WHO: No. 1 Miami RedHawks (6-1-1) at No. 4 Michigan Wolverines (4-2).
WHERE: Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WHEN: Friday and Saturday, 7:35 p.m.
TV: Both games--ONN, ComCast Michigan.
MIAMI RADIO COVERAGE: Friday--WMOH-AM (1450), Hamilton, Ohio; Both games--WKBV-AM (1490), Richmond, Ind.
MICHIGAN RADIO COVERAGE: Both games--WTKA-AM (1050), Ann Arbor, Mich.; WTKG-AM (1230), Grand Rapids, Mich.; CKWW-AM (580), Windsor, Ont.
NOTES: Last season, Michigan was one of Miami's clustermates (for those unfamiliar with the CCHA, teams play 28 league games - two against each team, which makes 22, two more against a local rival, which for Miami is Ohio State, and the other four are against two rotating opponents. Last season Miami had Michigan and Michigan State).
Miami swept its games in Oxford, 2-0 and 2-1, and Michigan took both against the RedHawks in Ann Arbor, 5-1 and 4-0.
As potent as both offenses were, each team managed one goal in the other's building, testament to how difficult it is for opponents to win in either place.
Ann Arbor has always been a tough venue for Miami - or any Michigan foe for that matter - but the RedHawks have especially struggled. Mightily.
Miami is 3-43-1 all-time in Ann Arbor. The RedHawks beat the Wolverines, 4-1 at Yost on Oct. 20, 2006, snapping a 16-game home winning streak for Michigan against Miami.
The RedHawks' only other two wins at Michigan were on Dec. 14, 1984 (4-3, overtime) and Nov. 18, 1994 (also 4-3).
The Wolverines opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Alaska (formerly Alaska-Fairbanks - the one currently in the CCHA), but are 4-1 since. Their only other loss was at Boston College, 3-2.
Since being shut out by Alaska game, the Michigan offense has been rolling. The team is averaging 4.6 goals in its last five games.
Michigan has only played one previous home game - a 3-2 win against Niagara on Oct. 22. Last weekend, the Wolverines won, 5-1 and 6-3 at Lake Superior State.
Michigan has 12 NHL draftees on its team, including its five top scorers.
Among its forwards, junior Matt Rust (Florida) has eight points in six games, and freshman Chris Brown (Phoenix) and junior Carl Hagelin (NY Rangers) have six each.
Hagelin is the Wolverines' active career points leader with 59.
Sophomore Robbie Czarnik (Los Angeles) has added four points on two goals and two assists.
Michigan has a solid defensive corps of senior Chris Summers (Phoenix), juniors Scooter Vaughn, Steve Kampfer (Anaheim) and Chad Langlais and sophomore Brandon Burlon (New Jersey).
Summers has five assists and has played a team-high 129 games for Michigan. Langlais has 47 points in 90 career games, including four assists this season.
Burlon had a five-goal, 10-assist freshman campaign, and has one helper this year.
Junior Brian Hogan has played all six games in net for the Wolverines, and with his success, it would be hard to imagine Michigan using a backup for either game against top-ranked Miami.
Hogan has a 2.01 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He's 31-10-1 with a 2.06 GAA lifetime and a .913 save percentage.
Michigan loves to push the rules to limit, and sometimes goes well beyond. The Wolverines were second in the CCHA with 800 penalty minutes last season, and they have already been assessed one major penalty and two game misconducts in 2009-10.
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