# 2022–23 NCHC season

The 2022–23 NCHC season was the 10th season of play for National Collegiate Hockey Conference and took place during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season began on October 1, 2022, and concluded on March 25, 2023.

## Coaches
### Records

| Team | Head coach | Season at school | Record at school | NCHC record |
| Colorado College | Kris Mayotte | 2 | 9–24–3 | 6–17–1 |
| Denver | David Carle | 5 | 86–43–13 | 49–37–9 |
| Miami | Chris Bergeron | 4 | 20–66–9 | 14–53–6 |
| Minnesota Duluth | Scott Sandelin | 23 | 428–348–95 | 117–79–21 |
| North Dakota | Brad Berry | 8 | 162–77–25 | 102–52–15 |
| Omaha | Mike Gabinet | 6 | 75–86–9 | 48–65–7 |
| St. Cloud State | Brett Larson | 5 | 81–47–13 | 54–33–9 |
| Western Michigan | Pat Ferschweiler | 2 | 26–12–1 | 14–9–1 |

## Standings

2022–23 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 | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #6 Denver † | 24 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 94 | 53 | 40 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 150 | 86 |
| #11 Western Michigan | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 86 | 60 | 39 | 23 | 15 | 1 | 148 | 102 |
| #20 Omaha | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 71 | 64 | 37 | 19 | 15 | 3 | 109 | 97 |
| #5 St. Cloud State * | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 41 | 85 | 68 | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 133 | 95 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 65 | 81 | 37 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 95 | 114 |
| #17 North Dakota | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 75 | 70 | 39 | 18 | 15 | 6 | 127 | 110 |
| Colorado College | 24 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 37 | 60 | 38 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 79 | 99 |
| Miami | 24 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 39 | 96 | 36 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 73 | 137 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † 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 good season against non-conference opponents. While only one member team had a losing record outside of league play (Colorado College), three teams were only just above .500. Additionally, most of the conference's wins came against either the CCHA or Independent programs, many of which were low-ranked teams and didn't help the NCHC's position as much as they otherwise could have. This caused the NCHC to have just three teams in the top 15 of the rankings as opposed to the five they had the year before with a nearly-identical overall record.

### 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 | 1–3–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–2–0 | 4–6–0 |
| Denver | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–2–0 | 5–1–0 | 7–3–0 |
| Miami | 3–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–0–1 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 5–4–1 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 0–0–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–2–1 | 2–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 5–4–1 |
| North Dakota | 2–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–1–1 | 0–1–1 | 0–0–0 | 2–1–0 | 6–3–2 |
| Omaha | 0–2–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–0–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 3–1–0 | 5–4–1 |
| 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 | 1–3–0 | 5–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 8–4–0 |
| Overall | 6–4–0 | 4–8–0 | 15–4–4 | 4–5–1 | 4–3–0 | 15–6–0 | 48–30–5 |

## Statistics
### Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Class | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Massimo Rizzo | Sophomore | Denver | 24 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 6 |
| Jason Polin | Senior | Western Michigan | 24 | 17 | 12 | 29 | 11 |
| Jami Krannila | Senior | St. Cloud State | 24 | 17 | 12 | 29 | 31 |
| Jackson Blake | Freshman | North Dakota | 24 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 14 |
| Zach Okabe | Senior | St. Cloud State | 24 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 18 |
| Carter Mazur | Sophomore | Denver | 24 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 24 |
| Ryan McAllister | Freshman | Western Michigan | 24 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 12 |
| Riese Gaber | Junior | North Dakota | 24 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 27 |
| Aidan Thompson | Freshman | Denver | 22 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 4 |
| Max Sasson | Sophomore | Western Michigan | 23 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 8 |
| Veeti Miettinen | Junior | St. Cloud State | 24 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Šimon Latkoczy | Freshman | Omaha | 12 | 675:51 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 2 | .933 | 1.95 |
| Magnus Chrona | Senior | Denver | 22 | 1291:16 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 4 | .915 | 2.23 |
| Kaiden Mbereko | Freshman | Colorado College | 22 | 1221:26 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 46 | 3 | .930 | 2.26 |
| Cameron Rowe | Junior | Western Michigan | 24 | 1406:57 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 55 | 2 | .912 | 2.35 |
| Drew DeRidder | Graduate | North Dakota | 20 | 1106:18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 3 | .902 | 2.39 |

