Miami Ohio University Athletics
Miami Hockey Well-Represented Among NCHC Award Finalists
3/4/2026 1:59:00 PM | Hockey
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— The National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced its individual award finalists for the 2025-26 season Wednesday, and Miami Hockey was well-represented across a variety of categories.
David Deputy is a finalist for Rookie of the Year and also for the National's Three Stars Award. Matteo Drobac is a finalist for Goaltender of the Year, while Blake Mesenburg is a finalist for the conference's Sportsmanship Award. Head coach Anthony Noreen is a finalist for the conference's Herb Brooks Coach of the Year award.
Deputy is the first RedHawk to produce 15 goals in a season since 2017-18, collecting 22 points (15-7-22) in 29 appearances this season. The four-time NCHC Rookie of the Week ranked fourth in the NCHC in goals per conference game (0.54) and is tied for seventh nationally in short-handed goals (two). He was named the conference's Rookie of the Month in January.
Drobac already ranks among Miami's top-10 single-season leaders in wins (17, tied for eighth), saves (918, third), and minutes played (1979:18, sixth). He allowed two goals or less in nine consecutive games to begin the 2026 portion of the schedule. Drobac has been recognized as NCHC Goaltender of the Week on four different occasions this season and was named the Player of the Tournament at the 2025 Friendship Four.
Mesenburg has been an integral part of Miami's leadership group for the past two seasons and is known for his impact on and off the ice. He has been at the forefront of the Miami Hockey program from a community service standpoint, and was named a finalist for Team IMPACT's 2026 national Teammate of the Year award. Mesenburg has served on RedHawk Council and as a youth hockey volunteer coach, while volunteering for causes such as Move-In Miami, Oxford Community Clean Up, Taking MACtion Foods and Funds Drive, Oxford Porsche Car Show, Coach's Cafe for the Miami Hockey Blue Line Club, Butler County Therapeutic/Best Buddies Skate, Ace Hardware fundraiser, the Talawanda parade and more.
Noreen has overseen one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in the past half-century of college hockey as Miami improved from three regular-season wins a year ago to 18. The RedHawks' 15-win improvement matches the 1996-97 Miami team for the biggest jump in regular-season wins in program history. Although 21 of the RedHawks' 27 players hadn't played a game for the Red and White before this season (and Miami brought back far less returning production than any team in the country), Noreen's group has secured the program's first winning season since 2014-15.
The NCHC will announce the winner from each category's top three finalists (or two finalists in the case of the Three Stars Award) over the next two weeks.
The Sportsmanship Award is voted on by conference staff and the Chair of the NCHC Athletic Council, and the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year is voted on by athletic directors, head coaches and select media. NCHC playing awards are voted on only by coaches and media. The Three Stars Award is based on the highest point totals of 'Stars of the Game' points earned during conference games.
Seventh-seeded Miami opens the Frozen Faceoff with a best-of-three quarterfinal series at second-seeded Denver beginning Friday, March 6 at 9 p.m. ET.
David Deputy is a finalist for Rookie of the Year and also for the National's Three Stars Award. Matteo Drobac is a finalist for Goaltender of the Year, while Blake Mesenburg is a finalist for the conference's Sportsmanship Award. Head coach Anthony Noreen is a finalist for the conference's Herb Brooks Coach of the Year award.
Deputy is the first RedHawk to produce 15 goals in a season since 2017-18, collecting 22 points (15-7-22) in 29 appearances this season. The four-time NCHC Rookie of the Week ranked fourth in the NCHC in goals per conference game (0.54) and is tied for seventh nationally in short-handed goals (two). He was named the conference's Rookie of the Month in January.
Drobac already ranks among Miami's top-10 single-season leaders in wins (17, tied for eighth), saves (918, third), and minutes played (1979:18, sixth). He allowed two goals or less in nine consecutive games to begin the 2026 portion of the schedule. Drobac has been recognized as NCHC Goaltender of the Week on four different occasions this season and was named the Player of the Tournament at the 2025 Friendship Four.
Mesenburg has been an integral part of Miami's leadership group for the past two seasons and is known for his impact on and off the ice. He has been at the forefront of the Miami Hockey program from a community service standpoint, and was named a finalist for Team IMPACT's 2026 national Teammate of the Year award. Mesenburg has served on RedHawk Council and as a youth hockey volunteer coach, while volunteering for causes such as Move-In Miami, Oxford Community Clean Up, Taking MACtion Foods and Funds Drive, Oxford Porsche Car Show, Coach's Cafe for the Miami Hockey Blue Line Club, Butler County Therapeutic/Best Buddies Skate, Ace Hardware fundraiser, the Talawanda parade and more.
Noreen has overseen one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in the past half-century of college hockey as Miami improved from three regular-season wins a year ago to 18. The RedHawks' 15-win improvement matches the 1996-97 Miami team for the biggest jump in regular-season wins in program history. Although 21 of the RedHawks' 27 players hadn't played a game for the Red and White before this season (and Miami brought back far less returning production than any team in the country), Noreen's group has secured the program's first winning season since 2014-15.
The NCHC will announce the winner from each category's top three finalists (or two finalists in the case of the Three Stars Award) over the next two weeks.
The Sportsmanship Award is voted on by conference staff and the Chair of the NCHC Athletic Council, and the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year is voted on by athletic directors, head coaches and select media. NCHC playing awards are voted on only by coaches and media. The Three Stars Award is based on the highest point totals of 'Stars of the Game' points earned during conference games.
Seventh-seeded Miami opens the Frozen Faceoff with a best-of-three quarterfinal series at second-seeded Denver beginning Friday, March 6 at 9 p.m. ET.
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