{"id":31260,"date":"2010-04-05T15:31:16","date_gmt":"2010-04-05T20:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/04\/05\/frozen-four-preview-miami-pushes-forward\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:58","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:58","slug":"frozen-four-preview-miami-pushes-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2010\/04\/05\/frozen-four-preview-miami-pushes-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Frozen Four Preview: Miami Pushes Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
By now, everyone knows the personal tragedy that Miami hockey endured this year. In early February, team manager Brendan Burke, the 21-year-old son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, was killed in an auto accident on an icy road near the Indiana-Ohio border.<\/p>\n
It’s the reason the RedHawks wear the shamrock patch on their shoulders. It’s also a sad reason that drew the close team and organization even closer together.<\/p>\n
“We are a family,” said coach Enrico Blasi. “We’re talking about three or four years of being together every single day. That’s how we really got through it, being together. If we needed to talk about it, we talked about it. If we needed to do what we needed to do on the ice, we did that.<\/p>\n
“What we do on the ice is a game and we love it, but what happened to Brendan, that’s real life.”<\/p>\n
Focusing solely on the ups and downs of this Miami season — losing last year’s national title game after taking a two-goal lead into the final minute, Blasi’s frankness about relying on his coaches and players during his own divorce, Burke’s death — takes away from what should be the sole consideration of this RedHawks team, this weekend in Detroit.<\/p>\n