# 2021–22 NCHC season

The 2021–22 NCHC season was the 9th season of play for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and took place during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular season began on October 2, 2021, and concluded on March 5, 2022. The conference tournament began on March 11, 2022 and concluded on March 19, 2022.

## Coaches

Kris Mayotte was named as Colorado College's 15th head coach shortly after end of their 20–21 season.
Pat Ferschweiler was promoted to head coach after the retirement of Andy Murray.

### Records

| Team | Head coach | Season at school | Record at school | NCHC record |
| Colorado College | Kris Mayotte | 1 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Denver | David Carle | 4 | 55–34–12 | 31–31–9 |
| Miami | Chris Bergeron | 3 | 13–39–7 | 10–34–5 |
| Minnesota Duluth | Scott Sandelin | 22 | 406–332–91 | 107–69–17 |
| North Dakota | Brad Berry | 7 | 138–63–24 | 85–46–14 |
| Omaha | Mike Gabinet | 5 | 54–69–9 | 37–52–7 |
| St. Cloud State | Brett Larson | 4 | 63–32–9 | 44–23–5 |
| Western Michigan | Pat Ferschweiler | 1 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 |

## Standings

2021–22 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #1 Denver † | 24 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 98 | 55 | 41 | 31 | 9 | 1 | 175 | 93 |
| #9 North Dakota † | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 78 | 58 | 39 | 24 | 14 | 1 | 119 | 99 |
| #6 Western Michigan | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 84 | 68 | 39 | 26 | 12 | 1 | 138 | 101 |
| #11 St. Cloud State | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 84 | 69 | 37 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 133 | 97 |
| #5 Minnesota Duluth * | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 61 | 56 | 42 | 22 | 16 | 4 | 109 | 93 |
| Omaha | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 65 | 74 | 38 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 123 | 102 |
| Colorado College | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 48 | 87 | 36 | 9 | 24 | 3 | 79 | 116 |
| Miami | 24 | 4 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 54 | 105 | 36 | 7 | 27 | 2 | 94 | 153 |
| Championship: March 19, 2022 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Non-Conference record

Of the sixteen teams that are selected to participate in the NCAA tournament, ten will be via at-large bids. Those 10 teams are determined based upon the PairWise rankings. The rankings take into account all games played but are heavily affected by intra-conference results. The result is that teams from leagues which perform better in non-conference are much more likely to receive at-large bids even if they possess inferior records overall.
NCHC had a strong showing against non-conference opponents. As a whole, the league won a majority of their games against every other conference but one (tied with ECAC). While three member teams finished with losing records, the other five more than balanced out the scales. The NCHC also played a good number of games against highly ranked opponents. While the results in those games was about even, the bonus the teams received from those matches helped put five league members into the NCAA tournament.

### Regular season record

| Team | Atlantic Hockey | Big Ten | CCHA | ECAC Hockey | Hockey East | Independent | Total |
| Colorado College | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–2–2 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 3–5–2 |
| Denver | 3–0–1 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–2–0 | 4–0–0 | 7–2–1 |
| Miami | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–2–1 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 3–6–1 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 0–0–0 | 2–1–0 | 2–4–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 7–5–0 |
| North Dakota | 2–0–0 | 1–2–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–3–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 5–6–0 |
| Omaha | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 6–0–0 | 10–2–0 |
| St. Cloud State | 0–0–0 | 3–1–0 | 5–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 8–2–0 |
| Western Michigan | 0–0–0 | 2–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 4–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 8–1–0 |
| Overall | 7–2–1 | 8–7–0 | 12–9–1 | 6–6–2 | 4–3–0 | 14–2–0 | 51–29–4 |

## Statistics
### Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Class | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Bobby Brink | Junior | Denver | 24 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 18 |
| Carter Savoie | Sophomore | Denver | 24 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 23 |
| Kevin Fitzgerald | Graduate | St. Cloud State | 24 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 16 |
| Drew Worrad | Senior | Western Michigan | 24 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 12 |
| Cole Guttman | Senior | Denver | 24 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 18 |
| Carter Mazur | Freshman | Denver | 24 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 28 |
| Riese Gaber | Sophomore | North Dakota | 19 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 10 |
| Ethen Frank | Graduate | Western Michigan | 23 | 16 | 7 | 23 | 12 |
| Nick Perbix | Senior | St. Cloud State | 18 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 10 |
| Michael Benning | Sophomore | Denver | 24 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 8 |
| Taylor Ward | Senior | Omaha | 24 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 27 |
| Michael Joyaux | Senior | Western Michigan | 24 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 21 |
| Ronnie Attard | Junior | Western Michigan | 24 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 16 |

