My previous entry was a bit premature, as Andy had some unfinished business he needed to take care of.
That business? To become the Steel's all time leading goal scorer. Andy needed 1 goal to tie Rene Gauthier for the record with 42 career goals in a Steel uniform.
With the Steel up by a goal late in the game, Regg Simon pulled Joe Rodwell for the extra attacker. Steel coach Steve Poapst sent Miele and his line mates, Brian Dowd and Brian O'Neill, out on the ice. It sounded like Dowd and O'Neill had some chances to score themselves, but their only intention was to get Andy that 43rd career Steel goal.
With about 50 seconds remaining, Miele buried it into the open net and sealed the game for the Steel. Simon Olsson left the bench to go celebrate with Miele, and was given a minor penalty and watched the rest of the game from the tunnel.
With that 43rd goal, Miele will probably stay in the Steel record books for quite some time. The next leading goal getter is Corey Chakeen, with a mere 17 goals for his Steel career.
Miele was allowed more shifts as time was winding down, and even goaded Des Moines' Chris Knowlton into a fight. It sounded like Miele won the fight, before he joined Olsson and Will Weber in the tunnel for the rest of the game. Miele heads off to Miami of Ohio, while Knowlton sits the next 2 games for Des Moines.
The Steel had a nice little ceremony following the game for Andy, and he also was named top star, along with the #2 and #3 stars. I am hoping to have some video of that before the night is over.
Great performance from Andy Miele this season, as he leaves leading the league in points with 41 and goals with 30.
Andy caps his USHL career with 125 points in 139 games, on 60 goals and 65 assists, between Cedar Rapids and Chicago.
Congrats on the record and good luck at Miami.
USHL Stats:
139 Games Played
125 Points
60 Goals
65 Assists
-11
204 PIM
17 PPG
25 PPA
52 PPP
4 SHG
1 SHA
5 SHP
350 SOG
17.1 Shooting %
Steel record holder for most goals in a career.
16 comments:
Ryan,
Have you ever ranked defensemen based on points earned only on five on five? No power play points. Or how about ranking them based on how many even strength goals are scored on them? Both of these stats would give a different picture of the true effectiveness of a defenseman. Also, does anybody keep track of minutes played or is this just an NHL stat?
You seem to be on top of this stuff so I thought I would ask.
Thanks
Jeff
im still wondering why he's even bother going to Miami Ohio right now...if they stated he wouldn't be playing?
ryan, do you think its worth him leaving, and will get in the lineup?
No, I have not done rankings like that. I did notice that without the PP, Blake Kessel would have 7 points on the season (3g, 4a)
I want to say minutes played is pretty much kept at NHL/AHL levels. I have never seen anything for the USHL anyways.
As for Miele, I think it'd be tough for Miami NOT to play the kid. He is on fire and could help them out immediately.
Again, why are people assuming that an unsubstantiated rumor, contributed to an unvarifiable source, is true? I still maintain that M of O wouldn't be bringing in Miele now, if they didn't intend to play him now.
Also, if Miele did intentionally instigate a fight in the last five minutes, knowing full well that any penalty against him would be unenforcable because he was leaving the USHL, then some kind of sanction should be placed against the Steel, such as a fine or loss of a roster spot for the next two games. Just my opinion.
Ryan,
I think you would see some interesting rankings. Especially if you could break down even strength goals against shown as a percentage of total even strength goals against. I have never really liked the normal stats used for evaluating defensemen. Imagine the stats for a dman that is out for 150-250 power plays vs a dman that plays all year and never sees the pp, and yet even strength the dman that is not on the pp may have better even strength numbers.
Ryan, I was at the Steel game last night and got my hands on the same media release that is given to the scouts. I will give you exactly what it says in the media packet.
"Miele is reporting to Miami-Ohio for the second half of the year, where he will join the team as he will redshirt and prepares for the 2008-2009 season as a RedHawk".
The way I read that is he will not play this year as a RedHawk. He will practice with the team and maybe travel with them, but not play in games.
He may also be going because he needs to get his grades in order even though he won't play.
Setting the fight record straight. With only seconds remaining in the game, at the drop of the puck the Des Moines player jumped Miele and pulled him into a fight. It certainly appears that the Des Moines coach directed the deed, completely unprofessional, and totally embarrassing for the league to have Des Moines leadership such as that.
Ryan,
Thanks for making this site. I was just looking at the penalties and sorting some of the "poor skating" penalties, like hooking, holding and interference. Really pretty interesting results. This is a great tool for scouts and for players to see what they need to improve. Thanks for your work.
Fan
I believe Time On Ice is restricted to the NHL. We experimented with in the AHL last year, but there were some issues with the speed of the program, and it was dropped at the all-star break. We have not been tracking TOI this year.
I have no idea who instigated the fight at the end of the game. I can tell you both players received game misconducts for fighting within the last 5 minutes.
I am a billet parent for the Steel and as such attend every game. Andy was a great player to watch, almost always finished when he had an opportunity, and more importantly, a quality individual. He will be missed for both.
