A Moment in the Sun: Steve Rohlik

The Ohio State University will always be a football school but this year the men’s hockey team has started the season with a five game unbeaten streak. Much of the recent success of the hockey program can be traced to one guy, the head coach, Steve Rohlik.

Steve Rohlik has been a winner where ever he has been around hockey. Whether it be coaching or playing, success has followed him throughout his career.

Rohlik was a four year letter winner when he played at Wisconsin. Twice named the captain, he helped the Badgers win the 1990 NCAA Championship. He played 166 games during his time at Madison, compiling 34 goals and 47 assists. He was named the most competitive player on the team in 1990.

He started his coaching career at his high school alma mater, Hill-Murray High School, which is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. His coaching record was 107-2-1. In his five year with the program, the team made the Minnesota State High School Tournament twice. The tenure highlighted by a runner up finish in the 1993 Tier 1 event.

After two 1 year assistant coaching jobs at Wisconsin and Stillwater High School, Rohlik took over the upstart Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) program. He coached three seasons with the Mavericks. His time in Omaha was highlighted with the team’s first trip to the CCHA Championship Final in 2000.

From UNO, Rohlik spent the next ten seasons on the Minnesota Duluth coaching staff. A team known for its gritty and physical play, it was perfect match for Rohlik and his personality.  The Bulldogs made the tournament twice and all the way to the Frozen Four once.

In 2010, Rohlik joined the Ohio State staff. He coached under Mark Osiecki, who was a former teammate of Rohlik when he was at Wisconsin. This lasted until 2013 when Osiecki was let go and Rohlik became the head coach.

The 2013-14 season was the first for Rohlik and the first for the Big Ten Hockey conference. Ohio State’s biggest win of the season came in the Big Ten Tournament when they upset #1 seed Minnesota. The Buckeyes almost won the championship but a furious comeback by the Badgers ended the dream.

The 2014-15 campaign started with a bang as the Buckeyes upset the eventual National Champions, Providence, 5-4 in OT. The team finished strong, going 7-4-1 in the last 12 games. The Buckeyes made it to the Big Ten Conference semifinals before being bounced by the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Last year, Rohlik and the Buckeyes had a tough start to the season but they did not give up hope. The team got things on track with a trip to the Florida College Classic. The Buckeyes upset Boston College 3-2 and then destroyed Cornell 8-3 to win the tournament. They finished the year undefeated in eight of their last nine games. They also were 3-1 on the season, against a highly ranked Michigan team.

Success has continued into this season, as Rohlik and the Buckeyes have a five game unbeaten streak to start the season. They started off with a huge upset of #3 Denver, who made it to the Frozen Four last season. They have added a shootout win over Miami (OH) and a sweep of Bowling Green to the 2016-17 resume. They are on the road against Niagara this weekend.

As you can see, Steve Rohlik has been a winner wherever he has coached. I believe at some point with his coaching, Ohio State will become a top ten hockey program. Right now, the sky is the limit for the Buckeyes, and hopefully that means an NCAA tournament appearance this year!

Steve Rohlik's Offical Bio - A great resource, used in the formation of this blog post.

Ohio State Men's Hockey 2015-2016 Eulogy

What started out as a running joke of which Columbus hockey team would finally win first, ended up blossoming into a pretty nice  overall season for the Buckeyes. Ohio State started their season at 0-7 before finally getting their first win against Mercyhurst.

Their season ended in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament with a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but the Buckeyes also earned points in their last 8 of 9 games. The season could have went into the tank, but the Buckeyes fought through it and made it a very interesting season.

Stiff competition and self-inflicted wounds caused Ohio State to have a rough start — dropping their first seven games. Bowling Green out scored them 8-3 in a two-game series.

Next, they squared off with former CCHA foe Miami University. The Buckeyes played better, only losing 6-3 overall to the Redhawks in the two-game series.

Then, the team headed out east to Providence. The Buckeyes lost 2-1, and 6-4 to the Friars, who were last year's national title winners. You might remember the Buckeyes started last season with an upset win over the Friars, 5-4 in OT. It was a hell of a hockey game.

The Buckeyes take on the Redhawks

There was light at then end of the tunnel when Mercyhurst came to Columbus. The Buckeyes dropped the first game of the set 2-1, but stormed back in the second game 5-1 for their first win of the season.

Success continued as the Buckeyes welcomed Canisius to Value City Arena. They swept Canisius, out scoring them 10-5 in the series.