### Leading goaltenders

Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Class | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Ryan Fanti | Junior | Minnesota Duluth | 23 | 1360 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 48 | 3 | .917 | 2.12 |
| Magnus Chrona | Junior | Denver | 22 | 1279 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 46 | 6 | .907 | 2.16 |
| Zach Driscoll | Senior | North Dakota | 20 | 1135 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 1 | .919 | 2.17 |
| Dávid Hrenák | Graduate | St. Cloud State | 23 | 1299 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 56 | 2 | .904 | 2.59 |
| Brandon Bussi | Junior | Western Michigan | 24 | 1432 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 67 | 3 | .911 | 2.81 |

## Conference tournament

Teams are reseeded for the Semifinals
| Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | | | Semifinals March 18 | Semifinals March 18 | Semifinals March 18 | Championship March 19 | Championship March 19 | Championship March 19 |
| 1 | Denver | 5 | 5 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Miami | 2 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Miami | 2 | 1 | - | | | 1 | Denver | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 2 | | | |
| 2 | North Dakota | 2 | 2 | - | | | 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 2 | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 1 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 1 | 1 | - | | | | | | 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 3 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 3 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 3 | Western Michigan | 0 |
| 3 | Western Michigan | 4 | 5* | - | | | | | | | | | 3 | Western Michigan | 0 |
| 6 | Omaha | 2 | 4 | - | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Omaha | 2 | 4 | - | | | 2 | North Dakota | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 3 | Western Michigan | 4 | | | |
| 4 | St. Cloud State | 2 | 3 | - | | | 3 | Western Michigan | 4 | | | |
| 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 5 | 4* | - | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime periods

## NCAA tournament
### National championship

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | MSU | Sam Morton (9) – PP | Sowder and Sandelin | 13:59 | 1–0 MSU |
| 2nd | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3rd | DEN | Ryan Barrow (8) | Benning and Devine | 44:46 | 1–1 |
| 3rd | DEN | Michael Benning (15) – GW | Buium and Wright | 47:33 | 2–1 DEN |
| 3rd | DEN | Massimo Rizzo (12) | Mazur and Lee | 53:34 | 3–1 DEN |
| 3rd | DEN | Brett Stapley (18) – EN | unassisted | 57:28 | 4–1 DEN |
| 3rd | DEN | Cameron Wright (23) – EN | Mazur | 58:00 | 5–1 DEN |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | DEN | Michael Benning | Tripping | 12:23 | 2:00 |
| 1st | MSU | Nathan Smith | Roughing | 15:28 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | MSU | Bench | Too Many Men | 27:07 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | MSU | Sam Morton | Tripping | 45:26 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Denver | 3 | 5 | 12 | 20 |
| Minnesota State | 8 | 10 | 10 | 28 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| DEN | Magnus Chrona | 27 | 1 | 60:00 |
| MSU | Dryden McKay | 15 | 3 | 58:22 |

## Ranking
### USCHO

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | Final |
| Colorado College | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Denver | 13 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Miami | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Minnesota Duluth | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| North Dakota | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Omaha | 17 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | NR | NR | 20 | 19 | NR | NR | NR |
| St. Cloud State | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| Western Michigan | NR | NR | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 |

### USA Today

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Final |
| Colorado College | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Denver | NR | 13 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 13 | NR | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Miami | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Minnesota Duluth | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| North Dakota | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Omaha | NR | 15 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| St. Cloud State | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Western Michigan | NR | NR | NR | NR | 11 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 |

### Pairwise

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Final |
| Colorado College | 14 | 48 | 52 | 46 | 44 | 47 | 39 | 39 | 41 | 38 | 39 | 35 | 32 | 33 | 35 | 34 | 39 | 39 | 41 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 45 |
| Denver | 14 | 20 | 3 | 13 | 21 | 37 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Miami | 8 | 34 | 46 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 42 | 46 | 46 | 44 | 45 | 44 | 46 | 49 | 49 | 50 | 45 | 43 | 43 | 45 | 43 | 46 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 14 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 4 |
| North Dakota | 14 | 25 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Omaha | 9 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
| St. Cloud State | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 10 |
| Western Michigan | 14 | 23 | 42 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.

