# 2021–22 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season was the 101st season of play for the program. They represented the University of Minnesota in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. This season marked the 32nd season in the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Bob Motzko, in his fourth season, and played their home games at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

## Season

Minnesota came into the season ranked 4th in both preseason polls. The lofty expectations were due mostly to the quality of returning players, which included starting goaltender and co-captain, Jack LaFontaine who was the reigning Mike Richter Award winner. In addition, Minnesota added five NHL-drafted players to their roster. Despite the prognostications, The Gophers got off to a less-than-stellar start. The team swept their opening weekend in spite of a sloppy defensive effort and followed that up- by playing .500 hockey for two months. The Minnesota offense showed up on most nights but, surprisingly, it was LaFontaine who appeared to be the team's biggest problem. The team's starter was inconsistent for the first half of the year, rarely posting consecutive games with solid results.
By the time Christmas rolled around, Minnesota was just 2 games above .500 and were in the middle of the Big Ten standings. The only saving grace for the team was their strength of schedule. Due to playing three top-10 non-conference teams, as well as three other ranked clubs within their conference, Minnesota was still on pace to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Gophers opened the second half of their season with a sweep over lowly Michigan State but then suffered a massive loss. On January 9 Jack LaFontaine, who had played all but 28 minutes in goal for the team to that point, signed a profession contract with the Carolina Hurricanes and ended his college career. Minnesota was forced to turn to junior Justen Close, who hadn't started a game in three years. The defense rallied around the Saskatchewan native and kept him insulated for several games as he got used to his new role on the team. Close managed to break even for the remainder of January even while playing two tournament-bound teams.
Once the calendar turned to February, Close began looking like a top-flight goalie and he backstopped the Gophers to their best performance all season. Though they had lost Brock Faber, Ben Meyers and Matthew Knies to the US Olympic team, Minnesota won their final eight regular season games and shot up both the standings and the rankings. In their final weekend before the playoffs, Minnesota shut out long time rival Wisconsin twice in the same weekend. The last time that had happened was in 1934, over 88 years earlier. The winning streak placed Minnesota atop the conference standings and gave the Gophers a bye into the Big Ten semifinals.

### Postseason

Minnesota remained at home and welcomed an upstart Penn State team to Mariucci. Despite having not played in two weeks, the Gophers got out to a 2-goal lead early in the second period. The Nittany Lions, however, stormed back to tie the game. Close held the fort in the third, giving co-Captain Sammy Walker the time he needed to score the winning goal. The team then faced Michigan for the title and while both teams were already guaranteed appearances in the NCAA tournament, they were fighting for more than just pride. Jaxon Nelson opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the game but that was the high point for the Gophers. The Wolverines scored four times over the next 30 minutes and took a commanding lead. As the clock ticked, Minnesota was unable to generate anything on the scoresheet until Michigan was handed a pair of penalties near the end of regulation. The Gophers scored on both powerplays, cutting the lead to just a single goal, but the second marker came with just 5 seconds left. Minnesota's comeback started just a bit too late and the Gophers were forced to watch Michigan celebrate a championship.