Next, the Buckeyes took a trip out west to Nebraska-Omaha, a tough NCHC opponent.  The Buckeyes were swept by Omaha, 3-1 and 6-4.

Finally, to close out the first half of the season, the team headed north to fight Big Ten foe Minnesota. Ohio State played well enough to get the points but not well enough to win. The Gophers took both games in OT, 3-2 and 5-4 respectively.

The Buckeyes win the Florida College Cup

The season really took a surprise turn for the better when the Buckeyes traveled to Florida for the Florida College Cup. In the first game, the Buckeyes faced off against powerhouse Boston College. After falling down 2-0 after one period to the Eagles, the Buckeyes scored three unanswered goals to win the game. 

Things got more shocking the next day when the Buckeyes faced the Big Red of Cornell.  The Bucks started scoring and simply could not stop. They struck for eight goals while claiming the Florida College Cup Championship. Nothing like knocking off two top 10 teams in a row.

Success continued as the Buckeyes entered the swing of the Big Ten season. On a trip up to Madison to face the Badgers, the Buckeyes took the first game 2-0 but lost the second game in a shootout. 

In the second game of the set with the Badgers, goalie Christian Frey had not give up a goal in 133 minutes of playing time, quite a feat for the goaltender from Texas.

The Buckeyes welcomed hated rival Michigan next for a home and home set. The Buckeyes took the first game in a shootout 6-5 (nine rounds). Michigan stormed back for an 8-6 victory at Yost on Sunday. In that game, a Michigan player sucker punched a Buckeye and was suspended for three games. They are classless up there in Ann Arbor, period.

Script Ohio on the ice at Value City Arena

The Buckeyes then entered a three series home stand in Value City Arena. First, they faced off against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The teams split the series, 3-2 OT win for Penn State and a 5-1 win for the Buckeyes. 

They also split the series against Michigan State. The Spartans took the first game 4-2 and the Buckeyes came back with a 2-1 victory in the second. 

Finally, the Buckeyes welcomed their nemesis the Minnesota Gophers to Value City Arena.  The Buckeyes played well but lost both games, 5-4 OT and 4-3.

Spineless, Gutless and yes the ref is in the middle

As the season moved to the final stanza, the Buckeyes took a trip to "Hockey Valley" for a date with the Nittany Lions.  The Buckeyes lost the first game 6-1 but struck back in the second game for a 7-4 victory. 

After the victory, the Buckeyes would run off an eight-game point streak. When Wisconsin came to Columbus, the teams split the series. Wisconsin won 5-4 in a shootout, and the Buckeyes won the second game 6-5.

Then, the Buckeyes surprisingly swept a home and home with No. 5 Michigan, 7-4 and 6-5 OT. 

The Buckeyes closed out the regular season with a trip to East Lansing. They split the two-game series with Michigan State. Both games went into OT, 6-5 (Bucks win) and 2-1 (Spartans win).

Ohio State entered the Big Ten Tournament as the fourth seed. The tournament was held for a second time at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In the first round of the tournament, the Buckeyes played a familiar foe — the Michigan State Spartans. It was the same team they played in the 2014 tourney. 

In the well-played game, the Buckeyes jumped out to the lead, but the Spartans responded leading 3-2 into the 3rd. The Buckeyes tied in the 3rd and won the game in OT, 4-3.  It was eerily similar to the 2014 victory over Michigan State, which was in the same building and also an OT game won by the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes played the Minnesota Gophers in the second round, which was also a repeat of the 2014 tournament where the Buckeyes played them in the second round and pulled off a stunning 3-1 victory at Xcel Energy Center. 

Unfortunately, things did not go as well for the Buckeyes this time. They led through the first two periods 1-0, but the Gophers exploded for four unanswered goals in the 3rd. The Bucks added a late goal but fell 4-2 in the end, and the season was over.

The Buckeyes Win!!!!!

The Buckeyes can't hang their heads. Overall, it was a great season even if their record doesn't show it. 

They beat three top 10 teams, two of which were in a row (Boston College and Cornell).  They also won the season series against No. 5 Michigan (3-1).  It should be noted that Michigan had one of their best seasons in recent memory. 

The Buckeyes will finish the season ranked in the low 30s, which is a good sign because they started in the high 40s. The team is definitely headed in the right direction. Hopefully they can get some more great players into the program and continue to build on their successes from the 2015-2016 season. 

What about Bob? Nah, What about Christian Frey?

