The 2022–23 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey season was the 83rd season of play for the program and 10th in the NCHC. The Fighting Hawks represented the University of North Dakota in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season were coached by Brad Berry in his 8th season and played their home games at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Season
Though the team lost its top prospect to the professional ranks, a recruiting class and the return of most of last season's players had many believing that North Dakota would compete for a national championship in 2023. The Hawks began the year at #4 in both polls and started the year in good standings, handling Holy Cross. The following week would be an early test for UND as they played host to another prospective championship contender in Quinnipiac. A problem cropped up that would stick with the team for most of the season: poor goaltending. Drew DeRidder allowed 3 goals on just 7 shots in the first and, after North Dakota took a lead in the third, Jakob Hellsten surrendered a tying goal to only earn a tie. Playing the entire game the following night, Hellsten let 5 get past him on 21 shots. Suddenly, coach Berry had a quandary on his hands as Hellsten's performance was bad enough to end their attempted goaltending rotation.
The inconsistency in goal caused the team to slowly slide down the polls until falling off entirely by Thanksgiving. The Hawks were able to score, averaging over 3 goals per game, but the offense was concentrated with three players: Jackson Blake, Riese Gaber and Chris Jandric. Collectively they accounted for nearly a third of the team's goals and points. North Dakota's offense did produce more than they had the year before, however, the subpar play in goal cancelled out any offense improvement and the lack of depth scoring also proved to be problematic.
The defense held their own, allowing and average of less than 25 against per game but neither goaltender was able to take advantage. The team tried twice more to use Hellsten as the starter but he couldn't hold the job and the Hawks had to stick with DeRidder. Near the end of the season, however, DeRidder seemed to finally find his groove and began producing good efforts night after night. By going 4–0–2 over the final three weeks, including taking a weekend from St. Cloud State, the Fighting Hawks found themselves just outside the playoff picture.
Entering the postseason, it was just possible, if unlikely, for North Dakota to earn an at-large bid without a conference championship. Those faint hopes were nearly extinguished when the UND offense could only muster a single goal against Omaha despite getting 41 shots on goal. The team rallied in the rematch to set up a deciding third game to keep their season alive. The Hawks got down twice in the game but scored the final 4 goals to run away with a win and advance to the semifinal.
Entering championship weekend, North Dakota had risen up to 18 in the PairWise rankings. It was mathematically impossible for UND to earn an at-large bid. Any bonus they got from making the final would be lost by losing the championship game. With the Hawks knowing that they had to win it all to make the tournament, they fought hard against St. Cloud State, who had already punched their ticket. The defense did its job by stifling the Huskies' attack, allowing just 15 shots against in regulation. Their offense gave the Hawks two separate 1-goal leads but they were unable to hold onto either and the two teams finished the first 60 minutes tied at 2-all. St. Cloud cranked up the pressure in overtime, trying to get the winning goal straight away. DeRidder stopped 6 shots in the first 5 minutes but he was unable to prevent the 6th and Zach Okabe's marker ended the Hawks' season.
Departures Brendan Budy Forward Transferred to Rensselaer Ashton Calder Forward Graduate transfer to Penn State Zach Driscoll Goaltender Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye) Harrison Feeney Goaltender Graduation (signed with Bollnäs IS) Brady Ferner Forward Graduation (retired) Connor Ford Forward Graduation (signed with Henderson Silver Knights) Jake Sanderson Defenseman Signed professional contract (Ottawa Senators)
Recruiting Jackson Blake Forward 19 Fargo, ND; selected 109th overall in 2021 Drew DeRidder Goaltender 22 Fenton, MI; graduate transfer from Michigan State Ty Farmer Defenseman 24 O'Fallon, MO; graduate transfer from Massachusetts Dylan James Forward 18 Calgary, AB; selected 40th overall in 2022 Owen McLaughlin Forward 19 Spring City, PA; selected 206th overall in 2021 Ryan Sidorski Defenseman 22 Williamsville, NY; graduate transfer from Union Ben Strinden Forward 20 Fargo, ND; selected 210th overall in 2022
Roster As of August 24, 2022.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics RW/C 39 16 26 42 16 RW 39 20 17 37 31 D 39 4 29 33 30 RW 39 10 9 19 12 C 36 11 7 18 45 D 35 8 10 18 84 D 36 7 11 18 14 C 39 7 10 17 22 LW 36 8 8 16 6 C 37 2 13 15 10 RW 39 3 11 14 22 D 31 3 10 13 34 C/LW 34 5 7 12 2 D 37 1 10 11 27 C 22 3 6 9 14 F 27 2 7 9 4 D 36 0 9 9 16 F 27 5 1 6 12 RW 26 3 3 6 0 D 13 1 5 6 6 C 24 5 0 5 10 C 25 2 1 3 4 D 13 1 2 3 10 G 13 0 1 1 0 G 30 0 1 1 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 Total 127 213 340 421
Goaltending statistics 30 1615:35 13 9 4 68 607 4 .899 2.53 13 684:05 5 5 2 31 217 0 .875 2.72 1 58:39 0 1 0 7 28 0 .800 7.16 Empty Net - 23:09 - - - 4 - - - - Total 39 2381:28 18 15 6 110 852 4 .887 2.77
Rankings
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 26 27 (Final) USCHO.com4-3 3 76101219NRNRNRNR-NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR1717-17 USA Today443377111319NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR16161618 Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.
Awards and honors Jackson Blake NCHC Rookie of the Year Ethan Frisch NCHC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Riese Gaber NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team Chris Jandric NCHC First Team Jackson Blake NCHC Second Team Riese Gaber Jackson Blake NCHC Rookie Team
Players drafted into the NHL 2023 NHL entry draft 3 94 Jayden Perron † Carolina Hurricanes 4 98 Andrew Strathmann † Columbus Blue Jackets 6 190 Michael Emerson † Carolina Hurricanes 6 196 David Klee † San Jose Sharks † incoming freshman
References