# 2022–23 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season was the 79th season of play for the program and 10th in the NCHC. The Bulldogs represented the University of Minnesota Duluth in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season were coached by Scott Sandelin in his 23rd season and played their home games at AMSOIL Arena.

## Season

With great deal of roster turnover, particularly on the defense, the Bulldogs were an enigma coming into the season. Gone were 4 of their 6 regulars on the blue line as was last year's starting goalie (Ryan Fanti) and 4 of their top 6 scorers. Coach Sandelin brought in a large recruiting class led by 1st-round pick Isaac Howard to fill the open positions and, despite the uncertainty, UMD was expected to continue its high level of play.
After a good start, Duluth began encountering problems on both sides of the puck. Minnesota Duluth was hamstrung from the start of the season when Kyler Kleven suffered an injury in training camp and ended up missing the entire season. While he wasn't a high offensive producer, Blake Biondi was. The junior winger had led the Bulldogs in goals the year before but came into the season nursing a shoulder injury. He muddled through the first half of the year, collecting just 3 goals in 17 games before reinjuring his shoulder in early December. Biondi ended up having surgery on both shoulders and missed the remainder of the year. Freshman Ben Steeves filled in admirably and led the team with 21 goals, however, he was the only consistent scoring threat that the Bulldogs had.
While UMD suffered with a weakened offense, the team had made its bread and butter on defense and goaltending in recent years. The newcomers on the blueline played well but not quite up to the same standards to which the Bulldogs had grown accustomed. The goaltending, however, became a glaring weakness for the team. Neither Zach Stejskal nor grad transfer Matthew Thiessen played particularly well and the decline in the crease caused Duluth no small measure of problems.
UMD got swept in the second weekend of the season, however, as that came on the road against last year's national runner-up, Minnesota State, no one was ready to hit the 'panic button'. The team's situation grew dire after the following week when they dropped both games at home to Wisconsin, the worst team in the Big Ten. Duluth suddenly found itself at the bottom of the polls with an underperforming roster. The Bulldogs were able to arrest their slide by taking advantage of Cornell in the Big Red's season debut but that reprieve didn't last. Duluth earned a split in four consecutive weeks, however, they faced Colorado College in two separate weekends. The Tigers were one of the weakest teams in the NCHC but still managed to shutout Duluth twice. By the beginning of December the team was going nowhere and, as they sunk further down the national rankings, the program's 7-year run of NCAA tournament appearance was getting ready to end.
When the Bulldogs began the second half of their season, they showed a renewed vigor against Bemidji State but that level of fight didn't last. The team alternated wins and losses in the second half and, though they had some triumphs over strong teams, they weren't able to get their heads above .500. Entering postseason play, UMD had no chance to make the national tournament without first winning the NCHC tournament. While the team had go on the rod in the quarterfinals, they had some measure of good news by getting to play St. Cloud State. While the Huskies were already tournament bound, UMD had taken three out of four meetings between the two during the year and were hoping for a repeat performance. The first match of the series was a defensive struggle with St. Cloud eking out a win in the end. Zach Stejskal turned in a masterful game, stopping 30 shots in the final two periods to lead the Bulldogs to a win. In the deciding game, it began similar to the first with neither team managing to score in the opening period. Luke Loheit's 8th goal gave UMD a lead early in the second, but the Huskies didn't take that lying down. St. Cloud fired 21 shots in the middle frame and found the back of the net three times. Duluth's weak offense wasn't able to overcome the deficit and the Bulldogs' disappointing season came to a close.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Ben Almquist | Forward | United States | Transferred to Alaska Anchorage |
| Matt Anderson | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) |
| Koby Bender | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Bridgeport Islanders) |
| Noah Cates | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Philadelphia Flyers) |
| Ryan Fanti | Goaltender | Canada | Signed professional contract (Edmonton Oilers) |
| Casey Gilling | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Esbjerg Energy) |
| Connor Kelley | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to Providence |
| Jarrett Lee | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to St. Thomas |
| Hunter Lellig | Defenseman | United States | Graduate transfer to Bowling Green |
| Brady Meyer | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Ben Patt | Goaltender | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Louie Roehl | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers) |
| Kobe Roth | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Jake Rosenbaum | Defenseman | United States | Graduate transfer to American International |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Kyle Bettens | Forward | Canada | 21 | Winnipeg, MB |
| Riley Bodnarchuk | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Okotoks, AB |
| Derek Daschke | Defenseman | United States | 24 | Troy, MI; graduate transfer from Miami |
| Aiden Dubinsky | Defenseman | United States | 18 | Highland Park, IL |
| Isaac Howard | Forward | United States | 18 | Hudson, WI; selected 31st overall in 2022 |
| Luke Johnson | Forward | United States | 20 | St. Cloud, MN |
| Joseph Pierce | Defenseman | United States | 19 | Ely, MN |
| Zachary Sandy | Goaltender | United States | 19 | Fargo, ND |
| Jack Smith | Forward | United States | 20 | St. Cloud, MN; selected 102nd overall in 2020 |
| Cole Spicer | Forward | United States | 18 | Grand Forks, ND; selected 117th overall in 2022 |
| Ben Steeves | Forward | United States | 20 | Bedford, NH |
| Matthew Thiessen | Goaltender | Canada | 22 | Steinbach, MB; transfer from Maine; selected 192nd overall in 2018 |