## Conference tournament

Teams are reseeded for the semifinals.
| Quarterfinals March 10–12 | Quarterfinals March 10–12 | Quarterfinals March 10–12 | Quarterfinals March 10–12 | Quarterfinals March 10–12 | Semifinals March 17 | Semifinals March 17 | Semifinals March 17 | Championship March 18 | Championship March 18 | Championship March 18 |
| 1 | Denver | 6 | 7 | - | | | | | | |
| 8 | Miami | 2 | 2 | - | | | | | | |
| 8 | Miami | 2 | 2 | - | 1 | Denver | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | 7 | Colorado College | 1 | | | |
| 2 | Western Michigan | 1 | 2 | - | 7 | Colorado College | 1 | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 3 | 3* | - | | | | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 3 | 3* | - | | | | 7 | Colorado College | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | 4 | St. Cloud State | 3 |
| 3 | Omaha | 2 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | 4 | St. Cloud State | 3 |
| 6 | North Dakota | 1 | 3 | 5 | | | | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | St. Cloud State | 3* | | | |
| | | | | | 6 | North Dakota | 2 | | | |
| 4 | St. Cloud State | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | North Dakota | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 1 | 5 | 1 | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime periods

## 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 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 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 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | 6 |
| 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 | 5 | - | 4 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 19 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| North Dakota | 4 | - | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 19 | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 17 | 17 | - | 17 |
| Omaha | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | 19 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 20 | - | 20 |
| St. Cloud State | 13 | - | 10 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | - | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | - | 5 |
| Western Michigan | 14 | - | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 18 | - | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | - | 11 |

### 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 | 25 | 26 | 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 | NR | NR |
| Denver | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| 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 | NR | NR |
| Minnesota Duluth | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 19 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| North Dakota | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 19 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| Omaha | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 19 | NR | NR | NR |
| St. Cloud State | 13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Western Michigan | 12 | 12 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 |

### Pairwise

| Team | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Final |
| Colorado College | 22 | 9 | 24 | 45 | 47 | 45 | 34 | 42 | 45 | 45 | 41 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 33 | 33 | 35 | 30 | 39 | 38 | 40 | 36 | 31 |
| Denver | 22 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Miami | 12 | 8 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 39 | 41 | 44 | 46 | 46 | 44 | 44 | 47 | 43 | 44 | 44 | 45 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 10 | 32 | 35 | 38 | 35 | 33 | 42 | 38 | 32 | 39 | 39 | 33 | 28 | 36 | 31 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 22 |
| North Dakota | 22 | 39 | 12 | 24 | 31 | 23 | 27 | 28 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 22 | 23 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 18 |
| Omaha | 22 | 50 | 51 | 47 | 30 | 35 | 30 | 31 | 25 | 21 | 27 | 24 | 26 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| St. Cloud State | 3 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Western Michigan | 13 | 18 | 22 | 13 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
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

AHCA West All-American Second Team :
| Player | Position | Team |
| Michael Benning | D | Denver |
| Carter Mazur | F | Denver |
| Jason Polin | F | Western Michigan |
| Massimo Rizzo | F | Denver |