Many hockey people in Columbus, Ohio are always talking about the Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.  Bobrovsky has single handedly made the Blue Jackets a much better team.  In hockey your team is only as good as your goalie plays.  If your goalie plays bad your team is probably in for a long night.  Many would argue that Bob is the best goalie in town, but there is another goalie in town making waves and that is Ohio State's Christian Frey.

Christian Frey joined Ohio State last season about midway through from the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints.  There is no measurable word to describe what Frey means to the Ohio State hockey team.  He instantly made a hockey team last year that was at best 5th or 6th in the Big Ten, and put them in a place to challenge for the Big Ten Title.  Like Bob, his ability to go out and make saves keep his team in the game, and give them a chance to win when it seems that all hope could be lost.

Now, I could go on for the next several paragraphs about how great Frey is and give you a bunch of stats.  I could tell you tales of how he stunned Michigan State in a shootout last season at East Lansing.  We could talk more how he almost beat Minnesota outside on their football field but saved a better performance to get a W against the #1 Gophers in the Big Ten Tournament.  But no, we are not going to talk about all that we are going to talk about last Saturday against #11 Miami Redskins.

Now Miami came into this series after a disappointing season last year and with high hopes of redemption.  I commented on how well Providence played against Ohio State a week ago, and well let's just say Miami was better than Providence.  They have speed and they have depth to go with that speed.  They came in on Saturday night and dominated the Buckeyes.  Except there was one thing standing in their way and that was Christian Frey.

Christian Frey last Saturday in Oxford went for a career high 60 saves.  They talk about a goalie standing on his head when he plays well, Frey did so much more then stand on his head.  He received little help from the defense that had trouble all night clearing the zone.  He received as much as help from the offense scoring once on 21 shots.  So what was the final score? 6-1? 9-1? No, it was 2-1 Miami.  Great goalies keep you in the game.

Frey was the number one star of the game.  If you don't follow hockey that much and have no idea what this means, think of football, they announce their player of the game at the end; hockey announces 3, a third star (third best player), a second star (second best player) and the first star (best player).  Goals and assists factor into offensive players getting stars, and saves or goals allowed factor in for the goalie getting a star.  Frey was definitely the first star of that game with his 60 saves.

To put this into context, on average a goalie will make about 30 saves in a given night.  The number could be more or less depending about how much better or worse the team you are playing.  Also, style of play greatly contributes to number of shots on goal.  Some teams get more pucks on net because they have better shooters or players that are better at getting 2nd and 3rd opportunities around the net.  The direction of the game today is triggering more offense and more shots so goalies have to have more agility than ever.

So as you can see Frey saw about doubled the number of shots a goalie faces on average.  Frey has been a huge part of the recent success of Ohio State's hockey program.  His ability to keep the team in the game when it appears it is going to be a white wash is unbelievable.  Ohio State has the weekend off and then they head up to Canisius.  The Golden Griffins are 2-2 on the young season while Ohio State is 1-3.  The Buckeyes and Frey will be looking to get back to their winning ways. 

Friar Tucked!

The Ohio State Men's Hockey team stuns the #3 Providence Friars in OT 5-4 at Value City Arena, in their season opener.  With many questions about if the Ohio State offense could recover from losing players like Ryan Dzingel the short term answer seems to be a resounding yes.  The Buckeyes never led in the game until the game winner in OT.  Their grind it out approach and a never say die attitude seemed to tuck-er out the Friars.  This is just around big win for a program in Columbus that is on the rise.

The game started out as a very physical contest, both teams were definitely throwing their weight around.  The scoring started late in the first period with the Friars getting on the board first with a goal from Nick Saracino.  Saracino's goal was answered by the Bucks a short 20 seconds later by Anthony Greco, leveling the score at 1-1.  The Friars were not done, late in the first Brian Pinho giving the Friars the 2-1 lead going into the locker room.  Both Friars' goals were the result of Bucks turnovers in their own zone.

Early into the 2nd, 6:48 to be exact, Anthony Greco netted his second goal of the game to tie the score at 2.  Greco is a junior from Minnesota, it says a lot for your program if you can get some of those Minnesota kids out of that state.  The Friars would retake the lead when Trevor Mingoia scored on a 3 to 1 brake.  The Bucks' goalie Christian Frey just could not get his skate to the post and Mingoia put it home for the 3-2 lead.

