NCAA notebook: Mike Richter Award semifinalists announced

Until last week, the Miami RedHawks were one of the hottest teams in college hockey. They'd won seven of their previous eight games, and that came after a similar stretch to start the season.

So we had a team in a highly competitive conference with two stretches that added up to them going 14-2-0 over 16 of their 28 games. The problem? In between those stretches, they went 3-5-2.

And so now Miami is in a difficult position. Last weekend, they took only two out of six points on home ice against a great Western Michigan team (currently No. 4 in the country) and have a hell of an uphill climb to get back even on to the NCAA bubble, let alone the right side of it.

The RedHawks are ranked 20th in the NPI, with a handful of regular-season games remaining that would be hugely beneficial — if they ca