No. 1 seed for Miami means short bus trip to start hockey tourney

The advantage for the RedHawks in NCAAs is avoiding a long flight and having to sleep in a hotel.

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By John Boyle, Staff Writer Updated 7:29 AM Tuesday, March 23, 2010

OXFORD — For the Miami University hockey team, one of the advantages of being the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament is a bus ride.

It’s not exactly a home game, but the RedHawks will only have a 2½ -hour trip to Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., site of the Midwest Regional.

That’s a far cry from Miami’s previous five appearances in the NCAA tournament, which featured first-round trips — all by plane — to Colorado Springs, Colo., (2004), Worcester, Mass., (2006 and 2008), Manchester, N.H., (2007) and Minneapolis, Minn., (2009). The RedHawks played in Detroit (1993) and Grand Rapids, Mich., (1997) in their first two trips to the NCAA tournament.

“It’s easier when you can stay in your routine, and that’s what this will be,” said Miami captain Tommy Wingels, a junior. “We’ll get to sleep in our own beds all week and take off after practice on Thursday night like we always do.”

Miami (27-7-7) will face Alabama-Huntsville (12-17-3) at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 27, in the first round. Bemidji State (23-13-5) and Michigan (25-17-1) will meet in the other Midwest Regional semifinal in Fort Wayne. The winners face off at 8 p.m. Sunday for a regional title and a berth in the Frozen Four.

Miami coach Enrico Blasi believes the short trip will be beneficial to the RedHawks, who are making their sixth NCAA tournament appearance in seven years and their fifth straight. It really won’t be much different than a weekend road trip in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

“This is our fifth straight season knowing how to prepare and what to expect,” Blasi said. “This year, we’ve got a bus ride instead of a flight. We get to take our own bus and have our own bus driver. Hopefully we can all of our fans up there, too.”

MU advanced to the national championship game last season, losing 4-3 to Boston in overtime.