OXFORD, Ohio — Defensemen Dylan Moulton and Hampus Rydqvist were set to begin their freshman seasons at Miami in the fall of 2020.
Then COVID hit.
On Rydqvist’s 21st birthday.
Their first season of college was like no other and hopefully will never be replicated.
Nearly five years later, the last two remaining RedHawks from the POD Squad will play their final two collegiate games this weekend as they wrap up their graduate senior seasons.
“So I will remember my 21st birthday my entire life for a different reason than normal,” Rydqvist said.
Moulton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, where his father, Tom, had accepted a position as the minor league Mud Bugs’ corporate sales director after bouncing around pro hockey himself for 10 seasons.
Tom later took a job with the Nashville Predators as an account executive, and the family currently lives in suburban Nolensville.
As a result, Dylan was able to attend numerous Predators games when he was young, and he fell in love with the game, and having a father that logged over 400 minor league games benefitted his development.
Tom Moulton was also Dylan’s coach though U-14 and was still an assistant on his teams until he started juniors with NAHL Chippewa and eventually USHL Green Bay.
Tom Moulton also knew Chris Bergeron, who was still coaching at Bowling Green at the time, and Dylan committed there.
“They made me feel welcome, and it was a pretty easy decision after meeting with them that those are people that I want to surround myself with and play for,” Moulton said.
Then Miami finished its 2018-19 season on a 2-18-4 skid, and chatter began around the college hockey world that coach Enrico Blasi would be relieved of duty.
And within a month, Blasi was out and Bergeron was in behind the RedHawks’ bench, and Moulton changed his commitment to Miami.
“Call it a little bit of a blessing in disguise, but (Bergeron’s staff) ended up calling me and offering for me to come here, and obviously I’ve loved it here,” Moulton said.
Rydqvist went 7-8-15 in Swedish juniors for Vastra, finishing second on the team with a plus-29 rating before coming to the U.S. along with his best friend, former Miami goalie Ludvig Persson, to play for NAHL Maryland.
“It’s a big adjustment,” Rydqvist said. “You not only move to another country where you have to speak a different language, you leave family and friends kind of behind, even though you’re going home each year and stepping out of the comfort of being at home, and that was hard in the beginning.”
Rydqvist speaks impeccable English despite having lived in the U.S. for just six years, thanks to the emphasis on English in the Swedish education system.
Sweden begins teaching English in third grade, and it’s one of the country’s core three subjects along with Swedish and mathematics, Rydqvist said.
To earn even the most basic high school diploma in Sweden, one must be proficient in English.
“With 10 years of English in school, you learn a lot of words and grammar, but for me…speaking it, I don’t really know what happened, it clicked when I came over here and I just became comfortable speaking English,” Rydqvist said.
So naturally Rydqvist also handled the on-ice transition well, finishing with 11 goals and a team-high 30 assists for 41 points with the Black Bears — just one off the team lead — in his first season on this continent.
He so badly wanted to play hockey in the U.S. that he reached out to every Division I coach and informed them of his interest.
Rydqvist’s best friend, former RedHawks goalie Ludvig Persson, had already committed to Miami in December and lobbied on his behalf.
“Ludvig, committed here and then he kind of hinted that, this is my buddy, he’s doing pretty good in Maryland, and you should take a look at him,” Rydqvist said.
Within a month Rydqvist was committed to Miami.
Rydqvist said one big difference between the two countries is that in Sweden, people tend to keep more to themselves, and the United States is more communal.
“I kind of loved America from the start; I’ve grown to realize that my personality fits in with how American culture is,” Rydqvist said. “It wasn’t that hard of a transition my first year but then obviously COVID happened.”
It certainly did.
Moulton was originally planning on sticking with USHL Green Bay for a second full season after going 5-9-14 as an 18-year-old.
“There was some uncertainty as to whether I was even going to come in for that COVID year or not, and it was like, is college going to have a season? Is juniors going to have a season? Is anybody?” Moulton said.
Moulton ultimately decided to come to Oxford as the second-youngest player on the team.
“Why not just come to school and get used to school, even if wasn’t really school with Zoom calls?” Moulton said.
Rydqvist turned 21 on March 12, 2020, the day the sports world — including his NAHL team — shut down, and he was in a foreign country.
