The 2023–24 Miami RedHawks men's ice hockey season was the 46th season of play for the program and the 11th in the NCHC. The RedHawks represented Miami University, played their home games at the Steve Cady Arena and were coached by Chris Bergeron in his 5th season.
Season In the first month of the season, Miami appeared to have resolved whatever problem had been affecting the program over the previous four years. The team went 4–1–1 in October which included a good showing against #13 Arizona State. Logan Neaton was playing well in goal and the many new additions to the lineup were contributing on both sides of the puck. However, as soon as the RedHawks began their conference schedule the results turned sour. Miami followed a strong showing by nearly going winless in November. Neaton's goals against ballooned versus NCHC competition and things got even worse for Miami when freshman Bruno Brūveris got his turn in goal. Compounding the team's problems was the sudden disappearance of their offense as the RedHawks could manage more than two goals in just two of eight games during the second month of play.
The team's defense recovered a bit in December but by Christmas the RedHawks had yet to win a single conference game. At this point the season was already over with the only hope for Miami being able to win their conference tournament, against teams they had already failed to defeat. Despite their situation, the team fought hard after returning from the break and won their first conference match by downing #10 Western Michigan but it came at a high price. With about ten minutes to play in the game, Neaton injured himself while making a save and he would miss the next six weeks while recovering.
Miami now had to rely on Brūveris to carry them down the stretch and the season ended up going from bad to worse. Over an eleven-game span, Brūveris limited the opposition to fewer than three goals just once. With the offense still not providing much support, the team did not win another match for the rest of the season. Even after Neaton's return in early March, the RedHawks remained in a dismal state and went 0–15–1 to end the year.
Shortly after the end of the season, Miami fired head coach Chris Bergeron. In his five years at the helm, the team had not won ten games in any season and had finished last in the conference four times.
Departures Alec Capstick Defenseman Graduation (retired) Joe Cassetti Forward Transferred to Western Michigan Nick Donato Defenseman Left program (did not play) Mike Holland Forward Transferred to Babson Alex Murray Defenseman Transferred to Niagara Jack Olmstead Forward Graduation (signed with Åmåls SK) Ludvig Persson Goaltender Transferred to North Dakota Chase Pletzke Forward Graduate transfer to Michigan Red Savage Forward Transferred to Michigan State Ryan Savage Forward Graduation (retired) Brian Silver Forward Transferred to Augustana John Sladic Forward Graduation (retired)
Recruiting Tanyon Bajzer Forward 21 Cleveland, OH Bruno Brūveris Goaltender 21 Riga, LAT Spencer Cox Forward/Defenseman 22 Powell, OH; transfer from Long Island Teddy Lagerbäck Forward 22 Chanhassen, MN; transfer from Arizona State Brayden Morrison Forward 21 Calgary, AB; transfer from Wisconsin Albin Nilsson Forward 25 Ljungby, SWE; graduate transfer from Niagara Rihards Simanovičs Defenseman 19 Riga, LAT Ryan Sullivan Forward 23 Grosse Pointe, MI; transfer from Massachusetts Artur Turansky Forward 21 Bratislava, SVK Raimonds Vītoliņš Forward 21 Ogre, LAT; transfer from Vermont
Roster As of July 1, 2023
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics C 31 11 14 25 40 C/RW 36 11 12 23 18 F 36 9 13 22 6 C 28 6 11 17 26 D 34 2 9 11 10 C/LW 23 3 7 10 10 F 36 3 7 10 10 F 29 5 4 9 12 C 17 4 5 9 2 LW 35 4 5 9 6 D 34 6 2 8 35 C/D 30 1 7 8 16 D 36 1 7 8 10 D 36 1 7 8 20 D 29 0 8 8 10 F 36 3 4 7 21 D 26 1 3 4 25 D 18 0 4 4 2 D 33 2 1 3 12 C 36 2 1 3 16 C 4 2 0 2 0 LW 21 1 1 2 12 RW 12 0 2 2 0 C 26 0 1 1 6 G 2 0 0 0 0 G 15 0 0 0 0 G 23 0 0 0 2 Total 78 135 213 325 Source:
Goaltending statistics 23 1334:48 6 14 2 72 609 1 .894 3.24 15 794:35 1 12 1 55 355 1 .866 4.15 2 38:14 0 0 0 3 23 0 .885 4.71 Empty Net - 20:47 - - - 5 - - - - Total 36 2188:24 7 26 3 135 987 2 .880 3.70
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References