Into the third, the Bucks' power play and Tanner Fritz came alive.  The Bucks and Fritz would get an early PP goal in the third.  About 5 minutes later, the Friars' Tom Parisi literally snuck the puck inside the post with Frey right there.  It was not one of the best plays by Frey but he fought well all night in net.  Just under four minutes later Fritz would come up big again on the Ohio State power play to tie the game.  Exactly, what you need in the third period, your captain getting two huge goals in a big game to keep your team close.

The Buckeyes would get a carry over power play from regulation into OT.  Anthony Greco, just 28 seconds into the sudden death OT scores the game winner for his hat trick.  This sent Value City arena into a frenzy, well except the Providence fans seated next to me.  I believe they came to Columbus thinking they were going to push the Buckeyes around, and well the Bucks on this night pushed back.  I think that is a great tribute to their coach Steve Rohlik, the players have bought into this grind it out system and its proving results.

It cannot be understated that Providence is a great team.  They have a nasty and aggressive fore check.  They love to throw their weight around like I said before.  They play the eastern style of hockey very well, which relies on scoring with a bit of nastiness.  Brian Pinho might be the best player that exemplifies this.  He was in the middle of scrums all night and he was able to net one of the Friars' goals.  A great player, I hope we get to see more of him in the professional ranks.

Friar Tuck ;)

The man for the Bucks matching Pinho's toughness on this night had to be Justin DaSilva.  DaSilva is the Buckeyes' biggest defensemen at 6-6, 222.  He was matched up against Pinho for much of the game.  There was a bunch of penalties called tonight and there could have been many more because of the style of play.  You have to hand to it to the officials for letting the players decide the game and not sending guys to the box to simply just bumping each other.  Kudos to the zebras on this night.

The Friars and the Buckeyes will be back at it again on Saturday night.  Its going to be the same bat time on the same bat channel, as the Friars look to level the series.  It was a great game, thanks to the Buckeyes 5 goals, the fans got free Big Macs at McDonalds.  My section actually won the Raisin' Cane power play giveaway, and got a free Canes' combo.  I have said this before and I will say it again, this team is the best kept secret on the Ohio State campus.  The Bucks are a good team and they will definitely be a pest in the Big Ten this year.

A Guide to Big Ten Hockey

This year is the first year for Big Ten hockey, thanks in a huge part to the addition of the men's division 1 program at Penn State.  The owner of the Buffalo Sabres, and Penn State alums, Terrence Pegula gave 102 million dollars to the school to build a campus arena.  In college hockey, it takes six teams to start a conference, and Penn State was the 6th division 1 program for the Big Ten.  Wisconsin and Minnesota came over from the WCHA.  Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State came over from the former CCHA to join the Big Ten Conference.

I'll be honest when I first started thinking about doing a blog on this subject, I first thought this is really erie like the original 6 teams in the NHL.  On one side of the coin you have your college hockey powers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan; on the other side of the coin you have Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State sort of like the lesser known programs.  In the NHL the power for many years was with Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto; and Chicago, Boston and New York were sometimes referred to as the red-headed step children.

Let's take this team by team and get you more aware of the programs.  Starting off with the current #1 team in the nation, Minnesota.  When you think about American hockey, it has to start with the state of Minnesota.  The Gophers have won 5 national titles with 34 tournament appearances.  This is the program that Herb Brooks coached before he went on to coach team USA to gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics.  Minnesota owns winning records, all time, against every team in the new Big Ten Conference.  They have had many many NHL players and this year added their first player ever from the state of Florida, Gabe Guertler.  The Gophers are coached by Don Lucia, whom is in his 14th year with the program.  There are so many good things you can say about the Gophers program that it would demand a whole blog by itself, they really have an awesome awesome program.

Another one of the powerhouse program, and it pains me to say it, but it is the Michigan Wolverines.  A program that dates back to 1922, before there was an NHL, Michigan has been winning and winning many games.  Michigan has won 9 national titles, the last in 1998, and has 35 tournament appearances.  They play at Yost Ice Arena, which is actually named after the famous Michigan football coach.  They have also played games in the Big House, which has set the Guinness Book Record for the most people to watch a hockey game anywhere.  They are coached by a legend Red Berenson, who is in his 30th year with the school.  He has won nearly 800 games and is responsible for the last two national titles ('96 and '98).  Michigan is currently #14 in the nation, and they are hungry for a title this year after some let-downs in recent Frozen Four tournaments.

