Preview: Miami hockey hits the road for challenge against No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth
“If you would have asked most people on the media side coming into the season based on the season they had last year and the returners they have this year, it probably would have been people's consensus pick, and for good reason.”
The Miami University hockey team (6-2-0, 1-1-0 in-conference) is coming off an emotion-filled weekend at the Goggin Ice Center. They welcomed back former head coach Enrico Blasi, along with welcoming the St. Thomas University Tommies to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
“We played two games where, I know we got better,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “I know we found out a lot about ourselves, and we got better in every facet of the game. And that’s the great thing about the NCHC.”
Now, the conference tests will continue, this time against not just a powerhouse in the NCHC, but one of the country’s best – the No. 6-ranked University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
Hitting the road for the third time this season (the second time for a full series), Miami comes in with a 2-1-0 record wearing its away red uniforms. The group split the first series of the season against the Northern Michigan University Wildcats. They came away with a victory on the road against Robert Morris University, too.
As for the Bulldogs, they enter with a 6-2-2 overall record (1-1-0 in-conference), following a series split with the No. 11 Colorado College Tigers. The first game was a 1-0 victory – a 20-save shutout for freshman goaltender Carl Axelsson – with the only goal scored by junior defenseman and team-leading point scorer, Ty Hanson.
Hanson’s 14 points in 10 games are third-highest in the nation, and his eight goals are second.
Axellson enters the series with Miami with a 5-1-2 record, a 1.11 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage.
“We’re never going to look at it like, ‘Oh my God, they have this unbelievable goaltender,’” Noreen said. “We know what we’ve got as well. You’re in the NCHC. Every team is going to have an elite goaltender. This is where they want to play for good reason.”
The second game of the series against the Tigers was a 5-3 loss for Minnesota-Duluth.
While Hanson is the Bulldogs’ leading point-scorer, there’s other extremely threatening players through the lineup. Junior forward Jayson Shaugabay leads the group in assists (12 in 10 games), while sophomore forward Hunter Anderson and junior alternate captain Zam Plante are both over the point per game mark as well.
Minnesota-Duluth, though, is missing the biggest weapon on the roster – junior co-captain and reigning Hobey Baker Award Winner Max Plante.
Plante has played just two games this season due to an upper body injury, and he will miss the series against Miami. But his two brothers, the aforementioned Zam and freshman Victor, are doing their best to pick up the slack waiting for his inevitable return.
Zam, Max and Shaugabay were the top scoring line in all of college hockey last season with 145 points across the 40 games played. The two brothers were both top-10 scorers in college hockey, and Shaugabay finished 15th overall.
In the last 10 meetings with the Bulldogs, Miami has not come away with a victory, and they have a 2-19-3 record when they travel to AMSOIL Arena. They are 7-37-5 all-time against Minnesota-Duluth, including 5-2 and 4-1 losses at Steve “Coach” Cady Arena last season.
Senior forward Matteo Giampa leads the team in points with nine in eight games. The RedHawks also have a three-way tie for the lead in assists, with Giampa, sophomore forward David Deputy and freshman forward Matouš Kucharcík.
“Obviously being a senior (and I’m) trying to lead the best way I can,” Giampa said. “I’m not saying that’s just with points, but I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to get wins and help the team win games.”
Miami’s leading goal scorer is sophomore forward Ilia Morozov, who scored four of his five goals against Robert Morris and has yet to register an assist on the season.
“You’re playing the No. 6 team in the country that could very easily be the No. 1 team in the country,” Noreen said. “We try and make it around here where it’s not very different. Our goals and our approach doesn’t change.”
The RedHawks and Bulldogs begin their conference series at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 6 and 7:07 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.