## Roster

As of July 28, 2022.

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

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 1 | 6:00 PM | Arizona State* | #5 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Stejskal | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 5,910 | 1–0–0 |
| October 2 | 4:00 PM | Arizona State* | #5 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | W 4–1 | 5,153 | 2–0–0 |
| October 14 | 7:07 PM | at #5 Minnesota State* | #4 | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | KEYC | Stejskal | L 0–6 | 4,612 | 2–1–0 |
| October 15 | 6:07 PM | at #5 Minnesota State* | #4 | Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center • Mankato, Minnesota | KEYC | Stejskal | L 1–2 | 5,039 | 2–2–0 |
| October 21 | 7:00 PM | Wisconsin* | #10 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Stejskal | L 2–5 | 6,573 | 2–3–0 |
| October 22 | 6:00 PM | Wisconsin* | #10 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | L 0–3 | 7,038 | 2–4–0 |
| October 28 | 7:00 PM | #20 Cornell* | #19 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Stejskal | W 3–2 | 4,158 | 3–4–0 |
| October 29 | 7:00 PM | #20 Cornell* | #19 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Stejskal | W 4–2 | 4,395 | 4–4–0 |
| November 4 | 8:30 PM | at Colorado College | #19 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | ATTRM | Stejskal | L 0–5 | 3,411 | 4–5–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 5 | 7:00 PM | at Colorado College | #19 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Thiessen | W 3–1 | 3,412 | 5–5–0 (1–1–0) |
| November 11 | 7:00 PM | Omaha | #20 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | L 2–3 | 5,941 | 5–6–0 (1–2–0) |
| November 12 | 6:00 PM | Omaha | #20 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 6,103 | 6–6–0 (2–2–0) |
| November 18 | 6:00 PM | at #14 Western Michigan | | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Thiessen | W 5–4 | 2,753 | 7–6–0 (3–2–0) |
| November 19 | 5:00 PM | at #14 Western Michigan | | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Thiessen | L 3–5 | 3,294 | 7–7–0 (3–3–0) |
| December 2 | 7:00 PM | Colorado College | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | ATTRM, MY9 | Thiessen | L 0–3 | 6,184 | 7–8–0 (3–4–0) |
| December 3 | 7:00 PM | Colorado College | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | W 4–0 | 5,794 | 8–8–0 (4–4–0) |
| December 9 | 7:00 PM | #1 Denver | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | L 2–3 | 6,487 | 8–9–0 (4–5–0) |
| December 10 | 7:00 PM | #1 Denver | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 6,354 | 8–10–0 (4–6–0) |
| December 31 | 2:00 PM | St. Thomas* | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota (Exhibition) | MY9 | Thiessen | W 2–1 | 5,746 | |
| January 6 | 7:07 PM | at Bemidji State* | | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey | Stejskal | T 1–1 $^{OT}$ | 2,136 | 8–10–1 |
| January 7 | 6:07 PM | Bemidji State* | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Stejskal | W 5–2 | 5,821 | 9–10–1 |
| January 13 | 7:07 PM | at Omaha | | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | CBSSN | Stejskal | L 2–3 | 6,398 | 9–11–1 (4–7–0) |
| January 14 | 7:07 PM | at Omaha | | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Stejskal | L 1–6 | 6,451 | 9–12–1 (4–8–0) |
| January 20 | 7:07 PM | at North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Thiessen | L 2–4 | 11,643 | 9–13–1 (4–9–0) |
| January 21 | 6:07 PM | at North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Stejskal | W 2–1 | 11,773 | 10–13–1 (5–9–0) |
| January 27 | 7:00 PM | #1 St. Cloud State | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | W 3–5 | 6,579 | 11–13–1 (6–9–0) |
| January 28 | 7:00 PM | #1 St. Cloud State | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9, FOX 9+ | Stejskal | W 3–6 | 7,205 | 12–13–1 (7–9–0) |
| February 3 | 7:00 PM | #10 Western Michigan | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Stejskal | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 6,316 | 12–14–1 (7–10–0) |
| February 4 | 6:00 PM | #10 Western Michigan | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | L 1–4 | 6,391 | 12–15–1 (7–11–0) |
| February 17 | 8:00 PM | at #3 Denver | | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Stejskal | L 2–6 | 6,218 | 12–16–1 (7–12–0) |
