# 2021–22 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey season was the 81st season of play for the program. They represented the University of North Dakota in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 9th season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). The Fighting Hawks were coached by Brad Berry, in his seventh season, and played their home games at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

## Season

North Dakota's lineup saw a great deal of change with 14 of the team's 26 players in their first year with the program. While several were transfers from other schools, head coach Brad Berry had his work cut out for him in getting the team to work together. Despite the turnover, UND was still seen as having a good chance at the title and was ranked in the top-10 in the preseason polls. However, the Hawks struggled with consistency early in the season and only possessed a middling record after the first month of the campaign. Once the team got into its conference schedule, they began playing much better and rose to the top of the NCHC.
When they returned after the winter break, North Dakota was in the top-5 in both polls but the offense sputtered. UND lost four games in a row, all to ranked teams, and began sinking in both the rankings and the standings. They recovered at the end of January and then had a tremendous month by winning seven out of eight games in February. The extended winning streak put them back atop the conference standings and had the Hawks set up for a 1st-place finish. Unfortunately, losing to Omaha in the final game of the regular season put UND into a tie with Denver and, because the Pioneers possessed the tie-breaker, meant that North Dakota received the #2 seed for the NCHC tournament.
The entire second half of the Hawks season was dominated by the status of Jake Sanderson, the team's top prospect. He wasn't able to play a single game after January 29 due to joining Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics. During the competition, He came down with COVID-19, forcing him to miss the first game, and was then injured during the preliminary round. He remained out of the Fighting Hawks lineup for the rest of the regular season before returning for the team's quarterfinal match against Colorado College.
Sanderson opened the scoring on his return, however, in spite of the boost his reappearance provided, the Hawks did not play well against the Tigers. North Dakota had almost three times as many wins as CC during the season but they got a huge fight from their opponents. UND only managed to score twice in each of the two games and it was only through the heroics of Zach Driscoll in goal that they managed to squeeze through into the semifinals. To make matters worse, Sanderson was injured while blocking a shot in the second match and ended up needing wrist surgery to repair the damage. While the team had demonstrated an ability to win without the big defenseman, they weren't able to replicate that effort in the semifinal and fell to Western Michigan.

### NCAA tournament

Though the loss was disappointing, North Dakota was already guaranteed a bid for the NCAA tournament and received a #2 seed, one of five NCHC teams in the field. They opened against Notre Dame, a team that played an almost identical style of defensive hockey. The match lived up to predictions as a slow, methodical game with few scoring attempts and solid goaltending. Brent Johnson scored near the end of the first period to give UND the lead but their advantage lasted less than 3 minutes before ND evened the match. Near the end of regulation, when it appeared that the game was heading into overtime, Notre Dame got the puck deep into the Hawks' end before passing it out to an open man in the slot and scored with less than a second to play. While the Irish celebrated, however, the referees reviewed the play and found a discrepancy in the time. The broadcast clock and the official game clock were not in synch and the file was reviewed to determine which was correct. After a long process, it was determined that the game had ended moments before the puck entered the goal and the Hawks were saved from defeat.
UND began the extra session on the power play, however, a gaff at the blueline forced Chris Jandric to take a penalty to stop a Notre Dame breakaway. After the ensuing 4-on-4 finished, The Irish got an abbreviated man-advantage and made no mistake, potting the winner and ending North Dakota's season.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Collin Adams | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with New York Islanders) |
| Gabe Bast | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (signed with KalPa) |
| Jacob Bernard-Docker | Defenseman | Canada | Signed professional contract (Ottawa Senators) |
| Harrison Blaisdell | Forward | United Kingdom | Transferred to New Hampshire |
| Jordan Kawaguchi | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Dallas Stars) |
| Jackson Keane | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Wheeling Nailers) |
| Matt Kiersted | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Florida Panthers) |
| Grant Mismash | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Nashville Predators) |
| Shane Pinto | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Ottawa Senators) |
| Josh Rieger | Defenseman | Canada | Graduate transfer to Calgary |
| Adam Scheel | Goaltender | United States | Signed professional contract (Dallas Stars) |
| Peter Thome | Goaltender | United States | Graduate transfer to St. Thomas |
| Jasper Weatherby | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (San Jose Sharks) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Luke Bast | Defenseman | Canada | 20 | Red Deer, AB |
| Ashton Calder | Forward | United States | 20 | Sault Ste. Marie, MI; transfer from Lake Superior State |
| Matteo Costantini | Forward | Canada | 19 | St. Catharines, ON; selected 131th overall in 2020 |
| Zach Driscoll | Goaltender | United States | 24 | Apple Valley, MN; transfer from Bemidji State |
| Brady Ferner | Defenseman | United States | 24 | Dakota Dunes, SD; transfer from Rensselaer |
| Connor Ford | Forward | United States | 23 | Pittsburgh, PA; graduate transfer from Bowling Green |
| Jakob Hellsten | Goaltender | Sweden | 21 | Ljusdal, SWE |
| Chris Jandric | Defenseman | Canada | 22 | Prince George, BC; transfer from Alaska |
| Brent Johnson | Defenseman | United States | 18 | Dallas, TX; selected 80th overall in 2021 |
| Kaleb Johnson | Goaltender | United States | 20 | Grand Forks, ND |
| Jackson Kunz | Forward | United States | 19 | Grand Forks, ND; selected 113th overall in 2020 |
| Dane Montgomery | Forward | United States | 19 | Grand Forks, ND |
| Nick Portz | Forward | United States | 21 | St. Cloud, MN |
| Jake Schmaltz | Forward | United States | 20 | McFarland, WI; selected 192nd overall in 2019 |