### NCAA tournament

The loss caused Minnesota to drop just enough to receive a #2 seed in the tournament and were set against the defending national champion, Massachusetts. Early on it looked to be a bad match for the Gophers when UMass scored twice in the first but a late goal by Ryan Johnson got Minnesota back in the game before the period was over. After trading goals in the second, Knies knotted the score a 3-all in the third period and the two teams fought to a draw after 60 minutes. The Gophers traded chances with the Minutemen in overtime with the other co-Captain, Meyers, netting the winner on a pass from Aaron Huglen.
In the second round, Minnesota looked dominant against Western Michigan and shut down one of the strongest offenses in the nation. While the Gophers weren't particularly outstanding offensively, Close stopped all 24 shots that came his way and his third shutout of the season sent Minnesota to the frozen four.
Their semifinal opponent, Minnesota State, was the same team that had knocked Minnesota out of the tournament the year before. Unfortunately for the Gophers, they weren't able to produce a different result. After Knies opened the scoring, the Mavericks ran roughshod over the Maroon and Gold and scored the final 5 goals of the game. Though the finale was Minnesota's worst loss all season, the team was still one of the last four teams standing and could take pride in reaching the program's 22nd national semifinal.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Nathan Burke | Forward | United States | Transferred to Bowling Green |
| Jack LaFontaine | Goaltender | Canada | Left mid-season (signed with Carolina Hurricanes) |
| Brannon McManus | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Omaha |
| Jared Moe | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to Wisconsin |
| Cullen Munson | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Sampo Ranta | Forward | Finland | Signed professional contract (Colorado Avalanche) |
| Scott Reedy | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with San Jose Sharks) |
| Robbie Stucker | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to Vermont |
| Noah Weber | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Owen Bartoszkiewicz | Goaltender | United States | 18 | Northville, MI; Joined team mid-season |
| Brennan Boynton | Goaltender | United States | 21 | Champlin, MN |
| Tristan Broz | Forward | United States | 18 | Bloomington, MN; selected 58th overall in 2021 |
| Grant Cruikshank | Forward | United States | 23 | Delafield, WI; transfer from Colorado College |
| Aaron Huglen | Forward | United States | 20 | Roseau, MN; selected 102nd overall in 2019 |
| Matthew Knies | Forward | United States | 18 | Phoenix, AZ; selected 57th overall in 2021 |
| Chaz Lucius | Forward | United States | 18 | Lawrence, KS; selected 18th overall in 2021 |
| Rhett Pitlick | Forward | United States | 20 | Chaska, MN; selected 131st overall in 2019 |

## Roster

As of April 21, 2021.

