As of Christmas, the two NCHC forwards that had racked up the most time on ice this season both played for Miami.

Matthew Barbolini (photo by Cathy Lachmann/VFTG).

Through the RedHawks’ first 16 games, Matthew Barbolini and John Waldron averaged 22:39 and 22:23 TOI, respectively, the third- and fourth-most ice time among NCHC skaters.

Minn.-Duluth’s Quinn Olson (20:49) and Omaha’s Jack Randl (20:01) — both graduate seniors — are the only other two conference forwards averaging over 20 minutes.

Bulldogs defenseman Owen Gallatin was tops in the league at 23:29 heading into the holidays, and Zach Buium of Denver was 16 seconds ahead of Barbolini at 22:55.

With both Barbolini and Waldron being paramount to Miami’s offense, the obvious concern is whether logging so many minutes in the first half of the season will hinder their energy levels down the stretch, especially Waldron, who is as tough as they come but is still on the small side for NCHC high-end forwards.

Here is the TOI for every Miami forward through Christmas:

Matthew Barbolini22:39
John Waldron22:23
P.J. Fletcher19:50
Raimonds Vitolins18:37
William Hallen17:38
Max Dukovac16:53
Artur Turansky16:42
Blake Mesenburg13:32
Thomas Daskas 13:19
Frankie Carogioiello-!12:47
Ryan Sullivan12:10
Brayden Morrison8:09
Teddy Lagerback6:27

! — injured

Partly due to Miami’s injuries up front, coach Chris Bergeron dressed eight (or nine) defensemen for many of the RedHawks’ first 16 games.

Niagara transfer Albin Nilsson, who injured his knee this summer, is expected to occupy one of those forward slots the second half of the season.

Axel Kumlin (photo by Cathy Lachmann/VFTG).

Alex Kumlin (20:14) and Michael Feenstra (18:33) lead MU in defenseman TOI, but with the extra bodies in the lineup, three D-men — Robby Drazner, Rihards Simanovics and Zane Demsey — have been limited to less than 11 minutes per game.

Average TOI for every Miami defenseman through Christmas:

Axel Kumlin20:14
Michael Feenstra 18:33
Hampus Rydqvist16:33
Jack Clement16:05
Spencer Cox14:36
Dylan Moulton13:24
Robby Drazner10:39
Rihards Simanovics9:27
Zane Demsey9:09

Published by John Lachmann (@rednblackhawks)

I've been writing about hockey since the late 1990s. First it was the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and the Cincinnati Cyclones for the Cincinnati Post, and most recently with WCPO and the Blog of Brotherhood online.

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