Standing in a lobby inside Yost Ice Arena, freshman defenseman Brendan Miles had just played in his first in-game action with the Michigan hockey team. After a 7-6 exhibition game win against the U.S. National Team Development Program, Miles explained how he got here.
When he spoke, the underdog charm of seemingly every depth player poured out of him.
Relaxed. Honest. Nice to a fault. Asked about the Wolverines’ performance, he praised his teammates. That age-old “good team win” phrase crossed his lips, personal praise as far from them as possible.
But it was more than a team win. It was everything Miles has been working toward since the day he stepped on campus.
“Watching these games as a little kid and then being able to come out here and do it myself, it was unreal,” Miles said. “And (I) hope to be back out there.”
Behind his maize and blue debut is 19 weeks of watching from the sidelines. Every practice he poured his heart into, every team lift he grew from — all of it in a bid to climb a depth chart laden with NHL talent. All the while, Miles bided his time, waiting in the wings for his opportunity to take the ice.
But opportunity kept eluding him. For Michigan’s first exhibition game in October, Miles didn’t play. Even when Michigan needed all hands on deck when it played Minnesota Nov. 17 and 18 — illness sweeping through its dressing room and placing a large portion of the roster out of action — Miles found himself among those unavailable. When other freshmen defensemen like Luca Fantilli and Johnny Druskinis found their way into the lineup, Miles remained a fixture of the scratched list.
At times, he got dejected.
“I think at first it was a little frustrating, and then it was like, ‘it’s just part of it,’ ” Miles said. “It was kind of weird because I didn’t really have that same adjustment in junior hockey. But then obviously coming here, I knew I was coming into a pretty high-talented team.
“I think that was something that I definitely had to adjust to but, you know, it’s all about the process and just working hard and when you get your opportunity, just make the most of it.”
So that’s what Miles did when opportunity finally called his name. Digging his skates into the ice for his first game action on Friday, Miles rose to the moment.
Skating on the third defense pairing for most of the game, Miles found himself all over the ice. He tracked down breakaways against the Americans’ top line, exited the zone and even took three shots. Despite playing in a barnburner with 13 goals, he finished the night with an even plus-minus.
Of course, it took some time to settle in.
“I was a little nervous before subbing in,” Miles said. “But as soon as the first shift, second shift was over, it just felt like a normal hockey game and I was just playing the sport I love.”
But even when he was relegated to sitting in the press box, Miles was never far from his team. What fans and reporters see on the ice is a fraction of the time teams spend together. Relationships between teammates, of course, are a lot more complex than what goes on during a game.
Freshman defenseman Seamus Casey was quick to bring that up.
“We spend all day with him, so to us it just feels like he’s right there with us in the games,” Casey explained. “Whereas to you guys (in the press box), it might not seem like that watching from above. But he comes back every day and he just works his butt off. He’s a great kid.”
And with Miles leaving the lineup next weekend almost guaranteed as the regulars rejoin it, he’ll have to go back to watching the action from above. But that doesn’t take away this moment — his first time skating in front of the Children of Yost, or standing on the ice during the national anthem or even celebrating a win in a sweat-soaked jersey instead of a suit.
“For certain guys, it can kind of seem like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” Casey said. “Just if you’re not playing or even if things aren’t going well and you are playing. But the guys who are the best and can get through it, they come to the rink and they do the same things every day. They work hard, no matter what things are gonna be good or bad.”
On Friday, Brendan Miles saw the light, and it was everything he could have hoped for.