## Standings

2021–22 Big Ten ice hockey 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 |
| #5 Minnesota † | 24 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 90 | 50 | 39 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 138 | 91 |
| #2 Michigan * | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 91 | 59 | 42 | 31 | 10 | 1 | 167 | 94 |
| #9 Notre Dame | 24 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 74 | 55 | 40 | 28 | 12 | 0 | 122 | 75 |
| #16 Ohio State | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 76 | 59 | 37 | 22 | 13 | 2 | 125 | 87 |
| Penn State | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 63 | 92 | 38 | 17 | 20 | 1 | 117 | 122 |
| Wisconsin | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 53 | 96 | 37 | 10 | 24 | 3 | 76 | 132 |
| Michigan State | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 51 | 87 | 36 | 12 | 23 | 1 | 76 | 119 |
| Championship: March 19, 2022 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated April 7, 2022 |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular season ||||||||||
| October 8 | 7:00 PM | Mercyhurst* | #4 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN+ | LaFontaine | W 7–4 | 6,372 | 1–0–0 |
| October 9 | 5:00 PM | Mercyhurst* | #4 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | W 5–3 | 6,396 | 2–0–0 |
| October 15 | 7:00 PM | #2 St. Cloud State* | #4 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | L 1–2 | 8,190 | 2–1–0 |
| October 16 | 5:07 PM | at #2 St. Cloud State* | #4 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, MN | | LaFontaine | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 5,596 | 3–1–0 |
| October 22 | 7:00 PM | #5 Minnesota Duluth* | #4 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Rivalry) | BSN | LaFontaine | L 3–5 | 9,016 | 3–2–0 |
| October 23 | 7:07 PM | at #5 Minnesota Duluth* | #4 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, MN (Rivalry) | | LaFontaine | L 1–2 | 7,596 | 3–3–0 |
| October 29 | 8:00 PM | #14 Notre Dame | #7 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BTN | LaFontaine | W 4–1 | 6,744 | 4–3–0 (1–0–0) |
| October 30 | 5:00 PM | #14 Notre Dame | #7 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | W 3–2 | 6,875 | 5–3–0 (2–0–0) |
| November 5 | 7:00 PM | at Wisconsin | #5 | Kohl Center • Madison, WI (Rivalry) | BSW+, BSN+ | LaFontaine | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 9,813 | 5–4–0 (2–1–0) |
| November 6 | 8:00 PM | at Wisconsin | #5 | Kohl Center • Madison, WI (Rivalry) | BSW, BSN+ | LaFontaine | W 4–1 | 12,015 | 6–4–0 (3–1–0) |
| November 12 | 6:30 PM | #18 Ohio State | #6 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | L 3–4 | 7,511 | 6–5–0 (3–2–0) |
| November 13 | 5:00 PM | #18 Ohio State | #6 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | W 2–0 | 7,294 | 7–5–0 (4–2–0) |
| November 19 | 7:00 PM | Penn State | #7 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | L 3–5 | 7,426 | 7–6–0 (4–3–0) |
| November 20 | 8:00 PM | Penn State | #7 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | LaFontaine | W 4–2 | 7,309 | 8–6–0 (5–3–0) |
| November 26 | 7:07 PM | at #6 North Dakota* | #11 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, ND (Rivalry) | Midco | LaFontaine | W 5–1 | 11,624 | 9–6–0 |
| November 27 | 6:07 PM | at #6 North Dakota* | #11 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, ND (Rivalry) | Midco | LaFontaine | L 2–3 | 11,617 | 9–7–0 |
| December 3 | 6:30 PM | #3 Michigan | #11 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Rivalry) | BTN | LaFontaine | W 5–1 | 5,800 | 10–7–0 (6–3–0) |
| December 4 | 7:00 PM | #3 Michigan | #11 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Rivalry) | BTN | LaFontaine | L 2–6 | 5,613 | 10–8–0 (6–4–0) |
| January 3 | 6:00 PM | USNTDP* | #9 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Exhibition) | | | W 5–3 | | |
| January 7 | 6:30 PM | at Michigan State | #9 | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, MI | BTN | LaFontaine | W 4–1 | 4,922 | 11–8–0 (7–4–0) |
| January 8 | 7:30 PM | at Michigan State | #9 | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, MI | BTN | LaFontaine | W 6–3 | 5,209 | 12–8–0 (8–4–0) |
| January 14 | 6:00 PM | Alaska* | #8 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | | Close | W 4–1 | 7,624 | 13–8–0 |
| January 15 | 6:00 PM | Alaska* | #8 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | | Close | L 2–3 | 8,083 | 13–9–0 |
| January 21 | 8:00 PM | at #3 Michigan | #11 | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, MI (Rivalry) | ESPNU | Close | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 8,204 | 14–9–0 (9–4–0) |
| January 22 | 6:30 PM | at #3 Michigan | #11 | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, MI (Rivalry) | BTN | Close | L 1–4 | 8,046 | 14–10–0 (9–5–0) |
| January 28 | 6:30 PM | at #11 Notre Dame | #10 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, IN | Peacock | Close | W 5–1 | 4,711 | 15–10–0 (10–5–0) |
| January 29 | 5:00 PM | at #11 Notre Dame | #10 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, IN | Peacock | Close | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 4,632 | 15–11–0 (10–6–0) |
| February 4 | 7:00 PM | Michigan State | #8 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | Close | W 4–2 | 7,824 | 16–11–0 (11–6–0) |
| February 5 | 5:00 PM | Michigan State | #8 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN | BSN | Close | W 3–1 | 8,305 | 17–11–0 (12–6–0) |
| February 11 | 5:30 PM | at #8 Ohio State | #7 | Value City Arena • Columbus, OH | BTN | Close | W 3–2 | 6,008 | 18–11–0 (13–6–0) |
