Miami hockey looks to top best season since 2014-15 with influx of talent and continuity of culture
“I think some of our guys almost take it as an insult when people are celebrating what we did last year. We don’t see it as that. We see it as we need to be way better.”
There is a change in the wind. No more are the days of hot and humid weather. A cooler temperature and brisk breeze blows across the flat Ohio landscape.
And with the breeze travels a flurry of change – the clothing, the leaves on the trees, the decor around town and on the porches of homes – along with a new season for a handful of professional and college sports.
While fans can still flock to Major League Baseball for postseason action, some will turn their focus to a brand new hockey season. In Oxford, that means a fresh slate for the Miami University RedHawks hockey team.
In Head Coach Anthony Noreen’s second season at the helm, the Miami program saw a massive jump following a three-win year during his first go around. The team finished seventh in the nine-team National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) – their best placement since the 2019-20 season under former head coach Chris Bergeron. The group also finished with an overall record above .500 (18-16-2) for the first time since 2014-15 (25-14-1) and nine conference wins for the first time since 2015-16.
With nine of the top 12 scorers from last season and 16 total players returning, the RedHawks have far more continuity than they did the previous year when 21 new players walked through the Goggin Ice Center doors.
Those returners have not just provided the coaching staff with somewhat of an easier job on and off the ice, but they’ve also helped the newcomers feel more comfortable from the day they could shake each other’s hands.
“I think it has allowed us to build a lot more on what we already have and supplement rather than basically starting from scratch,” Noreen said. “The group of returning guys, not just those returning scorers, but all 16 of our returners, had a tremendous spring, a great summer; they came back in phenomenal shape.
“For the 11 newcomers, between the nine freshmen and two transfers, it’s very easy for us to explain what our program looks like and what it’s all about. For them to walk in (on) day one and see the way that our returning guys go about their business, I think it makes that transition for everyone a lot easier.”
In that returning group are leaders all over the stat sheet, including sophomore Kocha Delic and senior Matteo Giampa. Delic, the first player to join Miami from the Canadian Hockey League, and Giampa, the transfer from Canisius University last season, were both new to the program and finished as the team’s top two scorers with 25 points in 36 games and 24 points in 29 games, respectively.
Another newcomer last season who made his mark, despite leaving the first game of the year with an injury, is sophomore David Deputy. Standing at 5-foot-9, his game breaking speed and no-fear attitude gave Miami an incredible amount of versatility in transition and the offensive zone. He finished tied for 12th in goals across the entire NCHC with 15 in 31 games.
Michigan State University transfer defenseman Vladislav Lukashevich, now heading into his junior season, led the RedHawks and was tied for 18th in the NCHC in assists last year (19). He will light the way for a Miami defense core that is bringing in five new faces, along with three other returners.
In goal, junior netminder Matteo Drobac, who started all but one game for Miami last season, makes his comeback following a summer that involved attendance at Dallas Stars rookie camp. Sophomore Benji Motew also returns to the depth chart, but the notable addition is freshman Yegor Yegorov, a sixth-round draft choice of the Calgary Flames.
“(We’re) three good goalies – good buddies,” Drobac said. “We’re all super excited. I think we have a really tight goalie group as we did before. I think the most important thing is being good teammates at the end of the day. Obviously, three guys, one start and only one net, so whoever gets the start, be ready to back that guy up and be a good support group for him, let him know what your reads are on the ice for him.
“Every day is a grind out there. You want to push yourself every day and be the best-looking guy out there. We all want to play. We’re all ready to get going with the season. Whoever gets the net, just support the guy and be a good teammate. That’s all it is going forward.”
Sprayed among those returners in the lineup sheet will be the aforementioned 11 new players to the program, led by nine freshmen. Forwards Layne Loomer (originally committed to Penn State University) and Ryan Seelinger were two of the top five scorers in the United States Hockey League last season and are highlights of the class, alongside defenseman Timofei Runtso from the Western Hockey League.
While there is steadiness in the names on any given lineup sheet moving forward for the RedHawks, there’s a change in the letters next to a few names and the NHL logos next to others.
After not having players wear letters on their jerseys last season – a choice that was made by Noreen and his coaching staff due to a mix of timing, continuity among a largely new group and a satisfaction that so many different players were stepping up at different times – Miami will have an official leadership group.
