RedHawks' Camper: ‘I like to win all my battles’

Miami junior Carter Camper

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Miami's Carter Camper moves the puck down the ice during the CCHA Tournament final game against Michigan at Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit, Michigan last season.

Staff photo by Nick Daggy Miami's Carter Camper moves the puck down the ice during the CCHA Tournament final game against Michigan at Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit, Michigan last season.

Loss in Frozen Four final doesn’t sit well with Miami junior, who says it’s a motivation for him.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 8:13 AM Thursday, October 8, 2009

OXFORD — The only thing more dangerous than Carter Camper on the ice of a college hockey arena might be Carter Camper on the ice, on a mission.

That mission is to erase the memory.

You know the memory. Those final hectic, incomprehensible, miserable minutes last April 11 when Boston University, trailing by two goals with a minute to play, yanked the national championship trophy away from the Miami RedHawks.

“I’ll be sitting in class, and something, for some reason, will remind me of that game,” Camper said of Miami’s 4-3 overtime loss in the Frozen Four final, “of how terrible that feeling was.”

Camper was asked how he felt the first time he watched a replay of those final minutes.

“I haven’t watched it,” he said. “I don’t think I ever will watch it. Unless someday, maybe, we win the national championship.”

That memory, he said, will be a driving force for the Miami junior forward this season, which begins Friday, Oct. 9, at home against St. Cloud State.

“There were so many mixed emotions,” Camper said, referring to the days after the 2008-09 season ended. “The alums and organizations, family members and friends saying how proud they were of us. But still not being able to close it out, it doesn’t sit well.”

Last season as the RedHawks were confounding the experts’ relatively low expectations for Miami hockey, Camper was cementing his reputation as a player to be reckoned with.

He was named as Miami’s MVP, made the All-American second team and was a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, which honors college hockey’s best player.

This year, Camper is getting raves and the first puck hasn’t even dropped. He is a Hobey Baker contender again and a unanimous choice on the preseason All-Central Collegiate Hockey Association first team.

“I guess it’s nice to have those things,” Camper said, “but anytime your team, year in and year out, has a chance to win the national championship, there are a lot of guys who could be honored.”

Camper sees himself as a quiet leader.

“I’m not the most vocal guy,” he said. “I like to win all my battles and lead by example.”

That example is undeniable. In just two seasons, Camper already has racked up 83 points on 35 goals and 48 assists.

He is the son of Miami graduates Rick and Heidi Camper of Rocky River, the same hometown as Miami All-American Nathan Davis.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.