| February 12 | 5:00 PM | at #8 Ohio State | #7 | Value City Arena • Columbus, OH | BTN | Close | W 5–1 | 6,208 | 19–11–0 (14–6–0) |
| February 18 | 5:30 PM | at Penn State | #5 | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, PA | BTN | Close | W 3–1 | 6,043 | 20–11–0 (15–6–0) |
| February 19 | 5:00 PM | at Penn State | #5 | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, PA | BTN | Close | W 6–4 | 6,216 | 21–11–0 (16–6–0) |
| February 25 | 8:00 PM | Wisconsin | #4 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Rivalry) | ESPNU | Close | W 5–0 | 9,350 | 22–11–0 (17–6–0) |
| February 26 | 8:00 PM | Wisconsin | #4 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Rivalry) | BTN | Close | W 8–0 | 10,069 | 23–11–0 (18–6–0) |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||||||
| March 12 | 9:00 PM | Penn State* | #2 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Semifinal) | BTN | Close | W 3–2 | 6,856 | 24–11–0 |
| March 19 | 8:00 PM | #4 Michigan* | #2 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, MN (Championship) | BTN | Close | L 3–4 | 10,774 | 24–12–0 |
| NCAA tournament ||||||||||
| March 25 | 5:00 PM | vs. #10 Massachusetts* | #5 | DCU Center • Worcester, Massachusetts (Northeast Regional semifinal) | ESPNU | Close | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 6,002 | 25–12–0 |
| March 25 | 3:00 PM | vs. #4 Western Michigan* | #5 | DCU Center • Worcester, Massachusetts (Northeast Regional final) | ESPN2 | Close | W 3–0 | 2,848 | 26–12–0 |
| April 7 | 8:30 PM | vs. #1 Minnesota State* | #5 | TD Garden • Boston, Massachusetts (National semifinal) | ESPNU | Close | L 1–5 | 17,850 | 26–13–0 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Ben Meyers | C/LW | 34 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 16 |
| Matthew Knies | C/LW | 33 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 31 |
| Blake McLaughlin | C/LW | 39 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 35 |
| Jackson LaCombe | D | 39 | 3 | 27 | 30 | 12 |
| Sammy Walker | C | 39 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 20 |
| Bryce Brodzinski | RW | 39 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 10 |
| Chaz Lucius | C | 24 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 23 |
| Ryan Johnson | D | 39 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 14 |
| Rhett Pitlick | LW | 30 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 12 |
| Aaron Huglen | C/W | 37 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 14 |
| Grant Cruikshank | C | 33 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0 |
| Michael Koster | D | 36 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 10 |
| Brock Faber | D | 32 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 12 |
| Mason Nevers | C | 38 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 0 |
| Jack Perbix | D/RW | 38 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 18 |
| Tristan Broz | F | 36 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 10 |
| Jaxon Nelson | C | 26 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 17 |
| Ben Brinkman | D | 37 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 23 |
| Carl Fish | D | 21 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Jonathan Sorenson | F | 37 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Matt Staudacher | D | 33 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| Sam Rossini | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Colin Schmidt | C | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Justen Close | G | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Matt Denman | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack LaFontaine | G | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 138 | 238 | 376 | 322 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Justen Close | 21 | 1172 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 472 | 3 | .925 | 1.95 |
| Jack LaFontaine | 20 | 1162 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 52 | 469 | 1 | .900 | 2.69 |
| Empty Net | - | 20 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 39 | 2353 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 91 | 941 | 4 | .912 | 2.32 |

## 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 | 4 (2) | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | 4 | 7 | 5 (1) | 6 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 10 (1) | 11 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 5 | - | 4 |
| USA Today | 4 (7) | 4 (3) | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 (1) | 8 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 11 (1) | 11 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 (2) | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Ben Meyers | AHCA All-American West Second Team |
| Ben Meyers | Big Ten Player of the Year |
| Brock Faber | Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year |
| Bob Motzko | Big Ten Coach of the Year |
| Brock Faber | Big Ten First Team |
| Ben Meyers | Big Ten First Team |
| Jackson LaCombe | Big Ten Second Team |
| Matthew Knies | Big Ten Second Team |
| Matthew Knies | Big Ten Rookie Team |
| Jackson LaCombe | Big Ten All-Tournament Team |

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

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 1 | 3 | Logan Cooley$^†$ | Arizona Coyotes |
| 1 | 23 | Jimmy Snuggerud$^†$ | St. Louis Blues |
| 1 | 25 | Sam Rinzel$^†$ | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 2 | 37 | Ryan Chesley$^†$ | Washington Capitals |
| 6 | 192 | Connor Kurth$^†$ | Tampa Bay Lightning |
† incoming freshman