Senior forward Doug Grimes was named team captain, while sophomore forwards Bradley Walker and Ethan Hay were given alternate captain duties.
“I’m super honored to wear the C and very excited for the group we have in the room,” Grimes said. “For the returners, every single guy has come back ready to go, in great shape and ready to lead. The best part about our team is the leadership doesn’t just come from the guys with letters; it comes throughout the room. I’m very excited to lead this group and be a guy that can set the tone every day. I’m excited to be a guy that the freshmen can look to and everyone else can lean on. It’s going to be a lot of fun for us.”
Grimes, a transfer from Boston University last season, finished with career highs not just in time on ice and games played (34), but also in goals (10), assists (8) and points (18). He led a big and physical energy line for Noreen and company and consistently hopped over the boards in key situations for the RedHawks.
Now, he’ll continue his leadership, but with a different significance, and continue to copy a work ethic that put him in a career-best position to model for the other players.
“(I’m) just coming in with a mindset of believing in myself and knowing that I can play at this level, and just putting in the work every day,” Grimes said. “From being on the ice and pushing myself to play with more confidence and hold onto pucks longer, then to things in the gym like reaching new weights and recovering and doing all the little things behind the scenes that led me to not only play with confidence, but when I got into the games, having an extra step or layer of physicality to my game. Just different things that allowed me to take steps in different areas.”
The Miami lineup has also seen an influx of drafted players following the offseason.
The RedHawks will roster seven drafted players, the most since the 2014-15 season, including two players selected this summer.
Ilia Morozov, the 18-year-old sophomore (and college hockey’s youngest player last season), became the program’s highest drafted player ever. The Buffalo Sabres selected him 20th overall. Runtso was drafted 57th overall by the Montreal Canadiens.
Since day one, making Miami a premier school for college hockey players to develop and get drafted or move up to the next level has been near the top of Noreen’s program priority list. Morozov and Runtso’s stories are perfect examples of that goal coming to fruition.
“For us to hear, ‘From Miami University’ called (with a player's name) in the first round (of the draft), that was something we talked about early on,” Noreen said. “It’s a lot easier said than done, but if you look around our league, if you want to be competitive, that’s something we wanted to get back to doing … Now, the fun part is we get to work with them, develop them and see them hopefully move on, watch them from afar and make us proud.”
Drafted returners include Lukashevich and Hay, but the RedHawks added two other skaters who belong to NHL teams into the mix: freshman forward Matouš Kucharcík, a Sabres 2025 fourth-round pick, and sophomore forward transfer from Michigan State, Austin Baker, a 2024 seventh-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings.
Baker finished last season with just one assist in 14 games for a Spartans team that won the BIG 10. However, the team's success wasn’t enough for him to stay in Lansing, and Noreen and associate coach Troy Thibodeau saw a situation they could take advantage of.
“I thought last year was a really good learning experience for me, honestly,” Baker said. “I thought it was good to be (at Michigan State) and around that group of guys and learn from them. Obviously, I wasn’t playing a whole lot, and I wanted the opportunity to play and be around a good culture. I talked to the coaching staff and came down (to Miami) for a visit, and I really enjoyed it. I thought the team was really close and the culture was really good here, and I wanted to be a part of it.”
The maintenance and improvement of the culture around the Miami program has been and will continue to be a focus for Noreen and his staff.
Drobac and Baker, a returner and a newcomer, both noted the ease of assimilation for those fresh to the program, regardless of position or background.
A core belief in the second floor offices of Goggin is a culture that prides itself on consistent discipline, good habits and a welcoming environment leads to winning results on the ice. Despite one of the best years for the program last season, it’s still well below the expected standard in and around the locker room.
“I know there might not be a lot of expectations, or there haven’t been outside our room, but I promise you if you’re around our room, our weight room, our coaching staff, there’s not a single person that’s satisfied or happy with the way things went last year; not even close,” Noreen said. “I think some of our guys almost take it as an insult when people are celebrating what we did last year. We don’t see it as that. We see it as we need to be way better.”
The RedHawks will open their season in Marquette, Michigan, against the Northern Michigan University Wildcats on Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3. Their first home series will be three weeks later against the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24.
NCHC play will begin the following week against conference newcomer and former Miami head coach Enrico Blasi and the St. Thomas Tommies.