### NCHC

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Player of the Year | Jason Polin, Western Michigan |
| Rookie of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Jackson Blake, North Dakota |
| Goaltender of the Year | Goaltender of the Year | Magnus Chrona, Denver |
| Forward of the Year | Forward of the Year | Jason Polin, Western Michigan |
| Defensive Defenseman of the Year | Defensive Defenseman of the Year | Justin Lee, Denver |
| Offensive Defenseman of the Year | Offensive Defenseman of the Year | Michael Benning, Denver |
| Defensive Forward of the Year | Defensive Forward of the Year | Jami Krannila, St. Cloud State |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Ethan Frisch, North Dakota |
| Three Stars Award | Three Stars Award | Magnus Chrona, Denver |
| Sportsmanship Award | Sportsmanship Award | Spencer Meier, St. Cloud State |
| Herb Brooks Coach of the Year | Herb Brooks Coach of the Year | Pat Ferschweiler, Western Michigan |
| All-NCHC Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Magnus Chrona, Denver | G | Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College |
| Michael Benning, Denver | D | Jack Peart, St. Cloud State |
| Chris Jandric, North Dakota | D | Wyatt Kaiser, Minnesota Duluth |
| Jason Polin, Western Michigan | F | Carter Mazur, Denver |
| Massimo Rizzo, Denver | F | Jackson Blake, North Dakota |
| Jami Krannila, St. Cloud State | F | Riese Gaber, North Dakota |
| Honorable Mention | Position | Rookie Team |
| Šimon Latkoczy, Omaha | G | Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College |
| Sean Behrens, Denver | D | Joaquim Lemay, Omaha |
| Dylan Anhorn, St. Cloud State | D | Jacob Guévin, Omaha |
| Hunter McKown, Colorado College | F | Jackson Blake, North Dakota |
| Ben Steeves, Minnesota Duluth | F | Ryan McAllister, Western Michigan |
| Jack Randl, Omaha | F | Ben Steeves, Minnesota Duluth |
| Ryan McAllister, Western Michigan | F | |
| Zach Okabe, St. Cloud State | F | |

### NCHC Tournament

Tournament MVP :
| Jami Krannila | Jami Krannila | Minnesota Duluth |
| Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team |||
| Player | Pos | Team |
| Jaxon Castor | G | St. Cloud State |
| Bryan Yoon | D | Colorado College |
| Jack Peart | D | St. Cloud State |
| Jami Krannila | F | St. Cloud State |
| Zach Okabe | F | St. Cloud State |
| Hunter McKown | F | Colorado College |

## 2023 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | NHL team |
| 2 | 35 | Adam Gajan $^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 3 | 81 | Tanner Ludtke $^†$ | Omaha | Arizona Coyotes |
| 3 | 82 | Zach Nehring $^†$ | Western Michigan | Winnipeg Jets |
| 3 | 94 | Jayden Perron $^†$ | North Dakota | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 4 | 98 | Andrew Strathmann $^†$ | North Dakota | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 4 | 105 | Ty Mueller | Omaha | Vancouver Canucks |
| 4 | 115 | Jayson Shaugabay $^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 4 | 119 | Matthew Perkins $^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Vancouver Canucks |
| 4 | 124 | Beckett Hendrickson $^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Boston Bruins |
| 5 | 133 | Sam Harris $^†$ | Denver | Montreal Canadiens |
| 5 | 149 | Aaron Pionk $^†$ | Minnesota Duluth | Minnesota Wild |
| 6 | 166 | Carsen Musser $^†$ | Colorado College | Arizona Coyotes |
| 6 | 179 | Warren Clark $^†$ | St. Cloud State | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 6 | 183 | Ty Henricks $^†$ | Western Michigan | New York Rangers |
| 6 | 190 | Michael Emerson $^†$ | North Dakota | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 6 | 196 | David Klee $^†$ | North Dakota | San Jose Sharks |
| 7 | 204 | Owen Beckner $^†$ | Colorado College | Ottawa Senators |
| 7 | 212 | Zaccharya Wisdom $^†$ | Colorado College | Seattle Kraken |
| 7 | 214 | Casper Nassen $^†$ | Miami | Boston Bruins |
† incoming freshman