Games 1-2
Saturday, Oct. 6 • 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 7 • 3:00 p.m.
Steve 'Coach' Cady Arena (3,019) • Oxford, Ohio

Miami RedHawks vs. Alabama Huntsville Chargers
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: Miami IMG Network/Tune In Radio (Greg Waddell-pbp; Drew Davis-analyst)

MATCHUP
Miami opens up the 2018-19 season with a Saturday-Sunday series against Alabama Huntsville in the programs' first meeting since 2012.
THE SERIES: Miami is 8-1 all-time against Alabama Huntsville, winning the last eight meetings.

PUCK POINTS
• The RedHawks return 13 letter winners and have 10 newcomers on the roster, including a draft pick (Jonathan Gruden) and a pair of graduate transfers in goaltender Jordan Uhelski (Alabama Huntsville) and defenseman River Rymsha (Dartmouth).

• Miami brings back seven of its top nine point producers from a year ago, which includes four players who scored at least 10 goals in 2017-18 in Gordie Green (15), Grant Hutton (13), Phil Knies (11) and Josh Melnick (10).

• Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has started 69 of the RedHawks' 73 games in net since debuting in 2016-17. The net has some depth with the arrival of Uhelski, who logged 52 starts for Alabama Huntsville the previous two seasons.

• Grant Hutton's 13 goals last season led all NCAA defensemen and were the most by a Miami blue liner since Dan Boyle netted 14 in 1997-98. The senior's 22 career goals are the sixth most all-time among Miami defensemen.

• After posting a career-best 29 points last season, senior forward Josh Melnick enters the season 19 points shy of becoming Miami's 52nd player to hit 100 career points.

• Gordie Green has notched 49 points (22g, 27a) in his last 56 games dating back to midway through his 2016-17 freshman campaign.

• Miami has reached the NCAA Tournament 10 times in head coach Enrico Blasi's first 19 seasons, all of which have come since the 2003-04 season.

LAST SEASON
A 4-3 victory over then-defending national champion Denver in early January improved Miami to 9-8-2 on the season, but a second-half slump left it as the eight seed in the NCHC Playoffs, where it gave No. 1 St. Cloud State a three-game battle before ultimately falling in overtime to end up 12-20-5 on the year. The RedHawks were aggressive over the summer in changing the roster, adding 10 newcomers and two new assistant coaches. A total of 13 letter winners return to the mix, a group that includes seven of its top nine scorers and starting goaltender Ryan Larkin, who started all but four games in the past two seasons.

COACH BLASI
Enrico Blasi (Miami '94) begins his 20th season behind the RedHawk bench. He is a five-time CCHA Coach of the Year and was named National Coach of the Year in 2005-06. He is the RedHawks' all-time winningest coach with a 387-288-72 record at his alma mater, which he has taken to 10 NCAA Tournaments, including two Frozen Four berths, a National Championship game appearance, a trio of CCHA regular-season titles and two conference tournament titles.

ABOUT ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE: The Chargers were picked seventh by the media and ninth by the coaches in the WCHA's preseason poll after going 12-23-2 (10-16-2 WCHA) a year ago. Senior defenseman Kurt Gosselin was a an All-WCHA selection two seasons ago and posted 16 points to top all UAH blue liners last year. The last time Alabama Huntsville played in Oxford was February 10-11, 2012, when current NHLers Reilly Smith, Austin Czarnik, Chris Wideman, Blake Coleman and Curtis McKenzie helped the RedHawks post a series sweep.

OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: Senior defenseman Grant Hutton provided Miami with a boon on defense thanks to his return. A year ago, Hutton led all NCAA defensemen with 13 goals, a total that was one off Miami's overall team lead. All 22 of Hutton's goals have come since his sophomore season and his career total ranks sixth all-time among Miami blue liners. His 13 goals last year were the most by a RedHawk blue liner since Dan Boyle netted 14 in 1997-98.