He thought he might be stuck in the United States because of the travel bans countries were implementing.
His mother, a travel agent, explained to him that he had the right to return home to Sweden, and a week later Rydqvist was back in his home country.
“That was a weird time for everyone,” Rydqvist said.
Even during the heart of COVID in early-to-mid 2020, Sweden wasn’t nearly as restrictive as most of the world, including the U.S.
“Sweden did (COVID) a little bit differently from what everyone else did, we had a lot more freedom,” Rydqvist said. “Everything went on kind of as usual.”
Even with all of the uncertainty that spring and summer, Rydqvist knew he was going to play for Miami whenever the NCAA returned to action.
“I always had the idea that it’s going to be over at some point, and I’m going to over to (the U.S.) because after my visit, I got really excited to go to Miami,” Rydqvist said.
Rydqvist began taking Miami classes online while still in Sweden, six time zones ahead of Oxford, “which was, for lack of better words, hell,” he said.
The first NCAA games for both Rydqvist and Moulton were in the Omaha Pod, where no fans were allowed, and for the balance of that season, only parents and media were allowed at Miami home games.
Rydqvist had no idea what kind of crowds and atmosphere to expect at college hockey games.
“Then when hockey started in the Pod…I was just going out there and enjoying playing hockey,” Rydqvist said. “The sophomores, the juniors and the seniors back then, they were all like, oh, you don’t know what college is like, you don’t know how fun it is to play, and I just said, okay, I will find out eventually — hopefully.”
Typically teams open their seasons against non-conference schools, but Miami started COVID season with 10 games in the Omaha Pod — all against dominant NCHC foes — and played its entire season schedule vs. league opponents.
Moulton went from logging 37 USHL games with Green Bay in 2019-20 directly into a brutal conference slate.
“There’s the jump from midget hockey to juniors from even the NAHL to USHL, that wasn’t totally crazy to me, but that jump from junior to…playing an NCHC team right away was a little bit overwhelming for me,” Moulton said.
Miami finished 5-18-2 that season, which saw the schedule change countless times just weeks before scheduled games due to outbreaks.
“Different people at different stages of development, and different walks of life, obviously it had an impact on them, but certainly for (Rydqvist and Moulton),” Miami coach Anthony Noreen said. “Think of Hamps, coming from another country and you’re here and you don’t know what’s what already, and now that’s going on. It’s certainly something those guys will never forget.”
College hockey eventually stabilized, but the RedHawks didn’t, as their winning percentage continued to plummet.
After Rydqvist and Moulton completed their fourth season at Miami, coach Chris Bergeron was relieved of duty, and Noreen was hired last April.
Moulton said he was contacted by Noreen, liked what the new coach had to say and agreed to return for his grad senior season.
Rydqvist met with Noreen and appreciated the transparency from the new coach.
“I said I want to come play…it wasn’t really a hard choice, I wanted to come back,” Rydqvist said.
Moulton and Rydqvist are dormmates for the first time in five years this season, which has helped them bond off the ice.
Rydqvist has dressed for 150 games in his career, racked up 14 goals and 25 assists and was an alternate captain in 2023-24.
“What I love about Hamp, it’s just nothing is going to break Hamp’s spirit,” Noreen said. “A loss isn’t going to break his spirit, being scratched isn’t going to break his spirit, working and maybe not getting rewarded isn’t going to break it. I just think he’s going to have a lot of success in his life, moving forward, whether that’s hockey, life, business — whatever it is — I think that’s the special quality he has.
“He’s a hard guy to keep out of the lineup because of that, he’s an easy guy to put in and rally around because of it,” Noreen said.
He also has played a mentor role to freshman Swedes Casper Nassen and Teodor Forssander this season.
“They ask questions and I have a lot of answers from my experience here,” Rydqvist said. “I think all of the Swedes have been very fortunate because me and (Ludvig), we came in together, we lived together, and three years ago, Axel (Kumlin) and William (Hallen) came in together, and now, Casper and Teodor came in together. So they have each other to lean on. You thought you were going to clash with each other in that small of a dorm room, but we helped each other, and I’m pretty sure Casper and Teo are doing that too.”
