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Miami athletics director David Sayler announced today that hockey coach Enrico Blasi (class of 1994) has signed a new 10-year contract that will keep him at the school through the 2022-2023 season. This comes on the heels of another successful season, with a regular-season conference championship and a trip to the Midwest regional final.
“The hockey program at Miami has reached unprecedented success both on and off the ice during Coach Blasi’s tenure and we wanted to ensure that continues for many years to come. I am excited to announce that we have reached an extension that will keep him behind the bench at Miami for at least 10 more years,” Sayler said.
After Denver relieved head coach George Gwozdecky of his duties shortly after the season ended, there was some speculation that Blasi might be interested in the job there. Blasi played for Gwozdecky at Miami and started his coaching career as an assistant there with Gwozdecky. However, the speculation was never really founded upon anything, and it forced Blasi to come out with this tweet:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Really excited about our future and being @<a href="https://twitter.com/miamiuniversity">miamiuniversity</a> for a very long time <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Brotherhood">#Brotherhood</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23loveandhonor">#loveandhonor</a></p>— Rico Blasi (@CoachBlasi) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBlasi/status/320245909462073344">April 5, 2013</a></blockquote>
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And after today, the sentiment rings even truer. Blasi's previous contract was set to expire after the 2016-2017 season, so this essentially extends him for six more seasons.
“Miami holds a special place in my heart, having both played and coached here, and I am delighted and honored that President Hodge, Mr. Sayler and the entire University administration has placed faith in me to lead this program for the foreseeable future,” Blasi said.
In the last eight seasons, Miami's winning percentage of .679 is second in the nation to BC (.686). However, BC has won three national titles in that time frame, compared to Miami's zero. Here's to hoping that will change. Miami has set itself up for a strong run next season, returning 20 players from this year's team. Should they make the tournament, they'll be guaranteed a close regional, as they're hosting the Midwest regional in Cincinnati.
With Blasi at the helm for at least the next 10 years, Miami is beginning to achieve the kind of consistency and stability that so many of the top programs have. Heading into a brand new conference that could prove to be one of, if not the toughest conference in the country, that will be absolutely necessary in order to stay competitive.