## Awards
### NCAA

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Lowes' Senior CLASS Award | Lowes' Senior CLASS Award | Zach Driscoll, North Dakota |
| AHCA All-American Teams |||
| West First Team | Position | Team |
| Ronnie Attard | D | Western Michigan |
| Jake Sanderson | D | North Dakota |
| Bobby Brink | F | Denver |
| West Second Team | Position | Team |
| Ryan Fanti | G | Minnesota Duluth |
| Ethen Frank | F | Western Michigan |

### NCHC

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Player of the Year | Bobby Brink, Denver |
| Rookie of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Carter Mazur, Denver |
| Goaltender of the Year | Goaltender of the Year | Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth |
| Forward of the Year | Forward of the Year | Bobby Brink, Denver |
| Defensive Defenseman of the Year | Defensive Defenseman of the Year | Ethan Frisch, North Dakota |
| Offensive Defenseman of the Year | Offensive Defenseman of the Year | Ronnie Attard, Western Michigan |
| Defensive Forward of the Year | Defensive Forward of the Year | Connor Ford, North Dakota |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Drew Worrad, Western Michigan |
| Three Stars Award | Three Stars Award | Magnus Chrona, Denver |
| Sportsmanship Award | Sportsmanship Award | Mark Senden, North Dakota |
| Herb Brooks Coach of the Year | Herb Brooks Coach of the Year | Brad Berry, North Dakota |
| Frozen Faceoff MVP | Frozen Faceoff MVP | Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth |
| All-NCHC Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth | G | Zach Driscoll, North Dakota |
| Ronnie Attard, Western Michigan | D | Jake Sanderson, North Dakota |
| Nick Perbix, St. Cloud State | D | Michael Benning, Denver |
| Bobby Brink, Denver | F | Carter Savoie, Denver |
| Ethen Frank, Western Michigan | F | Drew Worrad, Western Michigan |
| Riese Gaber, North Dakota | F | Kevin Fitzgerald, St. Cloud State |
| Honorable Mention | Position | Rookie Team |
| Magnus Chrona, Denver | G | Jakob Hellsten, North Dakota |
| Brandon Scanlin, Omaha | D | Sean Behrens, Denver |
| Michael Joyaux, Western Michigan | D | Shai Buium, Denver |
| Cole Guttman, Denver | F | Carter Mazur, Denver |
| Noah Cates, Minnesota Duluth | F | Massimo Rizzo, Denver |
| Connor Ford, North Dakota | F | Matteo Costantini, North Dakota |

### NCHC Tournament

Tournament MVP :
| Ryan Fanti | Ryan Fanti | Minnesota Duluth |
| Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team |||
| Player | Pos | Team |
| Ryan Fanti | G | Minnesota Duluth |
| Ronnie Attard | D | Western Michigan |
| Wyatt Kaiser | D | Minnesota Duluth |
| Blake Biondi | F | Minnesota Duluth |
| Ty Glover | F | Western Michigan |
| Dominic James | F | Minnesota Duluth |

### NCAA tournament

Tournament MOP :
| Michael Benning | Michael Benning | Denver |
| All-Tournament Team |||
| Player | Pos | Team |
| Magnus Chrona | G | Denver |
| Michael Benning | D | Denver |
| Carter Savoie | F | Denver |
| Ryan Barrow | F | Denver |

## 2022 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | NHL team |
| 1 | 31 | Isaac Howard$^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 2 | 40 | Dylan James$^†$ | North Dakota | Detroit Red Wings |
| 2 | 56 | Rieger Lorenz$^†$ | Denver | Minnesota Wild |
| 3 | 67 | Miko Mitikka$^†$ | Denver | Arizona Coyotes |
| 3 | 82 | Adam Ingram$^†$ | St. Cloud State | Nashville Predators |
| 3 | 90 | Aidan Thompson$^†$ | Denver | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 4 | 99 | Garrett Brown$^†$ | Denver | Winnipeg Jets |
| 4 | 117 | Cole Spicer$^†$ | North Dakota | Boston Bruins |
| 5 | 150 | Zam Plante$^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 5 | 159 | Victor Mancini | Omaha | New York Rangers |
| 6 | 164 | Barrett Hall$^†$ | St. Cloud State | Seattle Kraken |
| 6 | 173 | Dominic James | Minnesota Duluth | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 7 | 209 | Abram Wiebe$^†$ | North Dakota | Vegas Golden Knights |
| 7 | 210 | Ben Striden$^†$ | North Dakota | Nashville Predators |
| 7 | 221 | Jack Devine | Denver | Florida Panthers |
† incoming freshman