## Roster

As of September 6, 2021.

## 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 |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| October 2 | 6:07 PM | #14 Bemidji State* | #8 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (Exhibition) | | | W 2–1 | 11,812 | |
| Regular season ||||||||||
| October 8 | 7:07 PM | Niagara* | #8 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 6–2 | 11,386 | 1–0–0 |
| October 9 | 6:07 PM | Niagara* | #8 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 4–0 | 11,689 | 2–0–0 |
| October 15 | 7:07 PM | at #20 Bemidji State* | #7 | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | | Driscoll | W 4–3 | 4,242 | 2–1–0 |
| October 16 | 6:07 PM | #20 Bemidji State* | #7 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 11,314 | 3–1–0 |
| October 22 | 6:00 PM | at #7 Quinnipiac* | #6 | People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut | | Driscoll | L 2–5 | 3,498 | 3–2–0 |
| October 23 | 6:00 PM | at #7 Quinnipiac* | #6 | People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut | | Driscoll | W 3–1 | 3,512 | 4–2–0 |
| October 30 | 7:07 PM | vs. Penn State* | #6 | Bridgestone Arena • Nashville, Tennessee (US Hockey Hall of Fame Game) | | Driscoll | L 4–6 | 14,659 | 4–3–0 |
| November 5 | 7:07 PM | #11 Denver | #8 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 3–1 | 11,058 | 5–3–0 (1–0–0) |
| November 6 | 6:05 PM | #11 Denver | #8 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 4–1 | 11,337 | 6–3–0 (2–0–0) |
| November 12 | 6:05 PM | at Miami | #7 | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Driscoll | W 4–1 | 3,135 | 7–3–0 (3–0–0) |
| November 13 | 4:05 PM | at Miami | #7 | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Driscoll | W 5–4 | 2,626 | 8–3–0 (4–0–0) |
| November 19 | 7:07 PM | #4 Minnesota Duluth | #6 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | L 1–4 | 11,686 | 8–4–0 (4–1–0) |
| November 20 | 6:07 PM | #4 Minnesota Duluth | #6 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 2–1 | 11,858 | 9–4–0 (5–1–0) |
| November 26 | 7:07 PM | #11 Minnesota* | #6 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Driscoll | L 1–5 | 11,624 | 10–4–0 |
| November 27 | 6:07 PM | #11 Minnesota* | #6 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Driscoll | W 3–2 | 11,617 | 10–5–0 |
| December 3 | 7:37 PM | at #5 St. Cloud State | #7 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | | Driscoll | L 1–8 | 4,703 | 10–6–0 (5–2–0) |
| December 4 | 6:07 PM | at #5 St. Cloud State | #7 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | | Driscoll | W 5–3 | 5,224 | 11–6–0 (6–2–0) |
| December 10 | 8:07 PM | at Colorado College | #7 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | Midco, ATTRM | Driscoll | W 5–2 | 3,587 | 12–6–0 (7–2–0) |
| December 11 | 7:07 PM | at Colorado College | #7 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Hellsten | W 4–1 | 3,569 | 13–6–0 (8–2–0) |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| January 1 | 2:37 PM | USNTDP* | #5 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (Exhibition) | Midco | Hellsten | L 0–2 | 10,291 | |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| January 7 | 7:07 PM | #14 Cornell* | #5 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | L 3–4 | 10,128 | 13–7–0 |
| January 8 | 6:07 PM | #14 Cornell* | #5 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | L 1–3 | 11,192 | 13–8–0 |
| January 21 | 6:05 PM | at #4 Western Michigan | #9 | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Driscoll | L 1–4 | 3,769 | 13–9–0 (8–3–0) |
| January 22 | 6:05 PM | at #4 Western Michigan | #9 | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Hellsten | L 0–2 | 3,567 | 13–10–0 (8–4–0) |
| January 28 | 7:07 PM | #6 St. Cloud State | #13 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Hellsten | W 7–1 | 11,417 | 14–10–0 (9–4–0) |
| January 29 | 6:07 PM | #6 St. Cloud State | #13 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | T 3–3 $^{SOW}$ | 11,876 | 14–10–1 (9–4–1) |
| February 4 | 7:07 PM | #18 Omaha | #12 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 4–1 | 11,173 | 15–10–1 (10–4–1) |
| February 5 | 6:07 PM | #18 Omaha | #12 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 11,632 | 15–11–1 (10–5–1) |
| February 11 | 7:07 PM | Colorado College | #12 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | ATTRM | Driscoll | W 3–2 | 10,842 | 16–11–1 (11–5–1) |
| February 12 | 6:07 PM | Colorado College | #12 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 4–0 | 11,180 | 17–11–1 (12–5–1) |
| February 18 | 7:07 PM | at #7 Minnesota Duluth | #9 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | CBSSN | Driscoll | W 4–3 | 6,453 | 18–11–1 (13–5–1) |
| February 19 | 7:07 PM | at #7 Minnesota Duluth | #9 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | | Driscoll | W 3–2 | 7,206 | 19–11–1 (14–5–1) |
