The 2022–23 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season was the 79th season of play for the program and 10th in the NCHC. The Bulldogs represented the University of Minnesota Duluth in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season were coached by Scott Sandelin in his 23rd season and played their home games at AMSOIL Arena.
Season The season brought significant roster turnover, particularly on the defense. Four of their six regulars on the blue line were gone, as was last year's starting goalie (Ryan Fanti) and four of their top six scorers. Coach Sandelin brought in a large recruiting class led by future first-round pick Isaac Howard to fill the open positions. Despite the uncertainty, UMD was expected to continue its high level of play.
The team was limited from the start of the season when sophomore forward Kyler Kleven suffered an injury in training camp and ended up missing the entire season. Blake Biondi had led the Bulldogs in goals the year before but came into the season nursing a shoulder injury. He got through the first half of the year scoring 3 goals in 17 games before injuring his shoulder again in early December. Biondi ended up having surgery on both shoulders and missed the remainder of the year. Freshman Ben Steeves filled in and led the team with 21 goals, however, he was the only consistent scoring threat that the Bulldogs had.
The newcomers on the blue line played well, but not quite up to the same standards to which the Bulldogs had grown accustomed. The goaltending became a weakness for the team; neither Zach Stejskal nor grad transfer Matthew Thiessen played well and the decline in the crease caused Duluth problems.
After opening the season with victories against Arizona State, UMD got swept in the second weekend against the previous year's national runner-up, Minnesota State. The team's situation grew dire after the following week when they dropped both games at home to Wisconsin, the worst team in the Big Ten. Duluth found itself at the bottom of the polls with an underperforming roster. The Bulldogs were able to stop their slide by taking advantage of Cornell in the Big Red's season debut. Duluth earned a split in four consecutive weeks, however, they faced Colorado College in two separate weekends. The Tigers were one of the weakest teams in the NCHC but shut out Duluth twice. By the beginning of December the team sunk further down the national rankings.
The team alternated wins and losses in the second half of the season and, though they won over some strong teams, they weren't able to get above .500. Entering postseason play, UMD had no chance to make the national tournament without first winning the NCHC tournament. While the team had go on the road in the quarterfinals, they played St. Cloud State. While the Huskies were already tournament-bound, UMD had taken three out of four meetings between the two during the year. St. Cloud won the first match 3-1; in the second, Zach Stejskal stopped 30 shots in the final two periods to lead the Bulldogs to a win. In the deciding game, it began similar to the first with neither team scoring in the opening period. Luke Loheit's 8th goal of the season gave UMD a lead early in the second, but the Huskies fired 21 shots in the middle frame and scored three times. Duluth's offense wasn't able to overcome the deficit and the Bulldogs' season came to a close.
Departures Ben Almquist Forward Transferred to Alaska Anchorage Matt Anderson Defenseman Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Koby Bender Forward Graduation (signed with Bridgeport Islanders) Noah Cates Forward Graduation (signed with Philadelphia Flyers) Ryan Fanti Goaltender Signed professional contract (Edmonton Oilers) Casey Gilling Forward Graduation (signed with Esbjerg Energy) Connor Kelley Defenseman Transferred to Providence Jarrett Lee Forward Graduate transfer to St. Thomas Hunter Lellig Defenseman Graduate transfer to Bowling Green Brady Meyer Forward Left program (retired) Ben Patt Goaltender Graduation (retired) Louie Roehl Defenseman Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers) Kobe Roth Forward Graduation (retired) Jake Rosenbaum Defenseman Graduate transfer to American International
Recruiting Kyle Bettens Forward 21 Winnipeg, MB Riley Bodnarchuk Defenseman 21 Okotoks, AB Derek Daschke Defenseman 24 Troy, MI; graduate transfer from Miami Aiden Dubinsky Defenseman 18 Highland Park, IL Isaac Howard Forward 18 Hudson, WI; selected 31st overall in 2022 Luke Johnson Forward 20 St. Cloud, MN Joseph Pierce Defenseman 19 Ely, MN Zachary Sandy Goaltender 19 Fargo, ND Jack Smith Forward 20 St. Cloud, MN; selected 102nd overall in 2020 Cole Spicer Forward 18 Grand Forks, ND; selected 117th overall in 2022 Ben Steeves Forward 20 Bedford, NH Matthew Thiessen Goaltender 22 Steinbach, MB; transfer from Maine; selected 192nd overall in 2018
Roster As of July 28, 2022.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics F 35 21 7 28 36 C/LW 35 10 18 28 20 C/LW 37 7 17 24 32 D 35 5 18 23 48 RW 35 8 11 19 53 LW 35 6 11 17 25 D 37 6 11 17 27 C/LW 37 2 14 16 6 C 37 4 9 13 27 F 37 4 5 9 16 C/RW 33 5 3 8 12 D 37 5 3 8 16 C/W 31 3 5 8 17 F 37 2 5 7 6 C 17 3 3 6 4 C 32 3 3 6 2 C/RW 24 0 5 5 10 D 29 0 5 5 8 C/W 25 1 2 3 11 D 26 0 3 3 8 G 19 0 1 1 0 D 28 0 1 1 22 D 19 0 0 0 8 G 22 0 0 0 0 Total 95 160 255 414
Goaltending statistics 19 999:01 8 9 0 44 419 1 .905 2.64 22 1217:47 8 11 1 60 544 0 .901 2.96 Empty Net - 24:06 - - - 10 - - - - Total 37 2240:54 16 20 1 114 963 1 .894 3.05
Rankings
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 26 27 (Final) USCHO.com5-4410 191920NRNRNRNRNR-NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA Today5544101919NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.
Awards and honors Wyatt Kaiser NCHC Second Team Ben Steeves NCHC Rookie Team
Players drafted into the NHL 2023 NHL entry draft 2 35 Adam Gajan † Chicago Blackhawks 4 115 Jayson Shaugabay † Tampa Bay Lightning 4 119 Matthew Perkins † Vancouver Canucks 4 124 Beckett Hendrickson † Boston Bruins 5 149 Aaron Pionk † Minnesota Wild † incoming freshman
References