Rydqvist scored his second goal of the season on Feb. 22, but he was scratched six times earlier this season after not missing a game in three years.
“There’s days you couldn’t even tell he was going through some of the adversity that he was going through because he’s got a smile on his face,” Moulton said. “He’s not letting it show and that it’s bugging him, which I admire a lot. He’s a great guy to have around.”
Moulton earned an ‘A’ this season and scored three goals in a four-game stretch vs. Arizona State and Colorado College. He has 14 markers for his career, plus 17 assists for 31 points.
“He’s taken a lot of steps through his college career, both on and off the ice,” Rydqvist said. “I think the main thing is he’s a hard worker and he has a winning mindset, and those things together completes him as a hockey player. He’s going to succeed in whatever he does in life.”
Moulton was named an alternate captain several weeks into the season.
“It’s not something that you take likely,” Moulton said. “It’s an honor – looking at the guys that have been able to wear a letter, it’s pretty cool.”
Said Noreen: “(Moulton’s) a guy that will take a lot of pride when hopefully this thing is turned into the direction he wants, because I think what he did and what he’s gone through will have mattered and will have meant something.”
Wins have been at a major premium throughout their careers, but Moulton and Rydqvist have both have favorite memories on the ice.
Moulton recalls beating North Dakota in Grand Forks on a late Jack Clement goal in 2022, and also rallying from three down to beat Arizona State in overtime on Oct. 27, 2023.
One of Rydqvist’s favorite memories was Miami capping off a series sweep of Omaha on Feb. 12, 2022 — his sophomore season — not only because he scored the game-winning goal as the RedHawks erased a 3-1 deficit, but he blocked a shot in the first period, cracking the skin on his heel, and his skate was bloodied.
“I remember winning, but I also remember how much fun we had in the locker room after that, enjoying that win together, that’s a great memory for me,” Rydqvist said.
Despite Miami’s historic current winless streak, Moulton is bullish on the RedHawks’ future.
“It’s not a matter of, is Miami going to get back on track? It’s when and I think the ‘when’ is soon, especially with this staff,” Moulton said. “I think these (coaches) are going to be really good at developing players that are coming in, and I wanted to take advantage of a year of that and hopefully move on past here, but time will tell.”
Rydqvist also sees a shift this season.
“The record hasn’t really shown it, but there’s a different culture…and it’s pretty evident that it’s going in the right direction,” Rydqvist said. “Sometimes change takes a little bit of time in order for it to be sustainable. It’s hard to (quantify) but it’s a feeling in the team, there’s more work and willingness within the culture of the team that makes me grateful to be a part of the first year of (Coach) Noreen. He’s going to put Miami where they belong.”
And despite the lack of on-ice success, both Moulton and Rydqvist have become two of Miami’s biggest advocates and see big things ahead for this program.
“I don’t think you’re going to find a better place to play, truthfully, in college hockey,” Moulton said. “This place has everything, and the people that I’ve met here – I’ve met some lifelong friends. There is the part where the hockey: We haven’t gotten the results, and that part has been crappy, but I don’t regret coming here and getting to experience what I’ve gotten to experience while being here. I can’t wait to come back as an alumnus, especially once this program to back to where it should be.”
Said Rydqvist: “Without a doubt, (Miami) has changed my life. You come into college as a young adult, I was still pretty old when I came in compared to everyone else, but you mature, you learn to take care of yourself. Especially as a student-athlete you don’t have a lot of time, so you have to learn to manage that. I’ve grown a lot, and I have Miami and Oxford to thank for that. My sophomore year, I already started talking about how much fun it’s going to be to come back here in 10, 20, 30, 40 years and just remember and reminisce all the memories and stories I created with my teammates and friends. To have Miami University to share with people is going to be a really, really exciting part of my life. Miami has helped me become who I am today and form me into who I want to be for the future.”
Noreen has spent his first season in Oxford trying to rejuvenate Miami’s culture, and both of his senior graduate defensemen have played major roles in helping right the program, which should reap dividends for RedHawks hockey in the future.
“You talk about guys that care and guys that love what they do, and guys that take pride in what they do, and guys that love Miami that want to see better days here, even if it’s after they’re gone,” Noreen said. “I think both guys have really grabbed onto that.”
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