| February 25 | 7:07 PM | #6 Western Michigan | #7 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | CBSSN | Driscoll | W 2–1 | 11,510 | 20–11–1 (15–5–1) |
| February 26 | 6:07 PM | #6 Western Michigan | #7 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Driscoll | W 5–2 | 12,088 | 21–11–1 (16–5–1) |
| March 4 | 7:07 PM | at #20 Omaha | #4 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Driscoll | W 5–4 $^{OT}$ | 6,387 | 22–11–1 (17–5–1) |
| March 5 | 6:07 PM | at #20 Omaha | #4 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Hellsten | L 1–4 | 6,748 | 22–12–1 (17–6–1) |
| NCHC Tournament ||||||||||
| March 11 | 7:07 PM | Colorado College* | #5 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (Quarterfinal Game 1) | | Driscoll | W 2–1 | 10,475 | 23–12–1 |
| March 12 | 6:07 PM | Colorado College* | #5 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (Quarterfinal Game 2) | | Driscoll | W 2–1 | 10,095 | 24–12–1 |
| March 18 | 7:37 PM | vs. #7 Western Michigan* | #5 | Xcel Energy Center • Saint Paul, Minnesota (Semifinal) | CBSSN | Driscoll | L 2–4 | 10,253 | 24–13–1 |
| NCAA tournament ||||||||||
| March 25 | 5:00 PM | vs. #9 Notre Dame* | #7 | MVP Arena • Albany, New York (East Regional semifinal) | ESPNU | Driscoll | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 2,345 | 24–14–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Riese Gaber | RW | 34 | 15 | 22 | 37 | 28 |
| Connor Ford | RW | 37 | 4 | 24 | 28 | 8 |
| Jake Sanderson | D | 23 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 6 |
| Jake Schmaltz | C/LW | 39 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 10 |
| Ashton Calder | F | 34 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 14 |
| Matteo Costantini | C | 35 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 4 |
| Judd Caulfield | RW | 39 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 10 |
| Louis Jamernik | RW | 37 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 32 |
| Mark Senden | C | 34 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 16 |
| Ethan Frisch | D | 36 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 16 |
| Chris Jandric | D | 38 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 39 |
| Tyler Kleven | D | 38 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 93 |
| Gavin Hain | C | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 18 |
| Cooper Moore | D | 38 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 49 |
| Nick Portz | F | 39 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 |
| Jackson Kunz | C | 31 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 31 |
| Luke Bast | D | 26 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Carson Albrecht | RW | 29 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Griffin Ness | F | 36 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 |
| Brady Ferner | D | 29 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Brent Johnson | D | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Dane Montgomery | RW | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Brendan Budy | LW | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Harrison Feeney | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jakob Hellsten | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Driscoll | G | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 110 | 194 | 313 | 453 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Zach Driscoll | 34 | 1970 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 77 | 757 | 2 | .908 | 2.35 |
| Jakob Hellsten | 7 | 364 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 131 | 0 | .879 | 2.97 |
| Empty Net | - | 17 | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 39 | 2351 | 24 | 14 | 1 | 99 | 888 | 2 | .899 | 2.53 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | 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 | 25 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 8 (2) | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | - | 9 |
| USA Today | 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 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Zach Driscoll | Lowes' Senior CLASS Award |
| Jake Sanderson | AHCA West First Team All-American |
| Ethan Frisch | NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year |
| Connor Ford | NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year |
| Mark Senden | NCHC Sportsmanship Award |
| Brad Berry | Herb Brooks Coach of the Year |
| Riese Gaber | NCHC First Team |
| Zach Driscoll | NCHC Second Team |
| Jake Sanderson | NCHC Second Team |
| Jakob Hellsten | NCHC Rookie Team |
| Matteo Costantini | NCHC Rookie Team |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2022 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 2 | 40 | Dylan James$^†$ | Detroit Red Wings |
| 7 | 209 | Abram Wiebe$^†$ | Vegas Golden Knights |
| 7 | 210 | Ben Striden$^†$ | Nashville Predators |
† incoming freshman