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When Anthony Noreen was hired as Miami Hockey's head coach in 2024, he talked about building the foundation of a successful program 'brick by brick.'

In year two of the Noreen era, those building blocks began coming fast and furious, as each massive moment in the 2025-26 season seemed to serve as a stepping stone toward the next one.

A 6-0 start.

Bringing home the Belpot from Northern Ireland for the program's first trophy in a decade.

A return to the national rankings.

Miami's longest conference winning streak since 2010.

David Deputy game-winning goal vs. Western Michigan — *Deputy's game-winning goal vs. No. 4 WMU*

And on and on the list goes.

It all seemed to come together on Feb. 6, when defending national champion Western Michigan came to Oxford to battle the RedHawks. Miami rallied for an overtime win over the No. 4 Broncos in front of a capacity crowd of 3,642 to move its record to 17-8-2 and put the nation on notice with a fifth straight win.

"Being a new guy last year, you'd hear all the stories about Goggin back in the day being packed and sold out," said forward David Deputy, who lit the lamp in OT for his second goal of the evening to send the Miami faithful home happy. "Then, when you actually get to experience it and win those games, I think it really lit a fire under us to be a very successful team so we get that every time we play at Goggin."

"When we beat Western in overtime on alumni weekend, you could just feel what that meant to our student body, our supporters, our university, our alumni – and what this place can be when it's at its best," Noreen recalled.

Miami finished the season with an 18-16-2 mark, its best showing since the 2014-15 team won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. But now, as the confident RedHawks head into a promising 2026-27 campaign —with 16 returners back, including nine of their top 12 scorers from a year ago— their sights are firmly focused on the future, not the past, intent on taking another giant step forward this winter.

"Guys came here because they believed that we were going to be able to do special things here and that we were going to be able to push this program to a different level," Noreen said. "I promise you, if you're around our room and our coaching staff, there's not a single person that's satisfied or happy with the way things went last year. Not even close!

"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 better – way better.'...

"We're certainly not satisfied with anything and I don't think we will be."

"Last year was obviously huge for the program and we really did start building something, but that's nowhere near where any of us want to be," Deputy commented. "We're not complacent with that. And this year, there's a lot of expectation."

"Last year, we really got this program back on its feet and we learned a lot throughout that process," added Ethan Hay, who will serve as one of Miami's alternate captains this season, along with classmate Bradley Walker. "We banked a lot of knowledge and experience, and now we're coming into this year with a full head of steam and utilizing everything we learned from last year."

Coaches and players alike say one of the biggest areas of growth this year for Miami —after a 2025-26 season where the overwhelming majority of the roster was new to Oxford— is how the culture has taken hold to where players, not the staff, can enforce the program's standards.

"Last year we were coming in and the coaches had to set the standard: Tell us how we play, what we do, how we practice, and the different things that we hold ourselves to," explained senior captain Doug Grimes. "Now that we have a bunch of guys who have been through it and been in leadership positions, they've given us the rein a little more to be the guys that set the standard and hold other people accountable. We can help the new guys, as opposed to it coming from the coaches all the time...

"That's probably one of the biggest [differences]: Just being more player-led when it comes to little details and little things."

"We've got a group of guys that were brought in here because they're high-character and highly competitive guys," Noreen said. "Our core values are our core values, and how we do everything we do is the absolute most important thing for this program. We like to believe that if we do those things to the best of our ability —at the highest standard every day— that we're going to give ourselves a chance when it matters when the lights come on Friday and Saturday night...

"Having 16 returners, a lot of it is coming from this group of guys, and I think it allows us to even push those things to another level...I think it's really clear what this program is about, and last year we were still building that.

"You're always building it, but now we've got a group of returners that we trust; they're here for a reason and we've really empowered them. We feel like it's going to be a player-led program, which is what the best programs are."

Miami Hockey goal celebration — *Miami had its best record in a decade in 2025-26*

"A championship team comes from a player-led team," said Hay. "Last year, the standard was set, and that's where we got our success from...[now] our culture is as good as it can possibly be. We want to be able to sustain that through adversity. Having the group of players and leaders in our locker room to do that is what we're striving for and what we hope to accomplish and what will ultimately hopefully lead to a national championship someday."

Miami's approach is apparent at every practice the RedHawks hold. And that's been the stated goal, ever since Noreen and his staff arrived.

"If somebody from outside of the program were to come watch our practice, you would know what our team's about...and the standard we hold ourselves to," Deputy said.

"If you're a new player coming in, when you step on that ice for the first time, you know what Miami hockey is about," said Hay. "You know you have to bring the energy, rise to the occasion, compete in every single drill and not take a shift off. That's something the staff instilled in us and we instilled in ourselves and we pass on to other players."

The RedHawks' experienced nucleus (including the highest draft pick in program history, 18-year-old Ilia Morozov) welcomes a talented 11-member class of newcomers this season: nine freshmen and two transfers. In all, Miami boasts seven players on the roster this year who have been drafted by an NHL team, the highest total for the program since 2014-15. And it hasn't taken long for the newest members of the Brotherhood to embrace and assimilate into the Miami way, which is a big reason why hopes are so high for the next chapter of the Red and White's resurgence.

"You see a guy laying down to block a shot in practice, and you're doing the exact same thing," said Hay. "You see guys battling as hard as they can in the corner – it's a contagious feeling. Every practice we've had so far has had that level of intent, and it's been radiating throughout the entire group."

While the RedHawks know they have their work cut out for them in the always-competitive National Collegiate Hockey Conference (which has produced eight of the past 10 national champions, including Denver in 2026), Miami also hopes the feeling of getting to lift a trophy across the Atlantic last season is just a preview of things to come as this year's group gels together.

"Coming out with the bell at the Friendship Four in Ireland gives us a taste of the bigger goals we're chasing," Grimes said. "I think we all felt not only how fun it was, but how together we felt in doing so, and it drives us to want to reach the goals that we have of lifting an NCHC championship and winning the Frozen Four. Those are the goals of this program this year and beyond...

"There's not a single guy on our team who is okay with being average. I think that's what's going to make us so good. That's what helped us last year to overcome the obstacles and reach new heights this program hasn't seen in a while. Every single guy is super-competitive and never settles...nobody ever feels good with where we're at...

"We always want to be better. And I think that's why we have the opportunity here to do such great things...the sky's the limit when you have 27 guys in a room who never settle and push each other...

"And every single guy in the room wants to take the next step."

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures

Miami Hockey opens the 2026-27 season this weekend (Oct. 2-3) with a series at Northern Michigan. The RedHawks begin the home portion of their schedule with an Oct. 15 matchup against Robert Morris at Cady Arena; tickets are available here.

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David Deputy

Doug Grimes

Ethan Hay

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