NCHC Pod Week 1 Matchups
Miami RedHawks (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) vs.
#1 North Dakota Fighting Hawks (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC)
Wednesday, Dec. 2 | 4:35 p.m.
Baxter Arena (Omaha, Neb.)
All-Time Series vs. North Dakota: 7-17-4 (Lost last meeting, 5-3, on Jan. 18, 2020)
WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES | @MiamiOH_Hockey
Miami RedHawks (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) vs.
Omaha Mavericks (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC)
Saturday, Dec. 5 | 5:05 p.m.
Baxter Arena (Omaha, Neb.)
All-Time Series vs. Omaha: 25-19-7 (Won last meeting, 4-0, on Feb. 29, 2020)
WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES | @MiamiOH_Hockey
Miami RedHawks (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) vs.
#3/4 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC)
Sunday, Dec. 6 | 4:35 p.m.
Baxter Arena (Omaha, Neb.)
All-Time Series vs. Minnesota Duluth: 5-20-2 (Lost last meeting, 3-2, on Nov. 16, 2019)
WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES | @MiamiOH_Hockey
OXFORD, Ohio. – The Miami University ice hockey team officially kicks off the 2020-21 season this weekend as the RedHawks take on nationally-ranked North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, along with Omaha in the NCHC Pod, with the first game of the trio scheduled for December 2.
LAST TIME OUT: Miami finished the 2019-20 season with the hopes of traveling to Duluth for the first round of the NCHC playoffs, but the season was cancelled before the series began. The RedHawks finished the 2019-20 season with a 8-21-5 record (5-16-3 NCHC). The schedule included an upset 3-1 win over #6 UMD in November, along with a series sweep over Omaha in February towards the end of the season.
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA: The Fighting Hawks open the 2020-21 season ranked at the top of the USCHO.com poll and were picked to finish first in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll. UND went 26-5-4 in 2019-20 and were consistently at the top the NCAA in standings. North Dakota was slated to host Colorado College in the conference tournament before the season was cancelled due to the pandemic. North Dakota returns a good chunk of their lethal roster for 2020-21, and senior defender Matt Kiersted (6g, 23a, 29p in 2019-20), junior defender Jacob Bernard-Docker (7-18-25) and senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (15-30-45) were named to the Preseason All-NCHC team. The two goaltenders from the Hawks last year, junior Adam Scheel and senior Peter Thome, both return for their junior and senior seasons, respectively. North Dakota returns four of their top five scorers, who combined for 158 points on 65 goals and 93 assists. North Dakota currently has 12 NHL draft picks on their roster, including four for Ottawa alone.
ABOUT OMAHA: The Mavericks open the 2020-21 season picked to finish sixth in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll. Omaha went 14-17-5 in 2019-20 and finished sixth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference with a 8-13-3 record against conference foes. Omaha was slated to play Denver in the conference tournament before the season was cancelled due to the pandemic. The two goaltenders to see action for the Mavericks last year, starting sophomore Isaiah Saville and sophomore back-up Austin Roden, both return for their junior seasons. Omaha returns all five of their top five scorers, who combined for 114 points on 49 goals and 65 assists. Omaha currently has three NHL draft picks on their roster.
ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH: The Bulldogs open the 2020-21 season ranked third in the USCHO.com poll and were picked to finish third in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll. UND went 22-10-2 in 2019-20 and were conistantly at the top the NCAA in standings. UMD was slated to host Miami in the conference tournament before the season was cancelled due to the pandemic. Considered one of the top teams in the NCAA for the past five years, the Bulldogs return Junior forwards Noah Cates (14g, 19a, 33p in 2019-20) and Cole Koepke (16-17-33), who were named to the Preseason All-NCHC team. After losing starting goaltender Hunter Shepard to graduation, UMD will look to backup goaltenders Ben Patt and Ryan Fanti to take up more minutes in net. UMD also returns four of their top five scorers, who combined for 157 points on 62 goals and 95 assists. The Bulldogs currently have eight NHL draft picks on their roster.
QUITE A DEBUT: Sophomore forwards Ryan Savage, Chase Pletzke, and John Sladic enjoyed quite the debut season for the RedHawks. The trio of rookies had a combined 41 points, which included 20 goals and 21 assists. Savage and Pletzke were both tied for fifth in team scoring. All three players look to continue their success in a Miami sweater as sophomores.
MAKING SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL: One spot Miami looks for a resurgence is in its penalty kill as it ranked 54th out of 60 teams nationally last season with a 75.4 percent kill rate. Even though the RedHawks didn't see success on the PK, Miami did see success with the man advantage on the power play. Miami's power-play conversion rate of 23.9% ranked in the top-10 nationally, doing better than nationally-ranked conference foes like Denver and North Dakota.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMPS HERE: Continuing his success on the blue line from his rookie campaign in 2018-19, junior defender Derek Daschke solidified his presence on the RedHawk blue line. Surpassing his point total from his freshman year by one point (10-13-23 in 2019-20), Daschke looks to add more to his name as a pivotal part of the Miami Brotherhood.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: After a large senior class graduation and a bunch of other departures, there are many holes in the Miami lineup, and that is where the big freshman class comes in. With three forwards, three defenders, and one goaltender, the freshman class for 2020-21 is one of the most geographically diverse classes in Miami history. The rookie class includes:
- Robby Drazner: Defender/Buffalo Grove, Ill. (Nanaimo Clippers, BCHL)
- Hampus Rydqvist: Defender/Gothenburg, Sweden (Maryland Black Bears, NAHL)
- Michael Holland: Forward/Charlotte, N.C. (Boston Jr. Bruins, NCDC)
- Brian Silver: Forward/Lake Bluff, Ill. (Omaha Lancers, USHL)
- Dylan Moulton: Defender/Nolensville, Tenn. (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL)
- Matthew Barbolini: Forward/Williamsville, N.Y. (Lincoln Stars, USHL)
- Ludvig Persson: Goalie/Hindas, Sweden (Lone Star Brahmas, NAHL)
TOUGH COOKIES TO CRACK: With the NCHC sporting three teams ranked in the preseason USCHO.com poll, and two more receiving votes, the RedHawks figure to once again play one of the most difficult schedules in the country this season. The league is also already home of the past four national champions, which means that its success will come down to how it performs against the top teams in the nation. Last year, the Red & White played 11 games against teams that finished in the top 15 (2-8-1) and 16 against teams that finished in the top 20 (3-11-2).
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, EVERYBODY: One spot that Miami hopes to improve on is its shot prevention. Last season, Miami allowed 33.47 shots per game, a total that ranked 55th nationally. As the season wore on, the trend got worse with the RedHawks, ranking 56th nationally in shots on goal allowed per game (34.88) in 2020 portion of the regular season schedule.
ABOUT NCHC.TV: For hockey fans, all Miami NCHC matchups will be available via NCHC.tv. For fans without an active NCHC.tv subscription, there will be multiple passes from which to select. For those only interested in watching games in the Pod over the first three weeks of December, the Pod Pass is available for $44.95, a value of just over $1 per game. In addition, the NCHC Annual Pass is available for $112.95, the same price as last year, and provides access to all games on NCHC.tv for 365 days from the purchase date. For fans only wanting to watch their favorite team's games, a School Annual Pass grants access to one team's games for the entire season and is available for $99.95, holding the same price as 2019-20. An NCHC Day Pass will also be available for $16.95 and provide access to all NCHC games for 24 hours from the purchase time.
The 2020-21 Miami Men's Hockey season is proudly sponsored by Kroger and Cintas.
