Miami was the second-worst team in college hockey in 2024-25, but its course reversal last season was one of the biggest by any Division I squad in decades.
The rejuvenated RedHawks improved sixfold on their victory total — from just three in coach Anthony Noreen’s inaugural campaign to 18 — a 15-win jump that was their second-largest single-season surge in team history.
Miami still finished seventh in the nine-team NCHC and got smoked by in the first round of the conference tournament last season, but between their talent-laden returners and highly-skilled incoming class, the RedHawks are poised to continue climbing the conference standings rungs.
“Really excited to see our returners and what they’re able to do with a year of experience under their belt in the NCHC, here at Miami, under our staff, knowing what’s expected…and then you’re always excited to see the newcomers and what they bring and how they mesh with the (veterans),” Noreen said.
In the brief time Noreen has spent with his players since they moved in, he has been extremely impressed with the growth his returners have made, both hockey-wise and beyond.
“It’s been a really positive thing for our staff to see our players take the lead on a lot of things we were having to intervene on a year ago at this time,” Noreen said. “It’s really been, from Day 1 of them getting here to what our locker room looks like, the way they act off the ice, the way they are in the weight room, our standards and habits within practice of things we expect of the guys.”
Miami’s 2026-27 roster consists of 27 players: 15 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies.
But unlike last season, when 21 new faces joined the team, 16 players from 2025-26 return, so only 11 will be spending their first winter in Oxford.
Of the 11 newbies, four are NHL draftees, which means Miami will have seven NHL selections on this season’s roster.
And two of the undrafted forwards finished in the top five of the USHL in scoring in Layne Loomer and Ryan Seelinger.
Both a first- and second-round selection are expected to dress each for the first time in team history, in forward Ilia Morozov and defenseman Tim Runtso.
Morozov was selected by Buffalo, 20th overall in June, and Montreal took Runtso with the 57th pick.
Newcomers Matous Kucharcik (Buffalo), Austin Baker (Detroit) and Yegor Yegorov (Calgary) are also NHL draft picks, as is returning sophomore Ethan Hay.
While Miami has fortified its roster from a successful 2025-26 season, most higher-end college hockey programs have also powered up, largely due to the influx of CHL talent with an assist from the transfer portal.
“Everyone at this time of year, they’re excited about their group, everyone’s excited about their returners, everyone’s excited about their newcomers,” Noreen said. “Who’s to say what another team has? On paper, someone could look really good until it comes together and you see it in action…you just don’t know how it’s going to come together. We love what we have, but you look around our league and certainly sitting there at the NHL Draft, hearing some of the names go off and seeing where they’re going: Everybody in our league is getting better. When you play in the best conference in college hockey, everyone’s going to get better.
“Just like the transfer portal: Players are leaving smaller schools and conferences, right or wrong, and they’re going to some of the better conferences, whether it’s to prove themselves or whatever it might be. We know our league is going to continue to get better and better. It’s one of the exciting things about coming here. It’s one of the things that brings the type of recruits that we brought here to our league and to our team.”
Miami plays seven of its 10 out-of-conference games on the road, with weekend series at Northern Michigan, Stonewall and Maine, plus one in a home-and-home with Robert Morris.
The RedHawks host RMU for one game and Alaska-Anchorage for two.
Being in the NCHC always ensures the RedHawks’ strength of schedule will rank in the top echelon of Division I, but being a geographic outlier puts Miami at an out-of-conference scheduling disadvantage.
Most teams in the north have natural non-conference rivals, but logistically-friendly foes like former in-state rivals Bowling Green and Ohio State have not been on the RedHawks’ schedule for multiple seasons.
“Unfortunately, where we sit, we don’t have a lot of those,” Noreen said. “There’s some that we would like to have, for whatever reason we’re not able to get, and we’ll let you read into that. But no matter our (OOC) schedule looks like, we’re always going to have one of the harder strengths of schedule in the country, no matter what our non-conference is.”
Noreen also teased some scheduling highlights in future seasons.
“You’ll see in the coming years, some of the different series, some of the different tournaments that we’re setting up,” Noreen said. “We feel like we’re going to continue to give our guys some tremendous experiences on the road as well as give our fans and people that love Miami hockey the tremendous experiences of maybe some outside teams coming here and playing at Coach Cady Arena as well.”
Miami’s two-year turnaround under Noreen has been momentous, and he and his staff appear poised to continue attracting blue chip hockey talent to Oxford.
“We feel like everything that a young man should be looking for in why they pick a school and what they pick about a program, we feel very fortunate that we’ve got the best of all worlds here,” Noreen said. “We play in the best conference in college hockey, we’ve got an unbelievable facility, we’ve got a tremendous academic university, we’ve got a phenomenal campus and social life for these guys to enjoy with their teammates.”
Check back later this month, as we break down Miami’s forwards, defensemen and goaltenders in our season preview series as we close in on opening night Oct. 2.
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