CHASING 100: Senior forward Josh Melnick comes into the season looking to build off last year's career-best 29 points (10g, 19a) as he nears a milestone. Melnick is 19 points shy of becoming Miami's 52nd member of the 100-point club with his career totals of 28 goals and 53 assists (81 points).

PLAYING IT TIGHT: The RedHawks were quite accustomed to playing tight contests as 21 of their 37 games last year (including ties) were decided by two goals or fewer. When Miami was able to keep contests manageable and low scoring, it had some success as evidenced by its collective 8-8-5 record in those situations. Games that opened up were more problematic as MU was 4-12 in games decided by three or more goals.

GOING GREEN: Junior forward Gordie Green enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign and hopes to build on that after leading the RedHawks with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists a year ago. Green's status as a go to scorer started midway through his freshman campaign as he adjusted to the college level. In his last 56 games dating back to December of 2016, Green has 49 points on 22 goals and 27 assists.

PHIL KNIES THE HOCKEY GUY: Sophomore forward Phil Knies was among the NCHC's most productive rookies a year ago with his 11 goals, which were tied for second among NCHC freshmen. The Phoenix native caught fire in the second half, netting nine of his 11 goals and 14 points in his final 21 games after notching just six points his first 16 outings.

A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING: Another sophomore looking to make strides off a steady debut is forward Casey Gilling. The second year center led Miami in faceoff winning percentage (54.7 percent) while chipping in 19 points (9g, 10a).

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his first two seasons in Oxford. Larkin's started 69 of the RedHawks' 73 games since his 2016-17 freshman campaign. The Clarkston, Mich., native debuted with a strong .910 save percentage as a freshman while being forced to make 30 or more saves 12 times. In his career, Larkin has 19 games where he has recorded at least 30 stops. He already owns two of Miami's top eight seasons in total saves with 905 as a freshman (third) and 863 in 2017-18 (eighth).

CAUSING HAVOC: One player who has shown a knack for creating scoring chances with the potential to lengthen the Miami attack is junior forward Karch Bachman. Despite only scoring nine goals in his first two seasons, the Florida Panthers' 2015 draft pick has finished third in shots on goal each of his first two campaigns with his 97 shots leading all Miami forwards in 2017-18. 

WE'RE STILL HERE: While much was made of Miami graduating defenseman Louie Belpedio and an early departure of Kiefer Sherwood to the prefessional ranks, the RedHawks bring a good amount of last season's production back to the ice this year. Seven of Miami's top nine scorers are on this year's roster, including top scorer Gordie Green and his 33 points. In fact, all four Miami players who netted at least 10 goals are back for another season. That also doesn't account for Ryan Larkin's 36 starts being set to man the crease again this year.

NEW FACES: The RedHawks have a lot of fresh blood breaking into the roster entering 2018-19. Ten of Miami's 27 players were not on campus a year ago. That group includes a member of the USA National Team Development Program in Ottawa draft pick Jonathan Gruden, six players who played in the USHL last season, two graduate transfers, one NAHL player and one OJHL player.

CHANGE OF VENUE: Among the newcomers to Miami this year are a pair of fifth-year transfers in defenseman River Rymsha (Dartmouth) and goaltender Jordan Uhelski (Alabama Huntsville). The duo are believed to be only the second and third postgraduate transfers in Miami hockey's history as they add another layer of experience to the roster. Uhelski was Alabama Huntsville's starting goaltender the past two years, logging 52 starts since 2016-17. Rymsha played a career-high 28 games at Dartmouth last year and brings 69 games of college hockey experience with the Big Green to the Miami blue line.

A LOOK INSIDE THE BROTHERHOOD: A partnership with the NCHC and Miami hockey's equipment provider, STX, has led to the creation of The Season (Miami Hockey). This six episode documentary series promises to take fans inside the RedHawks' preparation for the 2018-19 season. The first episode debuts on Oct. 4 and fans can check out the episodes throughout the season on TheSeason2018.com.