| February 18 | 7:00 PM | at #3 Denver | | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude 2, TSN2 | Thiessen | W 6–5 | 6,361 | 13–16–1 (8–12–0) |
| February 24 | 7:00 PM | Miami | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | W 3–2 | 5,903 | 14–16–1 (9–12–0) |
| February 25 | 8:30 PM | Miami | | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Thiessen | L 1–4 | 5,590 | 14–17–1 (9–13–0) |
| March 3 | 7:30 PM | at #6 St. Cloud State | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | FOX 9+ | Stejskal | W 4–3 | - | 15–17–1 (10–13–0) |
| March 4 | 6:00 PM | at #6 St. Cloud State | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | FOX 9+ | Stejskal | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 5,636 | 15–18–1 (10–14–0) |
| NCHC Tournament ||||||||||
| March 10 | 6:30 PM | at #8 St. Cloud State* | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FOX 9+ | Stejskal | L 1–3 | 2,620 | 15–19–1 |
| March 11 | 5:00 PM | at #8 St. Cloud State* | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FOX 9+ | Stejskal | W 5–1 | - | 16–19–1 |
| March 12 | 5:00 PM | at #8 St. Cloud State* | | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota (Quarterfinal Game 3) | FOX 9+ | Stejskal | L 1–3 | - | 16–20–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Ben Steeves | F | 35 | 21 | 7 | 28 | 36 |
| Dominic James | C/LW | 35 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 20 |
| Quinn Olson | C/LW | 37 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 32 |
| Wyatt Kaiser | D | 35 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 48 |
| Luke Loheit | RW | 35 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 53 |
| Isaac Howard | LW | 35 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 25 |
| Owen Gallatin | D | 37 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 27 |
| Derek Daschke | C/LW | 37 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 6 |
| Carter Loney | C | 37 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 27 |
| Jesse Jacques | F | 37 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 |
| Kyle Bettens | C/RW | 33 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| Darian Gotz | D | 37 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Luke Mylymok | C/W | 31 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 17 |
| Tanner Laderoute | F | 37 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Blake Biondi | C | 17 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| Cole Spicer | C | 32 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Jack Smith | C/RW | 24 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Aiden Dubinsky | D | 29 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| Luke Johnson | C/W | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Joey Pierce | D | 26 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Matthew Thiessen | G | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Francis | D | 28 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Riley Bodnarchuk | D | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Zach Stejskal | G | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 95 | 160 | 255 | 414 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Matthew Thiessen | 19 | 999:01 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 44 | 419 | 1 | .905 | 2.64 |
| Zach Stejskal | 22 | 1217:47 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 60 | 544 | 0 | .901 | 2.96 |
| Empty Net | - | 24:06 | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 37 | 2240:54 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 114 | 963 | 1 | .894 | 3.05 |

## 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 | 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 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 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 |
| USA Today | 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 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Wyatt Kaiser | NCHC Second Team | |
| Ben Steeves | NCHC Rookie Team | |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2023 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 2 | 35 | Adam Gajan $^†$ | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 4 | 115 | Jayson Shaugabay $^†$ | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 4 | 119 | Matthew Perkins $^†$ | Vancouver Canucks |
| 4 | 124 | Beckett Hendrickson $^†$ | Boston Bruins |
| 5 | 149 | Aaron Pionk $^†$ | Minnesota Wild |
† incoming freshman