The next team I am going to talk about is the #9 team in the nation, and that is the Wisconsin Badgers.  The Badgers are the 3rd in what I am calling the power 3 of the Big Ten Conference.  They own 6 national titles with the last coming in 2006.  They finished as the runner up in 2010, and lost to probably one of the best Boston College teams ever assembled.  They also have appeared in 25 NCAA tournaments.  Due to the high quality hockey they had played in Madison and the fact that they are both former WCHA teams,  Wisconsin and Minnesota have a rather fierce rivalry on the ice.  The Badgers are currently coached by Mike Eaves, whom is in his 11th season win just over 200 wins for Wisconsin.  Wisky plays in the Kohl Center and is one of the best attended campus arenas for Men's and Women's college hockey.  They have a very skilled team this year, and they are going to be a tough out in the Frozen Four tournament.

Like their in-state rivals Michigan, Sparty aka Michigan State's hockey program was founded in 1922.  Michigan State a little closer to the powerhouses then I originally thought, they own 3 national titles, and 27 NCAA tournament appearances.  Michigan State has had alums like Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, a vital part in bringing 2 Stanley Cups to Chicago.  They boast over 500 players that have some sort of NHL experience.  The Spartans are currently 4th in the Big Ten Conference standings just ahead of the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Sparty is coached by Tom Anastos, and he is in his 3rd year with the school.  He sports an overall record of  33-41-7.  They play at Munn Ice Arena, which was completed in 1974, and also like their rival (Michigan) it was named after a famous football coach.  It is home to the NCAA's longest regular season sellout streak of 323, from 1985 to 2004 there was not an empty seat in the house.  Its been a little bit of struggle since the last title but Sparty will look to players this year to rebound and return to glory.

The 5th team I am going to talk about is fresh off a huge upset win over the weekend in Madison, and that is the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Compared to some of the Big Ten competition, a youthful program that was started in 1963.  Considering Michigan and Minnesota were already winning national titles before Ohio State was a division 1 program.  Ohio State has never won the title, the furthest they have made it is the Frozen Four in 1998.  They lost to Boston College, whom lost to Michigan, whom won the title that year.  The Buckeyes have 6 tournament appearance, the 1998 edition was the first.  They currently hold the 5th spot in the Big Ten Conference.  They are not ranked but they are receiving a small number of votes for the Top 20.  They are coached by Steve Rohlik; he is in his first year with the program.  The Buckeyes play in Value City Arena, it is actually one of the bigger arena in college hockey.  Most teams play in smaller arena that seat around 6,000 people.  The Bucks are best known for NHL alums, R.J. Umberger (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks).

The last team and the newest team in the conference is Penn State.  They have greatly benefited from Pegula's donation.  He has claimed that the locker room at Penn State is better than the locker room that the Buffalo Sabres use in their home stadium.  Penn State opened with Army at home and gave the fans a 4-1 victory.  Unfortunately, things have not gone as well since then, the Nittany Lions have had two 6 game losing streaks.  They also are yet to win a game in the conference, they look to change that this weekend as they are in Columbus.   A sign of there are better things to come in their last game against the heavily favored Boston College Eagles, Penn State played well and lost only 3-2.  Penn State is coached by Guy Gadowsky, whom is clearly in his first year with the program.  The venue is called Pegula Ice Arena, and visiting teams should be aware that Penn State has some of the most passionate fans in the country.  It will be a tough place to play, especially once the team starts winning hockey games.

Now that you have a little favor for the teams here is the current standings:

	CONFERENCE								OVERALL
	PTS	GP	W	L	T	SOW	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota	22	8	7	0	1	0	26	14	24	18	2	4	92	49
Wisconsin	15	8	5	3	0	0	29	21	22	14	7	1	77	60
Michigan	12	6	4	2	0	0	19	18	20	12	6	2	57	46
Michigan State	10	8	2	4	2	2	17	20	23	8	12	3	53	56
Ohio State	7	8	2	5	1	0	21	24	22	12	9	1	77	62
Penn State	0	6	0	6	0	0	10	25	20	4	15	1	45	76

Well its going to be an exciting first season for the Big Ten Hockey Conference.  The Big Ten Network has been showing doubleheaders on Friday Nights in a segment they are calling Frozen Fridays.  It will be interesting to see if Minnesota can hold on to the top spot in the conference.  Can Michigan or Wisconsin catch them?  It will also be interesting to see how Penn State can build off their first year in Division 1 hockey.  I cannot wait to see how it turns out, hope that this blog gives you a little bit of a guide to the Big Ten Conference Hockey.  Have a great night.