The two teams at the bottom of the NCHC standings meet this weekend as the Miami RedHawks (7-3-0) host the St. Cloud State Huskies (6-6-0). Miami enters the series in ninth place, while St. Cloud State is eighth. Both teams are 1-3-0 in conference play and are looking to rise in the standings, making this a pretty important series.
St. Cloud State comes a bye week after a midweek 3-1 loss to St. Thomas. The Huskies fell apart against Western Michigan earlier this month and should enter the weekend well rested. Their offensive leader is Austin Burnevik, who has 11 goals and is tied with Tyson Gross for the team lead in points with 15.
Related: Noreen remains confident after Miami’s tough weekend at Western Michigan
A familiar face will also be on the other bench as former United States Hockey League (USHL) Tri-City Storm forward Nolan Roed, who was drafted and coached by Anthony Noreen in 2022 and played under him during the 2023-2024 season. Roed scored 60 points last season in Tri-City and was teammates on several current RedHawks, including Ilia Morozov, Shaun McEwen, Vladislav Lukashevich and Ryan Smith. This season, Roed has eight points (two goals, six assists) and recently was on St. Cloud State’s third line.
In goal, the Huskies have split the start between freshman Yan Shostak, 3-4-0, 2.71 goals against average (GAA), .899 save percentage (SV%), and Maine transfer Patriks Berzins, 3-2-0, 2.04 GAA, .937 SV%.
With both teams trying to climb out of the bottom of the standings, here are three keys for Miami this weekend.
Stay out of the box
Miami took 15 penalties for a total of 41 minutes last weekend at Western Michigan. The penalty kill was 10 for 12, which was solid, but giving up that many chances is too much. St. Cloud State has a 32.7% power play, 18 to 55 this season, and will make the RedHawks pay if they continue to take 13.4 penalty minutes per game.
Burnevik leads the team in power play goals with six and has three game-winning goals. Gross and Barret Hall are tied for second with three power-play goals each.
Miami needs to clean up the stick violations. Tripping, hooking, cross-checking and cutting have hurt them in several games, and NCHC officials are calling them closely this season. St. Cloud State’s power play moves the pucks quickly, crashes the net and looks to generate traffic up front. Miami’s penalty kill of 75.6% should be enough this weekend.
Match their physicality
Miami is generally the smaller team. St. Cloud State’s defensive core plays fast and strong. One of their captains, Cooper Wylie, is 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, and plays a physical two-way game. He leads their blue line with seven points. On the right side, Mason Reiners is 6-foot-1, 200 pounds and still has a strong presence.
St. Cloud State’s defense isn’t as tough as Western Michigan’s, but they break out quickly and stay organized in transition. Miami needs to be sharper in the neutral zone, cleaner on the exits and more disciplined on line changes. Bad changes hurt them last weekend and led to some goals.
Winning battles and limiting second and third chances will be important this weekend.
Spend time in the strike zone
Miami needs to generate more sustained offensive zone time this series. They were outshot 91-38 when they were swept last weekend. At one point on Saturday, the shots were 39-5 in favor of Western Michigan. Miami needs more traffic, more pucks on net and longer time on offense.
Noreen emphasized this to me after the Western Michigan series.
“The best defense is a good offense. When they spend time on you, when you come out, instead of being able to go on offense, now you’re thinking I gotta get out and get fresh legs, and now they’re coming right back at you. When we’ve been at our best, that’s what we’ve been able to do. Obviously, this is a whole different level against a really good team (Western Michigan).”
Miami has allowed 32.7 shots per game this season. St. Cloud State has 29.1. Offensively, Miami is averaging 27.3 shots per game, while St. Cloud State is averaging 33.3 shots. Noah Urness has two game-winning goals and plays on the third line, left winger. That third line of Urness, Roed and Burnevik may have been their best line, and one Miami needs to close.
Miami’s top shot blockersincluding Ryder Thompson, McEwen and Lukashevich, will be important. Thompson leads with 20, while Lukashevich is second with 15, and McEwen rounds out with 10.
St. Cloud State has blocked 50 shots and won 54.7% of faceoffs this season. Miami will rely on Ethan Hay and Morozov in the circle. For the Huskies, Gross leads with 62%, 62 wins in 100 draws, while Roed has won 49 of 88 for 55.7%.
Reiners leads St. Cloud State in blocked shots with 20, followed by Wylie with 15. Max Smolinski and Thor Byfuglien each have 12. Miami will have to match that group lead for the squad.
Puck drop for game one is tonight at 7:05 PM EST. Miami debuts their Cradle of Coaches jerseys.
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