Feb. 11—GRAND FORKS — There were nine players in Blake Mesenburg's freshman class at Miami University.
He's the only one left.
Mesenburg, a senior from Orono, Minn., is the one guy who went through the roughest of times — four wins in 76 National Collegiate Hockey Conference games — and made it to the end to see this stunning season.
Miami has undergone one of college hockey's grandest transformations.
The RedHawks, who entered this season winless in their last 40 NCHC games, are 17-9-2 and ranked No. 20 in this week's national poll.
They're in a battle with Minnesota Duluth to finish in the top half of the NCHC for the first time in 11 years, and they're No. 20 in the NPI Rankings — within striking distance of reaching their first NCAA tournament since 2015.
"How I would put it," Mesenburg said, "is it's finally feeling rewarding to go through this — coming into a program in the situation we were in when I was a freshman — and finally reap some of the benefits, experience what this campus is and what this place is about when this program is playing well. It's crazy the amount of support from students, the community and alumni compared to last year. It's an incredible experience, especially home games with how different the building looks. You can tell there's hype around our team."
Few college hockey players can relate to Mesenburg's ride.
Over the last three seasons, no team in the country won fewer games than Miami (18). The years became long, especially at the end. Miami went 2-44-4 after Jan. 1 during his first three seasons.
"It was tough, for sure," Mesenburg said. "It definitely brings out a different side in guys on a general daily basis. It can be a struggle to even come to the rink when losses are adding up. There's not much positive to say."
The RedHawks made a coaching change after Mesenburg's sophomore season, replacing Chris Bergeron with Anthony Noreen, who previously coached the Tri-City Storm in the United States Hockey League.
The results weren't immediate. Miami went 3-28-3 last season. Noreen and his staff turned over the roster in a major way, bringing in 21 new players — the most of any college hockey team.
But Noreen kept Mesenburg, despite the fact that he's not a prolific offensive player.
Noreen and his staff agreed that when building the roster, they weren't going to cut corners on character and competitiveness. Mesenburg fit the bill. He's one of 18 players on Miami's roster who wore a captain's "C" or "A" in juniors or college.
Mesenburg captained Benilde-St. Margaret's in high school and the St. Cloud Norsemen in the North American Hockey League.
Noreen also wanted players who felt like Miami could be a special place.
"I don't know if there's anyone more representative of that than Blake Mesenburg," Noreen said. "He's Miami through and through. He's as active on campus and in the community as anyone. He's on our student advisory board. He is this place. This year hasn't been easy for him. He was out of the lineup for a long stretch. We believed that No. 1, we're going to need him, and No. 2, what he's doing and how he's handled it is going to bode so well for what he's going to be in the future.
"His story is one we're going to tell in three, four, 10 years from now. There will be an underclassman who is not happy about being out of the lineup. We're going to say, 'Hey, Blake was a senior here. His senior year, this is how he handled it.' It says a ton about him. He's a big part of what we want this program to be."
Miami will play against UND in Ralph Engelstad Arena at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday in an NCHC series.
It's a special one for Mesenburg.
Mesenburg's grandfather, Paul Brewer, played football at UND. He started as a lineman in 1958 and 1959.
"He's always been a Fighting Sioux fan, as he'd call it, his entire life," Mesenburg said. "He loves watching those games when we're up there."
Brewer's grandson hasn't disappointed, either.
Mesenburg scored his first collegiate goal in Ralph Engelstad Arena in November 2022. He scored again the next night.
In fact, he's scored in three of his four games in The Ralph — the same number of goals he's scored in Miami's home of Goggin Ice Arena during his career.
The RedHawks didn't come to The Ralph last season.
"We're coming in a much different situation than I have in the past," Mesenburg said. "This is a huge weekend for us in terms of the standings. We only have a few regular-season games left. We're feeling really confident and probably a lot more positive about our game than we have going into this building in past years. Nothing short of a sweep is on our mind going in. That hasn't always been the case."