a half-hour to 7:35 p.m. because of Creighton's
afternoon basketball game at the Qwest Center. ...
The Nanooks’ game at Michigan State on Jan.
14 has been moved ahead a half-hour to 7:35 p.m. to
accommodate CSTV. ... The CCHA has decided that the
famously suspended Bowling Green vs. Ferris State
game will be replayed in its entirety, not picked
up where it left off.
• Michigan State will wrap up
a pro-like stretch of eight games in 16 days with
a home-and-home series against Western Michigan this
weekend. How did the Spartans' schedule get so cramped?
For one thing, an end-of-season Ferris State series
had to be moved to two Tuesdays because of the newly
expanded CCHA tournament format. Secondly, the Spartans
let Ohio State out of a February series so the Buckeyes
could participate in the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic
at Lambeau Field. Those games were rescheduled to
this past Tuesday and a Thursday in February.
• Lake Superior State goalie Jeff
Jakaitis has been the only true workhorse in the CCHA
this season, playing every minute of every Lakers
game. He has played 51 minutes more than anyone else
in the league. Ferris State’s Mitch O’Keefe
is part of the next rung of goalies with a monopoly
on minutes, along with Ohio State’s David Caruso
and Northern Michigan’s Bill Zaniboni. Every
other team seems to have a goalie tandem to some degree.
• When momentum swung in the Western
Michigan vs. Ferris State series last week, it really
swung. FSU scored the series’ first six goals
in a 6-0 shutout on Friday night. WMU bounced back
to score the first three goals of Saturday’s
rematch, only to watch the Bulldogs tally the last
five markers of the game and take the sweep.
• Despite being Western Michigan’s
most talented player, forward Brent Walton is not
above reproach in the eyes of coach Jim Culhane. “I
believe he can be one of the elite players in all
of college hockey,” Culhane said. “He
has the physical attributes. But he needs to bring
a consistent effort to the rink every single day.
That’s something Walton needs to work on.”
• Know how to pronounce Western
Michigan forward Paul Szczechura’s last name?
Don’t feel bad. “Most people get about
halfway through it, then just say ‘Paul,’”
he admitted. For the record, it’s “Sha-HER-ah.”
• Injury update: Nebraska-Omaha
sophomore goalie Eric Aarnio (leg) will miss the home
series against Alaska Fairbanks this weekend, as he
has the past two series. Kemp said Aarnio will be
considered day-to-day starting next week. ... Ferris
State defenseman Jeremy Scherlinck is skating with
the team in practice and is believed to be almost
ready to return to the lineup. He has only played
one game this season.
• Northern Michigan has already
lost more home games this year (three) than it did
all of last season (two).
A variety of sources were utilized
in the compilation of this report.