As per the fight. The Des Moines bench and players were irate at the celebration of the final goal, especially since it was into an empty net. Ignoring the reality that the celebration was for a career, not just a goal. After that there were a few scraps, and when Anday was goaded, he went. He was never one to back down, despite his demeanor.
As for Miami, the latest inside rumor is that he will not redshirt and play.
I have video of the fight between Miele and Knowlton. Keep in mind Knowlton is one of the Bucs best players, so no goon was sent out to get Miele.
On my website I have some video of the Steel games and fights. Ryan has the link on the homepage on his Blog. It's called Finish Your Check. Here is a direct link to youtube of the Miele fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6tEjLHFZRw
"That's still up in the air. I want to play but it's up to the coaching staff." - Straight from the horse's mouth from my first period intermission interview with him.
I went the games this weekend in Chicago. Andy Meile is a very good player, and possibly one of the best ever in the USHL.
With that being said I was very disapointed the way he conducted himself on the ice. The cockeyeness attitude was very uncalled for. Hopefully your 500 fans at a game don't put up with that at every game.
The fight with seconds to go I think started with Miele skating around under the scoreboard and pointing up to it and laughing at the Bucs bench, while the ref gave out penalties.
With Andy's accomplishments in the USHL, and playing in his last game of a USHL, why would he still be on the ice with a 3-1 lead, with seconds left in the game.
We have also had great players in the past, Rich Purslow, Colin Vock, Troy Davenport, Trevor Lewis, Jeff Petry, Kyle Okposo to name a few. I cannot remember a player acting that way.
As my family drove back to Des Moines Sunday, we talked about the weekend. The fans we talked to were very nice, the arena staff thanked us for coming, it was a very nice trip.
For me I say, Andy had an attitude kudos to Chris Knowlton for going at it with Andy Miele.
Ok, for every confused comment here.
The reason why Andy may not play is simly because it would mean he wouldn't be eligable to finish his career at miami as a senior. it is up to miami weather or not they think they will need him more now, or when he is in his last eligable year to play (his senior year.) get it?
To the anonymous fan from Des Moines,
First off, thanks for coming to Chicago and for supporting the USHL. I think anyone who travels to a USHL game, and anyone who would read, let alone add to, a blog such as this is a true fan of junior hockey. I am glad to hear your experience with the fans and arena staff was positive. I think while we all love our team and players being a fan of this league is really about watching all of these players develop and move on.
With that being said, two words of caution when viewing on ice activity from the bleachers. Things happening on the ice are rarely happening exactly the way you think you see them. Since one of the players on the Steel lives with my family I have a lot of opportunity to talk with many of the players and it amazes me at times how what I see and think I see from the bleachers is not what actually happened. The second word of caution, while these are boys becoming men, they are decidedly still boys, despite there remarkably developed skills.
Andy is a confident kid, and anyone who has seen him play would agree that he has a great deal of skill. I am sure if he could write the script for his Steel record goal it would have been in the normal flow of the game and not have been an empty netter. But just because it happened that way should not have diminished the accomplishment, or required him not to celebrate as he deserved. (Now here comes the boys not men part). I think it would have been appropriate for the Steel players to celebrate his accomplishment somewhere other than right in front of the Des Moines bench. I think that is what started it. The pointing at the scoreboard bit, the version from those I talked to who were on ice was that some players on the Des Moines bench made some comments (and I will santize) that it was not a real goal and Andy just informed them with his gesture that it certainly counted. As for the fight, if you are an adherent of old time hockey, as I am, that was not an inappropriate way for Des Moines to voice its displeaure at the way it was handled. Why was Andy left on the ice, to hopefully be standing triumphant when the horn sounded, which is typical in hockey, not like basketball where ovations are often staged when players are taken out of a game before the beuzzer after an accomplishment.
What to take away from the above. Things are not always exactly as they seem. Sometimes teenagers act like teenagers. But most importantly I don't think Andy deserves anything but kudos for both the player and person he has been.
If it makes this easier to swallow let me tell you some things you don't know about Andy. After many home games there is a Skate with the Steel afterwards for kids. At every one of these sessions Andy is always the last one off the ice (and this is after games where he almost always leads the forwards in minutes played). AFter regular games he will stop and sign autographs and pose for pictures as long as people want him. On one occasion he came to my house to watch a hockey game with some other players but instead ended up playing shinny hockey and superheroes with my 4 and 5 year old sons until they went to bed, which was more than a few hours.
And despite everything he has done on the ice, that is the Andy I will miss, and my boys and the Steel fans will miss the most.
Thanks again for coming and best wishes for your players.
I am a Miami hockey season ticket holder and thought I would add an update. Andy Miele has been playing a regular shift since he arrived and this kid is the real deal. After 10 games, he looks like he has been a part of this team for a couple years. Not sure if it is known here, but he actually scored a goal on the first shot of his college career. He is a great addition to the Redhawks.
Post a Comment